Ugly Love (Hoover)/Chapter 20

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Colleen Hoover

Ugly Love. Chapter 20

Planning a Family and Preparing to Tell Their Parents

2014

Summary of a Chapter
from the Collection “Ugly Love”

The original takes about 3 minutes to read

Microsummary

Miles and pregnant Rachel agreed to tell their parents the next day. They discussed baby names: Claire for a girl, after her grandmother, while Miles kept his choice for a boy secret until the birth.

Chapter Summary

Six years earlier, Miles and Rachel spent time alone while their parents were away. He kissed her growing stomach and assured her he already loved their baby, whatever its sex.

Rachel worried that his father might propose to her mother. Miles dismissed this, but they agreed to reveal their relationship and pregnancy the next day. Graduation was two months away, and he feared Lisa might take Rachel back to Phoenix.

Miles praised Rachel and asked about names. She chose Claire, after her grandmother, for a girl and let him choose a boy's name. He said he had the perfect name but would reveal it only after the birth. She jokingly refused to give birth without knowing it, and they laughed and teased each other.

Characters

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Miles — narrator, young man nearing graduation and Rachel's boyfriend, an affectionate expectant father who reassures her while privately fearing their parents' reactions, playful and determined to choose a meaningful name for their baby.

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Rachel — young woman nearing graduation, Lisa's daughter and Miles's pregnant girlfriend, beginning to show and worried about telling their parents, affectionate and enthusiastic about choosing baby names, with a wish to honor her grandmother.

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Miles and Rachel's unborn baby — unborn child of unknown sex, affectionately addressed as a boy by Miles, whose approaching birth prompts plans for disclosure and a playful discussion of names.

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Miles's father — adult man romantically involved with Rachel's mother and away during the scene, whose possible proposal worries Rachel and whose reaction to the pregnancy concerns Miles.

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Lisa — adult woman, Rachel's mother and the romantic partner of Miles's father, absent from the scene; Miles worries she might reject him and take Rachel back to Phoenix.

Quotes

“You’re doing a good job growing him. I’m pretty sure you’re gonna grow the best baby any woman has ever grown.”
She laughs at my silliness.

You love me so much, Rachel.*

I wonder what my dad is going to say when he finds out about us.
I wonder if Lisa will hate me. I wonder if she’ll want to take Rachel back to Phoenix.
I wonder how I can convince them that we’ve got this.

She wants to know what it is. I tell her I’m not telling her. I’ll tell her his name after it becomes his name.
After he’s born.
She tells me I’m insane. She says she refuses to give birth to our baby until she knows his name.

This summary is based on the UK edition of the novel (London: Simon & Schuster UK, 2014).