"Hi Doris." He said with a twinkle in his eye.

My jaw dropped open in utter shock and I finally managed to sputter a reply. As I blushed like a beet and smiled like a mad man he shyly stuttered,

"I... I saw that youre in my Algebra class this year. You sure are good at math."

After he had gotten the conversation going a bit he said,

"I was wondering if maybe you'd like to go dancing with me tonight?"

His smile never faltered as he spoke. My eyes grew wide with disbelief. I managed to regain my composure after a short moment and answered somewhat calmly,

"Sure, Jimmy, that would be great." He rested his hand on top of mine and replied sweetly,

"Meet me under the clock at seven." I agreed as he got up and wandered back to the booth where he had been sitting with some of the other boys. My friend Ruth, who had been sitting next to me, leaned over and asked,

"Gee, Doris, what was that all about?"

I smiled and told her what had happened. She gave me a cheerful grin and told me that she was excited for me. She then proceeded to give me her famous first date tips which included making him wait a minimum of five minutes. Ruth had a lot of experience with boys, and she always had a date. Men worshiped the ground she walked on. The way her curvy hips swung inside her tight skirts as she walked could captivate any male specimen. But I was the girl who sat home alone on Friday nights. This was definitely going to be a new experience for me.

That night I showed up under the clock in the lobby of the St. Francis hotel on Powell street at around six forty five. I didnt trust Ruth's advice about making him wait. I wanted to make sure that I didnt miss Jimmy. I was wearing a dark-blue dress that fit me well and complimented my figure. My family didn't have a lot of money so I made most of my own clothes. This dress was one of the few store-bought things I owned so it was my pride and joy. My hair was pinned neatly into an up sweep. Ruth had always told me it looked better that way. I waited until a quarter after seven, but there was still no sign of Jimmy. Oh well, I thought to myself, maybe he's just running a little bit late. But before long it was seven thirty, then seven forty five, and finally, the clock solemnly struck eight. I had been stood up. I slumped down in the corner and buried my face in my hands as I softly wept.

"Hey . . . hey, don't cry . . . "

I heard a gentle voice say as a hand softly rested on my shoulder. I slowly glanced up into the face of a young man who looked to be about nineteen or twenty. He was dressed in a dark suit and a hat to match. His eyes were a deep blue and his hair a chestnut brown. I quickly wiped away my tears, embarrassed to be caught crying in public at my age. He smiled and asked,

"What's a pretty girl like you doing in here all alone and crying?" I stammered and answered him softly,

"I... I was stood up."

His smile was replaced with a slight look of disappointment. For a moment he looked as if he didn't quite know what to say. He looked at me quietly for a moment and the remarked,

"Who needs people like that, huh? I'll tell you what, I'm free tonight, we'll go to the dance hall downtown. You'll be having so much fun that you'll forget this even happened. What d'ya say? Would you like to come?"

I decided there was really no reason not to go with him. He seemed nice, and why shouldn't I go out and have a nice time instead of sitting at home and feeling sorry for myself? So I agreed to go. As we started to walk outside, he said coyly,

"You know, I never did catch your name."

I smiled and answered, "It's Doris, my name is Doris. What about you?"

His eyes danced about as he smiled and replied,

"I'm Dean. Nice to meet you, Doris." I blushed and looked down at the concrete sidewalk as he flagged down a cab and we were off to the dance hall.

When we walked into the dance hall, it was warm with the heat coming from the many bodies that were dancing on the floor. I meekly followed Dean to a table near the back where we sat and he ordered a gin and tonic.

"You want one?" he asked as he pulled out a pack of Lucky brand cigarettes. I nodded and thanked him as he lit it for me. I took a drag and watched the cigarette smoke curl into the air. I snapped back to attention when Dean reached across the table and gently took my hands in his.

"Hey brown eyes," he said softly, "what're you thinking about?"

