The Twilight Series belongs to S. Meyer, no copyright infringement is intended. I'm just playing with the characters.
By Christmas, Leah felt as big as a house. She was pretty sure that her feet had swollen so much that she no longer had individual toes, just webbed feet like a duck. She couldn't tell though because she couldn't actually see them. She'd given up shaving anything other than her underarms. She no longer wore socks as she couldn't pull them on without Erick's help. And she'd been reduced to sweatpants and yoga pants.
She was fat, frumpy, and grumpy. She wanted the baby out and now. It didn't help her attitude any when it seemed that every person she met came up to her to rub her belly. She'd had enough. She finally said a snarky comment to a stranger about it and they stared at her like she was a crazy person. After that incident, she decided that her body was no longer hers and there was no point in arguing.
The New Year rolled around and Leah waited anxiously for her mom's visit. Her back was always aching and she pleaded with Erick to rub her back constantly. She'd started experiencing Braxton-Hicks contractions and if that was just a taste of what actual labor was, she'd changed her mind; the baby could stay in there forever.
The week before her mom arrived, Leah started nesting. She cleaned and scrubbed the apartment from top to bottom and then did it all over again. Erick came home from work one day and found her crying on the floor of Lottie's nursery. She was upset about some of the baby's clothes; she wanted even numbers of everything. It just made sense to her. But for some reason there were an uneven number of sleepers. Erick didn't scold her instead he went to the store and bought another sleeper. By the time he got back, he found her asleep in bed.
Sue's impending arrival helped to soothe her moods and Erick was grateful for the additional pair of hands. Despite the fact that Leah couldn't bend over or reach the upper cupboards, she was still insistent that the cupboards needed cleaning and organizing. Erick tried to do it for her but apparently "he didn't know what he was doing" and so he stopped and told her that her mom could help her with it. It was one of only a few times that he got upset with her.
Sue had rented a car and made the long drive from the Twin Cities airport. She arrived at their apartment that afternoon. When they heard the knock, Leah ran, well waddled to the doorway and threw herself at her mom crying, "Mom, he's being horrible." Sue hugged her daughter and looked over her daughter's shoulder to meet Erick's eyes and rolled her own. Sue remembered how bad she had been those last few weeks, so she sympathized with Erick.
"I'm sure he's not doing it intentionally, honey. He's just a man. You know as well as I do that they can be quite difficult to deal with. Why don't you go sit down and tell me what needs to be done."
Leah sat down in the recliner and Erick helped her to get her feet up. Leah then explained to her mom what needed to be done with the cupboards. She listened to her daughter and told her she'd take care of it. But first she wanted Leah to rest as she looked tired.
Once Leah closed her eyes and was softly snoring. Sue looked at Erick and they introduced themselves. "How many times has she done the cupboards," Sue asked.
"This will be number four. I'm really trying but they look fine to me. I tried to help earlier but apparently I don't know what I'm doing."
"Well, I'll move a few things around how she said she wants it. I'm sure when she wakes up it will be something else."
For the next few days, Sue curbed some of her daughter's tendencies towards cleaning and organizing. She made sure that Leah had her bag packed and suggested a few items that Leah hadn't thought about. She also cooked several large meals and froze portions of them so that they would have some easy things to eat after she left.
On the 23rd of January, Leah complained all day about her back hurting. Erick had tried to massage it but the muscles just wouldn't relax. Sighing, Leah got up from the couch to use the bathroom. Several minutes later, they heard Leah call out, "I think it's time."
Sue went into the bathroom and found Leah standing in a puddle of water. Erick had followed Sue into the bathroom and he motioned to Sue that he'd take care of this.
"Come on, honey. Let's get your pants changed. Erick will clean up in here and then we'll get your bag and got the hospital."
Leah followed her mom to their room and her mom helped her change. She had Leah sit down on the bed while she grabbed the bag and brought it to the front door. Erick had installed an electric start on his car, so he'd already gotten the car started. He grabbed Leah's bag and brought it out. She returned to the room with Leah's jacket in her hands.
"Mom, I'm scared."
"Sweetie, it will be fine. Come on; let's get your jacket on. Erick will be back in a second and then we'll help you out to the car."
Leah had been in labor for 10 hours, she was exhausted. She didn't understand why they just couldn't hurry the baby up. Every time Sonia or Satan as Leah like to call her, entered the room smiling and full of comments like, "You're doing so great, almost there." Leah wanted to jump out of bed and hit her over the head with a bedpan. She wasn't the one feeling her uterus contract every five minutes, she wasn't the one that felt like vomiting, and she certainly wasn't the one that was going to push a baby out of her vagina. Leah hated her.
The nurse came in and did another check. "You're doing great Leah! You're at eight centimeters, I bet in the next hour or so, we'll be ready for pushing. Isn't it exciting," Satan exclaimed.
