AN: Hi Folks!

Thank you to everyone who reads, follows, faves, and reviews this story! Extra thanks to MaidensTouchOfMadness, catgrl, and twi nana, for reviews last chapter!

Speaking of chapters...after this one, we only have two more and then we'll be on to Part Two!

Just a heads up, this is a pretty emotional chapter so you may want to have some tissues handy!

Also, I'm changing a canon character's age for this chapter so please see the bottom AN for an explanation. Thanks!

Here comes Chapter 13!

Chapter Thirteen: Celebrations and Tribulations

Sarah's POV

Willie was the cutest little boy I had ever seen. We all fell in love with him right away, just as we had with the twins.

We waited until after he was born to have a combined baby shower for all three babies. Since we'd been receiving LeeLee's hand-me-downs from Sue and had also started receiving Sam's hand-me-downs from Allison, there wasn't as much urgency to have a shower sooner.

Fortunately, we didn't have to invite Renée's mother who would have been confused by a joint shower. Marie's sister in California had been putting a lot of pressure on her to move back there and over the latter part of the summer, around the time the twins were born, she had finally caved.

The shower was lovely and went off without a hitch. We received a nice playpen, a baby swing, several outfits, including a mountain of hand-knit clothing from Helen, plenty of toys, rattles, soothers, teethers, burp pads, swaddling blankets, bibs, some nursery rhyme cassettes, books, baby wash, etc. we were exceedingly grateful. Everyone had a great time! Sue and Junie, who hosted, had organized several shower games and everyone joyfully participated.

The snacks were delightful and thoughtfully made. Sue had been teaching June how to cook because she had started out as clueless in the kitchen as our Renée had been at first. She must have been doing a good job because there were salmon puffs, deer meatballs, a shrimp salad, triangle sandwiches, and a huge fruit tray.

We chatted and munched and played games and opened gifts and had a great time. Baby LeeLee was fascinated by all the smaller babies. Willie was too small to really be on her radar yet since he stayed swaddled the whole time, but she was aware of the twins and very aware of Baby Sam who she would babble at and crawl over to and try to kiss.

He was barely three months old though, so it was hard to know how he felt about her affections, but his little eyes followed her all around the room.

After the wonderful baby shower, we had a few weeks of peace and quiet. Or, as much peace and quiet as you can have with new babies in the house. Truly there was never a dull moment.

The babies were changing and growing every day. So much so that we were making frequent trips to the store for diapers and other baby things. We made sure to stock up on everything we needed prior to the last week of November, though, so that we wouldn't have to go near any stores on or around the 27th.

It was always very awkward to be in town and have some well-meaning white person say "Happy Thanksgiving" and then sometimes they would realize their error and would try to backpedal or apologize which was even worse.

Renée was well educated enough (likely by Charlie in the early days of their relationship) that she knew better than to ask us about celebrating that particular "holiday". But from the mood Sue was in during the first part of December, I had to assume it had gone a little differently in their house with June.

Poor June, she probably just saw it as another excuse to have a party and was totally ignorant of what it represented to us. I mean, yes, by all means, let's just celebrate that time when people began sailing here by the boatload and completely disregarded our culture, traditions, beliefs, and lifestyle.

Let's commemorate how they gradually took over, as if they already owned every piece of land they set foot on, imposing their way of life on us without any regard for our well-being or any willingness to treat us respectfully.

And sure, I know that not every European back then was like that. Many of them did try to be respectful and communicate with our ancestors and learn our ways. But they certainly weren't the majority. And you can't erase the facts of history by cooking a delicious turkey. So no, we would not be celebrating Thanks-taking. Thank you very much.

We would be celebrating Christmas though. My father raised my sister and me in the Christian church and Renée also came from a Christian family. Charlie and Billy were raised with mixed beliefs because William had been more spiritual than religious but even still, they celebrated Christmas.

