Chipmunkfan1001 = Good luck on your break.
Webweirdo = ? ? What happened to her again? ?
Simon never thought he'd run as fast as he could carelessly with her daughter crying over her shoulder. The only light after this was Serene's screams and pleas coming to a halt. He didn't know if he could make it while listening to his daughter's heartbreaking moans. When he ran in to Brittany at the stairs, she told him about Jeanette, and the next thing he knew was running carelessly down the stairs, ignoring the shelling and explosion in the building.
His eyes sweat tears of worry as he hastily made his way down the stairs of the third floor. Once he got to the end, he stopped dead in his tracks, and he felt like a part of his world died inside him. Jeanette leaned against the wall, eyes and body weak, her paw pressed against her stomach. What struck him the most tears was the sight of red fluid staining the fur on her thighs. Suddenly, he found it hard to breathe when he slowly approached her.
"Oh, my God," Was all he could say when he knelt down beside her. He placed Serene down and held her close, afraid she might run away. "Jeanette," He whispered.
Her weak amethyst eyes met his. He paid attention to her lips when they moved. "Simon. I'm... I'm sorry. I'm sorry I didn't tell you."
Tell him what?
Simon, from beside him, sensed Serene's tension. She gasped and knelt beside her mother, holding her close. "Mommy!" She embraced her, and Jeanette weakly returned it. "Mommy, I'm here. I'm here, and I'm okay."
"Serene." Her lips moved so weakly, matching the tone that came out.
"What happened?" Serene asked.
"I... I lost them."
Lost what? Simon felt out of place. He shook his head. "What's going on? Jeanette, what didn't you tell me? What did you lose?"
Jeanette's eyes were filled with tears and they freely streamed down, dampening her soft fur. "You... you got me pregnant again Simon. A few days before all this happened. I... I wanted it to be a surprise. The kids are the only ones I told."
"Wh- Why? Why would you keep it from me?"
"I wanted it to be a surprise. I wanted to tell you the way I wanted to. Like... like over a family dinner, when it's just us and the kids." Her smile appeared and vanished without a trace. She looked away from him, breaking his heart. "Now it's too late. You... you probably won't want me anymore.''
Simon shook his head, denying her. "Jeanette... Don't. Please don't say that. Please, for my sake, let's not get into this, please." The tears threatened to come, and he didn't hold them back. "Jeanette, I don't want to get into this. I'll always love you no matter what. We'll get through this, please. I promise."
Jeanette still looked away, and Simon felt his world losing altitude, in danger of crashing. "I don't know, Simon. I don't know if I can get over this. Time will pass, and eventually, you'll know how irresponsible I am. You'll know that I'm not worthy enough for you. Time will come, realize and you'll stop loving me. You'll hate me. You'll leave me, and you'll bring the kids with you. I'll be left with nothing. " She looked up at him, sincerity and tears in her eyes. It broke him. "I'd rather die here than experience any of those, Simon."
Simon sniffed back the tears and closed his eyes. He reached for her paw and squeezed it tightly. "Don't say these things, Jeanette. Please. For my sake, please. The time you're talking about doesn't exist. I'll never hate you, I'll never stop loving you. Why can't you just get that?"
"B-Because... there were times in our mateship where I didn't give my best. And every night, I feel guilty for not fulfilling my responsibilities as the female. When you left for your tour, I kept having nightmares about you realizing what I have and haven't done, and you'll come back to hate me. So when you came back, I wanted to get myself pregnant with your children again, just to tell you that I promise to start fulfilling my responsibilities. Promise to start being a better mate. But I lost them."
Simon listened to her every word. He wanted to say something. Needed to say something, anything to stop her tears from falling and his world from crashing. But the lump in his throat rendered him mute.
"You see, Simon?" She started again. "I'm not... I'm not good enough for you. I'm a bad mother. The fact that I lost the children doesn't change anything. I'm just a mother of your dead children. Time will come, you'll leave me with nothing. I'm not worthy enough for you, Simon. I'm nothing but irresponsible. I'd rather die because of a simple flame than die because of you."
For the first time in his life, for the first time, he hurt himself the most when his palm met the cheek of his mate in one slap. "For my sake, Jeanette, could you stop saying these things about yourself! You're not irresponsible! You aren't nothing! You're everything to me! Why can't you just listen to me!? For once, please!"
He's blood was a storm before, an ocean of rough, boiling waves. But a pair of arms wrapped around him cooled him down, followed by the heartbreaking voice of her daughter. "Daddy, stop! Stop, please. Don't hurt mommy."
Don't hurt mommy...
Don't hurt mommy...
