It’s so cute watching them sleep together. But eventually Charlotte has to wake up. Time for a lovely breakfast of dinner’s leftovers. Shortly after they eat, Osvaldo leaves to deliver the mail. That’s right, this man is a mail deliverer. She sure picked a winner. That’s okay, she’s young, she’ll have plenty of time to date.

Or not. Yikes. An unplanned pregnancy in her 20’s. With parents who don’t even know where she is, and $100 dollars to her name.

Scared and broke, she paints. This nets her a couple hundred dollars, but that will never be enough for a nursery. Looks like this baby will be sleeping in the living room for a while. Charlotte paints all day, only stopping to eat and use the restroom – her bladder is already affected by this damn baby. Couldn’t she have just gotten a cat? Finally, after painting enough to make her bills, she goes to bed. “Osvaldo? I have… news. Come over when you can.”

While she waits, she makes some eggs for breakfast and goes outside to pay her bills. She’s broke again, but at least her power won’t be turned off. Does Osvaldo enjoy making me wait? Did he forget? Whatever. She paints while she waits. This one’s a masterpiece! She nets about 1500 dollars, enough for a nursery. But she decides to save it, after all, she could use a real home too. Finally! The doorbell rings and she runs outside to hug him, but he pulls away.

“What did you need?”

Nervously, she tells him the news. “I… I think I’m pregnant. And it’s definitely yours.” After pausing for a moment, he decides now is as good a time as any.

“Let’s move in together. When we have the money, I’ll give you a proper marriage. But for now I hope this promise is enough.”

Charlotte looked at the ring, and at Osvaldo. Sure, she could do better, five years ago when she was’t carrying his baby. Of course she’d say yes. She needed the support, and she did like him. They had only been official for a month now, but this baby needed a father. She just hoped he wouldn’t be a bad one. Sure, he was insane. But he was also kind, and smart, not to mention a wonderful lover. She didn’t know him much, but she needed him. She couldn’t do this alone. She had never been the strong type, the scariest thing she did was leave her rich parents to paint for a living, and that obviously hadn’t gotten her much, she barely had a one bedroom shack. Osvaldo was something. He was driven, he had dreams to become an astronaut. Sure, for now he was a mailman, but he was sure that he would become something. Osvaldo called the towns space research center. He found a job opening as an intern for $26 an hour. Sure, it wasn’t exploring space like he had always dreamed, but it was something. He was sure if he worked on his logic, he’d find his way up the ladder and soon enough would be the Interstellar Smuggler like he always wanted. Charlotte was a bit higher up in her painting career, but less driven. After the news, she had been painting for money, not because she loved it. Lately, she had been finding herself staring at the blank canvas, not knowing where to start.

Luckily, Osvaldo knew just how to help. He wasn’t much of a cook, but growing up in a family of six, he knew how much pregnant women loved food. He was right. Charlotte greatly appreciated it, and sat down to eat. Osvaldo was not hungry, but he managed to eat a bowl of yogurt at Charlotte’s request. “You’ll need your strength for your first day. It might not pay much, but you’ll be working. You need to eat.” Osvaldo realized his childish ponytail and beard would not go over well with the higher astronauts, and decided to clean up a little bit. Damn. Take notes guys, a low ponytail and facial hair resembling a toddler’s rendition of Seneca Crane’s beard will never do much for you.