sixty eight
⋅˚₊‧ ☾ ‧₊˚ ⋅ ♡‧₊˚
Waking up in my bedroom, a room I hadn't slept in for over a year, was a refreshing feeling. It reminded me of simpler times. A time before Emmett, before my unplanned teenage pregnancy. A time when my sister and I got along. I sat up and pushed my hair out of my face, glancing around the room. I could see my old cheer uniform thrown on top of a pile of clothes sitting in the hamper by the closet. I knew that if I opened the door, my pair of white pompoms would be sitting there on the shelf surrounded by trophies from cheer competitions.
On the wall next to the window was a tackboard that was covered in pictures of me and the few friends I've had over the years. There was one in particular that I had a sweet spot for a picture of me with Asher, Jennah, Greg, and Thomas. It was the first time I went out with the four of them, the first night I became their friend officially. Asher and Jennah had wide smiles on their faces, arms looped around the other. Thomas, Greg, and I were to the side of them, each of us sticking our tongues out. It was the first picture we ever took together, and unfortunately one of the last. We all had innocent smiles, each of us oblivious to the heartache and pain that awaited us.
Just below that picture was a candid photo of my favorite couple in the world: Matthew and Logan. Since graduating, I hadn't seen them but I tried to keep in touch. They were still the same lovely couple they once were, Matthew studying to become a teacher in California and Logan was working as an intern for a law firm. I received numerous updates about their lives and they both agreed to come home when I decided to have my baby shower. (Matthew already claiming to be the godfather.)
One of the last photos to catch my eye was one of Evie. We were friends, never best friends, but she was still someone I cared about. When I left school, Evie disappeared a few weeks later. No one knew where she went but when other teens started disappearing from the area, they stopped looking for her. They classified her as a runaway but only a select few of us knew what happened to her. Evie had a long life ahead of her but unfortunately, she crossed paths with Victoria and her life abruptly ended. After the fight with the newborns and Victoria, Evie's body was discovered a week later. Along with the bodies of other missing teens. Evie was laid to rest but after everything, Forks hasn't been the same.
"Knock knock." Sue greeted me with a smile as she opened the door. She noticed me looking at the photos and she gave me a soft smile. "Good times?"
"Some of the best," I answered truthfully.
"I don't doubt it." She replied. She sat on the edge of my bed and folded her hands in her lap. "Well do you have any plans for today?"
"No. What were you thinking of doing?" I pushed my blanket off of my legs and crisscrossed them.
"Well seeing as you're having a baby, I was thinking that we can get some baby shopping in. You know, buy a crib, some clothes for him, clothes for you too obviously." She grinned. "Speaking of you, I've got some vitamins downstairs for you. They'll help with the baby's growth."
"You'd do that with me? I mean, you don't have to. I can go by myself."
"Of course, I would! You may not have come from me, but you're mine." She smiled. "So that's a yes?"
"It's a definite yes!" I attacked her with a hug and I honestly never wanted to let go. Seeing as my mom was in Florida, it warmed my heart knowing that Sue was willing to share these experiences with me. "Can Emily come?"
"Of course! Call her and see what she says." She agreed. "I'll go make you something to eat. Get ready, you've got thirty minutes." She gave my head a soft kiss before leaving the room and closing the door behind her. I rushed to grab my phone from the nightstand and I quickly typed in Emily's number. The phone rang twice before a deep voice answered.
"Hello?"
"Can I speak to Emily please?"
"Yeah, hold on." "Hello?"
"Em? Its Clary. Sue and I are going shopping for the baby, do you want to tag along? Have a girls' day with us?" I hadn't repaired my relationship with the pack yet so I was expecting her to say no, seeing as her husband currently hated me.
"Of course! I'll call Sue and work out the details but yeah, I'd love to go!"
"Great! Well, I'll see you soon then!"