I looked down at our hands, gently entwined, and answered,

"Just trying to figure out how I met such a sweet guy like you." I blushed immensely as he replied,

"I didnt do too bad myself, brown eyes." He let go of one of my hands to take a sip of his G&T. He sat his glass back on the table and Girl of My Dreams started to play. He looked at me with those sexy blue eyes and said,

"Hey beautiful, this is our song. Would you like to dance?" I felt the color rise into my cheeks as I nodded in reply. When we stood up, I gently put one hand on his shoulder and started to reach for his hand with the other, but he smoothly grabbed my wrist and pulled my hand around his neck. I felt both of his arms slide low around my hips. Chills ran up and down my spine as he pulled me in closer to him. I felt his warm hands exploring my backside. I laid my head on his shoulder to hide my ever-blushing cheeks. I looked up to see him gently smile at me. I ran my hand smoothly across his face before brushing his lips with mine. When I pulled away, he pulled me in for another kiss. I felt his tongue part my lips and enter my mouth. He pulled away for air and started to kiss my neck. We were both oblivious to any others in the dance hall. He pulled away once more and said,

"What do you say we go somewhere else? Somewhere where we can be alone?" Normally, I would have been appalled by such a question, but there was something about Dean that made it okay. I nodded as he grabbed his hat and coat. He took my hand and we left.

Out on the street, he flagged down a cab once more and gave the driver an address on the other side of town. Before long, we pulled up to a small and somewhat rundown yellow house. Dean paid the driver and we got out. I leaned against him as we walked up to the front door. He slid his keys into the lock and pushed the door open. When we were inside, he tossed his hat and coat into a nearby chair. I went into the living room and took a seat on the overstuffed sofa as he went into the kitchen. After a few minutes, he returned to the living room carrying two crystal glasses and a bottle of brandy. He took a drag off of the cigarette that was hanging out of the corner of his mouth and filled both of the glasses. He flipped on the radio and sat next to me on the sofa. He was so close again, I could feel him breathing down my neck and I barely dared to move. I reached for my glass of brandy and almost spilled it because I was shaking so badly. Dean reached out and steadied my wrist.

"How come youre shaking so bad, brown eyes? I don't bite, I promise. Is something wrong?" he asked, his blue eyes shining with concern.

"Oh no," I said in a breathy voice, "nothing's wrong at all."

And I pulled him in for another passionate kiss. He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me onto his lap. He kissed my neck and was working his way down. When he was about to pull the shoulders of my dress down, I gasped. He pulled away.

"What? Was that too much?" he asked.

"No, no." I said, "What time is it?"

He looked across the room at the clock, "It's a quarter to ten, why?"

"Oh no! I have to be home before ten!"

I exclaimed as I jumped off of his lap. He jumped up right behind me and, after grabbing his hat and coat, we went outside and jumped into his car.

When we pulled up in front of my house, Dean got out and walked me to the front door. He pulled me to him and kissed me one last time before I had to go in.

"Here brown eyes," he said while scribbling on a piece of paper, "here's my number. Call me and we'll do something together again. Okay?"

I hugged him and told him I would call him. As he walked back to his car, I shouted to him,

"Thank you!" He just smiled and waved before getting in and driving away.

The next day, I woke up and felt wonderful. The night before had been spectacular. I couldnt believe someone so plain as myself had met someone as wonderful as Dean. I picked up the phone to call Ruth. After a few rings, she answered.

"Hello?"

"Hi Ruth!"

"Hey Doris! How'd things go with Jimmy last night?"

"Well, actually . . . Jimmy didnt show up."

"What? Are you kidding? That slimy little lowlife had better watch his back . . . "

"But Ruth," I interrupted.

"Yeah?"

"I went out with someone else! His name's Dean. And I've got to tell you, Ruth. He was like no other guy I've met before!"

"Oh really? Tell me more!"

So, I told her all about the night before.

"So, are you going to call him?" she asked.

"I think so."

"You have to call him!" she laughed.

We talked a little bit longer, and then she had to get off of the phone so she could meet her boyfriend, Gary, for lunch. As I rested the phone back on the cradle, I toyed with the idea of calling Dean. I decided I should probably wait a little while.

"Hello? Dean?"

After about five minutes of "waiting," I had picked up the phone and called him.

"Hey brown eyes! I was hoping you would call!"

I just smiled, but upon remembering that he couldnt see me through the phone, I said,

"Well, you know. I just decided to give you a ring, see what you were up to today." My hands were shaking so badly.

"Well, I'm glad you decided to call. I wanted to see if youd like to go see a movie with me today?"

