Chapter 7: Gaining Experience

Ellie's POV

"Sean, we're going to be late if you don't hurry up!" I called from the kitchen where I was

packing some carrots and grapes in a baggy.

"Okay, I'm ready," Sean mumbled as he shuffled into the kitchen. "Some of us didn't sleep like babies last night."

"Well I'm sorry I was so tired. It's hard being..."

"Pregnant. I know. But maybe next time you can stop complaining about how cold you are and you can stop kicking me under the covers. I was sweltering all night."

"Aw, poor baby. You were sweltering," I put on a fake sympathetic look and rubbed my eyes like I was crying.

Sean shot me a look as he grabbed his backpack and started for the door. "Keep that up and you won't be getting a birthday present."

I squealed and ran after him, wrapping my arms around his shoulders when I caught up. "Presents? For me?!" I gave him a big kiss on the cheek and rested my cheek on his neck.

Sean grunted and stopped walking. "There is no way I'm walking all the way to school with you hanging off my back like a monkey."

I let go of him and decided to just hold his hand as we strolled down the street. Sean and I had been living together for a total of three weeks and things were going great so far. We went over to my house a few nights a week for dinner with my parents (who were making quite the effort to stick around) and Sean had gotten a slight raise at work. Sean still doesn't want to contact his parents or brother to tell them the news, but I'm making it my own personal vow to convince him that it would be for the best. If I were his parents, I would want to know that I had a grandchild on the way.

"What are you thinking about?"

I took my gaze off of our interlocked fingers and flashed him a brief smile. "About the baby."

"Really? What about the baby?"

"Just everything really... what life is going to be like. What will happen with school..."

"What are we going to do about school?"

I shrugged. "I honestly have no idea. I'm supposed to talk to Ms. Sauve sometime soon. I'd rather not talk to her, but whatever..."

"I think it's good that you talk to her. She wants to help you, Ellie. You have this whole thing against people helping you."

"Wow, sounds like someone else I know." I gave him a pointed stare and he blushed. He's so cute when he blushes. I looked up and saw Marco and Ashley waving at me from the stairs in front of school. "Well, I'll catch up with you later." I kissed him on the cheek and jogged over to my friends.

Too bad they were hanging out with the dreaded Paige and company.

Okay, well, really it's just Paige and Spinner that piss me off. And things around Craig can still be a bit weird since the whole five-minute crush on me ordeal. I noticed that Terri left as soon as I walked up to the group. Good. I really don't like that girl. "Hey Ash, Marco. What's up?"

Marco stretched his arms over his head and gave a big yawn, "So tired. All of the French homework kept me up late last night."

"You should have called me. I would have come over and helped you or something."

"I didn't want to bug you. Paige ended up helping me."

I narrowed my eyes at the blonde and clenched my jaw. Since when did Paige give Marco homework help. That was my department. She would easily get him a B or something on it. What was he thinking? Before I started to really freak out about Marco's grade, I took a deep breath and relaxed my shoulders. I definitely needed to start relaxing. All this tension was not good for the baby.

"So how is the bun in the oven?" Ashley grinned from ear to ear and rested her head against Craig's shoulder.

I noticed that Paige rolled her eyes, but I ignored her. "He or she is fine. Things are going so smooth."

"Any names yet?" Jimmy queried.

I turned my attention over to him and shrugged. "None so far. We're still trying to get used to it. Why any suggestions?" I teased.

Jimmy lifted a shoulder and smiled, "Jimmy isn't a bad name. Just an idea."

"I'll keep it in mind. Well, I have to go talk to Mr. Simpson about the yearbook real quick. I'll see you guys in class." I gave a slight wave and started towards the Media Immersions lab.

Mr. Simpson had left me a note the other day about meeting him to go over a few things for Yearbook. I was so happy that he was really putting his input into the project. So many other yearbook advisors just let everyone do whatever they want and give no direction. The yearbook ends up looking like shit and the editor is left to blame. Well, I was editor this year. I didn't want that to happen.

"Hey Mr. Simpson."

