THE CLEARWATER'S
CHAPTER 39
SAVANNAH P.O.V
14 WEEKS PREGNANT
"I have some vacation time and I think I should use it." Seth commented to me the very second he got home from work. "I wanna take a road trip."
"A road trip?" I asked. "With your children and your pregnant wife?"
"Yes those people are welcome to come." He joked. "I think it would be fun."
"Where do you want to road trip to?" I asked as I finished dinner and was plating everyone's food. "And when?"
"I was thinking next month and I would like to go to the Grand Canyon." He grabbed the boys plates and brought them over to the table. "I figured we would be gone about 2 weeks."
"Alright." I commented. "I think I would enjoy that. We could camp instead of sleeping in a hotel."
"That is the plan." He smiled. "Although I don't think either of us will be able to go two weeks without sex."
"I'm sure we'll find a way." I smirked bringing our plates over to the table. "Or we could make it a competition."
"How?"
"I'm sure I would win." I continued.
"How would we make this a competition?" He asked again holding me by my waist.
"Whoever caves first, loses." I shrugged. "But only on vacation. At home doesn't count." He rolled his eyes.
"Of course at home doesn't count because you would lose." He commented sitting down. I giggled as I rubbed his shoulders and kissed his head.
"How was work?" I asked. He shrugged. I knew he hated going to work everyday and missing out on everyday life with the boys.
"I would rather stay home with you." He looked at me. "I think we need to dip into whatever the Cullen's are doing." The boys came to the table and both climbed onto their seats. "I don't want to work anymore. At this rate I'll be doing it forever and I don't want to do this forever. I can already tell that your aging had slowed to an almost stop."
"You can tell?" I asked.
"Well yeah." He said as if it was obvious. "You still look exactly how you looked when you turned 18. You haven't aged at all."
"Most people don't change much from 18 to 24."
"You would be shocked how much they do." I sat down next to him.
"Well back to the work thing. I support you if you want to quit. I think we would do just fine the way the Cullen's do but you gotta remember that Carlisle is a doctor and he works." I knew that Alice worked stocks and she was able to see which ones were going to make them the most money. I'm sure she would be more than willing to help us out.
"I'll figure something out." He said shoving food in his mouth. "Can we plan our trip?"
"We're going on a trip?" Koda asked.
"Yeah. Daddy wants to go to the Grand Canyon." I answered. "We're gonna drive and camp along the way. Won't that be fun?"
"What about Nana and Papa?" Koda asked. "Are they coming?"
"No. I'm sure they'll be just fine staying here." Dad of course would stay behind to handle the pack and mom would never leave Dad here alone.
"Baby." Kuba pointed to my belly.
"The baby will come with us." I answered. Watching Kuba react to things and learn new things was worrisome. He wasn't picking up on this as fast as Koda was at this age. Carlisle had been concerned about his growth. He grew very quickly but he didn't gain much weight and he still wasn't talking very much. After dinner tonight we were going over there to get any sort of update. I wasn't too worried about him not gaining weight, that happens with a lot of children and his body won't let him starve. I was more worried on why he wasn't talking in full sentences yet.
"We're meeting with Carlisle today right?" Seth asked as he got up to get himself seconds.
"Yes. I'm hoping he gained some weight but I'm not really worried about that. I'm more worried about why he isn't talking." Kuba keeps to himself. He is a much easier child to handle than Koda. They play together but Kuba would rather play by himself. He doesn't interact much with other children. He has the same morning routine and get's overwhelmed very easily.
He clings to Seth when he wants something. He knows a few words and he has trouble telling us what he wants. Usually he just points and whines.
"What are you thinking about?" Seth asked as he helped me clean up from dinner. I sighed. "You're worried about what Carlisle is going to say." I nodded. I knew that whatever was going on we would be able to handle but when you have a baby you expect that everything is going to be fine and that they won't struggle throughout life. Sometimes life doesn't go as planned and as much as I knew that, it still broke my heart thinking about the fact that my little boy would struggle.
"I just-" The tears rolling down my cheeks stopped my words. He wrapped his arms around me.
"It doesn't matter. He is still our little boy and he will always be perfect in my eyes." He answered trying to soothe me. "Everything will be fine."
"And what if it's not fine?" I asked pushing away from him. "What if something is really wrong?"
"Babe, it doesn't matter. We will do whatever we can to make sure that he's taken care of and that he won't struggle."
"Let's just go." I barked throwing down the towel i was holding and going to the living room where the boys were watching t.v. "C'mon. We're gonna go over to the Cullen's." At least we would have their support.
I was a nervous wreck the entire drive there. The only think keeping me calm was Seth's hand rubbing over the bump on my stomach that seemed a lot more prominent than I thought it would.
"My man!" Emmett shouted as soon as we pulled in the driveway. He had Koda out of his seat as fast as possible and they were already inside by the time I even got out of the car. Kuba waited patiently in his seat for me to take him out. I set him on the ground and Alice came out of the house.