And this Christmas we would have so very much to celebrate. It had been quite a busy year. The boys had become spirit protectors, phasing into wolves and Imprinting on us. We'd become great friends with the Clearwaters. We'd moved into the Blackswan family home, gotten married, and given birth to a total of three healthy, thriving babies. And if that weren't enough, on December 14th, I had made my way to the drugstore in town and purchased a pregnancy test.

It came back positive.

I planned on waiting until Christmas to tell Renée and the boys. I had it all planned out. I got a onesie custom made for Willie. It said, "I'm gonna be a great big brother!" I was going to wait until we'd exchanged all our other gifts and then announce there was one more for Willie and ask the boys if they'd mind opening it with him.

But since I was involving Willie in my plan I decided to run it past Renée so I needed to tell her first.

I snuck up behind her on the evening of December 20th while she was preparing the egg nog and I wrapped my arms around her from behind. "I have a question," I whispered in her ear.

"Whatever it is, the answer is yes if you ask it like that." She beamed.

Ever since we'd all started sharing a bed, I'd learned something about myself. I might not be attracted to women on a broader scale, but I was certainly attracted to Renée.

Not in the beginning and not for physical reasons, but it was like...because we were all in such close proximity all the time, I couldn't help but see her through Charlie and Billy's eyes. And in seeing her that way, I guess I'd fallen a little in love with her too.

"Just remember you said that, because my question is, how would you feel about having another child to tend to?" I said as quietly as humanly possible so the boys wouldn't hear.

She spun around so quickly in my arms that I didn't have a chance to let go. As such, our bodies were still pressed together, but she didn't move away and neither did I.

"Are you…?" she trailed off in a whisper, looking down at my stomach. "Right now?" she confirmed with an excited gleam in her eyes.

I nodded happily. "Yep, right now. I took the test a few days ago," I whispered.

I'm not sure what I was expecting her to do, but she kissed me softly on the lips and whispered, "Congratulations!"

It wasn't necessarily a romantic type of kiss. At least, it wasn't expressly intended to be. But the way it made me feel was very...amorous.

And so, I did something I never thought I would do in a million years. I kissed her back. But this second kiss, the one that I initiated, was not in the least bit platonic, or even subtle. It was heated. All of the things that Renée had been making me feel over the months we'd been living together came pouring out in the kiss.

I hadn't even totally realized myself how I felt, until that moment. But I certainly couldn't deny it anymore. Especially not when she kissed me back just as fervently.

"I see you forgot about the egg nog," Charlie snickered from the doorway. We hadn't even noticed when the boys came in, we'd been so caught up.

I smiled apologetically at Renée knowing we'd have to pick up where we left off later. "It's here, we just hadn't gotten around to bringing it in yet. I assume I have a baby to nurse?" I asked, looking at Rachel in his arms who had an expectant look on her little face.

"Yes, please." He nodded handing her to me as Billy took the egg nog into the living room.

"Is Willie still asleep?" Renée asked Charlie.

"Sound asleep, yep. But Rebecca is just waking up if you want her?" Charlie confirmed.

"Yeah, lemme just get settled in the rocker and you can bring her," Renée agreed. I still could remember the first day that happened. Both of the twins were hungry and crying and Willie was asleep. Renée just took Rachel from me and started to nurse her. I'm sure I had a confused and possibly concerned look on my face and I know my eyebrow was raised.

Renée just shrugged and said, "What? She's hungry. I'm her mother too, aren't I?"

That was when I realized, she was all in. If anything ever happened to me, I knew my babies would still be safe and well cared for. And I knew, I needed to be all in, too.

Since then, we'd had a better functioning system in regard to the babies and their care. The nearest set of available hands tended to the nearest available baby. The babies were happier because they didn't have to wait as long for what they needed. And we were happier because there wasn't any dynamic if 'mine and yours' anymore. We were four parents with three children and that was that. Well...soon to be four children. But we still needed to get through Christmas first.

