Story of the Day: Man Puts Down Pregnant Girlfriend, She Decides to Ruin Their Wedding

A pregnant bride is faced with an ultimatum from her future husband and has to decide between his will and her future happiness.

Emily Horton thought that what she most wanted in the world was to marry her live-in boyfriend Josh -- then she discovered that she was pregnant. Suddenly Emily didn't know if she loved Josh at all.

She walked into their apartment and found Josh playing video games surrounded by empty beer cans, scarps of take-away, and empty pizza boxes. Headphones in place and sound blaring, he didn't even hear Emily walk in.

When Emily stepped between him and his beloved giant screen, he frowned and motioned her away. Emily stared at him. She was having this man's baby, but did she love him?

She decided she'd know by his reaction to her news. Emily took a deep breath. "Josh, listen, I have some news for you..."

But Josh didn't put down the console. "Get out of the way! Come on; I've told you not to interrupt me when I'm playing!"

"You've been playing for four hours, don't you think it's long enough?"

Josh looked up at her briefly. "Four hours? No wonder I'm hungry. Why haven't you made dinner yet?"

"Josh. I'm not feeling very well, but there is a special reason..."

She wanted to have the baby, she just didn't think she wanted to have it with Josh.

"Honestly, I'm so tired of you whining!" Josh snarled, "If you feel sick, it's because you're getting fat. Clean up, do some work, you'll feel better."

Emily leaned down, pulled the screen's plug out of the wall, and walked out before Josh started screaming. She needed some sensible advice, and who could a girl count on but her mother?

Emily's mother greeted her with a sour: "Well, and there you are! You don't look so good. Have you put on weight?"

Emily sighed. She loved her mom, but she had to admit that she was a hard woman to like. Dora Horton was a former beauty queen who made sure that her daughter knew that she hadn't lived up to her hopes.

In Dora's eyes, Emily was a disappointment, and she kept trying to 'improve' her. Emily decided to dive right in. "Mom, I have some news..."

Dora smiled happily. "You're using your college fund to get that nose job?"

"Nose job?" Emily gasped, "No, mom! I'm pregnant!"

"Well!" Dora sniffed, "It's about time! I thought you might be infertile or something! So how is Josh taking it?"

"I haven't told him yet, mom."

"Why not, afraid he'll leave you?"

"No!" Emily cried, "I'm thinking of leaving him!"

Dora was stunned. "Leave Josh? Are you mad? Look at you, do you think you'd be so lucky as to land another man? Especially pregnant. No one will even look at you. And don't think you can come and live off me."

"He does nothing but play video games and expects me to do everything..." Emily cringed with embarrassment. "And mom, he put some down, criticizes me all the time."

Dora looked at her daughter critically. "Well, Em, he's just trying to help you better yourself -- God knows I try! And he's right, it's a woman's duty to be a good housewife."

"Are you serious, mom? I work as hard as he does, and I earn just as much!"

Dora changed her strategy. "Look, you're just nervous; it's those preggy hormones. You will feel better soon."

Emily shook her head. "I don't know, mom; I don't think Josh is the one..."

Dora stared at her daughter in astonishment. "The one? Please! Do you think your father was 'the one'? Grow up, Em, you won't get better than Josh."

Emily drove home as confused as ever and even more despondent. She wanted to have the baby; she just didn't think she wanted to have it with Josh. What kind of a father would he be? It was a depressing thought.

The next day Emily came home to find Josh waiting for her with a huge grin on his face. "Hey, babe! Come on in!"

Emily eyed him suspiciously. "Well, You're cheerful today! What's going on?"

Josh winked. "Your mom called me, and she told me everything..."

Emily was stunned. "She told you...everything?"

"Yep, she did!"

"And...and how do you feel about it?"

Josh pursed his lips. "Well, I honestly didn't think I was ready, but now..." He dropped down on one knee and produced a small velvet box with a flourish. "Emily, will you marry me?"

"Marry you? You..you are ok with it?"

"Look, your mother told me you were upset because I hadn't proposed, so I'm proposing."

Emily hesitated. "That's all she told you? That I wanted to get married?"

"Sure!" Josh replied, "And now that I think about it, the sooner, the better! We'll get lots of cash gifts and can go on a honeymoon somewhere hot."