"Oh, hey, Ellie! Have a seat at the back table and I'll be there in a second." He went back to typing something on his table and I followed his directions. Setting my bag on the table, I investigated my nails until I saw his shadow loom over the table.

He squeezed his tall body into one of the chairs and pulled a binder out of his messenger bag. Only Mr. Simpson would carry a messenger bag. The man was seriously just too cute for words. "Okay, well, we got a call from the publishing company last week and they're very pleased with the progress. We've made all of our deadlines so far, they haven't had to send any pages back yet for mistakes, so they said they'll give us another block of colored pages for free!"

My mouth fell open and I slammed my hands down on the table, "That's great! I mean that would cost, what, a couple hundred more? But we get it for free. But that's great because I really thought we could use some colored pictures for the play and for the soccer tournament and for..."

"Woah, woah, woah! Slow down, Ellie. I know you're excited, but we have all week to decide what's color. You just write down a few of your ideas and we'll bring it up at the next yearbook meeting, okay?" Mr. Simpson pointed towards the yearbook calendar on the wall, and I made a mental note to remember that there was a meeting on Wednesday. That worked out perfectly. I wouldn't have to go to my co-op so I could spend extra time working on some of my pages afterward.

"Okay, then I'll just bring my ideas to the meeting. Wow, thanks for the good news, Mr. Simpson."

"Of course. Ellie, I want to say I'm really proud of how well you've dealt with yearbook this year. Not many people want to get involved because of all the work it entails- selling ads, making the pages, getting pictures... It's hard work, but you have completely proved yourself."

I blushed furiously and tried to duck my head without look like a total dork. I couldn't though and Mr. Simpson laughed a bit. "So, how are things with Sean?" He asked as he sat back down at his computer and I sat at my own.

"Fine. I had a doctor's appointment the other day."

"How did that go?"

"Great. Everything's fine."

"I bet Sean was a nervous wreck. I'll never forget how I felt taking Spike to her appointments. Have you guys had much experience with babies?"

I looked up from my e-mail and shrugged, "I've volunteered at the orphanage/day care downtown. I've never really babysat or anything."

"Well, maybe you and Sean could babysit Jack sometime. I know Spike and I would love the time off and I'm sure Emma would too. Poor girl is always home watching him when we can't. She barely has a social life anymore."

"We'd love to look after little Jack sometime. I think Sean's starting to get stressed out thinking of the responsibility. It'd really help him prepare."

Mr. Simpson nodded seriously, "It would. I'll talk to Spike and get a date for when you two can watch him. Let you know what you're in for!" He chuckled at his last remark and I blanched. Would it really be that hard taking care of a little baby?

Emma's POV

"Oh. It's you." I cringed at how bitter and jealous I sound towards her. I didn't mean for it to come out that way.

Ellie widened her eyes and stepped through the doorway, "Well, hello to you, too."

"Where's Sean? Did he abandon you? That's his specialty." I wiped my bangs off of my forehead and grabbed two cokes for Ellie and me.

"Listen, Emma... Sean really isn't as bad as you think. He just..."

"Not as bad?" I repeated incredulously. "I dated him before you, Ellie. He is as bad as I think. He was a jerk, he fought all the time, he drank all the time, he stole... He took my dying dad's computer. A computer my mom blew everything for. He took it without a second thought. How can I just forget about that? About how he abandoned me for those delinquents."

Ellie let out a sigh and leaned forward, placing her palms on her knees. "He hurt you. I know. He knows, too. And I'm not trying to say that you should forget about everything he did to you. Partly because what he did was horrible and partly because if you did forgive him I feel like he'd go back to you."

I sat back in my chair and stared at her in amazement. Why would Sean ever come back to me? I didn't want him to come back to me. "Ellie, I'm not trying to take Sean away from you. I have my own relationship with Chris. I wouldn't trade that for the world, but you should really look out."

Ellie rubbed her hands together and shrugged, "I can't worry about Sean all the time. I have other things to worry about if you haven't noticed. "She gestured towards her stomach and I gave a small smile. It was amazing to think that Sean, the immature, no good Sean I knew, would be having a baby. Maybe it would help him finally grow up.