When Christmas morning finally came, it was far more peaceful than I had expected. I think I had all these pictures in my mind's eye of kids tearing around destroying things like you see in the movies. But our kids were four months and two months old, so they weren't causing any destruction yet unless you counted spitting up milk on a Christmas sweater as destruction, because that did happen a few times.

Actually, it worked out pretty well because all three babies picked Christmas morning to sleep in. So us adults were able to exchange gifts first before any of the babies were awake needing things.

Charlie and Billy proved to be very good at taking hints because I had wanted a new purse and wallet and I ended up receiving the purse from Billy and the wallet from Charlie. They were a matching set and far more gorgeous than anything I would have bought for myself but still practical and seemed durable as well.

Renée seemed just as happy with their gifts for her. She'd been trying to switch from coffee to tea because she'd heard that coffee was bad for nursing babies. She wasn't having much luck though because she didn't enjoy regular tea. So Billy had gotten her a fancy teapot and kettle and a beautiful matching mug, and Charlie had purchased an assortment of loose leaf tea varieties and two of those tea balls. She was very appreciative.

For Billy, Renée had bought a new toolbox and matching set of socket wrenches because his old ones were so old they were getting rusty. And for Charlie, she had picked up one of those huge vintage lunchboxes just the right size for a wolf's appetite and a set of notebooks with the intention that he could use them to make notes whenever he needed to study the tribal archives which was often. They both loved their gifts from Renée as well.

I had purchased two different sets of personalized stationery and business cards for Charlie, one for his role as chief and the other for his police work. The contact info was the same, but the wording was different.

The best thing about that was that some people might not want to have a La Push PD business card laying around, so he could give those people the Tribal Chief business card since the phone number was the same. It would be especially helpful for victims of domestic abuse. Charlie saw the value in it right away and was thrilled.

For Billy, he had so much music and it was all very unorganized, so I bought him a bunch of those cassette storage boxes that look like briefcases and a couple of new tapes to put in them. He was thrilled because he was sick of having to hunt for what he wanted to listen to. This way he could just make a legend that said which tapes were in which box.

After the grownup gifts were done, we woke the babies and helped them open their gifts. They mostly received things we would have needed to purchase for them anyway since they were too young to care. We weren't in a position to spend more than necessary, especially when they wouldn't remember. But there were some toys in the mix since they were starting to be fascinated by bright colors and bold patterns. And there were cloth books we could read to them.

At the very end, as planned, I said, "Oh! It looks like there is one more present for Willie. Boys, would you please help your son open his present?"

Charlie took Willie from Renée's lap and held him while Billy grabbed the present and began unwrapping it. Renée was filming with the camcorder which wasn't suspicious because we'd filmed all of the gifts being opened.

When Billy had the onesie out of its box he held it up and read it. "It says, 'I'm gonna be a great big brother!'."

"Wait...does that mean…? Holy shit! Who's pregnant?" Charlie beamed looking rapidly between Renée and me.

I raised my hand shyly. "I am." I smiled.

Both boys grinned like cats who got the canary. "We're having another baby?" They asked in unison.

"We're having another baby." I nodded. "I hope that's okay?"

"Okay? It's wonderful!" Charlie beamed.

Renée chimed in. "Does this mean you boys will actually start withdrawing your protector salaries? Because that would go a long way toward providing for this new baby and any future new babies..."

Charlie and Billy looked at each other and sighed. They were probably thinking about all the things we would need to start buying as the babies aged, like pablum and strollers which would eventually turn into popsicles and tricycles. "I guess we have to, don't we?" Charlie caved.

"Yes, you do. We understand your desire to provide for the tribe, but that needs to start at home. And we won't be spending money unnecessarily just because we have it. We can put some into savings and use part of it toward the children's college fund and the rest for emergencies.

