The Twilight Series belongs to S. Meyer, no copyright infringement is intended. I'm just playing with the characters.
School resumed and though Leah still felt tired, thankfully the nausea had passed. She still called her mom every week but she hadn't told her anything, she wasn't sure how to bring her pregnancy up. Plus, she didn't want her brother to worry about her.
In the last few weeks she had developed a small round bump on her lower abdomen, she found her hand resting on it more often than not. When she was twenty weeks, she felt a fluttering sensation in her abdomen and realized it was the baby moving.
At her next appointment, the doctor ordered another ultrasound and the baby cooperated allowing the tech to get some nice pictures. The tech asked if they wanted to know the sex of the baby and they looked at each other, exclaiming, "Yes." They found out they were having a little girl. Erick kissed the top of her head and rested his hand on her growing belly as he whispered in her ear, "My girls."
Leah decorated the nursery with Kate. Even though Leah was not a huge fan of girly colors, she dreamed of her daughter being surrounded by pinks, lavenders, and soft yellows. She found a baby blanket that was designed like a patchwork quilt in those colors and built the nursery palette around it.
Later that evening, she sat on the couch trying to study. She pulled the baby name book back on to her lap and flipped through the pages. She'd been thinking about names for a while. For whatever reason she had a name stuck in her head. It was one of the few things that she and Erick had not talked about.
When Erick arrived home from school he saw her sitting on the couch staring off into space. "Hey, Leah how was your day," he asked as he set down his stuff.
"Fine, I was just thinking about names. Have you given any thought to it?"
"Not really, I figured you'd want to do it," he said and then realized it was the wrong thing to say as Leah's face scrunched up and she started crying. "Leah, I'm sorry," he said going over to her and gathering her in his arms. "I didn't mean it the way I sounded. It's just I don't really have an opinion about it. What you like is okay by me; I know you have good taste."
"I'm sorry," she said as she wiped her tears away with her sleeve. "I don't know what's wrong with me. I know that you didn't mean it the way I was taking it. There's still a part of me that's scared that all this is going to be taken away."
"Leah, I'll be here for you no matter what happens with that. We're best friends for life. So tell me about this name that you are thinking."
"Charlotte Sarah and we could call her Lottie."
"Very beautiful, does it have any special meaning?"
"Charlotte means feminine and Sarah means princess."
"Hmm, I like it," he told her kissing her cheek.
Weeks passed and her stomach grew to what she thought was astronomical proportions. Her moods were labile, one moment she was crying, the next she was laughing, and then she was yelling at Erick for some minor thing that he'd forgot. Erick invited her home during Thanksgiving break, part of her wanted to decline but the other part recognized how much of a crazy person she'd been the past few weeks and Erick didn't get mad at her, so she sucked it up.
It was odd to her that there was a holiday to celebrate and give thanks about taking land and the slaughter of native people. She didn't believe the whole story about the Pilgrims and Indians, if Indians were there; they probably cooked the feast while the Pilgrims watched. Then they got to watch the Pilgrims gorge themselves on food.
Though afterwards, she was ashamed to admit how great the food was. Her stomach had never been as satisfied as it was with this literal buffet of food. Turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, stuffing, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie, some type of green bean dish, and buttery rolls, she ate like this was her last meal. She thought for sure Erick was going to have to roll her out of the dining room.
After dinner Kate propositioned her. She wanted to do a photo Christmas card to send out. And she wanted her grandbaby on it. Leah stared at her trying to figure out how that was going to work. Then, she realized what Kate wanted.
"No way! I am not having some photo of my enormous girth to wish the family Happy Holidays."
"Come on, Leah. Please," Kate begged. "Erick can be in the picture with you, too. Don't you want Lottie to be part of this?"
Leah didn't know why she felt this need to give into Kate's demands but she did. So the following week she found herself wearing a black pair of yoga pants and a tank top that was pulled up just underneath her breasts exposing her baby belly, Erick stood behind her and his hands held a sonogram of the baby while her hands rested on her girth.
