I groaned, rolling over in my new bed. The house was silent; I couldn't even hear Paul's breathing from the room right down the hall. I glanced up to the alarm clock on my night stand. It read 5:30. I huffed as I pulled myself out of bed. I placed my hands on my back in an attempt to soothe the sore muscles there. I slipped on my slippers, before padding out of the room. I tried to stay quiet, in an attempt of not waking Paul this early on a Sunday.
I flipped on the light in the kitchen, brightening up the small, but cozy room. I skim the cabinets and the fridge for something to cook. I settled for pancakes, eggs, and bacon. I pull out the ingredients and tools I'd need. I turned on the radio to a local radio station, keeping the volume down, before setting off to work.
I was so concentrated on not burning the food, and dancing around the kitchen, I didn't notice Paul standing at the door. I was singing along to the radio, and dancing while setting the table, before finally noticing him leaning against the door frame with an amused look on his face. I let out a shriek, gripping the front of my shirt in shock.
"Why did you scare me?"I gasped out, trying to regain my normal heartbeat. He smirked.
"And miss watching you dance around my kitchen in only your pajamas?" He questioned back. I glanced down at my choice of clothing. It was a pair of shorts that came to my midthighs, along with a large t-shirt that stretched across my round midsection.
"I'm glad you enjoyed the show. Did I wake you?" I asked. Paul shook his head.
"I've been awake for a while now," He answered. I noticed that he stood in the kitchen in only a pair of cut off jeans, without shoes or a shirt. What stood out the most was that his shorts were covered in mud, and he had pine needles in his hair.
"Did you go outside for something?" I asked. He got a strange look on his face.
"What makes you say that?" He questioned me. I stepped towards him, getting on my tiptoes, and pulled out the pine needles from his hair. I held them out to him.
"These are in your hair, plus you're covered in mud," I answered. I gazed up at him. My cheeks colored at how close we were. I could feel the heat coming off of him. He was within reach, and I was tempted to go for him. He reached his hand up, and cupped my cheek. I leaned slightly into his palm. He brought up his other hand, placing it on the back of my neck, before leaning down to my height. His lips just brush mine, before he pulled back slightly. I pushed myself closer, allowing our lips to meet again.
The front door slams open, waking me from the kiss. My face heats up when I looked at Paul. I jump out of his grip, and made my way toward the kitchen door, crashing into Jared and Kim. I was relieved to see Kim. I grabbed her arm, and dragged her up towards my room.
"What's the matter Rae?" she asked, noticing my quickness of leaving the kitchen, as well as my flushed face. I flop down on my bed, staring at the ceiling.
"Paul and I just kissed," I admitted. Kim's mouth dropped.
"When was this?" she gasped.
"You and Jared interrupted it when you came in," I said. Kim got this sly look on her face.
"Did you enjoy it?" she asked. I covered my face with the pillow. Kim squealed, before giggling. "You did enjoy it!" I attempted to shush her, but she continued to coo and tease me about it.
"Why are you and Jared here so early?" I asked, attempting to change the topic. Kim shrugged.
"We were wondering if you guys wanted to come to breakfast with us," Kim answered, with a shrug. I glared at her.
"At six in the morning?" I shrieked, before realizing I left some of the food cooking. "Oh crap," I mumbled, before jumping up, and rushing as fast as a pregnant woman can out of the room. I thumped down the stairs, trying not to fall. I turned into the kitchen and tried to stop, but my slippers made me slide across the slick floor. I smacked into a human wall, and began to fall back, but was caught by the wall. I blushed when I came face to face with Jared.
"Hi Jared," I said breathless. He smirked.
"Hey Rae. Where the fire?" He teased. I pointed towards the stove.
"I thought that I left something going, and I didn't want it to burn," I mumbled. I glanced at the stove, and noticed that everything was fine, and was set out on plates. I glanced at Paul, noticing that he was the one setting up the table. Paul walked over toward me.
"Are you okay? You didn't hurt yourself or the baby?" He asked, looking me over. I moved away from him slightly, as he checked for any bruises on my arms.
"I'm fine," I growled to him, jerking my arm away from him. It didn't seem to settle him at all, because he followed me toward the table, until I sat down. I heard Kim giggle at us. I turned towards the couple. "Do you two want to eat?" Jared immediately jumped to the opportunity, settling down next to Paul, and began to serve himself. Kim sat next to me, and began to eat as well.
We spent most of our lazy Sunday watching movies, lounging across the couches, until in the afternoon. There was a howl from in the woods, and the boys began to get up, and pick up their trash. Kim and I watch them from our place on the couch. We glanced at each other.
"What are you two doing?" I asked, trying to pull myself up. Kim grabbed my arm, and together we were able to get me on my feet. We stood in front of the boys, hands on our hips. The boys shared a look.
