All of Me: Part Two
Nine months to write a chapter. Never again. Ever. Jesus christ, glad this one's over. I don't even ship Erica and Richard as much as I used to now, awks. I'll do the usual rambling once this is over, and yes I know the ending is rushed af. I just wanted this to be over.
Three years later
I was surprised to enter the dorm room to find Heather dancing around to Voulez Vous by Abba whilst in her underwear. In addition to the hair piled on her head and the hairbrush that she was singing (badly) into. At least Richard wasn't with me.
I laughed to myself as my sister seemed unphased by my entrance. Relaxing down on my bed, I sent Richard a quick text to let him know I'd gotten back safely. He always insists that I do that.
The song finally finished and Heather collapsed onto her own bed. Her and I were still sharing a room at university, except this time at a dorm and not the sorority. Let's just say that shit went down at the end of freshman year and I refused to step foot in that building for as long as I lived. Heather wanted to go back the next year, but Richard helped me convince her to leave it.
Anyway, Richard and I had been dating for over three years now, and we were preparing to graduate together. He'd suggested that he would move to Sunset Valley so that I could stay by my family, who meant so much to me. I really appreciated that. Mom and Colby have met him a few times, they think he's great for me.
Over these past couple of years I've been dealing with homesickness, he was by my side a lot of that time and held me close, saying it wouldn't be long before I was back in Sunset Valley with my family. It was mainly Zoey that I missed the most, and she really missed Heather and I back. There were times that she called at midnight, having snuck downstairs to use the phone, where she was in tears, unable to sleep because she missed us both so much. That broke both mine and Heather's hearts into a million pieces. We told Mom and Colby about it, so they set up a Skype account so that Zoey could video chat with us whilst we were away. It was definitely an improvement for all three of us.
"Soooo, Erica," Heather looked over to me from her bed. "Think it'll be long before you and Richard think about starting a family together or something?"
"Gosh, I don't know. We haven't really talked about it yet..." I found my face flushing red. I hated these discussions with my sister, she always ended up asking me about my sex life.
"You guys totally should! Imagine how cute your kids would be!"
"Yeah, maybe we'll wait a little. I'm not sure."
"Well, definitely give it some thought and talk it out. Anyway, when was the last time you two made love?"
"HEATHER!" I knew this was coming.
"No, it's a serious question! Nothing to be ashamed of!"
"Last week?"
"Ah. Planning on doing it again soon?" Heather grinned.
"Please shut up." I groaned in annoyance.
"Richard used protection, right?"
"Heather, put a sock in it!"
"I hope Richard did too."
"That was the worst pun ever." I rolled my eyes at my twin's childishness.
"Well, you don't have to put up with my shitty puns for that much longer, eh? Bet you can't wait to get your own house with Richard."
"Yup, we've got our eye on that empty one by the beach. You know, the one with the pool?"
"Oh, cool. You and him can make all the love you want there!"
"WILL YOU SHUT UP ABOUT MINE AND MY BOYFRIEND'S SEXUAL ACTIVITY?" I sighed loudly in annoyance and threw a pillow in my sister's direction. All Heather did was laugh at me.
"Chillax, sis. We're almost free of education forever."
The following week, I woke up with my shoulders aching like crazy. Nausea rushed through my body.
"Ugh..." I moaned, shoving my face in my pillow.
"You alright, Eri?" Heather asked sleepily from her own bed.
"I feel like I'm gonna vomit. And I need a painkiller."
This was going to be an awful day, I just knew it.
By the time I was getting ready to leave for a lecture, one of the dormies who I've never really spoken to looked at me, concerned.
"Are you feeling okay, Erica? You don't look too good..." she asked.
"Nothing that some aspirin and a breath of fresh air hopefully won't take care of." I replied before grabbing my bag and leaving the dorms. I was hoping to bump into Richard on campus so that he could give me a much-needed hug.