Hurt... Mommy...
The words of his daughter replayed in her mind like an endless, heartbreaking song. And every part of his body suddenly ached, and he felt a stab in his heart, realizing what he's done. Gasping and panting hard, he raised his paw and looked at it, horrified. He stared at it as if it was a deadly weapon, the one that had hurt his mate, adding pain to the one she's already suffering from. He wanted to search for a knife or anything sharp. He wanted to cut that paw, to neglect it, to punish it.
But instead he took his mate into his arms, tears already dropping, the lump in his throat, his voice sobbing and pleading. "Oh, Jeanette. Oh, I'm so sorry. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to. I promise, I swear I didn't mean to."
Jeanette sniffed and laid her chin on his shoulder. "It's... it's okay. I deserved it, and I deserve more. I'm not a good mate."
He embraced her tightly. "Please, Jeanette." He sighed, then letting her go, looking straight into her hurt, amethyst eyes. "We don't have time for this. We have to get out of here. And I'm not going to listen to you if you tell me to go without you."
Simon didn't wait to answer. He slung Jeanette's arm over his shoulder and helped her up, the blood touching a part of his leg, staining his fur. The blood of their children. Once he got Jeanette supported, he turned to Serene. But he gasped in shock, finding her missing.
"Oh, no! Serene!" He looked left and right, trying to find her under all the smoke. It didn't take long for him to find her figure running up towards the stairs leading to the third floor.
To where Alvin's family was.
To where AJ was.
"Serene, no! Come back!" He tried to run to her, but suddenly remembered his mate's body using him for support. If he runs, she drops and gets left alone. He was suddenly stuck in two roads of decisions.
Trapped in a burning building, who would you save first? Your daughter, or your mate?
He was suddenly trapped, unable to take a path.
But he when he heard footsteps from the downstairs, he saw the light. He turned behind and saw a few men clad in full, black suits with helmets. They called out his name, and he never thought he'd live to feel so relieved.
. . . . . . .
You passed...
Under all the crackling flames and the blinding smoke, Alvin thought he heard a low, deep voice. A voice so familiar, but so... unknown. Perhaps, it's the smoke. He's breathed too much of it already and it's playing tricks on his mind. But hope it didn't do anything to Brittany, or the children born and unborn. If only they'd listen. If only they'd leave him and the monstrous fire. Leave for their lives. The lives that he values so much more than his own.
They don't deserve this. They never did and never will. They deserve to live, to survive, to be happy. And here they are, coughing under the smoke, refusing his commands to leave.
But who can he blame? They love him more than anything else in the world, and because of that, he's at his surest that his life is going to end in the happiest way he could imagine.
Brittany held the children, and he held her paw. As the fires came close, the closer they got to their end, and the closer Alvin felt to his family. He looked into the closest flame, open to face his own end, knowing that good things mostly happen in his life, and that good things must come to an end.
"Alvin!" From the stairs, he heard his name being called. His ears perked. Who could that be? It sounded high-pitched and female, so it can't be a human. He looked towards the stairs and saw a chipmunk with purple shirt and denim skirt charging towards them. Everyone's ears perked up and looked at Serene's direction.
"Alvin!" She called again, and now he knew she wasn't calling his name. She was calling AJ's.
Serene took no time to charge and rush towards Alvin's side, giving him a quick embrace. But AJ didn't receive it. He pushed her away and looked at her, his paws on laid on her shoulders. "Serene, what are you doing here?"
Serene broke free of his grip, buried her face in his chest and nuzzled. AJ placed his paws on her back. "You saved me. I can't leave you."
They both broke free and looked at each other. "Serene, you have to go. Now. You don't need me anymore."
Serene sniffed. "I know, but I feel like I do. I feel like I don't want to go."
"But you have to. You have to go, please."
Serene shook her head wildly and wrapped herself in his arms again. "No. I can't and I won't."
"What about your parents?"
"They're going out."
"What!?" This is the first time anyone's ever heard him yell in this kind of shock. "You ran away?"
Serene nodded.
"Serene, I can't let you. Go, please. Get out of here. Get back to your parents."
Serene shook her head. "I can't. The fire's too thick."
Alvin watched as his son turned to him, his face written in horror and shock, sweat from the heat dripping and drenching his fur. He was panting wildly, in danger of the suffocating. He shook his head slowly as he spoke. "Dad, mom," He called. "Please, we have to get her out of here."
For a second Alvin turned his gaze to Brittany, and she looked back. Their eyes met, communicating, as if they knew what the other was thinking. After a while, Alvin shook his head, and so did Brittany. They both turned back to their son.
