Eli's POV

Clare screamed as the car jumped the curb and plummeted for her and the baby. Adrenaline raced through my blood, and I shoved up against Clare. Clare, in turn, pushed the stroller and it shoved out of the way and she was out of the line of fire. She fell, but caught herself just as the car was inches away from me. I dived, and by some miracle, the car only caught my foot. Pain rippled up my leg and I screamed. I heard my baby crying. Clare got up and ran to her, picking her up out of her stroller. She tried to, shaking, to undo the straps. She finally got them out and held Jade to her. Both of them were sobbing.

"It's okay, it's okay." Clare soothed, hiccupping. "Eli!" she cried and tried to help me up. My foot hurt. I could move it but it hurt so much. Then suddenly anger roared in my chest. What idiot would drive a car right at a mother and a newborn baby? I started screaming at the driver, who had hit a telephone pole behind me, and cussed him out. Clare held Jade as I hobbled over to the jerk that was getting out of the car. "Oh my God, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to!" he said, putting his hands up in surrender. I was screaming at him then, about how stupid could he be to go through a red light and almost hit my wife and newborn baby? I was furious.

Clare called my name, and she was sobbing. Jade hadn't calmed down and she rocked her. I limped back and wrapped my arms around them both. "It's going to be okay. We're all okay. It'll be fine." I soothed them both. "E-Eli you're not fine! Look at your leg!" My leg hurt so badly, but I sucked it up. "We have a doctor's appointment today anyway. I'll just get it done there." Clare nodded. I leaned over and grabbed the stroller. I got the driver's insurance information and left to go back home. Clare sobbed the whole way, but Jade stopped crying after about five minutes in her stroller. It hurt like Hell every time I took a step, but I didn't need Clare getting any more worried. We got home and I collapsed on the couch. Clare raced Jade up to her room and put her in her crib as I lay sweating on the couch. When Clare came back down the steps, I asked through clenched teeth if we had aspirin.

"Eli! Your foot is probably broken and you want aspirin?" She got me some and said we had to leave now and take me to the doctor. I looked at the clock and it said eleven. Had it really been that long? Clare was sobbing again when she came back. "W-We all could have died. You, me, J-Jade." She burst into tears and I held her. "It's time to go to the appointment, blue eyes." I murmured. "T-This was supposed to be perfect, and it's all ruined. Isn't this supposed to be the perfect time, in the afterglow of having a baby?" Clare asked. Her hormones were all off track from being pregnant, and I knew how to deal with it by now. "We are, baby. This was just something unexpected that's all. I said that nothing was going to happen to this baby, and I will do everything in my power to keep it that way. Clare, this is the afterglow. I love you and Jade, you are the center of my world. We have a newborn baby to take care of, and a little foot problem isn't going to stop us from enjoying one second of her. Understand?" I asked. Clare nodded and I wiped her tears away. I kissed her. "I love you," I murmured. She mouthed that she loved me to. "I'll be in Morty. You get Jade, but you'll have to drive, okay?" I said. She nodded again, kissed my forehead and disappeared up the steps. I gritted my teeth and hobbled up to Morty, and for the first time in a blue moon, I got in the passenger seat. Clare came out with the baby and put her in the car seat. She got in and I handed her the keys.

"Are you okay, my blue eyes?" I asked her. She nodded, her eyes slowly drying. "Yeah, I am. As long as we're all together and okay, we'll be fine." She murmured. She smiled at me. I kissed her forehead and she drove to the hospital. I called Cece on the drive over, and told her what happened. I had to wait at least ten full minutes before I could get a word in. When we finally pulled into the doctor's office, Clare looked fine. She got Jade out of the car and helped me into the office. We went into the office, and the doctor took us right away. He took an X-ray of my foot, and it was fractured. He put a stint on it and said I could do things normally. Clare was thrilled. Then it was their check-up, and Clare was fine. Jade got a stethoscope put up to her chest, and other weird things.

The doctor examined her feet and looked puzzled. He muttered something under his breath, and pulled Jade up and stood her up on the table. He held her up and gently put some of her weight on her feet. Jade squirmed. "What is it?" Clare asked, worried. The doctor laid Jade back down, and said "Probably nothing. Her feet are just a little less developed then the rest of her. She'll probably be fine; it'll adjust as she'll grow." "It'll probably be fine?" Clare asked, her voice surprisingly high pitched. She looked scared. "She'll be fine, Mrs. Goldsworthy. It'll adjust. The worst that could happen is her feet are slightly smaller than other children. Once she hits her first growth spurt, it'll be fine." The doctor shrugged. "Will…Will she be able to walk normal?" I asked gently. The doctor smiled and nodded. "Really, you don't need to be scared about this, its fine. Really."

"How is that possible?" Clare asked. "How could the rest of her body be developed and her feet not be?" The doctor shrugged again. "I'm not sure why. Sometimes kids will be disproportioned, some parts will grow normally and others will be slightly different. It won't affect her much, if at all." The doctor told us to have a good day and to call if we had any questions. I remembered me kissing Jade's feet this morning, before our walk. They were perfect. Jade would be fine. As we walked out of the doctor's office, holding Jade in her carrier in one hand, I grabbed Clare's in hand my other. "Everything will be okay."