I should tell you now that I've already decided on the gender(s) of the babies, but I want suggestions for names and maybe a reason behind them! And don't worry, Helen will be back later in the story. So, here's month three.
Two weeks after receiving the news, Clare was still in shock. Only Eli, Cece, and Bullfrog knew, but Clare would have to tell Alli soon. "Eli, I still can't believe this. Not only do I get pregnant the first time I have sex, but of course I'm having twins! How do I tell Alli or Adam, or my mom?" Clare was definitely more scared about the last one.
They had been having the same conversation since the doctor's visit. "How about this, you tell Alli and I tell Adam. This way you don't have to deal with both, and Alli can help you figure out how to tell your mom." Adam would be the easiest one, because he would just say something about how unfortunate it was and then move on to comics and music.
Clare was relieved at the idea of having a plan to focus on. "That sounds good. Alli and I are going shopping today, so I'll tell her then." She looked down at the floor after a few minutes. After the first night, Eli and Clare had started sharing his bed every night. After a few awkward comments from his parents, it had become normal. Clare wasn't sure what this meant, but she was happy with whatever it was. "You're going with me, right, to tell my mom?"
"Of course. Who else is going to be the voice of reason? It's a little sad, isn't it, when the crazy guy is in charge of keeping everyone else calm?" Eli had learned to joke about his bipolar disorder, because it made everything easier to handle.
Clare's mouth formed a small pout. "You know you're not crazy, and I really need you there to keep me calm." Eli smiled and nodded, because he wasn't sure what to say.
He chose to change the subject instead. "So, I forgot, when did Dr. Lein say your next appointment is?" They had both been shocked while Clare was making her second appointment, but he thought she had written it down.
She went to their room and pulled a piece of folded paper from the nightstand. She read it off to him quickly. "June twenty-seventh. I'll be about fourteen weeks along, and it's after school gets out for summer break."
"Cool. Well, I'm supposed to meet Adam soon, but if you need me to drop you off or something I can be late." Eli was still in the habit of making sure Clare was okay before making his own plans.
She smiled but shook her head. "I'm fine. Alli's mom is taking us to the mall, and we're only shopping for a little while. She said all we're looking for are maternity clothes today, and she's doing baby clothes on her own, so I can't 'say no to all of the good ones'." They shared laugh at Alli's antics but knew that she was probably being completely serious and would buy tons of crazy outfits for both baby Edwards.
"She doesn't even know what kind of clothes to get yet. The gender of the babies doesn't depend on whether Alli likes the boys' clothes more than the girls' or vice versa."
Clare laughed again, because she was positive Alli had already started looking at baby clothes. "I know, I know. She said I'm not allowed to be surprised about the gender, because she wants to start shopping as soon as possible."
They were still laughing when someone knocked at the door. "That's probably Adam.", Eli said as he turned and walked to the front door with Clare behind him.
Adam smiled from the opposite side of the thresh hold and greeted Eli and Clare. "Hey, guys. What's up? Eli, you ready to go?" Adam was pretty excited about their guys only day, so he was ready to get going.
"Sure.", Eli answered and stepped outside. He turned back to look at Clare. "I'll see you later. Call me if you need anything, okay?" Clare nodded and waved them off before closing the door.
She realized something the moment she closed the door. This would be the first time she would go more than two hours without seeing Eli when he wasn't staying the night with Adam. At school he stopped by her locker in between classes, and they were living together. She should have felt suffocated, since that's why she had broken up with him in the first place, but she felt sad knowing she wouldn't see him again for possibly five or six hours. It was only eleven in the morning, and Eli was playing video games and reading comics with Adam all day, so she might not see him until dinner. Her phone buzzed, bringing her back from her depressing thoughts, and she read the text from Alli saying she was waiting outside. She opened the front door and walked out to Mrs. Bhandari's car where Alli was waiting in the back seat. Clare got in the car and buckled her seat belt. "Thank you for offering to pick me up, Mrs. Bhandari.", Clare said respectfully.
"It is no problem, Clare. Will you need a ride back as well?", she asked from the driver's seat as she pulled away from Eli's house.