"We can even still use some of it to help fund projects that will benefit the tribe. We just need to make sure we have our basics covered as we expand our family. After all, our children will grow up to be contributing members of the Quileute community themselves, so it's important we take proper care of them," I reasoned.

"You're right, Ladies. I've known for a while that we weren't going to be able to get by for very long without that extra money. It sucks, but it's what we need to do. Right, Billy?" Charlie confirmed.

Billy nodded. "Yep. I don't ever want our kids to feel like they had less than they needed."

"Perfect, thank you!" Renée beamed, throwing her arms around each of our men in turn. "I guess this means I can stop taking birth control?"

We all stared at her with our mouths agape. I was the first to recover. "You were taking birth control? How did I not know this?"

Renée sighed. "I didn't want to add to our financial burden when things were already so tight. Birth control is much cheaper than a baby. I've been buying it out of my allowance. I didn't say anything because I didn't want to upset anyone."

"Is that why you always decline when June invites you out for lunch in town? I thought you just didn't want to deal with her," I pondered.

"No, it was mostly the money. The Clearwaters have one baby to support and three incomes. Although I guess it will be two babies soon since Sue is pregnant. But we have three babies that we've been supporting essentially on odds and ends. But everyone thinks we have two protector salaries and a police department salary in addition to what Billy makes fixing cars.

"I couldn't let June find out I was spending my allowance on birth control or she would have blabbed it to Harry who would stop taking his protector salary and then Sue would have felt guilty for having another baby and I didn't want them to have the same issues we've been having around finance," Renée explained.

Billy and Charlie looked pale.

"Is that how you girls have been feeling?" Charlie asked.

I looked slowly at Renée. We both nodded.

"Damn." Billy sighed. "I feel like we've failed you."

"No! Not at all!" I insisted. "You boys were trying to do what you thought was best for your community. That was noble and generous and we couldn't be more proud of you for it. Honestly, that in and of itself really isn't the problem.

"Really, the problem is, I think we all underestimated how much money the babies were going to cost. Even with hunting and growing most of our own food, there are still diapers and laundry detergent and they outgrow their clothing faster than we can say 'boo'. I would almost say we should switch to cloth diapers, but even with a diaper service, they are so much work. And with soon to be four babies, it would really limit the amount of time we have for preparing meals and gardening and canning, etc. And those things all save us money too, so we wouldn't want to cut back on them either.

"I think we've been as economical as we can be and now it's time to be a little selfish for the sake of our family and take the salaries you boys are due. I hope you understand. We don't mean this as a criticism. You boys have been doing everything possible to provide for us the best way you know how. This is just a change we need to make going forward. That's all," I assured them.

"Okay, sure, sure. We can do that. No problem." Billy nodded.

"Good, thank you, Boys. Now, we need you two to watch the babies so we can start cooking dinner. The Clearwaters will be here around five o'clock and we haven't started anything yet," I requested.

"Of course, thank you for cooking." Charlie smiled as the boys scooped up the babies and put them in the playpen so they could clean up the wrapping paper while Renée and I headed to the kitchen.

Renée's POV

It seemed like just yesterday that we were in this very same kitchen, cooking Christmas dinner, and Sarah had just announced her pregnancy. Now here we were and it was already April 19th. Easter.

I was preparing the pies to bake and Sarah was getting the ham ready. It was a ham from a feral swine the boys killed, but it would (hopefully) taste just the same as a store-bought ham. Unlike at Christmastime, we could have afforded to buy one at the store. But even though the boys had started withdrawing their protector salaries and Charlie's police salary, we were still being careful with our funds, hoping to put away as much as possible into savings for the future.

But we were a lot better off when it came to the little things. We still looked for bargains when we went shopping and we still clipped coupons. But we didn't have to take a calculator with us anymore or scratch things off of our essentials list that were too expensive. And we still used rags instead of baby wipes because they were much better for the environment and they were free. Besides, they were much warmer and softer on a baby's bottom anyway.

