Open foot, insert mouth

Background story: one of my sister's dearest high school friends recently got pregnant. She's 21 years old, brought up as a good Catholic girl (aren't we all??) and still has a year of college to finish up. My sister and she literally grew up together, meeting in grade school and remaining close to this day. My sister's friend is devastated, but decided to keep the baby, rather than having an abortion. And, despite her mother's pleadings, has decided not to marry the father, since she doesn't feel like he's "the one."

In general, I have to commend her. She's pretty brave deciding to have the baby, and to hold out for true love to get married. And I know she must be so scared right now, especially since her parents as also devasted and the friend feels like people are going to think she's "white trash."

The story: This weekend, while at home for the reunion, my parents and Scott ran into Barnes and Noble, where we ran into this friend's mother. My parents ran into the mother a few minutes before I did, and when I rounded the corner, they all seemed to be wearing serious expressions. Of course, you can imagine what was on my mind and what I thought they were talking about, so I decided to lighten the mood (read: make a complete ass of myself).

After giving her a hug and saying hi, I said "So I hear congratulations are in order!" Her eyes got wide, she grabbed by arm, and pulled me behind the stacks. "What are you talking about?" This is where I start to babble incoherently, the blood rushing to my face and my heart pounding. "Are you talking about what I think you're talking about? Do you know? Do your parents know? Oh god, I want to die."

So did I.

She came back and confronted my parents (who were champs, by the way) and started to cry. I made a grown woman cry, god damn it. I felt terrible. I still feel terrible. Thirty minutes later, the sniffling subsided and I think she got a lot of fears and issues off her mind. I guess when you're in a situation like that, and you're embarrassed, you don't talk about it with many people and a lot of those feelings get trapped inside. In a way, maybe this was a good way to let a bit of steam out and to know that there are people out there that support you and your daughter, and people are more forgiving and understanding than you may initally give them credit for. Heck, even I was surprised at how supportive my mother was and how she really provided some quick and dirty counseling in the Barnes and Noble.

It's been a long time since I've wanted to sink into the floor and die...or at least rewind time by a mere 30 seconds. This was probably my biggest foot-in-mouth moment ever. I still feel terrible, but maybe, in the end, it helped a bit.

I just hope it doesn't happen again. Because the next moment just might be when I blurt out to the friend: How in the hell do you get accidentally get pregnant in the 21st century??