Miracles Do Happen
Author's Note: Um, not much to say except hope you enjoy this chapter. School sucks. Work sucks. There. Now enjoy this chapter.
Chapter 19- Where Do We Go From Here?
The persistent sound of Juliana crying softly woke Claire up from her short but sweet slumber. Juliana was still on her belly just crying as hard as her little body was able to. Claire was about to rock her to calm her down but then she knew exactly why she was crying.
It was time to change a diaper.
" All right Jules, calm down. Let's see what Becca left in this bag of hers." Claire sat up and laid Juliana on the sofa as she walked back to her room to get the bag.
Finding it on the floor, Claire quickly picked it up and ran back into the living room. Sitting back down she opened the bag up and examined what was inside.
" Okay, we have some diapers, some baby food, wipes, plush toys, milk bottles, etc. etc. I have what I need right here. Only problem is: how do I it?" Claire looked at the little girl as she bit her lower lip. She felt sort of embarrassed at the fact she hadn't ever changed a diaper before. But she had good reason. She was the youngest sibling, she never had to change younger relatives, and she hadn't been around many babies personally in her life. Mostly they were older kids. Sighing, she noticed that Juliana had stopped crying and was looking at her with something that resembled a smirk. It was as if Becca was smirking right at her. It was almost scary.
" Let's give this a try shall we?"
After repeated fumbling and stumbling Claire finally removed the diaper off of Juliana and cleaned her up. But not without fault. There were a few accidents that made Claire want to just run to the bathroom and throw up. She knew that this was a part of motherhood she'd like to get over with quickly. In the end though, Claire triumphed and successfully changed the diaper. Putting everything back into the bag, Claire laid back on the sofa while holding a newly changed Juliana in her lap. It was then that the phone rang.
" Hello?" Claire asked.
" Hi Ms. Redfield, it's Dr. Levy again. You've spoken with me the last couple of days." Before he could go any further Claire interrupted him.
" Is Leon okay?"
" Oh, yes your fiance's okay. He's the one who told me to call you actually. It looks like he won't be coming home tonight after all. We're going to keep him one more night just to be on the safe side. He wants you to come and stay the night with him." Dr. Levy told her. Claire's worried demeanor fell and a smile fell across her face.
" Well, that's good to hear. Is he sleeping?" Claire asked.
" Yes, he's been asleep since he came back from testing. He's been through a lot of exposure these last few days. He told me that he wanted you here."
" Well, I have a few things to take care of first but I'm on my way. Is there anything I should bring from home?" Claire asked.
" Just something comfortable. I'm afraid you're going to have to use that chair again to sleep in." He said with a smile on his face. Claire smirked.
" Yeah, I figured so. Anyway, I'll be there soon. Thanks for all your help. I really do appreciate it." Claire told him sincerely."
" Your welcome. I'll tell the nurses that you're coming. Just walk right in. I have to go now. Best of luck to you and your fiance." With that he hung up. Claire hung up shortly after he did and started to close the blinds to the apartment. It was nighttime now and the city lights were irritating to her.
" I wonder where Jill has taken your parents Jules." Claire stopped herself and smirked.
" Jules. That's my nickname for you. Only to be used by your Auntie Claire."
Knock Knock Knock
" Who is it?" Claire asked from inside. She listened only to hear Carlos tired voice from the other side.
" Carlos, lover of Rebecca slave of Jill." Claire laughed as she opened the door. Carlos was rubbing his head from where Jill had just slapped him and Rebecca was leaning on Carlos' arm practically slumping to the floor.
" Well, it looks like you all had an exciting day out. Jill, what did you do to them?" Claire joked. Jill walked in and sat down on the couch and caught her breath.
" Nothing unusual. I took them to my class. Then we started looking around for a caterer and stuff for the wedding. And from there we stopped for some ice cream. Oh yeah, Carlos almost got hit by a car." Claire looked at Jill hard and confused. One of her friends was about to get hit by a car and she went about it like it was nothing.
" Jill, there are times when your insensitivity to certain things scares me." Jill laughed at her sister-in-law.