"Yes, please.", she answered before turning to Alli. "So, just how much shopping am I being forced into?" Clare had prepared herself for the worst of Alli's shopping addiction.
"Well, that depends on how much money you have. I'm saving my money for baby clothes, so when we run out of money, we're done." Clare had some money that she'd been saving up from allowances and holidays, and Cece had insisted on giving her a bit of money to make sure she had plenty. Clare was scared that Alli could make the money last all day and longer.
"Okay.", Clare relented. "But be prepared to stop for food and bathroom breaks a lot! If they aren't hungry, then they're playing volley ball with my bladder." Clare's morning sickness had been dying down a bit, and she had only returned her food once that day just after breakfast. Alli laughed at her and started rambling about the stores they could go to. The mall only had two maternity clothes stores, but Alli wanted to look at some other places too.
Clare decided that the next four hours were the most torturous and fun of her life. She and Alli had shopped for maternity clothes, ate like they were both pregnant sextuplets, walked around, and caught up on what had been going on in their lives. Clare was sad and happy when the car pulled up to Eli's house. "Alli, why don't you help Clare with her bags." Mrs. Bhandari was referring to the many bags of clothes that Alli had approved, saying that Clare would be "the sexiest pregnant chick ever".
Alli and Clare stepped out of the car and collected the many bags before walking up to the house. Eli had given Clare a spare key before leaving, so she would be able to let herself in after the shopping trip. The girls carried the bags up to Eli's room, but Clare had forgotten what she had neglected to tell Alli. They stepped into the room and Alli dropped her share of bags onto the floor at what she saw. Both Clare and Eli's clothes were strewn around the room, and the bed had clearly been slept in on both sides. "What are you not telling me?"
Clare turned beet red as she realized how incriminating the room looked. "It's not what you think! Eli and I are not sleeping together, well we are, but not like that! We just share the bed, because there's no guest room, and the couch isn't very comfortable." Clare had tried explaining in a way that would calm Alli's excitement, but before she had finished speaking Alli was squealing and jumping up and down in place.
Alli's smile was huge, and she continued jumping around and squealing before turning to Clare. "How could you not tell me that you and Eli share a bed? You are sleeping with your ex, you are living with your ex, and this never came up in conversation?" Alli was trying to decide between excitement and indignation, but she was having a hard time.
"I never thought about bringing it up, because all we do is sleep. I swear, nothing else."
Alli didn't look even remotely convinced. She sat on the bed and motioned for Clare to do the same. "Fine, we're going to do a little test to see if it's nothing's really happening when Saint Clare gets into bed with a boy."
Clare did not want to have that conversation when Eli could be back at any minute, possibly with Adam. "Your mom's not going to be happy if you keep her waiting." Clare was sure that would make Alli leave, because no one liked dealing with angry parents.
"True." Alli pulled out her phone and dialed her mom's number."Hi, mom. I was wondering if I could hang out for a little while. Clare's really tired after walking around all day, so I was going to help her put everything away and let her relax a little." Clare heard Mrs. Bhandari speak a bit before Alli answered again. "Thank you, mommy! I can walk home later."
"Alli, did you really ask your mom if you can stay here just so you can interrogate me about where I sleep?" Clare knew the answer was yes before she asked the question, and now Alli was going to start said interrogation.
"Yes I did. Someone needs to make you see what's happening here. So, let's start. How long have you been sharing a bed with Eli?" She started with an easy question, so Clare would keep answering as they got more personal.
"I don't know. A month, maybe. Why?" Clare didn't understand why Alli had to be so nosy, but she knew it was best to just answer her friend's questions. Alli always got the information she wanted anyway.
"It gives me an idea of how much your other answers mean. Has Eli stayed the night somewhere else since you've been sharing a bed?" Alli was determined to get Clare to admit to someone other than herself that she still had feelings for Eli.
"Yeah, he's stayed at Adam's a couple of times." Clare answered slowly, because she still didn't know where Alli was going with this.
"How did you sleep those nights?"