However, on campus I managed to be shoved out of the way by Heather's boyfriend, Jeffery Dean. Fraternity boy, started as an asshole. Still is sometimes, but my sister's tamed him to some extent. Anyway, I'm sure he didn't realise it was me, considering I look like death at this current moment. There's always been unresolved issues between me, him and Richard. In freshman year, shortly after Richard and I began dating, Jeffery decided to publicly humiliate him on campus, before proceeding to beat him up. It was at this point that I arrived on the scene and managed to intervene, finishing with tackling Jeffery to the ground. Hey, being athletic means that you get pretty strong. But yeah, I think I shocked the entire student body that day, what with gathering the reputation of the quiet good girl and all that.
Throughout the lecture, I was feeling more and more nauseous. But I refused to let myself throw up in class. But what if someone stopped to talk to me afterward and I puked all over them? That'd be embarrassing as hell.
Finally, the lecture was over and I dashed out, rushing upstairs to where the toilets were. I was pretty sure I heard Richard calling out for me in the distance when I remembered that I was meant to be meeting him after class. Crap. Well, let's just get the awkwardness of hurling down a public toilet out the way. Hopefully it'll make me feel better or something.
Later that night, I was lying face down on my bed, wishing the day was over. The fraternity was throwing a party, and Heather was attempting to drag me along.
"Come on, Erica! It'll be fun! You don't have to drink or anything if you're still feeling sick, I can sort out some water for you..."
"I'm not going when I feel like I've been dragged backwards through a bush. End of."
"Fine, suit yourself," The sounds of half a hairspray can being used filled the room and the floating particles almost made me choke. "But you'll be by yourself till at least 1:30 in the morning."
"I'll be sleeping then, anyway. Enjoy yourself, Heather."
The next day, I still felt like a troll and was told by my very hungover sister to stay in the dorms whilst everyone else went to class. By myself. Again.
I heard a small, timid knock on the door and sighed to myself.
"Come in." I called. To my surprise, Richard strolled into the room, looking worried.
"How are you feeling, Eri?" he asked, making his way over to my bed and pulling me up into a tight hug.
"Absolutely dreadful."
I'm sure that went without saying just by looking at my appearance. Oversized pajamas that totally didn't belong to my boyfriend, smudged makeup from the previous day that I was too unmotivated to take off, hair that looked like a bird's nest.
"Poor hun. I just came to stop by quickly before going on to my next class."
"Definitely gonna be spending the rest of the week cooped up in here at this rate, so I'm sorry but my appearance is just gonna keep downgrading from here."
"Eri, don't apologise for anything appearance-wise. All I care about is you feeling better."
I remained silent and just clung to Richard, as if I was scared to lose grip.
"Anyway, I'll call you when class has finished, alright. I need to get going. Love you, Erica."
Then Richard was gone, just like that.
Two weeks later
Fucking hell.
I'm pregnant.
And graduation is three weeks away.
I was just sat in silence, staring at the positive pregnancy test in my hand. How was I supposed to explain this to Richard? I know for a fact that it'd throw him off his last-minute studies.
Who was I to tell about this?
My mom would freak out. So would Heather. Jordan, Lucas or Zoey would tell Mom. As for Colby, why would my stepfather be the first to find out? Julianna would tell everyone on campus. Those people were my only options.
Great, looks like I'll have to tell Heather. As long as she doesn't shout "PREGNANT LADY COMING THROUGH" whilst I'm walking around campus, I should be alright.
I won't be alright.
Nope.
I found myself running out of the toilet cubicle, pregnancy test still in hand, out of the communal bathroom, into my room and throwing myself on the bed, sobbing. How was I supposed to get a kickstart to my athletic career being pregnant and caring for a baby?
This must have been a result of the night when Richard and I were slightly intoxicated after a party at one of the other dorms that we were both dragged along to by my sister. But screw that, I don't want to think about it.
My head is a mess right now.
An hour later
"Penny for your thoughts?"
"Go away."
Heather was back, I was still lying face down on the bed and had no plans on moving unless I was forced to. Which, knowing my sister, would probably be soon.
"Something's up, Erica. Tell me." Heather sighed, kneeling down beside me.
"Can't." I sniffed in reply. This was looking a lot like a mother trying to cheer up her small child right now.
"And why not?"