"Hi." She smiled.
"Hi!" Kuba shouted at her. He was most comfortable with her. I think it was because she was so dainty and small that he wasn't scared of her. He grabbed her hand and they both slowly walked up to the house. Seth walked with his hand on my back as we walked inside. Both boys were occupied as Carlisle came out of his office.
"Can I speak with you both?" He asked. I walked up the stairs to his office. I've been in here a million times but this time scared the crap out of me. Seth sat beside me rubbing my back.
"Give it to me straight, Doc." Seth said making me roll my eyes. He was acting like this wasn't a big deal.
"I don't want either of you to be upset."
"Too late." I commented. "So it's bad."
"It's not necessarily bad." He started. "I believe that he has autism." The words made my heart drop into my stomach. "I think we need to start him in early education. There are some lovely programs that help children with autism and I think it would benefit him. We need to start to get him to talk and interact with other children."
"So what does that mean?" Seth asked.
"It means that he is going to have some learning disabilities. He struggles to learn. But there are ways around this and there are a lot of ways that we can help him."
"But we can't fix it."
"No. This isn't something you can fix but if we get him the right programs now, it could help when he's older and going to school."
"So early intervention?" I asked.
"Preschool. They have programs for children like him. There is only so much being at home or with family can do. When he is here Esme has tried to get him to interact or to speak but he doesn't pick up on things as quickly as Takoda was able to. We need to intervene." We. He wasn't going to let Seth and I handle this alone. We were in this together.
"Which programs?"
"Well there is one in the town over." He handed me a brochure. "I've checked them out and I think he would benefit a lot going there. They don't have programs like this in Forks or La Push so if needed we can pay for a private program."
"You would do that for us?" Seth asked.
"Of course we would. I know we have our differences with the pack but I want the best for you and your children. I love them like my own grandchildren." It made me emotional how much he cared and of course I knew that he loved them but the fact that he was willing to go to the ends of the earth to help our babies amazed me.
"Okay. Can we meet with some of these teachers?"
"Of course. Would you like me to set up a meeting?" I nodded. "Do you want me to be there?" I nodded again trying to wipe away my tears. "I don't want you to be upset."
"I'm an emotional pregnant woman who just found out that her baby has autism. Of course I'm going to be upset." He frowned at me as I cried.
"I know it's upsetting but there are ways to help him. If we help now he may not struggle when he gets older."
"What if he does struggle?"
"Then we'll help him then too. I will set up a meeting to meet with the teachers. Please, whatever you need, ask. We are more than willing to help you out."
I leaned into Seth who wrapped both of his arms around me. This didn't change anything. He was still my little boy and this diagnosis didn't matter. I loved him. More than I've loved anyone else in this entire life besides his siblings. I wouldn't let him struggle.
*SETH P.O.V*
We stayed with the Cullen's for a few more hours. Emmett took both boys off to run around the backyard. They loved how fast he could run and they kept trying to catch him.
"So, have any names planned?" Rosalie asked.
"Yes but we are not sharing. We have a name planned for a girl." Savannah answered her. "I hope it's a girl."
"What if it's not?"
"Then at this time next year I'll be pregnant again."
"Woah what?" I turned to her. We had agreed that after this baby that she would go on birth control until this baby was at least 3 before we had more. If we had more.
"Relax."
"Speaking of that. You both need to be careful or you're gonna end up having a kid every year. From my understanding as long as you're not aging, you can have a lot of kids. Savannah is pretty fertile and a vasectomy won't work on Seth. Neither will tying your tubes."
"Why?"
"The second someone snipped you, it would grow back due to your fast healing." I nodded understanding. I wasn't sure how many kids I wanted. I was hoping for four but I knew that Savannah would try and try until we got a girl. "So maybe you should think of how many kids you want and protect yourselves after that."
"Lot's of bad news today." I joked.
"I will knock you out, Seth."
"I would love to see you try." Her fist slammed into my chest knocking the wind out of me. I fell on the floor gasping for air. I forgot just how strong she was. She stood over me looking down at me smirking. I asked for I just wasn't expecting her to actually hit me. "You're gonna pay for that." I growled at her.
"Should we go?" She asked.
"Want us to watch the boys for tonight?" Esme asked.
"We don't have any extra clothes for them." Sav said.
"That's okay. We have stuff here for them in Edward's room." He nodded from across the room where he was playing piano. "We have cribs in there too." I'm assuming they put those things in his room because he was the only one who didn't need privacy since he was single.
"Let me ask them. I'm sure Koda will." Savannah said going to the back door. I heard her ask them and heard Koda's response. Nothing from Kuba. "Well come give me a kiss goodnight." I heard both of them running up the porch and running across the deck.
I stood and walked out onto the deck. Both boys were hugging and kissing her before coming over to me to do the same.
"Please be good. No fighting. Say please and thank you."
"I will." Koda answered.
"And you'll protect Kub right?" I asked.