The babies themselves had changed, even more than our finances. RaeRae and Becks were eight months old and Willie was six months. The twins were crawling and having lots of playdates with LeeLee who was 15 months old and walking, and Baby Sam who was almost nine months and was starting to try to stand. Poor Willie would try to keep up with them all but he couldn't really crawl yet and would just stare longingly after them, envious of their ability to move under their own power.

He was certainly trying though. And he was going to be so thrilled when his little sister finally arrived. Sarah had about four and a half months left of her pregnancy. The ultrasound had revealed she was expecting a girl. We'd all put our heads together and agreed on Isabella Helen Blackswan, wanting to honor Helen, whose Alzheimer's was progressing quickly and might not be with us too much longer.

When we'd told Helen that Sarah was expecting, she'd said, "That's nice, Dear. Who is Sarah?" Needless to say, plenty of tears were shed when we got home from that particular visit.

But we had more to celebrate than we had to be sad about. In addition to Sarah's pregnancy, I had just found out a few days before Easter that I was expecting too. No one knew yet. I planned on telling everyone at Easter dinner since Sarah had shared her news at Christmas, it seemed like a nice parallel.

"Once the pies are in, can I get you to work on the yams next, please?" Sarah asked, resting her hand on the small of my back, knocking me out of my thoughts and back into the moment. I pulled her close and we shared a smoldering kiss.

"I'd be happy to." I nodded.

"Thank you, Baby." She smiled, heading back to get started on the mashed potatoes.

Oh yeah, that had changed too. Sarah and I were...well, I wasn't one to kiss and tell, but let's just say we'd gotten much closer since Christmas. It was the last piece of our domestic picture falling into place. Things were pretty perfect. Well, at least for us, they were.

The Clearwaters weren't coming to dinner because Sue was still on bed rest. She'd been having a terrible pregnancy and it was touch-and-go at nearly every turn. The doctor in Forks had said if she made it to term, it would be a miracle. We were all praying fervently for them.

I couldn't imagine going through that. We were very blessed that so far, all of our children had been healthy. Granted, that might not always be the case, of course. But up to this point, we'd been pretty fortunate in that department.

Later that afternoon, once all the food was ready, we gathered in the dining room. After we had dished our plates we were ready to say grace. I asked if I could say it because I had a secret plan.

"Thank you, God, for giving us this beautiful family. We know that others are struggling, such as our friends, the Clearwaters and we ask that you please bless them. We know how blessed we are to all be sitting here, healthy, with three healthy children and another little girl on the way. And Lord, I thank you for allowing me to also fall pregnant. I pray that both of our new additions will be born healthy. Amen." I opened my eyes and looked around.

Three sets of surprised, happy eyes looked back at me.

"You're pregnant?" Sarah confirmed, looking puzzled but glad.

I nodded emphatically. "Mmm hmmn. I wanted to surprise you." I beamed.

"You certainly succeeded!" She laughed, getting out of her seat to come and hug me. The boys followed after, each taking turns smooshing me carefully.

"Boy, we sure do have a lot to be grateful for!" Billy grinned.

"I'll say!" Charlie laughed.

June's POV

A lot happened in my life since my last birthday. I'd found out we lived in a world of magic. I'd met Harry and found out we were destined. I'd left my parents' home and moved in with my wolf and his wife and baby. I'd stopped sleeping around, which is something I would have laughed at if you'd told me so a year ago.

I think it was the imprint though. Lately, I'd only had eyes for Harry. Well, and a little bit for Sue, but I'd never let her know that.

Poor Sue. She was struggling so much with her pregnancy. She hadn't had any problems bringing LeeLee. But Seth was proving to be quite a different story.

The doctor was pretty certain she would deliver early, we just didn't know how early. Usually, babies born at 28 weeks or less were considered stillbirths because their odds were so low. Thankfully, we'd already passed that mark, but it was still in God's hands how it would play out.