I groaned in defeat.
"You can't speak a word of this to anyone-"
"Lips are sealed, Eri."
"I... I... I'm..." I began sobbing all over again into the pillow. "I'm pregnant."
Heather's only response was a gasp. Followed by silence on her behalf. I was almost physically choking on my own tears.
"Hey, shhh. It's alright. I'm here, sweets," Heather rubbed my back in attempt to calm me down. "C'mon, sit up."
She ended up pulling me up, where my face literally fell into her shoulder as I clung close to my sister.
"Does Richard know?" Heather whispered.
"N-no."
"It's okay. I'm going to be by your side this entire time, alright? You're my twin sister, my best friend. You mean the world to me and if you're sad, I'm sad too. Cheer up, cupcake..." Heather comforted, still holding me reassuringly and rubbing my back.
"M-my li-life i-is o-over..." I stammered.
"It's not! This baby will be an absolute blessing into your life, I can promise you. The last thing that you want to be feeling is negativity over your baby. Richard will be here for you too, that I can promise with full certainty."
I could barely get out a reply. Heather sighed.
"Y'know, I'd always thought that I'd be more likely to get knocked up in uni than you. Guess I'd thought wrong." She tried joking, but I showed no reaction.
"I was not knocked up. Richard and I had simply had too much to drink." I sniffed.
"I know, I know. Just ignore me, I was making a joke in bad taste. Damn, I can't believe I'm gonna have a niece or nephew. Aunt Heather, eh? What about Grandma Bailey?"
For the first time all day, I gave a small laugh.
"Oh god, it'll be hell when I eventually tell Mom about this." I sighed, coming to my senses again.
"She'll come around eventually..."
Four weeks later
Heather was still the only person to know that I was pregnant. The bad thing was, we'd now graduated university and were back home. I was in deep trouble.
My mom hid her pregnancy with Heather and I for nearly four months, god knows how she managed it. However, she raised the pair of us to never lie and to always come to her to talk about anything, she'd understand. But how could I tell her that she was going to be a grandparent when my boyfriend who was currently over 300 miles away didn't even know he was going to be a father? Neither would be happy with me for keeping this to myself for this amount of time.
I'd barely pulled myself out of bed and got dressed when I realised that the mail was due around this time. Heather had been expecting a package, but it wasn't likely that she'd be waking up anytime soon, considering she was snoring louder than the wails of a baby.
Ugh. Babies.
It looked definite that I would be getting the mail today, then. As I was about to go downstairs, I heard a small voice from behind me.
"Eri?"
"Yeah, Zoey?"
"When is Richard moving here?"
Well, that was random. But my baby sister absolutely adores Richard, in the few times she's met him she'd been by his side the entire time.
"Soon, sweetie. Now come on, back to bed for you."
"But what about you?"
"I've always been an early bird, hun. Love you, get some more sleep." I blew Zoey a kiss before continuing downstairs. I made a mental note to contact Richard at some point today to ask when he was coming over here.
The kitchen has always been my least favourite room in this house. Dull-coloured tiles on the walls that had the most revolting pattern, light wooden flooring that just didn't belong in a room like this, small wooden table with two chairs that didn't even match this room. I could go on forever. Don't even get me started on the mismatched windows and clear glass door. There are a lot of complaints to make about Goth Manor, but the kitchen is the absolute worst. I can't stand it.
Once on the front porch, it looked like I'd just caught the mailman with his deliveries. Oh, it's a new guy. Except it wasn't the mailman. I could recognise that flamboyant hairstyle from a mile away. It was Richard.
"Oh my god!" I managed to squeak out before taking off in his direction and into his open arms. "What the hell are you doing here?!"
"I'm here to see my girlfriend and my child, of course." Richard whispered into my ear. My eyes widened.
"...what?"
"Heather told me everything. Erica... why didn't you tell me this sooner?" Richard pulled away to look into my eyes. He was obviously upset about this, and I felt so guilty.
"I'm so sorry, believe me when I say that I really wanted to tell you. I only didn't because I didn't want to distract you from your exams..."