Getting dressed was a struggle for me. After hanging up with Emily, I dove into my clothes and tried to find something that still fit me. Since getting back from Italy, my bump was growing at a rapid rate. I was bigger than before, and the bigger I got the less my clothes wanted to fit. I eventually settled on a pair of leggings with a pink shirt that used to be big on me. I slid my feet into a pair of flats before I decided to go downstairs.
"Sue, I'm ready!" I called out to her as I descended the stairs. I had my hands resting on my stomach and I smiled softly as I felt Eli kick my hand. "Sue!" I squealed her name. She came running with a panicked look on her face, Seth right behind her. She quickly lost it though as she noticed my smile. I reached for her hand and I placed it on my stomach. I waited anxiously for Eli to kick and when he did, the smile on Sue's face was worth it. She got teary-eyed and I felt myself doing the same as my hormones got the best of me.
"Are you two okay?" Seth asked warily, seeming uncomfortable with the two of us crying. "I thought a baby kicking was a good thing?" Sue and I laughed at his confusion. I wiped my eyes before I looked at him, this time I was the confused one.
"Seth, what are you even doing here?" I asked him. "I thought with the treaty you couldn't come to Forks." He waited for Sue to be out of earshot before answering me.
"You know how Jake left the pack right?" I nodded. "Leah and I did too. So we can't exactly go back to the res and with our Mom here, we don't need to." He shrugged.
"Why did you leave with him? I thought you were happy with the pack?" I sat on the steps and he sat beside me. I took a long look at him and suddenly the fifteen-year-old was a lot older. He was having to deal with problems that he shouldn't be faced with, being forced to mature faster than he wanted to.
"With the way they are, it's not safe for anyone. I'd rather be here with you than them, especially since it's my job to keep you safe now." I couldn't help myself as I wrapped my arms around him. My motherly instincts were kicking in and all I wanted to do was put the boy in a room and keep him out of harm's way, ready to murder anyone who dare threatened his safety. The boy needed to be protected and I wanted to be the one to make sure he made it out unharmed.
"Aw Seth." I sighed. "You can sleep in my room. Take my bed, I'll sleep in Bella's old room."
"You don't have to do that for me, Clary." He declined my offer.
"I want to. You're my brother now Seth. Let me do this for you." I smiled at him. "Plus, her room still probably smells like Edward so I doubt you want to smell like him too."
"You're right, I don't want to." He scrunched his nose. "Okay, I'll sleep in your room."
"Good." I nodded. "You're doing me a favor, you know? With the baby coming, I was planning on switching rooms since hers is bigger so this way I can get a head start on moving. Then when I'm done, you can have my room and I'll just share with Leah whenever she stays over."
"I doubt she will." He admitted.
"I think she will. She doesn't have a lot of options. She either sleeps here, sleeps at the Cullen's, or goes back to the res. Which would you choose." I chuckled.
"You're right." He chuckled too.
"I always am." I winked playfully at him. "Now let's eat because I'm starving and I need to get my energy flowing." He got to his feet first and held his hand out towards me, pulling my heavy body up like I weighed nothing. We walked into the kitchen and sat at the table, eating the food his Mom made for us. "So Seth, you coming today or you sticking around here like a bum all day?" I teased him.
"Where you guys going?" He asked with a mouthful of eggs.
"Baby shopping," Sue replied. "Emily's coming too so choose your next words wisely." She warned him.
"I've got nothing against her. But, yeah, I'm down to shopping for Seth 2.0." He joked.
"I'm not naming him that." I rolled my eyes. "And it's a good thing you're coming, you can do all the heavy lifting. And later, you can help me put the crib together."
"Why doesn't whats-his-name help with that stuff?" He asked innocently, unaware of the situation.
"Jasper might come over later but Emmett won't be coming around for a while." Seth nodded, letting the subject go. "Well I'm ready to go, how about you guys?"
"Ready." Seth agreed, chugging the last of his orange juice. Sue handed me two pills and I quickly swallowed them with my juice before grabbing my jacket and following her outside.
"We're picking up Emily so be on your best behavior you two. No fights today."
"Yes ma'am." Seth and I chorused.
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