Clare remembered that she had barely slept at all on those nights. She had woken up many times in the night and had given up on trying to sleep at six in the morning, but that wasn't because Eli had been gone. "Just because he was gone on the nights I happened to be having trouble sleeping doesn't mean anything. I'm pregnant, Alli. Pregnant women have trouble sleeping sometimes." Clare was avidly defending herself, because there was now way Eli was the cause of her insomnia.
Alli gave her a knowing grin and shook her head. "No way, Clare. You couldn't sleep, because Eli wasn't here with you. How do you sleep on nights when he is here with you?"
Clare thought back to the morning after Eli had taken her for frozen yogurt. She remembered waking up and feeling more rested than she had in weeks, and the same thing had happened the next day. "There's more than one reason for having a good night's sleep, you know."
"Not for you. Admit it, you like going to sleep and waking up with Eli. Last question, I promise. What position do the two of you wake up in?"
Clare's eye brows knit together in confusion. "What are you talking about? We wake up the way we go to sleep, lying down." Clare was worried all of the shopping had gone to Alli's head.
"No, I mean when you wake up are you on opposite sides of the bed? Cuddling? Facing away from each other? Spooning?" Alli was sure that Eli and Clare woke up in some kind of intimate position. They were made for each other, so she couldn't be wrong about this.
Clare was so embarrassed about some of the things Alli asked in her blunt way. "I- we- it depends." Clare wanted to avoid telling Alli about how she and Eli woke up every morning except the days when she rushed to the bathroom before he was awake.
"This morning, how did you wake up? Tell me the different ways you remember waking up with Eli." Alli was going to pry until Clare told her the details, and Clare knew it.
Clare chose not to prolong her own suffering and gave Alli what she wanted. She sighed heavily but answered. "This morning I was laying on Eli's chest, and he had his arms around me, but that doesn't-"
Alli cut her off quickly. "Clare Edwards, don't you dare tell me that doesn't mean anything. Now, continue with the others, since it depends."
Clare groaned but obeyed Alli's orders. "Most days that's how we wake up. A couple of time he had his arms wrapped around from behind while were laying on our sides...so spooning, yes. That's it, but it's usually me laying on him. He sleeps without a shirt on, Alli!"
Alli clapped her hands as Clare finally started admitting that she wanted Eli back. "So, what does Mr. Goldsworthy look like under all that black?" Clare had known Alli would follow that line of questioning.
She bit her lip as she remembered the first night she had seen Eli without his shirt, and she couldn't stop staring. "He has abs, not like a twelve pack, but there's muscle. And his arms are all muscle, oh my God."
"Ah! I knew it, you want him!"
Clare's smile fell a little as her mind ran away with itself, past Alli's line of thinking. "But he doesn't want me." Alli was about to protest, but Clare continued. "Seriously, I'm having someone else's babies and was kicked out of my home, and Eli can do better than that." After that, Alli spent the rest of her time there making Clare realize she was prefect for Eli.
Alli left shortly before Cece arrived home to check on Clare who was still in Eli's room. "Hey, sweetie. I brought you some ice cream.", Cece said when she poked her head into the room.
Clare was lying on the bed thinking about everything Alli had said but smiled at Cece when she walked in. "Thanks. You didn't have to do that, and I'm sorry about all the bags. I haven't had time to put everything away yet."
Cece quieted her worries about the cleaning. "You can take care of that later. I wanted to see how you're doing. You seem a little down.", Cece said as she sat on the edge of the bed. Clare rubbed her belly where her babies were absent mindedly and debated on whether or not to tell Cece about what was going on in her head right then. "If it's about Eli, my lips are sealed unless it's something dangerous."
Clare smiled at how Cece could be so intuitive and wanted to tell her everything. "I don't know what to do. I broke up with Eli, so it's really unfair of me to want him back now when he's doing so well. Plus, I can't ask him to get into a relationship with me when I'm having someone else's babies. I'm so selfish to even think of asking him to do that." Clare looked to Cece, ready to hear about how awful she was for wanting to put Eli through that again.
Instead Cece surprised her by going in the other direction entirely. "You are not selfish. A selfish person would have jumped back into the relationship and then wondered what could happen, but you're thinking of Eli before yourself. I'm nearly certain that is the definition of a very unselfish person. However, I agree that this may not be the best time to be involved in a relationship. You should focus on school work and taking care of those babies for now. Relationships can wait until later." Cece's words of wisdom struck Clare, and she knew she would have to wait a while before telling Eli anything.
