Chapter One
Clare looked at herself in the mirror. Her once fairly thin frame was now stretched, round and swollen; she was almost nine months pregnant. As she smiled slightly and rubbed her belly, Eli walked into the room.
"Hey, beautiful. Whatcha doin?" he asked, sitting on the bed next to the full length mirror in their room.
"Nothing, just...watching" she said, still entranced in the mirror. "I can't wait to see what he looks like. Do you think he'll look like me or you?" Eli stood up, coming up behind her and wrapping his arms, as well as he could, around her belly, putting his hands over hers.
"I think he's gonna be the best of both of us" he told her and she smiled.
"I hope he has your green eyes" she smiled, leaning back on him to steady her wobbly self a little. "And I hope he has your passion for film making." Eli smiled back at her.
"I hope he has your determination, your amazing smile…I hope he has your strength and will to succeed" he told her, kissing her cheek gently. Clare turned around to face him, resting her hands on his chest.
"And I hope he never gives up on the person he loves…like you've never given up on us"
"Never" Eli said and they both smiled, remembering the first time he told her that.
"I can't believe we're gonna meet him in two short weeks, maybe less" Clare said.
"Are you nervous?" Eli asked.
"A little…but more excited" Clare said and Eli smiled lovingly at her.
"Me too." As she leaned up to kiss his lips there was a knock on the door. She broke the kiss and walked around the bed and out of the bedroom to answer the door. She smiled when she saw her best friend standing there with what looked like 10 books in her arms.
"What's this?" she asked, amused as Alli walked, or rather stumbled into Clare and Eli's apartment.
"Well…" Alli said, putting the books on the kitchen table with Eli's help. "Since baby Goldsworthy is due to arrive any day and you still haven't settled on a name, I'm here to help." She sat down at the table and Clare took Eli's hand to help her sit down as well.
"Alli…" Clare said, hesitant. For some reason she was avoiding this issue.
"Come on, Clare. Your son is gonna be here very soon and he has to have a name" Alli said.
"I know that" Clare said. "And we'll give him one. I just…" she hesitated again, glancing at Eli and then back down at the table.
"What's wrong?" Eli asked, sitting next to her.
"I'm just…having trouble letting go of the name Drew and I chose when we thought it was…" she trailed off, fearing she'd upset Eli. She didn't make eye contact with him, just continued to stare at the table, fiddling with her thumbs. "I'm sorry."
"Sorry for what?" Eli asked. Clare still didn't look at him. Eli got up, walking to the other side of Clare and knelt where he could see her face. "Sorry that you want to name our son Adam? Don't be. Clare, he was my best friend and I would be honored to name my son after him." He gently lifted her chin to where they were making eye contact.
"I would too" Clare half whispered, smiling slightly. "I just…with everything that happened with Drew, I don't know if it'd be…I just don't want to upset him. I don't wanna upset anyone. I've done enough of that this year."
"Well…why don't we give our son Adam as a middle name?" Eli suggested. "He still needs a first name though" he smiled at his girlfriend and she smiled back, looking almost relieved and surprised that Eli had suggested that.
"That's where all these books come in!" Alli said happily, opening one of them. "Hmmm, I don't think Alfred is a good choice" she joked. "How about…Lance?"
"Next" Clare said, reaching into her bag of beef jerky and eating some. Eli smirked at her, ever since she got pregnant Clare ate when she was anxious, nervous, happy or sad. He had bought a lot of beef jerky over the past few months.
"Brandt?" Alli asked and Clare crinkled her nose.
"Why not just name our son Corby, or Daxton" she joked.
"Hmm, Daxton…?" Eli thought jokingly.
"I think not" Clare chuckled.
"Fine, you look and pick one you like" Alli said, handing the book to her friend. Clare flipped page by page looking at the names and crinkled her nose again.
"None of these seem right" Clare complained. "All of this is giving me a stress headache. What if we don't decide on a name and the baby's born and he just never has a name?"
"Okay…" Eli intervened. "Why don't we just put this on ice for a bit and you go rest for a while?" He took her by the elbow to help her out of the chair and she stood up, cradling her back as she did so.
"Fine…I'm tired anyway" Clare said. "Can I call you later, Al?"
"Of course you can, sweetie. Go rest" Alli said, giving Clare a hug and kiss on the cheek and grabbed her purse. "I'll see you two later." She smiled and let herself out. Eli looked over to Clare who closed her eyes breathing deeply.
"Are you okay?" he asked.
"I'm fine, just tired" Clare said.
"Okay, well let me walk you to bed" Eli told her.
"I'll be fine, Eli" Clare said sweetly and kissed him. "Go, have some Eli time while you still can."