I held my breath for fear of screaming, then answered, "Sure, Dean! I'd love to. When will you be by?"

"Is an hour okay?"

"Of course. I'll see you then."

"See you then, brown eyes."

And we both hung up. Who was I kidding? Me? Ready in an hour? I had to run . . .

When Dean arrived, I answered the door and saw him standing there with a daisy. He handed it to me and said,

"A daisy for my brown eyes."

I smiled and invited him in. He sat down on the sofa while I went into the kitchen to look for a vase. I didnt have to worry about getting in trouble for having a boy over because Dad had been drafted a while back and Mom was working at the hospital. I sat the vase with the daisy on the kitchen table and walked back into the living room where Dean was waiting. He was holding a picture of Dad in uniform that we had resting on our radio. He looked up and asked, "This your pop?" I nodded and sat down next to him on the sofa.

"Poor guy," he said, "the only reason Im not out there fighting is because Ive got a bad knee. Its not a big thing really, but they didn't want to take any chances."

"We're proud of Dad for fighting for his country."

"Yeah, you've got to have a lot of respect for 'em." Dean answered. He then put the picture back and stood up. Taking my hand, he asked,

"Well, are you ready for the show, brown eyes?" I smiled and grabbed my purse and we were headed out the door.

During the movie Dean had his arm wrapped around my shoulder and I was leaning into his chest. The light from the screen lit up our faces in the dark room. I nibbled on a piece of popcorn while I watched intently. The next thing I knew, Dean's lips were on mine. They tasted like butter and salt from the popcorn we had been eating. He gently pushed his tongue inside my mouth when all of a sudden I heard Ruth's voice say,

"Doris?" I turned several shades of red as I smiled and replied, "Oh... hi Ruth." She smiled and sat down next to me with Gary by her side. She leaned over and whispered in my ear, asking me if this was Dean. I smiled and nodded at her. Ruth introduced herself and Gary to Dean and he shyly smiled at them. He hugged me close to his body and I could smell his cologne.

"How about you and me go for a ride?" he asked softly. I looked up into his sparkling blue eyes and nodded. We stood up and I waved good-bye to Ruth and Gary.

As we walked outside, I took a deep breath of the crisp Autumn air and savored the way it filled my lungs. I leaned my head against Dean's shoulder and we walked across the empty street to his car. He reached up and ran his hand through my hair as he said, "You're a good kid, brown eyes. A real good kid."

I smiled and looked up at him and saw his eyes laugh with delight. As we were riding in his car along a deserted back road covered in the colors of autumn and his hand sat interlaced on the seat with my own, I knew it was the first and the last time I would ever feel this way about anyone.

A cool December wind whipped through my hair as I walked along the sidewalk and watched my black Mary Janes hit the pavement. I heard a car honk and looked to see Dean's car pulling up to the curb beside me. I smiled as I saw him peeking through the window at me. These last few months with Dean had been absolute Paradise! We had spent so much time together and gotten closer to each other, much closer actually. Very much closer than I had intended in the beginning, but I knew it was going to be all right as I glanced down at the modest silver band on my left ring finger. You see, I was pregnant. Only seventeen and I was pregnant. Dean had known for a few weeks, but now the hard part had come. My mother had to find out. I was on my way home to tell her when Dean pulled over to pick me up that day. He was coming with me because I told him I couldnt face doing this alone. We were scheduled to hold a private wedding ceremony two days from then. When we arrived at my house, Dean got out and came around to my door and opened it for me. I stepped out and he wrapped his arm around me before we walked to the house together. I pushed open the door and walked in ahead of him. A feeling of reassurance washed over me as he gently rested his hand in the small of my back. We took our coats off and hung them on the rack by the door, then walked into the living room where my mother was sitting in a chair reading a book.

"Mom?" I said timidly. When she looked up, I continued, "Dean and I need to talk to you."

A puzzled expression appeared on her face as she asked, "What is it?"

I took a deep breath and Dean and I sat down on the sofa facing my mother. I looked at the floor and felt the hot tears start to roll down my cheeks as I quietly said, "I'm pregnant."

At first she looked at us in utter shock, then came tears of her own. When she had choked back the lump in her throat she croaked at Dean, "Are you going to marry her?"