" Yeah, I guess. Well. I gotta go. Chris says he wants to do something special for me tonight. So I gotta go home and get changed. You need anything before I go Claire?" Claire shook her head. " No, I'm fine. I'm about to go to the hospital now." Jill leaned on the doorframe.
" Oh, is Leon coming home now?" She asked. Claire smiled.
" Hopefully tomorrow. I'm just going to stay there one more night. I was waiting on you to bring those two back." Claire said pointing to Rebecca and Carlos. Carlos was pretending to fly Juliana around and Rebecca was half asleep on the couch.
" Becca, go home and get some sleep okay. You look like hell." Jill told her sternly. Becca groaned.
" And I feel the same way. Carlos, let's go." Rebecca said as she yawned and went to give Claire and Jill a hug.
" I'll see you two later. And thanks again Claire." Claire smiled.
" No problem." Carlos walked out after her and thanked Claire also. He gave Jill a sarcastic goodbye and Jill just blew him off with a smirk. He was still pissed about earlier that day.
" Bye Claire. I need to get out of here. Call me when Leon gets home all right. I'll throw something for him." Jill told her as she hugged Claire and left. Claire nodded and shut the door behind her.
An hour later Claire was walking down the bright hallway down to Leon's room. She looked sort of funny carrying a duffel bag with her but she didn't care. She was going to be with her fiance. Why should she care about what strangers thought about her? Opening up the door slowly into Leon's room she heard him talking to what seemed like another man. Claire curiously peered over from around the corner and kept quiet so see wouldn't be seen
" Don't you think it's about time you get back to your room Dwayne. I mean you already missed Family Guy. It's over now." Leon chuckled. Dwayne laughed from beside him. Leon was situated on the bed and Dwayne was sitting in a wheelchair right next to him. Claire slowly walked into their view to make herself known. She smiled when she saw Leon jump a bit. Dwayne smiled.
" Hey, Claire. Seems like me and Leon can never stay out of trouble huh?" Claire nodded.
"You two need to take a couple of months off." Leon motioned for Claire to come closer to him.
" Don't worry we are? I see you've brought a sleeping bag." Leon acknowledged. Claire nodded and sat on the bed next to Leon and started to play with his hair.
" Um, I'm going to go back to my room now and try to catch something. Leon, I'm a holla at you later. Claire, you make sure he gets better. I gotta couple of days left in this joint myself. And Leon told me you two are engaged. I better have a front row seat at you all's wedding."
" Don't worry about that Dwayne." Claire told him grinning. He grinned back and rolled himself out of the room.
" The doctors told me you were asleep." Claire told him as she positioned herself to be more comfortable. Leon looked back up at her.
" Oh I was. I just woke up about 20 minutes ago. They said I could go home tomorrow. It seems that whatever damage I had to my spine has cleared up significantly. Dr, Levy says it's a miracle I didn't go into paralysis from my injury."
" Yeah, there seems to be an abundance of those lately. Not that that's a bad thing. Oh yeah, you mom called right before I left. She was just checking up on you. She told me to tell you that she's sorry she couldn't come and see you but you're in their prayers." Leon nodded.
" Mama sure did freak out when she heard the news didn't she?" Leon chuckled. Claire smiled at his boyish expression.
" Yeah, she was screaming so loud over that phone I was ready to hand up. But you know I love Ms. Lena. And little Sarah is adorable." Claire admitted as she thought back to the time when Leon took her back to Los Angeles to meet his family and the friends he had met there. Leon's family was quite "interesting" as Claire had so eloquently put it once.
"Claire?" Leon's voice snapped her out of her daydream. She looked at him and waited for his question.
" Remember on the phone when we were talking about maybe having kids?" Claire nodded.
" Well, do you think we should wait a while longer? You know like Chris and Jill said. Let's have some time to ourselves first. Wait until we're married." Leon said looking into nothingness. He was talking to her but his attention seemed to be elsewhere. Claire looked at him and frowned.
" So you're saying you don't want to try? You just want it to happen. And I don't mean anything by this but you want to be caught by surprise like Becca and Carlos?" Claire countered with annoyance in her voice. Leon knew an argument was coming. It was one of the few times he and Claire did argue.