So on June 4th, my birthday, when Harry put my birthday cake in front of me after dinner and asked me to make a wish...I wished for the only thing I cared about. That Sue and Baby Seth would be alright.

"I'll take a slice of cake up to her," I offered after Harry and I had put LeeLee to bed and cleaned up the dinner dishes.

"Thanks, Juniebug. I should weed and water the garden if you're okay?" Harry frowned.

"Yeah, go, I've got it, don't worry. I'll listen out for LeeLee too," I offered, giving him a kiss on the cheek.

"Thanks, Kiddo." He nodded, heading out to work in the yard.

I sliced a generous helping of cake and headed to the big bedroom where Sue was set up.

"Hey, You. How was dinner?" I asked her with a smile as I swapped her dinner plate for the cake plate.

"It was delicious, thank you. I'm impressed how quickly you've caught on with cooking." Sue tried to smile but it was more of a grimace.

She looked sweaty. I felt her forehead. She was clammy.

"Are you okay? You seem...off…" I worried.

Sue shifted in the bed. "Yes, I'm fine, I just haven't been able to get comforta…" she trailed off as her eyes fluttered and rolled back in her head as she went limp and passed out.

"Harry!" I cried loudly. "Call an ambulance! Sue's collapsed!"

Harry and I were forced to wait in the waiting room at the hospital while they were working on Sue. She was in surgery. We had no idea what was going on. We had no idea if Sue and the baby were alive or dead. No one had told us anything.

After about an hour of waiting with no word, the Blackswans showed up. They had been such good friends to us. They'd been sending over meals ever since Sue went on bed rest and they'd been watching Leah over at their place as often as they could. Charlie and Billy had been taking extra patrol shifts so Harry had more time to help with Sue. I really don't know where we'd be without them.

Renée and Sarah came right over when they saw us and hugged me straight away. They didn't have their kids with them so they'd obviously called a sitter as we had. Billy and Charlie were at Harry's side instantly. I heard them assuring him it was gonna be okay. But we didn't know that. Maybe it wouldn't be okay. Maybe nothing would ever be okay again.

"I need a cigarette." I frowned, trying not to cry.

"I thought you quit?" Renée asked.

"I did." I huffed. "But I'd like to un-quit right about now."

"Let's get some fresh air," Sarah suggested as they led me out the nearest set of doors and around to the side of the building. She reached into her purse and pulled out a pack of camels. "Don't tell the boys," she whispered, handing me one and lighting it.

I raised an eyebrow but I took it from her anyway, taking a long drag. It wasn't long before I felt a little calmer. "I thought you were against these?" I asked Renée.

"I am. But she only has one or two every couple of weeks which is a lot better than the pack a day my mother smokes," she reasoned.

"Well anyway, thank you, I needed it. I'm so fucking worried about Sue. I'm scared when the doctor finally comes out, what he's gonna say. I can't do this without her. Especially if the baby were to live and she didn't. I mean, I can't take care of a toddler and a preemie, I can barely take care of myself!" I panicked quietly so Harry wouldn't hear inside.

"You underestimate yourself, June. You've come so far it's astounding," Renée insisted.

"Besides, that isn't what you're upset about. You don't want anything to happen to Sue because you care about her. In fact, if I had to guess, I'd say you even love her," Sarah accused gently.

I bit my lip to keep from crying as I nodded.

"Oh, here!" Renée cried, pulling me into a hug. "She'll be okay, June. Sue is a fighter. Did they tell you about how mere moments after finding out Harry was a wolf she was expertly treating his injuries in wolf form which he sustained fighting one of the cold ones?"

"She did? No, no one told me that story," I said, shaking my head.

"Yep, she was a total champ. I'm sure she was scared, but she never once let on, even though someone she loved was hurting. She just did what needed to be done and focused on what was important...taking care of Harry," Sarah recounted.