The next weekend passed fairly quickly, and Clare was only half done with her homework assignments on Monday morning. She had decided that she would have to do as much as possible and see what wasn't finish-able later. Eli had told her he would help her, but Clare's pride and moral compass forced her to deny his help. This caused her to do math home work during her free time in English instead of conversing or studying. She also forgot that she needed to study but would soon find out she should have.
In Mr. Perino's history class everyone was chit chatting with friends until the final bell rang, and class started. Mr. Perino stood at the front of the room with a stack of papers in his hands. "Alright, I hope you all studied, because the school year is drawing to a close. This means that every grade counts, so good luck. You may begin when you receive your test, and you will have the entire class period to work on it."
Clare's eyes widened in fear as she realized she had forgotten about the history test that day. School would be ending for summer vacation in less than two months, and she was about to fail her history test. She stared at the paper placed before her and wanted to cry. She started by answering the questions she was sure of but only filled in twenty-two of the fifty-six questions. She guessed and used process of elimination to complete the remaining questions and prayed for a miracle.
In math class she discovered that she had accidentally worked the wrong problems for home work, so the teacher couldn't accept her work. She had left her novel in English, so she would have to read four chapters that night instead of starting in her free period. Clare was very near tears when she walked to the hearse after school. She just wanted to go home and sleep until the twins were eighteen and graduated adults, but she couldn't. "Are you alright?", Eli asked while driving down the road.
He had been sneaking glances at Clare and noticed that her eyes were watery. Clare shook her head before realizing Eli had to watch the road. "Can we talk about it when we get home?" Eli said they would and continued the drive in silence. When they reached his house, Clare rushed up the steps to the bed room, and Eli assured Cece and Bullfrog that he would talk to her and find out what was wrong.
Eli rapped lightly on the door and entered upon hearing Clare's feeble, "Come in." She was hidden in the bed with the blankets covering her head, trying to hide from the world for as long as she could.
Eli sat on the edge of the bed in almost the exact same place Cece had and took a breath. "Want to talk about it?"
Clare uncovered her head and looked at Eli through sad eyes. "I'm failing at everything!", she choked out as the tears escaped her eyes. Eli rubbed her back while she cried and waited for her to continue. "I know I failed my history test today, I did the wrong math homework, I left my novel in English during free period and at school when we left, and my grades are dropping. I'm going to be a horrible mother. How can I raise a child if I can't even keep my school work straight?" Clare sobbed into Eli's pillows while he rubbed her back and told her everything would be okay.
When she calmed down he decided to help where he could. "You don't give yourself enough credit. I'm sure that you made at least a B, minimum on that history test without studying. We take the same English course, so I have a copy of the novel that you can read and I can review it with you for the paper that I'm sure you haven't forgotten about. So you forgot one math assignment? I'm sure you'll still have the best grade in the class if you didn't do any homework for the rest of the term. Your grades have barely changed at all, so I doubt you have anything to worry about there. If you are still worried, then we'll have study nights instead of movie nights. And, most importantly, you are going to be the best mother ever. I know that, because you have already decided that everything you do relates back to those babies, and you will raise some smart kids who will be saving the world one country at a time."
Clare had needed to hear that so badly, and she didn't realize it until right in that moment. She sat up and wrapped her arms around Eli's neck. He hugged her back and held her close for what felt like the most perfect piece of heaven to Clare before releasing her.
Two weeks later
Clare was about to cry. She knew it, and she knew exactly why. She was a whale, and no one had bothered to tell her just how big she had gotten. She had lost sight of her feet some time in the last two weeks, and she couldn't even see to put her shoes on. "Eli!", she yelled from the bed room hysterically.
Eli bounded into the room minutes later with worry written all over his face. "What is it? Is something wrong with the babies? Are you hurt?" He was searching her form with his eyes, looking for any indication as to why she looked so miserable.
"I- I c-ca-n't put m- my shoes on anymore." Clare sniffed sadly as she tried and failed again to look down at her feet.