"Protect Kub."
"Me!" Kuba smiled at me from Savannah's arms. I ran my hand through his hair.
"Yes you're Kuba." I smiled. "I'll come pick you up tomorrow okay? You'll have so much fun with the Cullen's. Don't stay up too late." We all said our goodbyes before I went and got in the car. I waited for Savannah to get in before turning the car around and driving home. "I can't believe you punched me in the chest."
"You doubted my fighting skills." She casually commented. "We can fight in our backyard if you want."
"You want to fight me?" I asked.
"I've been trained since I was a kid on how to protect myself. I will fight you. And I'll rock your world."
"Your dad is crazy."
"I learned how to throw a punch before I learned how to walk." She answered. "And I know the Cullen's are watching the boys but I'm not in the mood to have sex."
"That's okay. We can cuddle. Or fist fight. Whichever you prefer." She laughed.
"Can we stop for ice cream and snacks?" She asked.
"Sure." I commented pulling into the gas station. We walked in together and she right away went over to the ice cream while I looked through the chips and picked out a few things. "I also heard that it's going to be muggy tonight so do you want me to turn on the air?" I asked her wrapping my arm around her and resting my hand on her stomach.
"Yeah. I'm hot as it is."
"Yeah you are." I smirked grabbing her butt and walking away before she could shove me off. She met me at the counter and placed her snacks down. I paid for everything before we headed back to the car. "Wanna watch a movie?" I asked her as I pulled in the driveway.
"Yes." While she changed into pjs I picked a movie and set up blankets on the couch and laid our snacks out. I turned the air on knowing that she was probably already sweating and since the boys weren't here the house could be as cold as we wanted. When you ran at 108 there was no need for heat. The boys didn't run nearly as hot as me or Savannah so they still needed to the house to be heated. "I can feel the baby kicking!" She screaming coming out into the living room.
I right away put my hand on her stomach to feel the small flutter's. I kissed her as the baby kicked.
"Hi little one. Me, your mommy and your brother's are so excited to meet you." I smiled. "You have life growing inside you."
"You're such a weirdo." She giggled before sitting down with her ice cream. I sat beside her and watched the movie. Halfway through she fell asleep. I carried her to our bed and made sure the air was turned way down before joining her.
At four in the morning I woke to the phone ringing. I groaned before getting up and going out to the kitchen.
"Hello?" I grumbled into the phone. Someone better be dead.
"Seth, I'm sorry to do this but Kuba has been cried for an hour and we can't get him to calm down." Edward rushed into the phone. "I'm afraid to put him in the car."
"I'll come get him." I answered going back to the bedroom and grabbing pants.
"I'm sorry."
"Don't be. I'll be right there." I scribbled down a note to Savannah who was sleeping on her side with a pillow tucked between her legs. I quickly raced out to my car and drove as fast as I could to the Cullen's. As soon as I pulled in the driveway I could hear Kuba crying. I could also hear Rosalie rocking him and Edward playing the piano. I quickly ran inside and as soon as he saw me he let out a sigh of relief and nearly flung himself into my arms.
I rocked him holding him as tight as possible.
"I'm so sorry." I said to them. They were all standing around obviously trying their hardest to get him to calm down. This has happened a few times in the last few months that he wakes up screaming for me. Savannah says that every morning when he wakes up he cries for me. I sat down on the couch rubbing his back trying to get his breathing back to normal.
"Don't be sorry." Rosalie spoke first. "We didn't know what else to do but to call you."
"No no. It's okay. This happens sometimes. It's almost like he has a bad dream and wakes up." I commented.
"It wasn't a bad dream. I could see his thoughts." Edward commented.
"Well what is he thinking?" I asked.
"He isn't." How could he not be thinking. Everyone thinks. "He doesn't. Not like normal people do. He sees flashes of things. Faces. Places. The only thing he is seeing is your face. He doesn't think in sentences."
"Did you know?" I asked. Did you know he was autistic?
"Yes. I researched it." And you just didn't think to mention that to his parents? "I'm not a doctor."
"No but we could have started this process a lot sooner!" I shouted scaring Kuba who's sobs started up again. I stood up and brought him out into the warm air. I stood by the car rocking him. "Wanna go home? Sleep in mommy and daddy's bed?" I asked. He nodded his head wiping his eyes. I got him strapped into his seat. I drove home but kept my hand on his head so he could feel me. "Almost there buddy."
When we got back to the house Savannah was pacing the living room.
"What happened?" She asked when I came through the door holding Kuba. He was clinging to me for dear life. I right away went to our bedroom and laid down. She followed behind. I laid down with him on my chest so he could feel me breathing. "What happened?" She asked again.
"Edward said he woke up freaking out." We all laid together in silence. The sun came up before he finally relaxed and fell asleep. He eventually rolled off me and laid between us. I rubbed my eyes and looked over at the clock. I sighed before getting up and going to shower.
It was going to be a long day.