Leah was wondering if this girl had brain damage. As tempted as she was to kick her in the face, she didn't want this girl to lose any more brain cells. So she wisely kept her feet on the bed and muttered, "So exciting."
"Alright, I'll be back in a bit to see how you're doing," Satan told her walking out of the room.
Her contractions increased and now were as frequent as every three minutes. Another check showed she was fully dilated. Dr. Kady came in and asked Leah if she was feeling the urge to push. She wasn't, so the doctor opted to wait a bit to let things progress more.
Thirty minutes later, she screamed at Erick, "Get you shit together and find the fucking doctor now! I don't care if he's at lunch or in the bathroom. Get him now!" Sue stood by her bedside and encouraged her to work on her breathing techniques to relax.
"Mom, you can take those stupid breathing exercises and shove them," Leah yelled at her. She looked at her mom and at the clock and then back at her mom. "Where the fuck is he? I ask him to do one thing and he can't even do that. Do I have to get out of the bed to do it myself? Did I tell you that he's an asshole?"
Sue ignored Leah's comments and let her vent. She knew that there was no use in arguing with Leah. It was pointless at this time. And she definitely wasn't going to try and pacify her either.
Erick and Dr. Kady, along with Nurse Satan walked in. Erick came to stand on Leah's right side. The nurse helped Dr. Kady set up the bed and place Leah's feet in the stirrups. Other supplies were grabbed, the baby warmer was turned on, and finally Dr. Kady did one final check to see where the baby was in the birth canal.
"Okay, Leah the baby's right where we want her to be. Erick and mom, I want you two to pull back on Leah's knees and bring them out a bit and towards her chest. Leah, with the next contraction I want you to push. Sonia's going to help you. We need you to push slow and steady. Are you ready?"
Leah nodded her head. She was afraid to open her mouth because all of her earlier anger and frustration had turned into fear, she didn't want to cry. She felt the contraction starting and she listened to Sonia as she instructed Leah to push. Sonia counted out loud and then told Leah to relax.
This pattern continued for the next hour until finally the baby was born. Dr. Kady suctioned the baby's mouth and nose. Sonia had several blankets ready and rubbed the baby dry. Then they placed the baby on Leah's stomach.
"Congratulations, Leah. Meet your daughter."
Leah looked down at the tiny copper-colored baby with her full head of black hair. Her eyes were open and were a generic baby blue-black. She made just a few tiny whimpers as she looked around. She was the most beautiful thing Leah had ever seen. She reached her hand down and stroked the tufts of hair, "Hello, little girl. Charlotte Sarah."
Erick had walked over to Sue's side of the bed to get a better look at his daughter. Sue turned to him and gave him a hug, "Congrats."
"Thank you," he said through the lump in his throat. The baby was a miniature of Leah only without her temper. He leaned down and kissed Leah's cheek telling her, "You did good."
Sonia borrowed the baby for some time in order to do an assessment, give shots, and bathe her. She dressed the baby in a hat, tee-shirt, diaper, and a sleep sack and then brought her over to Sue and Erick. The she helped Leah get cleaned up some.
Once Leah was freshened Sonia brought the baby to Leah to have her try breastfeeding. She helped Leah with positioning the baby and recognizing the cues when the baby was ready to latch. Leah was amazed at how quickly Charlotte got the hang of it.
Sue pulled out her camera and between Erick and her they took pictures of Charlotte and Leah and several with one or the other of them in it. Leah told Erick that he could go home and Sue would room in with her and Charlotte. So Erick left for the night and Leah closed her eyes to get some sleep.
Sue stayed for two weeks and helped out. Leah and Erick were grateful for her help. A few days before she left, she and Leah took Charlotte to a photo studio and had some pictures taken. They ordered some photo cards. She helped Leah address the envelopes they would place the cards in. Her mom figured this was the easiest way to notify everyone at once.
Leah soon realized that sleep was a thing of the past. She took every opportunity she had when Charlotte was sleeping to catch a few winks herself. She'd decreased her course load but still was taking three courses, so Erick helped her study; often reading from Leah's book while she was breastfeeding.
Twice a week they made a date to go to the laundry mat. They would pack up all the dirty laundry, Lottie, as they had come to call her and their school work and multi-task. Lottie would sleep for hours on the washing machine.
Summer rolled around and Lottie was already six months old. She was rolling herself over and sitting up well on her own. Leah decided to take summer courses, while Erick worked part-time. They'd been discussing how they planned to juggle everything next semester as Leah would officially be in the nursing program.
Part of her coursework included taking a course and test to become a certified nursing assistant. She looked around and found that she could work Saturdays and Sundays as a nursing assistant and make a decent salary. When they looked at what her nursing courses would entail, it seemed that she was going to be in class three days a week. Erick worked as many classes as he could into the two days she had off but they did have some overlapping on Mondays. So they found daycare available for that day and one other during the week which they would alternate so each would have a day off from class and baby duty.