"Eri, you needn't have worried. At least I know now... I can't wait until we meet our child."
I smiled.
"Me too..."
Later that day
"Sunset Valley is so beautiful, I'm so glad that I'm here permanently now." Richard smiled at me. He'd asked me to show him the most beautiful place in the small town, personally I'd say that that place would be the waterfall. So there we were.
"I am too. We'll start looking for a house soon?" I suggested. Richard had brought all of his belongings here with him which were currently stored in the garage.
"Of course. I don't care where in town it is, as long as we're finally living together." Richard wrapped his arms around me and held me close.
"Can't wait." I planted a soft kiss on Richard's lips.
"Anyway, I've been wanting to ask you this one question since we first started dating."
"Go for it."
Richard stepped back and got onto one knee before pulling a small box out of his pocket.
"Right, I'll keep this short and sweet. Erica Goth, can I have the honour of being your husband?"
Okay, I screamed out loud. Then I started crying.
"Of course you can! Yes, I'll marry you!" I managed to cry out before breaking down as Richard slid a beautiful diamond ring onto my finger.
"Hey, come here," Richard said softly as he pulled me towards him and gave me a loving kiss. "No need to cry, Eri. We're getting married and having a baby! What could be better?"
"Nothing, absolutely nothing." I sobbed happily into Richard's shoulder.
I couldn't wait to become Mrs Erica Randall.
Several months later
"Hey there, Lenny! You're such a cutie!" Zoey cooed to her nephew, my firstborn son. Lenny Randall. He was a couple of months old and was the love of my life, besides Richard. My little man looked a lot like his father.
Richard and I had a very short engagement and tied the knot only two months after the proposal. I felt as if life could never get any better than this.
"Say hi to your Auntie Zoey, Lenny!" I smiled. Lenny gurgled in response.
"I hope that you and Richard have so many more children because I want so many nieces and nephews!" Zoey declared. I think she was actually being serious.
"Hah, we'll have to see about that. Giving birth to this little one was bad enough."
Four years later
"He's so beautiful... he looks exactly like you."
Richard was holding our new son Kain close, staring lovingly at him. I'd only given birth an hour ago and was completely exhausted, so all I could do was smile.
"I can't wait for Lenny to meet his brother. Love you so much, Eri." Richard used his free hand to squeeze mine.
"Love you too."
Ten years later
Both my children and younger siblings were growing every day, and frankly I hated it.
Zoey was now twenty-one years old with a baby on the way. I have a feeling that it was a mistake as I don't even know the father, but nevertheless if she was happy, so was I.
Jordan was the father of twins! A girl and a boy named Brooklyn and Orlando. They were born while Jordan was still in university. It was so surreal to see how much my brother changed after they were born.
Lucas and his longtime girlfriend Cade are expecting their first child. The pair of them moved into mine and Richard's old house after we relocated across town to somewhere larger to fit our family.
Heather had a little girl called Corrie shortly before Kain was born. She has our mother's beautiful dark eyes.
Anyway, on to my own children. Lenny reminds me so much of his father, same innocent face, same characteristics. Kain is literally my double, bar having Richard's eye colour. Then there's the twins, Stacie and Tanner. They were the biggest surprise but still one of the best. Stacie looks even more like Richard than Lennie does, it's acually quite spooky. Tanner on the other hand is more of a mix. He has my purple eyes and nose with Richard's lips and face shape. His hair colour came from my real father, who died shortly before I had Lennie.
I had the perfect husband and four beautiful children and I couldn't ask for anything better.
At last! God, I never thought I'd finish this. I published it on my sister's third birthday, now she's nearly four. How did this take so long? Okay, I'll be honest. I was lazy. And school. And other stuff which nobody should care about. But yeah, I probably won't update my other story until at least July or August because I've got my first actual GCSE exam in under two weeks and I'm spending most of my time studying. Booooring, I know. And before I go, whilst still vaguely on the topic of my other story, I'm doing a prequel to it on my simblr (plumbobsinthesky) complete with photos and all that. It's called The First One and is about Drew and Ryan's relationship, check it out :)
K cya.