"We can't, Alvin. We have to stick together." Alvin turned to Serene. "I'm sorry, Serene."
"Don't be, uncle Alvin. I'm staying here. I... I..." She paused and looked into AJ's eyes. "I love... I love your son. I can't leave."
Alvin felt like smiling suddenly, but then frowned. They're romantically attracted. Serene and AJ, cousin and cousin, in love? That can't be. Or can it? Relatives in love - isn't that like incest or something? He shook his head and looked at the both of them. "If we ever get out of here, we're going to have a very long talk."
"If we ever get out of here, that is," Ally's voice interrupted, sounding down, sad, and helpless.
Alvin took his other paw and grasped Ally's. She looked at him, he smiled at her and she smiled back. "We're alright, Ally. As long as we're together. Remember that."
Ally nodded. "Yes, daddy."
Alvin looked down at the floor, thinking again. First, they were four, now five. What's Simon going to do? Is he going to come up here and save them? Or will he be outside, watching the building crumple with the very last pieces of his daughter, brother, nephews and nieces, and sister-in-law.
The fire crackled, and not too far away from the stairs, another debris fell from the ceiling.
Suddenly, from the stairs, under all the crackling of the fire, his ears perked up at the slightest sound of footsteps moving up to the third floor. Everyone else seemed to have heard it too, as their ears flinched and they turned their view to the stairs.
First, the footsteps became louder and more urgent, and then finally, a shadow could be seen. Not just one, there's two. No, four. Four of them. After a few moments, Alvin gasped along with the others as figures of humans stopped as they saw them. One pointed at them and ordered the others to hustle. They were all wearing helmets that covered their entire face, and they were clad in full-suits, not a skin in their body was exposed.
They all rushed to Alvin, passing his family as they lifted the debris from his body. One of them knelt down in front of him and opened his helmet, revealing his face. Alvin studied the features of his face under the smoke.
"Alvin, are you alright?" His voice sounded familiar.
"Jeremy?" He tilted his head as he asked.
Jeremy nodded. "Just volunteering. The rest were to scared, saying they got wives and kids. All bull, right?"
Jeremy moved up and tried to remove the debris along with the others, who, by the looks of them, weren't volunteers. All professional firemen, except Jeremy. "Why are you doing this?" Alvin asked.
Jeremy looked at him. "Just... redemption, that's all. Saying sorry." He shrugged and went back to removing the piles. "No talking now. You don't want this smoke in your lungs. Stay with it for an hour, you could get cancer."
Finally the piles were removed and Alvin could moved his lower body. But every bone below his thighs felt cracked and broken. He couldn't move, and an attempt to do so resulted in extreme pain.
"Well, that sucks. Who else is broken?" Jeremy asked.
"AJ. He fell hard during the first explosion. The one that started the fire," from behind him, Jeremy looked at Serene as she answered.
"No problem. A vet is outside and waiting. I'll carry you out, Alvin." After saying, he turned to one of the firemen. "Hey, dude. You think you can hold the kid?"
Still removing the remaining debris, the fireman turned and looked at him. "No problem, but we've gotta hustle up. Chief said we've got five minutes to get out of here, and it's been three. Just a hundred and twenty, and we're all toast."
"No problem."
Alvin looked at Brittany, then back at the fireman. "You think you can hold her? Brittany, I mean. She's pregnant."
"Sure."
Finally, the whole debris was removed, and Alvin sighed in relief. The pain was finally gone, but the fire was still growing and heating. Without warning, Jeremy grabbed Alvin and placed him in his palms. Two others did the same to AJ and Brittany, and they all ran down the stairs, urgently.
As Alvin laid down in Jeremy's paws, he rethought everything that had happened. He couldn't believe it. They're safe and alive. The kids are alive, Brittany still has the babies. Just hope that the smoke didn't affect them, though.
I'm sorry. It's not too much, isn't it? I'm just so tired. My band was participating in the Battle of The Band in our school, and guess what -
WE WON BEST BAND OF THE SCHOOL YEAR! NO JOKE, WE REALLY DID! WOOO! (Uploading video to YouTube).
Okay, enough of that.
Okay, the next chapter will be uploaded shortly... as soon as I'm done napping.
I'm sorry it's not too much. The ending of this chapter sucks, doesn't it?
:D
This is not the ending. I have an epilogue in mind.
And Simonette fans...
I didn't mean to break your hearts. But about what happened to Jeanette, there's nothing I can do. But let me make it up to you. The next sequel will be mainly Simonette. But something sad here has to happen to them first, just to make the next sequel dramatic and all. But don't worry, all happy ending.