"I'm really not trying to sound like some jealous ex-girlfriend. I have to admit, I am a little jealous. You've helped him more than I ever did. He is slowly changing into a better person. I'll always feel a little resentment towards him for how he ended it between us, but throughout the year, Sean and I have come much closer to going back to friends."

"You helped him a lot, Emma. Give yourself credit. He was drinking, becoming an alcoholic, and you helped him stop. Not many people can say that about themselves. I couldn't even get my own mother to stop drinking. She had to decide on her own. But you, you were reason enough for him to stop."

I felt a faint blush creep up on my cheeks and I looked at my lap. I guess I did help him in that department. Our date that night had gone so badly. He had stormed off from dinner with my parents and then my mom had to come pick us up, him completely wasted off of his ass. The doorbell rang and I hopped up to get it.

"That must be Sean," Ellie followed me into the entranceway. "He said he would be a little later getting off of work."

I opened the door and, sure enough, Sean was standing there, looking freshly showered. His mouth fell open when he saw me and he put his hands in his pockets. "Hi, Emma. I didn't know you'd be here."

I glanced at Ellie out of the corner of my eye and grabbed my coat, "I'm only here until you guys showed up. I'll be out with Chris. My parents left all the numbers on the refrigerator, directions on how much to warm the bottles up are on the counter, good luck."

I slipped out of the door and started to walk down the pathway. I can still remember the time Manny and Craig had tried to babysit Jack. They had been driven completely nuts. I smiled. Somehow I knew Ellie and Sean would do a lot better.

Sean's POV

"I didn't expect Emma to still be here," I took my coat off and threw it over the couch as I walked past Ellie. "What were you guys talking about?"

"You."

"Seriously, what were you talking about?"

"You! You know, you owe her. You hurt her pretty bad."

I glanced at Ellie. Was she for real? I owed Emma? Okay, I did some pretty nasty stuff towards her. The last being spitting at her feet. But she deserved that, right? I shook my head and sighed. Maybe Ellie was right. Maybe I did have to stop feeling sorry for myself all the time. Stop thinking that the world was out to get me.

"Hey, come here," I grabbed Ellie's arm and pulled her towards me, giving her a warm kiss on the mouth. "Mmm, that's better," I murmured into her mouth.

She smiled against mine and kissed me back, slipping her tongue in between my lips. We kissed for awhile, our hands everywhere on each other, our tongues rubbing against each other, finally pulling away when we started to lose our breath.

"You're distracting me. We have a baby to take care of." She smacked my hand playfully as I reached for her again and walked into the kitchen.

"As far as I can tell, he's asleep! That means we can do whatever we want. And I see a very comfy couch right here with our names on it."

"I am not getting it on while I babysit. How tacky."

"Why can't we be tacky for once? We're always cliche, I want to be tacky now," I whined and held onto her hand so she couldn't walk away from me.

"Sean! Next thing you'll be on your knees holding onto my knees. You're such a baby!" I dropped to my knees and grabbed around legs, forcing her to stay with me. She laughed and ruffled my hair. "Later. Right now, there's a baby to take care of."

I watched as she walked away and I immediately missed the feel of her smooth legs against my hands. I got back up to my feet and followed her as she walked around the house. She stopped in front of Jack's toys and oohed and awed for a bit over all the fun stuff he had. She refolded a few baby blankets and placed them in a neat stack just as Jack woke up and started to cry. I smiled as she clapped her hands and bounded for the nursery. "Baby time!"

I raced after her and we leaned over the little crib at the baby. "He's so cute!" Ellie cooed. She reached a finger in and rubbed his cheeks. "Look how chubby his cheeks are! It's like you!"

I scowled and put a hand to my cheeks. "You're the one with the chubby cheeks, you chunk," I joked back.

Ellie stopped making weird noises at Jack and stared at me. "What?" I asked. She knew I was joking, right?

"You're such a jerk. I'm going to go warm up a bottle." She stormed off leaving me alone with the baby. Jack looked up at me with big eyes and then started to cry again. This was going to be a long night.

