"Aw, come on Larry, we all know you too well! You're no virgin, that's for sure! Has Susie gone out with anyone else since you've known her?"
"Hell, no...she's only been with me whenever she's gone out. She wouldn't see anyone else. She told me. Damn-" Larry was almost in tears. "She told me she's using one of those "dia"...things, that nothin' could happen! Oh...."
The young man was gone, running toward the main entrance, pulling on his jacket as he went. Mike rushed after him to make sure he didn't do anything foolish. Larry went around to the rear of the building, across the parking lot and the grass to a wooded area where the friends usually had picnic lunches. They ran down a path through the tall grass, and before a clearing Larry stopped, to sit down on a large, flat topped rock, with his back to Mike. Mike stopped a ways back to give him a few moments alone, and was thankful he did, because Larry suddenly buried his face in his hands and burst into heavy sobbing. This only lasted a very short period of time. When Mike saw him attempting to dry his face with his sleeve he went over and put a hand on his shoulder. Larry looked around, embarrassed, knowing his best friend, the hero, had seen him so upset.
"I'm sorry, Mike," he said, "I HAVE to be the baby's father. But what am I going to do? I really care for Susie, alot, but the thought of marriage just hasn't crossed my mind! We have such an uncertain future, I haven't made it a point to commit myself to a permanent situation like that. My career is the most important thing right now. If I'm not successful in that, no one has a future. I'm just not ready to settle down. Believe me, I didn't plan it this way!"
"But you should have thought about it before you two jumped in the sack together! You have had your fun, now you're paying the consequences for not taking better precautions. What do you intend to do about this? If you're the kind of person I think you are, you'll do the right thing. Susie needs to know what you have in mind right away, and I thought you had more faith in me than that....about the success of the MLC mission, I mean!"
"God! I don't even know if I could grow to love her. Marriage....why.....Aw, HELL, Mike. Who am I foolin'? I DO love Susie! I want to make a better future for us because I know there will be a future, because you will disarm those missiles. I really believe that, friend!" Larry was quiet for a moment, then, he said, "Y'know, Mike, you should have been a preacher! You've sure straightened my mind out some good! Come on! Let's go tell Susie the good news!"
"She's still at my place," Mike explained as Larry got up and started racing toward the lab.
"Great! Then we'll both go and take care of her father....tell him he's not going to have my so-called family jewels for souvenirs hanging on his livingroom wall!"
Mike laughed. He was thrilled the way everything was working out. He was so glad Larry wasn't angry with him!