Aoife’s pregnancy acts as a symbol of growing up and facing the difficulties of the real world, many of which she was sheltered from when she was growing up. It is also unavoidable, which complicates Aoife’s usual method of dealing with something, which is to pretend it doesn’t exist. Aoife tends to minimize serious issues that could change her life, but her pregnancy is something she cannot ignore, like Joey’s drug use, which she sometimes turns a blind eye to. For a while after discovering she is pregnant, Aoife does not want to do anything that would make the pregnancy more real to her, like going to a doctor or telling Joey. Aoife tries to deny her pregnancy because she knows the reality of it means her life will change forever.

The pregnancy also represents Aoife and Joey’s coming of age, as they are forced to consider the baby in all their decision-making. In the past, they tended to only think of how their relationship impacts them. However, with a baby on the way, Aoife and Joey’s relationship becomes about more than just the two of them, and things like Joey’s drug use have bigger implications. The pregnancy also has bigger implications for Aoife as an individual, especially once her secret is revealed to the whole school. Aoife barely survives being expelled from BCS for no reason other than the fact that she is pregnant. Her classmates, co-workers, and even family members look down on her for getting pregnant and refusing to terminate the pregnancy, with Kevin calling her “another teenage pregnancy statistic” (321). Aoife’s growth and maturity are shown by her responses to these challenges, as she maintains her decisions, and Joey’s equal maturation is illustrated by his support and willingness to enter treatment.