Soon enough summer passed and they'd had to put their plan into action. On the weekends if they both worked, then Kate would watch Lottie. Lottie was sleeping through the night and together they'd worked hard to keep the same schedule for her. She'd take a morning and afternoon nap, which allowed whoever was home to have some uninterrupted study time.
Leah continued to call her family weekly and would email pictures and videos of Lottie. Sue and Seth discussed visiting around Lottie's first birthday. And Leah recorded every milestone in a baby book. Whether it was her first smile or first tooth; Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas were all documented. There was barely any room in the book by the time January came and she continued to feel a driving need to document these moments, so she searched until she found the perfect scrapbook that would allow her to continue.
They planned a small party for Lottie's first birthday, just close family. Kate offered to have the party at their house and invited Seth and Sue to stay with them as the apartment Leah and Erick shared was tiny. Leah had gone all out with pink balloons and streamers everywhere. She even had the bakery make a small cake for Lottie so they could get pictures of her shoving her face full of cake.
Within the last few weeks, Lottie had started walking. Nothing was more amusing than watching Lottie amble along like an old man who'd too much to drink. She wasn't exactly talking yet but she would make different sounds that sounded close to words.
Sue decided that the pictures and videos were not enough. Lottie was beautiful, like a miniature Leah. Her black hair had just the littlest bit of curl in it and she had Leah's black-brown eyes. She always had a mischievous tinkle in her eyes along with her toothy grin. The only thing that she didn't have was Leah's temperament; Sue assumed that Lottie got that from Erick. Lottie was a generally happy baby. She was content to just sit on an adult's lap and be rocked. She rarely cried and so when she did, you knew something was wrong.
They took dozens of pictures of Lottie attempting to open her presents. Their favorite photos were those of Lottie with cake and frosting covering her face and hands. Leah leaned down and kissed her daughter's cake covered cheek and her mom was able to capture the shot when Lottie put both her hands on Leah's face while Leah's eyes widened with shock.
Seth and Sue spent a week visiting. Leah realized during that visit how much she missed her family. Erick's family was wonderful but it wasn't hers. She thought that perhaps, she also missed La Push, too.
After Lottie's birthday, she and Erick seemed to start growing apart. They'd never put a label on their relationship other than friends. They each saw themselves as Lottie's parents but they didn't look at each other as partners. It was hard for Leah to describe their relationship.
Thinking back on it, Leah realized they hadn't had sex for nearly four months. When she was honest with herself, she didn't particularly miss it, either. Their lives had become a routine centered on Lottie's needs. They went to work, school, and took care of Lottie.
They still spent time together talking about the future and what their plans were after graduation but neither of them spoke what they both were wondering. Would they be together? Would they make a deeper commitment? It was as if there was an ever-widening chasm between them. And the more they ignored it, the worse it got.
Things didn't get better when summer arrived again. They still spent time with Erick's family. They discussed visiting La Push but airline tickets were expensive and they didn't want to add any more debt than they already had. They were still friends but whatever they had previously for that short time was gone.
In the fall, they both entered their final year of studies; well at least Leah was in her final year. Erick would be going on to medical school. His grades had remained high, even with the arrival of Lottie and the added responsibility. He started applying for medical schools on the east coast. And Leah was still unsure of what her plans were. She planned on taking her nursing boards as soon as she could in the summer, she just didn't know where she would be when it came time to apply for jobs.
The routine they'd created the year before continued to work. They found that at times they had to put Lottie in daycare an extra day but for the most part, they were able to juggle it all. For the first time ever, Leah dreaded the holiday season. She didn't have a desire to spend time around Erick's family but she felt that she couldn't deny them Lottie and it wouldn't be fair to send him with her alone.
She wasn't sure what had changed her mind. It wasn't that his parents weren't great people and they'd done so much for her, Erick, and Lottie. It just felt wrong. Maybe it was because of where their relationship was. Trying to figure out what she was feeling and thinking gave her a headache so she decided not to.
Lottie's second birthday came up after the holidays and Leah decided to just do a small party at their apartment. Her family was unable to make it so she made sure she took dozens of photos and few videos that she later sent them.
It was the end of the year and school was ending in just a few weeks. It was around that time when she came home one from work and found Erick sitting at the table staring. He turned and looked at her. The look in his eyes tore her heart apart. She asked him what was wrong and listened to what he had to say. She sat down in one of the chairs across from him.
They looked at each other for what seemed like hours. They'd promised that no matter what they were friends first. They discussed what they should do. In the end, the decision was made for them. Erick had been accepted to Dartmouth in New Hampshire. It looked like Leah was returning to La Push for the first time in nearly four years.