Eli came very close to asking her why she had scared him for something like that but thought better of it. "I can help you, so that's not too bad." He was trying to soothe her, so she wouldn't stress herself out too much.
Clare looked at him through her tears like he was completely missing her point. "That's not what I'm talking about! I'm talking about the fact that I can't see my feet, and if I went to the beach someone would think I'm a beached whale!" Clare finished her sentence by breaking down again in tears.
Eli felt bad for Clare and tried to think of a way to make her feel better. "Clare, you could never look like any kind of whale. And it's normal not to see you feet when you're nearly three months pregnant with twins. In one week you will have completed the third week of pregnancy, that's the end of the first trimester. You're one- third of the way through your pregnancy and both of the babies are getting bigger everyday. Besides, even if you were to get as big as you think you are, you'd still be absolutely beautiful."
Clare gave Eli a watery smile and nodded while blushing. "Okay, I'm sorry I scared you about something so stupid.", she apologized.
"If it wasn't stupid to you, it wasn't stupid to me. Just remember that you're pregnant with twins, so you might get a little bigger, but it's for them. Want to eat junk food as a treat for almost making it through another month?" Eli was trying to distract her from her sad thoughts, and he was sure it was working.
Clare laughed at Eli's childish suggestion but realized she really wanted something fried and covered in chocolate. "That sounds great. One good thing about being pregnant is being able to eat however much of whatever I want and carrying my excuse around with me." They laughed as they walked down to the kitchen to indulge in their guilty pleasure.
Next day
"Eli, I can't do this. I can't do this. Let's just leave and go home and not be here." Clare and Eli stood in front of her house looking at the door from their place by the curb.
Eli had been trying to convince Clare that she should tell her mom sooner rather than later about the twins. "This will be easier than when you told her you're pregnant. She already knows there's one, so just say there's another."
Clare had been trying to convince Eli to let her leave for nearly fifteen minutes, but her resolve was weakening. She knew that she and her mother would never be on good terms if Helen had to find out about the twins from someone else. "Okay. How should I do it? I didn't even invite her to my birthday party, becaue I was scared it would come up"
"Quick and painless, like removing a band aid. Tell her you have some news, and then just say it. And you didn't have a birthday party, you had Adam and Alli over for pizza and cake." Clare had turned seventeen a little over a week ago and would have completely forgotten if Eli hadn't reminded her.
Clare took a deep breath and walked to the front door. She wasn't sure whether she should knock, since she had never been kicked out before and didn't know the proper protocol for entering the house. She decided on knocking but still letting herself in. "Mom?", she called into the house.
"And the prodigal daughter returns.", Jake joked from the couch.
Clare gave him an annoyed look and corrected him. "It was the prodigal son, and where's my mom."
Helen entered the room from the kitchen. "Right here. What are you doing here?" Helen sounded hopeful and thankfully not upset in the slightest.
Clare gave a Jake a look that told him to leave, so he waved to them and walked up the steps to eaves drop. "I should start by telling you I'm not coming home just yet, but I have something to tell you, and I want you to hear it from me. Maybe you should sit down."
Helen sat down in the seat Jake had vacated and looked at Clare expectantly. "If something's wrong, you can tell me. I know we're having some differences of opinion but I want to know if something's not right."
Clare was more than happy to hear her mom telling her that. She remembered that ripping off the band aid was better. "I'm having twins. We found out at my doctor's appointment." Helen stared at Clare with huge eyes until Clare couldn't stand the silence. "Mom, please say something!"
Helen seemed to have come back to her senses with Clare's words. "W- well you have no control over how many babies you have, so I can't be angry. However, I'm very concerned. How do you plan on supporting yourself and two children. I hope I've taught you better than to plan on living off of Eli's parent's money. Another concern I have is that the school term is almost up, and I am almost certain that Eli is graduating in a week when school ends."
In the next chapter Clare and Eli go to another doctor's appointment and get out for summer break! Reviews and suggestions, please. I also wanted to clarify that in the summary Clare's sixteen but she's now a seventeen year old junior and Eli's eighteen and a senior.