Ellie's POV

What a jerk. Seriously. What do I see in him? My face burned as I stomped out of the nursery towards the kitchen. I didn't have chubby cheeks, did I? I retreated into the bathroom and looked in the mirror. I gasped. He was right. I did have chubby cheeks. I put my hands to the side of my face and rubbed. Ugh. I was such a freak.

I started out of the bathroom when I noticed that tears were burning behind my eyes. What was wrong with me? Why couldn't I just look in the mirror without wanting to cry? I checked out the hallway and saw that Sean was still in the nursery, the door closed. I closed and locked the door of the bathroom swiftly and kneeled in front of the toilet.

This is what my life is about. On all fours in front of the toilet. It's what I deserve.

After I was finished relieving myself of all the crap I had eaten that day, I drank a little water and used a little mouthwash. There. I checked my watch and saw that I had only been gone for about three minutes. That was good. I didn't want Sean wondering where I was.

I hurried and warmed a bottle up, making sure to check that it wasn't too hot.

"Ellie? Are you getting the bottle?"

"Coming!" I called back. "Here you go!" I lifted Jack out of his crib and cradled him in my arms. He greedily took hold of the bottle and Sean laughed.

"He knows what he wants."

"Yeah, he does," I murmured as I watched him drink from the bottle. After awhile he finished and I set the bottle down on the diaper table. "Do you want to hold him?" I raised an eyebrow at Sean.

He shrugged, "Why not?"

I handed him over smirking. Now, if Sean knew anything about babies, he would grab a towel first and then burp him. But of course, this being Sean, he just grabbed Jack and started to walk away with him. In about... five... four... three... two... one...

"ELLIE!"

I laughed and walked out into the hallway. "Yes?" I asked innocently.

Sean looked at me disgusted. "He just barfed all over me!"

I rolled my eyes and grabbed the crying baby, "Aww! Did someone forget to burp you? Poor thing!"

Sean muttered a few choice words and went into the kitchen, making as much of a scene as he could. Of course. I whispered a quiet thank you to Jack and smiled.

"I can't believe he threw up on me. That is so gross. What kind of thing does that?" Sean was still bitching about the whole vomit incident.

"It's not his fault. You're the one who didn't burp him," I replied matter-of-factly.

"How was I supposed to know to burp him?"

I looked over from where I was playing with blocks with Jack, "Weren't you the one reading all those pregnancy books?" I wiggled my eyebrows and saw Jack push the tower of blocks over. "Hey, no fair! It was getting so tall!" I reached over and tickled him a bit. He swayed back and forth and I made sure to steady him so he didn't fall over.

"You're so good with him. I'm amazed," Sean rested his chin on the arm of the couch and watched as Jack started to pile the blocks up again.

"I guess it's instinct."

"I wish I could be that good with him."

"Maybe if you came down here and actually played with him?" I suggested sarcastically.

Sean dragged himself off of the couch and managed to make his way over to where we were. "Hey, buddy!" He greeted Jack and pulled him into his lap.

I watched as Jack giggled and started to clap his hands together and Sean jiggled him up and down. It was so cute watching Sean, Mr. Tough Guy, getting all paternal with a baby. I couldn't erase the huge smile off of my face as I continued to just stare at them.

"Looks like things are going great!" I jumped and turned around to see Mr. Simpson and Spike. What were they doing back? They weren't supposed to be home for another two hours.

"Sorry, it's impossible for us to stay away from him too long!" Spike apologized, putting a hand on my shoulder.

I shrugged even though I was a bit upset that we couldn't stay and play with Jack a little longer. "It's fine. I guess we can go now. Ready, Sean?"

Sean didn't even look up. Him and Jack were too busy playing airplane. Spike and Mr. Simpson looked at each other and smiled. Mr. Simpson spoke up, "So, how do you two feel about spending a Friday night with two old folks?"

I broke into a grin and looked at Sean out of the corner of my eye. He was still in his own world. "I don't think you even have to ask!"