Chapter 25

Three weeks past and the family began to get used to the idea of having two babies coming rather then one. They didn't go shopping for the babies yet, since they decided to wait until they knew the sex of the twins. Both Derek and Casey agreed that they wanted to know the sex of the babies as soon as they could, which would be around eighteen weeks, so they still had another five weeks to go.

Now that Casey was nearing the second trimester her mood swings were less severe and she wasn't feeling tired and nauseous all the time. Which meant that her and Derek actually sat down and were able to talk about things. Now althoguht Nora and George wanted them to be married before the twins came, Derek and Casey both agreed that it wouldn't be best for them or the twins. The plan was to continue dating, but do what they could to make it work to the best. If it turned out great, then they would wed before the twins were a year. That seemed to make George and Nora happy.

Casey was starting to show a bit more, to the point that if she wore her tight her shirts you could tell she was pregnant. In fact it scared the hell out of Emily and Robyn. They came over after Casey's first doctor appointment to fill out last minute college applications. Only thing was they didn't know Casey was pregnant and not going to college in the fall. Casey walked to the door when the doorbell rang and she answered it. She ran her tounge over her lips before nibbling on the inside of her lower lip. Once the girls noticed the bump, they didn't ask any questions. They just said they would need some time to get used to the idea. They were back a week later making plans for the babies.

Although Emily and Robyn came over a bit, bringing ice cream for Casey each time, Trevor and Sam were the ones who came over the most often. Trevor was there each step of the way for Casey, but he made sure not to overstep his boundries and making sure Derek was comfortable where he stood. Sam was there for Derek, making sure he didn't lose his mind like he had done the previous time.

Casey gasped and her eyes shot open early in the morning. She put a hand on her stomache and winced a bit until the pain subsided. She shook her head and looked at the clock and saw that it was only just past eight. She sighed and tried to figure out why she had the random pain. The twins wouldn't be kicking yet and she hasn't felt abdomen pain since she first found out she was pregnant. She assumed it was a normal thing, like morning sickness, and kicked the covers off. In fact she was pretty sure abdomen pain was normal. Like she read it somewhere or something. She sat up in bed and noticed that Derek was not in the bed next to her. At first she was rather concerned, but when she remembered he had work, she shook off the bad feeling she had.

Casey walked into the kitchen and looked around. No one was in there. Sure George, Nora and Derek were at work, but they still had the kids. Casey paused when walking to the steps. They had Lizzie and Marti. Casey let her hand fall from the banister when she thought of all the times she took Edwin for granted. Now she hardly thought of him, and when she did she felt like shit because she had to remind herself that he was not upstairs in his room. He wouldn't be planning bets with Derek or spying on people with Lizzie. She placed a hand on her stomache at the thought of the twins never knowing Edwin, except for the stories they would hear. She sighed and walked up the stairs, glacing at the stairs to the attic as she walked to Lizzie's room. She knocked on the door and when she recived no response she opened it, just as Lizzie was about to walk out.

"I'm going out with Jaime and some other kids. I'll be back before dinner." Lizzie said, walking past Casey and down the stairs. Casey scrunched up her nose as she tried to figure out the young women that replaced her little sister. The Lizzie from two years ago wouldn't leave Casey's side during a time like this. Maybe it was seperation anxiety. After all her parents had gotten divored just after their grandparents passed. But now Lizzie was hardly around Casey. Maybe it was because she was getting older. Maybe because Casey and Derek had a chance but Lizzie would never get her chance with Edwin. Maybe it was just because the house reminded her so much of Edwin. Whatever it was, she was always gone.

Casey walked over to Marti's room and looked inside. The room was empty and the bed was made, so Casey was pretty sure that meant she was the only one home. She began to walk back towards the stairs, but this time she stopped by the attic stairs. She was about to continue walking, but decided to go up the stairs.

Casey pushed the door opened and it seemed to creak louder the normal. She walked in and closed the door slightly behind her. She looked around and sighed. The room was the same, but that was mostly because no one wanted to go in it. No one touched anything in the room. Leaving it the way it was, was there way of not letting go. Casey sat on the bed and looked around. She had never really even been in Edwin's room. She looked over to his dresser and noticed a bunch of pictures on the wall around it. Edwin had taken up an interest in photography over the past year, but most of these pictures he was in. She walked over to the dresser and looked at each of them.

One had Edwin and Marti in it. He was on his knees and Marti had his arms wrapped around his shoulders, kissing his cheek. Casey smiled when she remembered when they pictures were taken. It was last summer and the parents wanted to take pictures of each of the kids with one another. Casey had them scattered around her room, but Edwin had them neatly set up on the wall. The next picture was of Lizzie and him. They each had an arm around the others shoulders, smiling widely. Casey laughed before looking onto the next picture. It was a picture of Derek with his arm wrapped around Edwin his head in a near choking position. The next picture was of her and Edwin. She was standing behind Edwin, her arms wrapped around him. She laughed when she remembered how annoyed he had been when Nora told them thats how she wanted them to stand.

Casey continued to look at the pictures, but her bladder began urging her that she needed to use the washroom. She quickly left Edwin's room and walked down the stairs, leaving the attic. She opened the bathroom door, but paused abruptly when pain shot through her abdomen again.

"Ah." She said, gasping in pain. She collapsed onto the tile in the bathroom and leaned against the wall by the door, taking slow deep breaths, trying to wait for the pain to pass. When it didn't, her breaths became quicker and heavier. She looked down and screamed when she noticed blood beginning to seep through her pants. She gasped as the pain intensed.

"Didn't mean to scare you. I just need to grab my ball." Lizzie said, noticing Casey position. She just heard her gasp and figured that she scared her. Casey wanted to yell to her, but the pain hurt her so bad she wasn't sure she could talk. When Casey heard Lizzie's footsteps jogging by, she yelled out as best she could, but it came out mostly as a scream. She heard the footsteps stop and then get closer to the bathroom. "Case! Are you okay?" Lizzie asked concerned when she saw her sister on the floor.

"Call Derek!" Casey managed to yell. Lizzie noticed the blood and rushed to the nearest house phone. Casey could hear her yelling urgently to Derek on the phone, before hearing the beep of it shutting off and falling to the ground after Lizzie dropt it in a hurry.

"Okay." Lizzie said rushing back into the bathroom. "I'm going to help you downstairs and Derek is going to come and bring us to the hospital. He's calling mom and George on the way." Lizzie said, then began doing the best she could to help Casey up and not hurt her in the process.

They made it outside just as Derek pulled into the driveway. He got out of the car and opened the backseat, making it easier for them to get in before getting back in his seat. He waited for them to get in before taking off.

"Nora is on her way and my dad is picking up Marti. Then he will be there." Derek said as he sped off down the street. Casey gasped in pain and Derek pushed the accelerator harder. "What happened?" He asked as he flew through a yellow light.

"I. Don't. Know." Casey said between breaths as she gasped in pain. Derek pushed the car as hard as he could without getting chased by the police. He pushed the it the best he could to get her to the hospital as quickly as possible.