This chapter was pretty fun to write. I hope you all enjoy it. :)

2. Paths

"Here we are. It's not as big as a house, but it's got two bedrooms, a kitchen, and a living room," Eli announced as he opened the door to their apartment, leading the way in.

Clare shuffled after him, placing Sophia(in her carrier) on the kitchen countertop. "It's just right. My father said he'd drive over with all of my stuff later. We just need to decorate Sophia's room now."

Eli nodded. "I didn't set up the crib yet so we could paint the walls. Our first task as a family," Eli remarked, smirking.

"We're not painting her room black, are we?" Clare asked cautiously.

"No. We're painting it white," Eli informed her, getting the paint cans he had bought out of the fridge.

"Fine with me!" Clare chimed, checking to make sure Sophia was actually sleeping before finding the rollers and pans. She followed Eli to Sophia's room, which was relatively big for a small apartment.

Eli cracked open the cans of paint, pouring them into the pans. "Time for the fun part," Eli said, turning on the radio on the floor.

They dipped their rollers in the pans and slathered the paint all over the walls in every which way, Clare dancing to the music as she skipped from one side of the room to the other.

Eli chuckled to himself as he watched his girlfriend, seeming lost in her own little happy place. "Having fun?"

"Absolutely!" Clare chirped, grinning at Eli.

"…Are you fond of the clothes you're wearing?" Eli asked curiously.

"Not really. Why?" Clare replied cautiously.

A devious grin crossed Eli's face as she slowly sauntered over to Clare, paint roller behind his back.

"Eli, no," Clare warned, backing away from him.

"Eli, yes," Eli laughed, waving the roller in the air and splattering his girlfriend with white drops of paint.

"No!" Clare cried, though she started giggling as she ran around the room, Eli chasing her.

Eli's arms latched around her waist at last, pulling her close to him. He held up the roller, smirked, and then rolled it down her leg and back up again.

"Eli, no!" Clare squealed, laughing.

Eli leaned down to kiss her neck softly, and Clare tilted her neck back, exposing the soft flesh there.

Suddenly Eli backed away, staring down at the front of his shirt. He looked up at Clare, raising his eyebrows.

Clare laughed into her hand, holding up the roller that she had used to paint Eli's black shirt white.

"You devious little…" Eli began to accuse when they heard a wail coming from the kitchen.

Clare hurried out of the room, leaving Eli to finish painting. He was a little annoyed that their moment had been ruined, but Sophia comes first now.

Clare ran over to where Sophia was crying in her carrier, wide green eyes shining with tears. Clare carefully grabbed the baby under her armpits and pulled her out of the carrier, holding Sophia against her chest and bobbing gently up and down on her feet, trying to soothe the baby.

When Sophia continued to cry, Clare sighed in frustration. She walked over to the couch, sitting herself down carefully and pulling down one side of her shirt, adjusting Sophia's head so she could wrap her mouth around her mother's nipple.

Clare grimaced as Sophia began suckling; it wasn't the most pleasant feeling in the world, and the thought of having to do this everyday for the next few months made Clare groan inwardly.

"So, when do I get a turn?" Eli asked, sitting down next to Clare and smirking.

"Don't be such a pervert, Eli," Clare grumbled.

"Me? A pervert?" Eli gasped, eyes widening in mock horror.

Clare rolled her eyes, looking down at Sophia who was kneading her hand against Clare's breast as she suckled. Clare slowly moved Sophia away, propping her up carefully on her knee and patting her gently on the back.

"You're a pretty good mother," Eli remarked.

"I would hope so," Clare replied, nodding in satisfaction when a tiny burp emitted from Sophia's mouth.

"…Can I hold her?" Eli asked quietly.

Clare looked at Eli in surprise; he hadn't tried to hold Sophia since she was born, but that might have been due to the fact that there were always so many visitors that he never got the chance to.

Clare carefully handed Sophia over to Eli, and he cradled her close to his chest, smiling down at his daughter. "Hi, Soph. I'm your daddy. I can't do half the things your mother can do for you, but I hope you'll grow to like me."

Clare smiled again faintly as a knock sounded on their door. Getting up from the couch slowly and fixing her shirt, she opened the door, then staring at her father.

"I brought your stuff," he said curtly, letting himself in, a box of clothes in his arms. "There's more in the car…" Randall's eyes rested on Eli and Sophia, and his face suddenly loosened making him look older and tired.

"You can put them all in Eli's - our - my room," Clare corrected herself, face flushing slightly. "The room to the right."

Randall nodded slowly, walking away to drop off the box in the room, then heading back out to his car to get more.

Clare sat back down next to Eli, watching him cuddle Sophia while her father brought in the boxes, occasionally baby-talking to her daughter.

"If I was her, I would hate you for talking to me like that. Why don't you talk to her like she's a normal human being?" Eli asked Clare, taking his eyes off Sophia to look at his girlfriend.

Clare shrugged. "It's how most people talk to babies."

"Well it's annoying. Talk to her like you talk to normal people."

Clare wrinkled her nose, then tickled Sophia's chest with one finger. The baby smiled, trying to wrap her fingers around her mother's. "What are you doing? Why do you want my finger?" Clare cooed.

Eli rolled his eyes. "I guess that's better."

"That's all the stuff we packed. If you're missing anything, just call," Randall announced.

Clare looked up at her father. "I will."

Randall stood in the middle of the kitchen, watching the little family on the couch, his face contorting in different emotions. Pain. Loss. Recognition. Remembrance. Longing. Even joy.

"I remember when we first brought you home from the hospital, Clarebear," Randall said quietly. "Darcy kept begging to see you, and me and your mother could never put you down for two seconds without you crying to be picked up and get all the attention again."

"Clare? Attention-seeking?" Eli scoffed, chuckling.

Randall narrowed his eyes at Eli, and Clare quickly cut in. "I know, it's ridiculous to imagine. Thanks for sharing that story though, Dad."

"Have you guys gotten all of the necessities for Sophia yet?" Randall asked.

Clare shook her head. "We're going shopping tomorrow, after Eli gets off work."

"Ah. Where will she be sleeping tonight?"

"We just finished painting her room, so she'll have to sleep in our room in her carrier tonight," Eli told him.

"Paint fumes. Not the best around a baby," Randall remarked dryly.

"That's why she's sleep in our room," Clare said, an edge to her voice. "Dad, please stop trying to tell us how to take care of our daughter."

"You're not even old enough to be raising a kid!" Randall exploded. "You shouldn't be living with your boyfriend at eighteen years old with a baby to raise! We raised you better than this, Clare! How did you steer so far off of your path?"

"You're the one who laid down my path for me!" Clare said shrilly, jumping to her feet. "It was always how you and mom wanted me to be!"

"Clare Edwards, I am not having this argument with you," Randall replied, voice raising.

"Stop it!" Eli hissed, and both of them turned to look at him. "She doesn't like how loud you're both being. You're going to make her cry," he continued, looking down at Sophia who's face was contorted, tears forming at the corners of her eyes.

Randall's lips pressed into a thin line, and weariness seemed to come over Clare. She looked at her father, then whispered, "You should go."

He nodded curtly, giving Eli and Sophia a long glance before walking out of the apartment door, careful to close the door quietly on the way out.

Review, please! :)