" No Claire no. I just mean, are we really ready to become parents right now. I mean, we just got engaged a few days ago and the next day I almost get killed. Claire imagine if you were pregnant now and I didn't make it. I can't imagine the burden that would leave on you and the child." Claire interrogating stare eased up as she started to understand.
" I want you to be happy Claire. But if something was to ever happen to me, I want you to be secure to. I think it would be best if we got married first but I'm not against trying if that's what you want." Claire took in the beautiful sight before her before kissing Leon on the forehead.
" I understand that. I understand you. How about we just let it flow and we'll see how things go from here. Maybe it's better if we get caught be surprise." Leon smiled and clasped her hand.
" Yeah, let's do that. As much as I want a kid, I want you too." Claire looked at the clock on the stand. It read 9:37.
" Goodness, I've already been here for half an hour. You'll be out of here before you know it." Claire noticed. Leon nodded and a moment later he was grimacing.
" Claire baby, you're going to have to move a little bit. I gotta go to the bathroom. Bad." With that Leon slowly pulled the sheet off of him and slowly took small steps to the bathroom He was walking pretty well except for the limp that accompanied his walk. Claire got off the bed and sat in the chair as Leon shut the bathroom door.
Moments later Claire could hear the flush of the toilet and see Leon walking out, He made his way back into the bed and smiled at Claire. She smiled back. That was their little thing. In this relationship a smile could mean a lot of things.
" Claire, is their anything in particular you want for Christmas?" Leon asked from the bed. Claire rose her eyes and thought for a second.
" Nothing major. Probably just a new bike. It's been ages since I've ridden one." Leon grinned.
" I thought so. You said you had one in Raccoon but that's when you ran into me and all." Claire chuckled at the memory of her meeting Leon. Right when she opens the door, there's a man about to shoot her in the face. How romantic is that? He saved her though. More than once.
" And we got the hell out of there. Leon I swear I was more scared of your driving than those zombies." Claire admitted with a grin. She then started laughing. Leon threw a ball of paper at her.
" Hey, I did good. If it wasn't for that got damn zombie. The scary thing was that it looked like me." Leon shuddered at the memory. Claire nodded in agreement.
" Yeah, that was scary. Who would've thought we would have gotten this far?" Claire wondered outloud. Leon smirked.
" I don't know. I sure as hell didn't. But I'm glad that we did. I thank the Lord everyday for meeting you Claire. And Sherry and the others. Speaking of them, how are they doing anyway?" Leon asked.
" They're fine. Chris and Jill went out. Becca and Carlos are at home. Guess what? I changed Juliana's diaper today." Claire said with pride leaking out of her voice. Leon burst out laughing.
" Claire, you can't even change a vacuum cleaner bag, let alone a child's diaper. How did you do it?" Leon asked, his tone drenched with sarcasm. Claire sneered at him.
" I did do it you big jerk." She said as she slapped him lightly on the leg. Leon tried to fan her away but she hit him anyway.
" I'm proud of you Claire. You finally learned how to change a diaper." Leon said seriously before laughing again. Their playful banter would continue for another 2 hours.
It was 11:04 when Leon turned off the t.v. Claire must have dozed of while watching t.v with him. He smiled at her peaceful frame on the chair and slowly got out of bed. Limping somewhat over to her, he slowly bent down and kissed her on the forehead. Claire moaned something incoherent in her sleep. Leon brushed her hair back.
" It scares me how much I love you Claire." He said to himself before smiling and crawling back into his bed. After turning off his light he closed his eyes. Tomorrow, he would be on his way home. He was getting tired of sitting in the hospital bed all day. He needed to be home. He needed to be with Claire. Lately, he had been questioning where his and Claire's relationship would go. Now he realized, that he had a lifetime to find out.
Author's Note: First off, gotta thank everyone that reviewed or anyone that's supporting this story. Means a hell of a lot to me. It really does. I'm sorry to say but this story's remaining chapters are limited. I'd say that I'm going to end it in about five chapters, maybe six. After that I may start something new. Tek, as you know, I've been real lazy when it comes to updating lately. Hopefully this chapter will have made up for that. Keep on giving me that well needed support people. All righty then.