He looked at her with his soft blue eyes and answered assuredly, "We've arranged to have a private ceremony the day after tomorrow. Father O' Neil has it all taken care of."

My mother nodded back at him and wiped her eyes. "Where are you two going to go?"

I looked up with a blank expression as she asked this. That one thing had never occurred to me. Where would we go? Where did pregnant seventeen-year-olds and their husbands go? I had just thought we could stay where we were. I had never once thought we would have to leave. This thought brought fresh tears to my eyes and I leaned into Dean and sobbed quietly. He explained that he had a good home and a job here, we weren't planning on going anywhere. I looked up in astonishment as the words came out of his mouth. My mother said to him sharply, "You plan to stay here and make an embarrassment out of this entire family?"

He looked hurt, but replied, "If an embarrassment is the way you choose to see it, then yes, we are."

My mother looked at me for a long moment. I stared back into her eyes wondering what would next come out of her mouth.

"Doris," she started slowly, "I want you to go upstairs and pack your things. You are no longer a part of this family." She stood up on her heel and walked into the kitchen. My mouth gaped open as I watched her leave the room. I looked to Dean for comfort and struggled to say something, anything. He hugged me close to his warm body as I was wracked with sobs. "Shh, it's going to be okay, Doris. We'll make this work, I promise you. We'll make this work."

Dean and I trudged up the stairs to my room in a state of total shock I couldnt stop thinking about what we were going to do. I was only seventeen, practically still a baby myself, with a baby on the way. And now I had lost one of the people I needed most right now, my mother. I pushed the door open to my room and numbly started placing clothes from my closet into an old battered suitcase. Dean stood in the doorway and gazed at me with a look of deep pity in his eyes. He went over to my closet and started to pull a few dresses off their hangers. We remained silent as the suitcase continued to fill. We closed it and Dean took it outside as I started to place some other items into a few empty cardboard boxes. As I reached the back of my closet, I saw a small shoe box and opened it to see what it contained. To my surprise, there was my first pair of baby booties staring up at me with an almost disdainful look. I burst into tears and closed the box again.

On the ride back to Dean's place, I stared solemnly out of the window. I was startled when I felt Dean place his hand on my shoulder. I turned to him and asked with tears in my eyes,

"What are we going to do? I know our plan was to stay here, but we can't. I couldn't handle it. There would be too many people I'd see, especially my mother."

He looked at me with an understanding as I hurriedly wiped away the tears. He was silent for a moment then said,

"I have an Aunt in Illinois who I know would be happy to take us in. My Uncle is gone because he's fighting in the war. He left a little shop behind that I'm positive my aunt could use help running."

The tears stopped and I looked into his eyes.

"Are you sure? Are you sure she wouldn't be too embarrassed to have us?" He looked at me sympathetically and answered,

"I know my Aunt Violet, I was very close to her when I was a child. She would be more than happy to have us. I'll call her as soon as we get to my place, okay?"

I was speechless. I just stared at him in astonishment and nodded as he rubbed my arm and kept assuring me that things would be okay.

We reached Dean's place, and as soon as we had gotten my things inside, he was on the telephone to his Aunt Violet. An hour later, it was all fixed. We would get married on the same day we had planned, but very early in the morning. Then, when the ceremony was over, we would begin our journey to Chicago where a new life awaited us.

After driving roughly 2,200 miles across the country, we were here. Dean and I were married a little more than a week ago, and now we were at his Aunt Violet's house in Chicago, Illinois. As Dean pulled into the driveway of the rugged two story house, he said, "This is it, Doris. This is where we are going to live and raise our baby."

I smiled at him and kissed him gently. I glanced out the windshield of the car to the doorstep of the house. The front door slowly swung open and I saw a woman who was probably in her fifties coming towards us with open arms. Her gray hair was pulled back into a loose bun with little wisps of hair blowing in the wind. She had an enormous smile on her face as Dean and I stepped out of the car.

"Dean!" she squealed with delight as she hugged him. "Why, I havent seen you since you were probably ten years old!" She then glanced my way with a soft loving look and exclaimed, "And this must be the little mama. Oh, Honey, it's so good to finally meet my niece! I'm so glad you two have come to stay with me!" She hugged me and tears of joy ran down my face. I knew that this was my home.