"Where am I supposed to go when the only place I wanna be is here with you?" Eli asked.
"I don't know. Go get some coffee, take a walk, go see Imogen. You have to stop worrying about me so much" Clare told him.
"Never gonna happen, but I will go get some coffee. Are you sure you're gonna be okay?" Eli asked and she cupped his face with her hands and kissed him.
"Yes, now go" she said and he kissed her again.
"I love you" he smiled at her.
"I love you" she smiled back and headed toward their bedroom. Eli grabbed his jacket and left the house. Clare waddled slowly to their bedroom and laid down, getting as comfortable as she could being nine months pregnant.
Eli walked into the Dot where Imogen was sitting with a cup of coffee and her laptop. He walked over to her and sat down.
"Eli Goldsworthy, haven't seen you in these parts lately. How are you and Mama Clare?" Imogen asked, smiling at the sight of her friend.
"She's good, big, but good, really tired" Eli smiled back. "She's resting so I thought I'd give her some peace and quiet and come get some coffee. What are you up to?"
"Looking for a job" Imogen said and Eli chuckled. "What?"
"Nothing, I just…have never seen you…you know, job" Eli said. "I thought your mom was this rich doctor or something."
"Yeah and I have graduated high school. If I enroll in college full time my mom said she'd help me, but if not…job" Imogen said.
"So you're not going to college?" Eli asked.
"I don't see you registering at TU after leaving New York" Imogen told him.
"I'm gonna be a father" Eli told her.
"Oh yeah, that's just everyone's excuse" Imogen said and they smiled. Just then Eli's cell began to ring and he saw that it was Clare.
"Hey, I thought you were resting" Eli smiled, answering his phone.
"Eli…I need your help, now" Clare said, her voice sounded stressed and Eli immediately jumped up, hanging up the phone.
"I gotta go, Clare needs me" Eli said, starting to get a little panicked.
"Is everything okay?" Imogen asked.
"I don't know. She could be in labor, I have to go" Eli said and rushed out of the Dot.
Eli screeched the breaks, stopping the car in front of his and Clare's apartment and jumped out, leaving the car running as he ran into the apartment.
"Clare? Clare!? Where are you? Are you okay?" Eli yelled, looking franticly for his pregnant girlfriend.
"In here" Clare called from the bedroom. Her voice still seemed stressed. This had to be it, she was in labor. Eli ran into their bedroom, looking around, but couldn't see Clare anywhere.
"Clare?"
"Uh…over here" Clare called. Eli walked closer to their bed and found Clare between the bed and the wall.
"Oh my god, are you okay?" he asked, moving closer to her.
"Yeah, uh…I'm stuck" Clare said, her face turning a little red. Eli breathed a sigh of relief and smiled, then began to chuckle a little bit. "I'm glad you think this is so funny, Eli" Clare said, getting annoyed.
"No, it's just…" Eli began while moving the bed and helping Clare to her feet. "I thought something was wrong. I thought you were in labor or something was wrong with the baby."
"Something was wrong. I've been stuck here since you left" Clare said and couldn't help but smile seeing the amusement on Eli's face. "It isn't funny" she pouted. "I'm so big I couldn't even get myself out of a…tight situation."
"How did that even happen?" Eli asked, still couldn't help smiling at her.
"Well, I was trying to rest, like you suggested. I was trying to get comfortable and I just…slipped" Clare told him.
"Between a wall and a…bed place?" Eli said, trying to make light of the situation to make Clare feel better.
"Eli" Clare scolded, but couldn't help a chuckle. "I'm so done being pregnant. When is this baby gonna decide to be born?"
"When he's ready" Eli smiled, kissing her forehead.
"Well, I'm ready now. I'm ready to meet our son, to start our lives together. And I'm definitely ready to get my body back" Clare said.
"It's gonna happen, just be a little patient. Come on, lay on the couch with me and I'll rub your feet" Eli said and Clare's face perked up a little, she loved when Eli rubbed her feet, especially now that they were so sore.
"Now how can I possibly say no to that?" Clare asked and he kissed her lips and led her to the living room. "I love you, you know that, right?"
"Of course. I love you too" Eli said and Clare smiled at him again.
"Forever and always" she said as they sat down together and Eli began to rub her feet.
OKAY, I HAVEN'T WRITTEN FAN FICTION IN A LONG TIME GUYS. I'VE NEVER WRITTEN ECLARE FAN FICTION SO I HOPE YOU GUYS LIKE THE FIRST CHAPTER AND COME BACK FOR THE NEXT ONE. THANKS FOR READING!
PS; If you ship Eclare like I do pls follow my twitter, eclarefan4life3