Author's Note: Um, not much to say except hope you enjoy this chapter. School sucks. Work sucks. There. Now enjoy this chapter.
Chapter 19- Where Do We Go From Here?
The persistent sound of Juliana crying softly woke Claire up from her short but sweet slumber. Juliana was still on her belly just crying as hard as her little body was able to. Claire was about to rock her to calm her down but then she knew exactly why she was crying.
It was time to change a diaper.
" All right Jules, calm down. Let's see what Becca left in this bag of hers." Claire sat up and laid Juliana on the sofa as she walked back to her room to get the bag.
Finding it on the floor, Claire quickly picked it up and ran back into the living room. Sitting back down she opened the bag up and examined what was inside.
" Okay, we have some diapers, some baby food, wipes, plush toys, milk bottles, etc. etc. I have what I need right here. Only problem is: how do I it?" Claire looked at the little girl as she bit her lower lip. She felt sort of embarrassed at the fact she hadn't ever changed a diaper before. But she had good reason. She was the youngest sibling, she never had to change younger relatives, and she hadn't been around many babies personally in her life. Mostly they were older kids. Sighing, she noticed that Juliana had stopped crying and was looking at her with something that resembled a smirk. It was as if Becca was smirking right at her. It was almost scary.
" Let's give this a try shall we?"
After repeated fumbling and stumbling Claire finally removed the diaper off of Juliana and cleaned her up. But not without fault. There were a few accidents that made Claire want to just run to the bathroom and throw up. She knew that this was a part of motherhood she'd like to get over with quickly. In the end though, Claire triumphed and successfully changed the diaper. Putting everything back into the bag, Claire laid back on the sofa while holding a newly changed Juliana in her lap. It was then that the phone rang.
" Hello?" Claire asked.
" Hi Ms. Redfield, it's Dr. Levy again. You've spoken with me the last couple of days." Before he could go any further Claire interrupted him.
" Is Leon okay?"
" Oh, yes your fiance's okay. He's the one who told me to call you actually. It looks like he won't be coming home tonight after all. We're going to keep him one more night just to be on the safe side. He wants you to come and stay the night with him." Dr. Levy told her. Claire's worried demeanor fell and a smile fell across her face.
" Well, that's good to hear. Is he sleeping?" Claire asked.
" Yes, he's been asleep since he came back from testing. He's been through a lot of exposure these last few days. He told me that he wanted you here."
" Well, I have a few things to take care of first but I'm on my way. Is there anything I should bring from home?" Claire asked.
" Just something comfortable. I'm afraid you're going to have to use that chair again to sleep in." He said with a smile on his face. Claire smirked.
" Yeah, I figured so. Anyway, I'll be there soon. Thanks for all your help. I really do appreciate it." Claire told him sincerely."
" Your welcome. I'll tell the nurses that you're coming. Just walk right in. I have to go now. Best of luck to you and your fiance." With that he hung up. Claire hung up shortly after he did and started to close the blinds to the apartment. It was nighttime now and the city lights were irritating to her.
" I wonder where Jill has taken your parents Jules." Claire stopped herself and smirked.
" Jules. That's my nickname for you. Only to be used by your Auntie Claire."
Knock Knock Knock
" Who is it?" Claire asked from inside. She listened only to hear Carlos tired voice from the other side.
" Carlos, lover of Rebecca slave of Jill." Claire laughed as she opened the door. Carlos was rubbing his head from where Jill had just slapped him and Rebecca was leaning on Carlos' arm practically slumping to the floor.
" Well, it looks like you all had an exciting day out. Jill, what did you do to them?" Claire joked. Jill walked in and sat down on the couch and caught her breath.
" Nothing unusual. I took them to my class. Then we started looking around for a caterer and stuff for the wedding. And from there we stopped for some ice cream. Oh yeah, Carlos almost got hit by a car." Claire looked at Jill hard and confused. One of her friends was about to get hit by a car and she went about it like it was nothing.
" Jill, there are times when your insensitivity to certain things scares me." Jill laughed at her sister-in-law.