I could totally picture Sue just handling her business like that and freaking out later after everything was under control. I realized pretty quickly that it was what I needed to be doing too. "Shit. I better get in there," I said, putting out the cigarette and handing the remainder back to Sarah.

"Thanks, Girls. You always know just what to say." I smiled appreciatively, heading back in to face the situation head-on. First I stopped at the bathroom to rinse my mouth and clean up a little. I popped in a piece of gum so Harry would just think I'd walked by people who were smoking.

"Hey, Babe," I said softly, wrapping my arms around him as I returned to the group. The girls were already back. "Any word yet?"

"No, not yet." He sighed.

"What can we do?" I asked.

"Nothing but wait, I guess."

It was four hours from our arrival at the hospital when someone finally came out to tell us what was happening.

"We had to perform a cesarean section and deliver the baby. Suzanne's uterus was not in good shape and needed to be removed, so we had to perform an emergency hysterectomy as well." The doctor said calmly.

"You took her uterus?" Harry asked through gritted teeth.

"Yes, Mr. Clearwater and I know what you must be thinking. But I assure you, this was a necessary medical procedure. We have the organ if you wish to see it. There was no way to save it. We would have done the same for any woman on that operating table, I promise you," the doctor explained gently.

"Okay. Is she okay? Is the baby? Can we see them?" Harry asked quietly.

"Yes, the baby is in an incubator and seems to be doing okay for now. Suzanne is just coming out of anesthesia. Once she is awake and coherent you can see her but only two visitors at a time," he allowed. "We'll come and get you when she's ready," he said, walking away.

"Doctor Franks? Charles Blackswan, Tribal Chief. I'd like to take a look at that uterus please, no offense." Charlie said following after him.

"None taken. I'd do the same thing in your shoes." The doctor nodded. "Follow me, please."

After the whole Thanksgiving debacle, Sue had taken it upon herself to educate me on some of their Native American history that wasn't printed in the textbooks I'd read in school. So I understood their concern. Until the 1970s, as many as one in four Native American women were sterilized against their wishes. I cried so much when I learned that.

It supposedly wasn't happening anymore, but I didn't blame Charlie for wanting to make sure. The doctor seemed nice and I didn't think we had anything to worry about, but I knew we would all feel a lot better when we confirmed it.

"See, Harry? She's okay, Man. And it sounds like your boy will be too," Billy comforted, rubbing his shoulders.

"Yeah, that's good." Harry nodded vacantly.

I knew he was thinking about the fact she couldn't have any more children. Harry wanted a big family. And even though I'd known that, I had selfishly insisted on taking birth control, content to let Sue do all of the laboring. Obviously, things were going to have to change.

I wasn't opposed to having children. It wasn't even that I wanted to wait until I was older. Really, it was just that I was scared of pain. But the thought of Harry's pain was even scarier to me. So I knew...I would do this for him. For us. For Sue.

It was after midnight anyway. I usually took my birth control pills at around eleven. I guess now was as good a time to quit as any. I took my pills out of my purse and walked over and dropped them in the garbage. Harry noticed and I saw him nod slowly. I knew we would talk later.

"I'm gonna go call Allison and make sure LeeLee's okay," I offered, heading off to find a payphone since there wasn't much else I could do to help for the time being. I felt like I needed to do something. I felt totally helpless and totally terrified.

Who knew love could be this scary?

AN: Okay, so as you probably realized by now, Seth is waaay older in this story than in canon. Like, by about five years. My excuse is, with June around, the Clearwaters have more income and more hands on deck and are therefore likely to try for a second baby much sooner.

I'm still using BooBoo Stewart as his faceclaim, but an older BooBoo. Closer to the way he looks in the Descendants movies :-D

Also, I apologize if any of the sensitive material in this chapter bothered anyone. I felt strongly that there were some issues I wanted to address here. It was important to me, coming into this story, to cover some of the issues Native Americans face because I want to be true to the people I am writing about as much as possible.

Hugs and Blessings,

-BMW