"Do you want to go see Emily?" Jared asked, giving a hopeful look at Kim. Kim studied him for a minute.
"Okay, but you need to tell us why you decided to go to Sam and Emily's," She agreed. Jared glanced at Paul, and Paul gave him a small nod.
"Deal," Jared said.
"I'll go, but you have to tell us what is going on with you guys," I said, watching the two boys suspiciously.
"I'll tell you, but you have to tell me who the father of the baby is," Paul shot back. I groaned, rolling my eyes. I turn, and head up the stairs to my room. I pull out a change of clothes, slipping into them, and pulling my hair into my ponytail. I had a hard time trying to pull on my tennis shoes, but I was able to get them on. I headed back to the living room to see it all straightened up, and the boys and Kim ready to leave. I grabbed my jacket, and followed them out the door, into the truck, Paul helping me in.
Once we got to Sam and Emily's, the boys disappeared. Kim and I rolled our eyes at them, and continued into the house. We opened the door, and giggled at the sight. A small child was running around the house, naked, and squealing, avoiding a distressed Emily, who was trying to grab the child with a towel. Emily took a swipe at the child, but missed her; instead landing sprawled out on the floor. The little girl giggled and ran behind Kim and me, hiding.
"Auntie Emily fell," the girl squealed, clutching onto my pant leg. Kim and I giggled along with the child. Kim stepped over to Emily and helped her up. Emily motioned over to the child behind me, and made a scooping motion. I nodded my head in understanding, before bending over and snatching the little girl off the floor. She squealed.
"Looks like Auntie Rae caught little Claire," Emily said, walking over to us, and wrapping a towel around Claire. The little girl scowled at me.
"Auntie Rae isn't supposed to help Auntie Emily," she huffed, crossing her arms. Emily carried her out of the room, to most likely to put closes on Claire.
Minutes later, Claire came running out of the room, her hair pulled up in neat pigtails, and she was wearing a pink shirt with overalls. She giggles, before wrapping her arms around Kim's legs. She was a really cute little girl, with light brown eyes surrounded by long eyelashes. Her long hair was a shade of dark chocolate brown, and her skin was a pretty tan color.
The little girl turned and looked at me, before smiling, and shouting 'Auntie Rae,' before launching herself towards me. She locked her arms around my leg, and giggled. I looked questionably towards Emily.
"This is my niece Claire, and she'll be staying here for a while," Emily explained. I nodded, before sitting Claire on the couch, and sitting next to her.
"Hi Claire, how are you?" I asked, trying to be polite to the child. She grinned.
"I'm good," she answered, before looking at my stomach, "What's the matter with you tummy?"
"There's a baby in there," I said. Her expression lit up.
"Can I feel?" She asked, hopefully. I nodded, and she placed her ear, and hands on my stomach. She sat still for a moment, before getting up with a down casted look on her face. "I can't feel anything," she mumbled.
"Why don't you tell it a story?" Kim suggested. "I've read that a baby would respond to voices." Claire gained a thinking face, before she leaned really close to my stomach, and began to talk about pretty much anything. She talked about herself, Auntie Emily, Auntie Kim, Uncle Sam, the boys, me, as well as her school.
We spent a couple of hours there, listening to Claire's stories. After she began to run low on stories, she looked up to me.
"Has the baby moved yet?" she questioned. I placed her hand on my stomach, in the spot where I began to feel a fluttering feeling.
"I feel movement here," I answered. She studied the spot for a moment, before frowning.
"I can't feel it," she whimpered.
"Don't worry, I can barely feel it, but the baby knows its cousin Claire is talking to it," I reassured her with a smile. She sighed softly, before snuggling into my side, somewhat drifting off. We sat quiet and still like this for a few moments, before the door slammed open, scaring Claire and me. I immediately begin to search for Paul's familiar face. The last two boy carried in a slumped over body. Fear rushed through me.
They laid the body on the bed. It was Paul, all beaten up. Fear began to rush through my blood.
"What happened to him," I asked, looking around at all of the boys' faces. Sam came up, and placed a large hand on my shoulder.
"Raven, you should go home and rest," he said, trying to comfort me. I jerked my shoulder away.
"No, tell me what happened to him," I shrieked. Sam sighed, before looking to the rest of the boys. I glanced over to Kim and Emily, who was holding Claire. Sam turned back to me.
"Paul was attacked," he stated bluntly. I threw a look to him.
"I kind of figured that much," I growled. "What attacked him?" Sam pinched the bridge of his nose, breathing heavily.
"He was attacked by a vampire," he replied in a calm voice.
"What?" Kim and I both exclaimed. I glanced around the room, waiting for someone to say 'Just Kidding'. No one did. These people weren't serious, were they?