" Yeah, I guess. Well. I gotta go. Chris says he wants to do something special for me tonight. So I gotta go home and get changed. You need anything before I go Claire?" Claire shook her head. " No, I'm fine. I'm about to go to the hospital now." Jill leaned on the doorframe.
" Oh, is Leon coming home now?" She asked. Claire smiled.
" Hopefully tomorrow. I'm just going to stay there one more night. I was waiting on you to bring those two back." Claire said pointing to Rebecca and Carlos. Carlos was pretending to fly Juliana around and Rebecca was half asleep on the couch.
" Becca, go home and get some sleep okay. You look like hell." Jill told her sternly. Becca groaned.
" And I feel the same way. Carlos, let's go." Rebecca said as she yawned and went to give Claire and Jill a hug.
" I'll see you two later. And thanks again Claire." Claire smiled.
" No problem." Carlos walked out after her and thanked Claire also. He gave Jill a sarcastic goodbye and Jill just blew him off with a smirk. He was still pissed about earlier that day.
" Bye Claire. I need to get out of here. Call me when Leon gets home all right. I'll throw something for him." Jill told her as she hugged Claire and left. Claire nodded and shut the door behind her.
An hour later Claire was walking down the bright hallway down to Leon's room. She looked sort of funny carrying a duffel bag with her but she didn't care. She was going to be with her fiance. Why should she care about what strangers thought about her? Opening up the door slowly into Leon's room she heard him talking to what seemed like another man. Claire curiously peered over from around the corner and kept quiet so see wouldn't be seen
" Don't you think it's about time you get back to your room Dwayne. I mean you already missed Family Guy. It's over now." Leon chuckled. Dwayne laughed from beside him. Leon was situated on the bed and Dwayne was sitting in a wheelchair right next to him. Claire slowly walked into their view to make herself known. She smiled when she saw Leon jump a bit. Dwayne smiled.
" Hey, Claire. Seems like me and Leon can never stay out of trouble huh?" Claire nodded.
"You two need to take a couple of months off." Leon motioned for Claire to come closer to him.
" Don't worry we are? I see you've brought a sleeping bag." Leon acknowledged. Claire nodded and sat on the bed next to Leon and started to play with his hair.
" Um, I'm going to go back to my room now and try to catch something. Leon, I'm a holla at you later. Claire, you make sure he gets better. I gotta couple of days left in this joint myself. And Leon told me you two are engaged. I better have a front row seat at you all's wedding."
" Don't worry about that Dwayne." Claire told him grinning. He grinned back and rolled himself out of the room.
" The doctors told me you were asleep." Claire told him as she positioned herself to be more comfortable. Leon looked back up at her.
" Oh I was. I just woke up about 20 minutes ago. They said I could go home tomorrow. It seems that whatever damage I had to my spine has cleared up significantly. Dr, Levy says it's a miracle I didn't go into paralysis from my injury."
" Yeah, there seems to be an abundance of those lately. Not that that's a bad thing. Oh yeah, you mom called right before I left. She was just checking up on you. She told me to tell you that she's sorry she couldn't come and see you but you're in their prayers." Leon nodded.
" Mama sure did freak out when she heard the news didn't she?" Leon chuckled. Claire smiled at his boyish expression.
" Yeah, she was screaming so loud over that phone I was ready to hand up. But you know I love Ms. Lena. And little Sarah is adorable." Claire admitted as she thought back to the time when Leon took her back to Los Angeles to meet his family and the friends he had met there. Leon's family was quite "interesting" as Claire had so eloquently put it once.
"Claire?" Leon's voice snapped her out of her daydream. She looked at him and waited for his question.
" Remember on the phone when we were talking about maybe having kids?" Claire nodded.
" Well, do you think we should wait a while longer? You know like Chris and Jill said. Let's have some time to ourselves first. Wait until we're married." Leon said looking into nothingness. He was talking to her but his attention seemed to be elsewhere. Claire looked at him and frowned.
" So you're saying you don't want to try? You just want it to happen. And I don't mean anything by this but you want to be caught by surprise like Becca and Carlos?" Claire countered with annoyance in her voice. Leon knew an argument was coming. It was one of the few times he and Claire did argue.