Kate had at least a hundred cards made from the photo. Kate gave her a dozen to send to family. Leah looked at the pile of cards and wondered who she was going to send these to. She hadn't told her family and she really didn't have any friends in La Push. She certainly wasn't going to send one to her cousin, Emily. And definitely not to her aunt and uncle in Neah Bay, Emily's parents.
In the end, she sent one to her mom along with another picture of her and Erick and one of the sonogram pictures. She wrote a small note and then she waited anxiously for the phone call.
Back in La Push, some of the pack members along with Billy and Old Quil were gathered at the Clearwater house. Sue was making Harry's famous fish fry. The mail truck had just dropped off their mail, so Seth ran outside to get it. As he flipped through the various items, he saw a larger envelope that was slightly thicker. He noticed the slight sent of lilies and recognized the handwriting as Leah's.
Running into the house, he grabbed his mom by the arm, "We got something from Leah." His sister had kept her promise and called them once a week but lately she'd seemed distracted and on edge.
"Well, open it already, Seth."
He tore the envelope open and pulled the items out. The top item was a black and white fuzzy picture, his face frowned in confusion. He handed the picture to his mom, who gasped. "What," he asked looking at her face.
"Seth, what else did she send," she asked anxiously.
He looked down at the remaining items, there was a folded note and the last thing was a picture of a smiling Leah and some guy. Their hands were entwined on Leah's belly which was rounded. He opened the note and read what she had written. He felt shocked to his core and starting shaking. He felt an overwhelming need to go for a run. He ran out the door and phased just inside the tree line shredding his clothes.
Sue looked at the picture he'd been holding and read Leah's note. She and Erick had found out she was pregnant during the summer. They were now living together and expecting a daughter sometime in early February. She was still attending school and they'd made plans to ensure that neither of them needed to put their schooling on hold. Leah asked for forgiveness for not telling them earlier but she said she just didn't know how.
She sat down on one of the kitchen chairs and traced her finger on the picture of Leah and Erick. Her daughter was glowing. She could see the happiness radiating off of her. This would be their first grandchild and Harry wasn't here to experience it. She felt tears gather in her eyes and she started to cry softly.
Jake had seen Seth run off and he heard Sue crying. He met his dad's eyes and the two of them went into the kitchen together. Billy was the first one to speak.
"Everything okay, Sue," he asked as he wheeled closer to her.
"Yes, sorry, I'm just feeling a little overwhelmed and I'm missing Harry."
"Is everything alright with Leah," Jake asked. "I heard Seth say you got a letter or something from her and then I saw him take off."
She handed the photos and letter to Billy. He looked at the pictures and read the letter. "Congratulations, Sue or should I call you grandma," he joked setting the items back down on the table.
Jake picked up the items and looked at them. As he stared at the picture of Leah, he felt a twinge of jealously. She looked so happy. He still felt at times like she was meant to be part of his life. He looked at her rounded belly and imagined for a moment that it was his child growing there and that it was their hands that were intertwined. He shook his head to clear his thoughts and looked at Sue muttering, "Congrats."
Leah was studying for finals when she heard the phone ring. She picked up the phone, took a breath, and answered. "Hello."
"Leah, why didn't you say anything? I can't believe you've been doing this all alone."
"Mom, I'm not alone. Erick's here. I'm an adult now and I have to learn to take care of myself."
"I know…it's just I wish you were closer. I feel like I'm missing out on so much. And of course, this just makes me miss your dad even more. That he isn't around for this."
"I wish he was, too. You know that you can always come and visit."
"I suppose. That's actually not a bad idea. When do you think it would be better for me to come? Just before or after the baby's born?"
"I don't know it would be up to you. I mean I'm due February 5th but it could be any time before or after that date. My doc's pretty sure on the date and my measurements have been right on. I'll be on winter break from December 20th until January 15th. So maybe you can come out just before."
"Alright, I'll look into flights. I miss you, Leah. I'll talk to you soon. Bye, honey."
"Love you, too. Bye."
She was shocked that the conversation had gone so well. It would be nice to see her mom. Realizing how much her mom had missed being a part of this. Erick's family was great to her but it wasn't the same as her own family.