Emily hesitantly accepted, and Josh tried to put the ring on her finger. It was much too small, and he complained: "You have such fat fingers, I'll have to have it resized!"

A week later, Josh accompanied Emily to a bridal shop to pick out her wedding gown. The shop's owner, a kindly-looking young man with a shy smile, showed Emily gown after gown, all of which Josh disliked.

"You know, Josh, I don't think you should be here, " Emily protested. "It's bad luck for you to see the dress before the day."

"I'm not superstitious," Josh scoffed. "Besides, if I'm paying for it, I'm approving it."

The young man brought out a lovely gown that Emily fell in love with at first sight. "This is the one," she cried and swept into the change room to try it on. Josh wasn't impressed.

"It makes you look even fatter," he said, "And it's more expensive than the one I liked."

"The other one was too tight!" Emily protested.

"It was slimming, Em. You don't want people to think I'm marrying you out of pity, do you?"

"What did you say?" Emily couldn't believe her ears.

"Well, it's true," Josh said defensively. "You've turned to a bit of a porker these last few months." Seeing Emily's shocked face, Josh appealed to the store owner. "Don't you think she needs to lose 20 pounds? Be honest; it's for her own good..."

The store owner looked at Emily and shook his head. "No, I don't. I think she's perfect just the way she is."

Josh sneered. "Right! You'd say anything to sell that dress, wouldn't you? All right, we'll take it!"

As Josh walked to the front of the store, the young man approached Emily and said softly: "You really are so beautiful and so perfect -- don't ever let anyone tell you otherwise."

Emily couldn't believe her ears. She looked into the man's kind eyes. "Thank you. I'll remember that."

Josh was waiting impatiently, so the store owner quickly ran up the bill, and he paid. Josh walked out of the shop, leaving Emily to carry the bulky dress on her own.

As she was leaving, the young man touched her hand gently. "You can always change your mind..." There was a mute appeal in his soft brown eyes.

"What?" Emily asked, "What do you mean?"

The man blushed. "You can change your mind about the dress... That's what I meant."

Josh was calling her, so Emily gathered the dress in her arms, and with one last smile, walked out of the bridal shop. She was now officially a bride with a wedding date and a gown -- and she still hadn't told Josh she was pregnant.

The wedding day arrived, and Emily still didn't know what to do. She was marrying a man she didn't love, and she hadn't told him she was carrying his child and how he felt about it.

Standing in her wedding gown, Emily waited to walk down the aisle. To her surprise, Josh walked in. "Come on! Everyone's waiting, so get a move on."

"Wait, Josh... There's something I want to tell you first. I'm pregnant."

"Right...Look, we'll discuss it later..." Then he stopped. "What did you say? Pregnant?"

"Yes, I wanted to tell you before..."

"Great, Em, that's just great!"

Emily felt hope swelling in her heart. "You're happy, Josh?"

"Happy? You bet I'm happy!" Josh was seething. "Instead of going on a honeymoon to Hawaii, we have to spend the money solving your problem...Of course, I'm happy!"

"You can't mean..."

"I'm not ready, Em, not to have children, not now. And maybe not ever. Besides, you can barely keep the house clean, so how would you cope with a child?" Josh sneered. "You should be grateful I'm marrying you at all; you're no prize!"

Then Emily heard the words of the young man with the kind eyes: "You really are so beautiful, and so perfect -- don't ever let anyone tell you otherwise."

Emily handed her bouquet over to Josh and smiled, "Thank you, Josh, for clearing that up for me. Goodbye!"

She left him screaming and cursing after her and walked out of her own wedding, and never looked back. She had her baby; what more could she want? Emily walked without thinking and found herself standing in front of the store where she'd bought her dress.

The young man was stunned to see her standing there in her gown and veil. "Do you remember me?" She asked, smiling.

The man smiled back. "I could never forget you. Please tell me you've changed your mind?"

From that moment on, Emily started making her decisions based on what was best for her, on what she wanted, and it led her to happiness in the arms of a man who truly loved and cherished her and raised her child as his own.

If you enjoyed this story, you might like this one about a young man who learned a hard lesson after humiliating a disabled waiter in a restaurant.