" No Claire no. I just mean, are we really ready to become parents right now. I mean, we just got engaged a few days ago and the next day I almost get killed. Claire imagine if you were pregnant now and I didn't make it. I can't imagine the burden that would leave on you and the child." Claire interrogating stare eased up as she started to understand.
" I want you to be happy Claire. But if something was to ever happen to me, I want you to be secure to. I think it would be best if we got married first but I'm not against trying if that's what you want." Claire took in the beautiful sight before her before kissing Leon on the forehead.
" I understand that. I understand you. How about we just let it flow and we'll see how things go from here. Maybe it's better if we get caught be surprise." Leon smiled and clasped her hand.
" Yeah, let's do that. As much as I want a kid, I want you too." Claire looked at the clock on the stand. It read 9:37.
" Goodness, I've already been here for half an hour. You'll be out of here before you know it." Claire noticed. Leon nodded and a moment later he was grimacing.
" Claire baby, you're going to have to move a little bit. I gotta go to the bathroom. Bad." With that Leon slowly pulled the sheet off of him and slowly took small steps to the bathroom He was walking pretty well except for the limp that accompanied his walk. Claire got off the bed and sat in the chair as Leon shut the bathroom door.
Moments later Claire could hear the flush of the toilet and see Leon walking out, He made his way back into the bed and smiled at Claire. She smiled back. That was their little thing. In this relationship a smile could mean a lot of things.
" Claire, is their anything in particular you want for Christmas?" Leon asked from the bed. Claire rose her eyes and thought for a second.
" Nothing major. Probably just a new bike. It's been ages since I've ridden one." Leon grinned.
" I thought so. You said you had one in Raccoon but that's when you ran into me and all." Claire chuckled at the memory of her meeting Leon. Right when she opens the door, there's a man about to shoot her in the face. How romantic is that? He saved her though. More than once.
" And we got the hell out of there. Leon I swear I was more scared of your driving than those zombies." Claire admitted with a grin. She then started laughing. Leon threw a ball of paper at her.
" Hey, I did good. If it wasn't for that got damn zombie. The scary thing was that it looked like me." Leon shuddered at the memory. Claire nodded in agreement.
" Yeah, that was scary. Who would've thought we would have gotten this far?" Claire wondered outloud. Leon smirked.
" I don't know. I sure as hell didn't. But I'm glad that we did. I thank the Lord everyday for meeting you Claire. And Sherry and the others. Speaking of them, how are they doing anyway?" Leon asked.
" They're fine. Chris and Jill went out. Becca and Carlos are at home. Guess what? I changed Juliana's diaper today." Claire said with pride leaking out of her voice. Leon burst out laughing.
" Claire, you can't even change a vacuum cleaner bag, let alone a child's diaper. How did you do it?" Leon asked, his tone drenched with sarcasm. Claire sneered at him.
" I did do it you big jerk." She said as she slapped him lightly on the leg. Leon tried to fan her away but she hit him anyway.
" I'm proud of you Claire. You finally learned how to change a diaper." Leon said seriously before laughing again. Their playful banter would continue for another 2 hours.
It was 11:04 when Leon turned off the t.v. Claire must have dozed of while watching t.v with him. He smiled at her peaceful frame on the chair and slowly got out of bed. Limping somewhat over to her, he slowly bent down and kissed her on the forehead. Claire moaned something incoherent in her sleep. Leon brushed her hair back.
" It scares me how much I love you Claire." He said to himself before smiling and crawling back into his bed. After turning off his light he closed his eyes. Tomorrow, he would be on his way home. He was getting tired of sitting in the hospital bed all day. He needed to be home. He needed to be with Claire. Lately, he had been questioning where his and Claire's relationship would go. Now he realized, that he had a lifetime to find out.
Author's Note: First off, gotta thank everyone that reviewed or anyone that's supporting this story. Means a hell of a lot to me. It really does. I'm sorry to say but this story's remaining chapters are limited. I'd say that I'm going to end it in about five chapters, maybe six. After that I may start something new. Tek, as you know, I've been real lazy when it comes to updating lately. Hopefully this chapter will have made up for that. Keep on giving me that well needed support people. All righty then.