So here is a big, big, big chapter. I think it's gonna be an interesting one to say the least. So yeah, I hope you enjoy it and leave me a note :) Disclaimer – I don't own Harvest Moon or any of its characters x
Chapter 27 – Chelsea's P.O.V
I lay on the ground in the middle of my growing field and breathed in a satisfied breath. I'd managed to water all of my crops as well as feed and milk Bells before it was even 10AM. So I felt pretty good about myself. But then a wave of nausea swept over me and I had to clamp my hand over my mouth to stop myself from throwing up. Since I'd come back on Sunday I'd had a couple of these stupid dizzy spells. I guess I was just adjusting to a farmer's life again in the beating heat after. After the nausea had passed I pushed myself up and stood to my feet. Walking over to my house I placed my hand on the handle just as Julia pulled me into a death hug.
"Hey Chels" She squealed. I grunted and shoved her off before playfully giving her a punch on her arm. She winked at me before shoving two huge bags towards me.
"I went shopping for you because if you insist on going to the café for every meal you eat then you are going to end up skint" She winked. I took the bags off her and smirked.
"I suppose you'd want to come inside then?" I asked staring at her, still trying to perfect my raised eyebrow. She nodded before opening the door to let me in. I giggled before walking in and placing the two bags onto the counter. It's true that I'd had nearly every meal at the café and I was running a little low on money due to the fact that I hadn't been working. Julia went straight to the sofa and kicked up her feet next to her.
"I'll have some of those cookies as well thanks" She called. I rolled my eyes and I pulled out a shit load of food. There was a variety of fruit, yogurts, bread, rice, pasta and of course cookies. I pulled a cookie out of the bag and lobbed it towards where Julia sat. It hit the side of her face and she looked up and me in shock. I smirked as I turned my back on her.
"Wasn't me" I smirked again before digging my hand into the next back. Pulling out a light green box I stared at it and knitted my eyebrows together. Counting down in my head I suddenly dropped the box and backed away from the counter. Julia's head popped up from the sofa and she looked at me in confusion before slowly getting up off the sofa to walk towards me.
"Chelsea?" She asked confused. I turned to face her but grabbed my mouth and rushed to the toilet where I violently threw up. Julia followed me and pulled the hair out of my face.
"Chelsea are you alright? It's not the boiler again is it?" She asked frantically as she rubbed my back soothingly. I nodded my head before leaning back and placing my head in my hands. There was no frickin way that was possible. I guess I'd been so wrapped up in coming home and being in hospital to realise that my period was 2 weeks late.
"Jules I'm not feeling great, could I just have some time alone to get better?" I asked, trying to wrap my head around everything. She nodded before standing up and holding out a hand for me. I took it and slowly came to my feet.
"I'm not gonna leave till you're tucked up in bed" She smiled at me as she lead me towards the bed where she pulled up the covers and ordered me to get in. I crawled in and clutched my stomach carefully as Julia tucked in the duvet around me before taking off my bandana and placing the bin next to the bed.
"I'm gonna come back and check on you later, don't think you're getting away from me that easily" She smiled. I closed my eyes and nodded but opened one as soon as she turned her back. I watched her walk out of my house and as soon as the door closed I jumped up out of bed and ran to the window. As Julia finally vanished into the distance I ran towards my wardrobe and pulled out a black hoodie and sunglasses and put them on. Slowly I opened the door and snuck outside before closing it behind me and walking down the path towards town. As I approached the bridge I slouched my shoulders and slumped my way towards Chen's shop. As I opened the door I made sure that there was no one else around before I walked up to the counter where Chen was stood.
"Hey Chelsea is there anything I can get you?" He asked cheerfully. I pulled down my glasses before looking up at him. He was smiling down at me while polishing the glass cabinet in front of him. I cleared my throat before looking down at the ground.
"Do you have any pregnancy tests?" I asked, making sure my head stayed down. He chuckled quietly before walking into the back, soon to return with a white box which he placed onto the counter in front of me.
"You get five tests in this one" He smiled at me. I quickly snatched it up and placed 400GP onto the counter before turning around.
"Congratulations if it's positive by the way" He smiled. I slowly turned back around and faced him.
"Please don't tell anyone" I pleaded with him. He nodded and winked at me before picking up the cloth again and returned to clean the counter. I turned back around to walk out of the door when it suddenly opened and Vaughn walked in, fucking brilliant. Quickly I shoved the box behind my back and looked at him. He looked down at me and we exchanged a glance. All I wanted to do was grab him and hug him to death but I walked past him like we were strangers. Pulling up my hood, I clutched the white box and ran back towards my farm.
As soon as I reached my house I flung the door open and rushed into the bathroom. Tearing open the box I pulled out all five of the tests and ripped them out of their wrappers before heading to the toilet. Seven minutes later I was staring at five pregnancy tests which each held two blue lines. Either I was slightly pissed and was seeing double or I was pregnant, with Vaughn's kid. Collecting them together I walked back into my room and shoved them in the bottom of the wardrobe before walking over to my bed and collapsing face first onto it. How was I going to tell Vaughn? What was I going to tell Denny? I groaned and rolled over so I lay on my back. I placed my hands on my stomach and felt it. I was going to have a kid…
Vaughn's P.O.V –
I peered at the clock which read 5:50PM. Groaning I walked over to the coat rack and pulled on a black jacket before walking towards the door. I really wasn't in the mood to go and have a meeting with Regis and his daughter tonight. It was just too much hassle and I was missing Chelsea. After I went home on Sunday my flat felt empty without little Chels there. Just as I was about to leave, Julia bounded over to me.
"Going on your date now?" She asked as she leant up against the wall.
"Fuck off Julia" I replied before opening the door and stepping outside. The sky had grown dark and a cool breeze blew at my hat. Walking quietly towards the diner I opened the doors and was hit by the loud chatter of a shit load of people inside. Sat at one table was Elliot, Natalie and Felicia while at another was Pierre. I also could see Gannon and Eliza having dinner with Charlie. Finally on another table sat Sabrina on her own. I slouched before making my way towards her and sitting down at the table.
"I'm glad y-you could come, Vaughn" She smiled nervously. I nodded my head before adjusting my hat so that she couldn't see me properly.
"D-Dad said he was running late so I s-should go ahead and order for us" She smiled again before picking up the menu and handing one to me. I took it off her but didn't look at it. I already knew what I was going to order.
After Luke had taken our orders Sabrina turned to me and smiled. Her black hair danced in the light and was held together with a purple bow at the back.
"So how are you?" She asked looking at me. I frowned slightly before adjusting my hat so I could see her.
"Erm … okay I guess, you?" I asked as I took a sip of my glass of milk. She giggled and blushed before tucking a piece of hair behind her ear.
"I'm okay. It's just that …" She paused, considering her words carefully. I didn't really like Sabrina. She was too devious and seemed to be very good at it.
"I wanted to talk to you about something" She said slowly, like before her stutter suddenly disappeared which really made me feel uncomfortable in her presence.
"Yeah?" I asked looking up at her. She blushed slightly before the door swung open and Denny and Chelsea walked in together. I looked up at Chelsea who was looking unnaturally pale; her eyes glanced over at me and then Sabrina before they fell to the floor. Damn.
Chelsea's P.O.V –
Vaughn and Sabrina? Had she finally managed to win him over? My heart sank as I sat down in my chair to face Denny. His eyes glistened in the light as they searched for mine. He handed me the menu and as Luke came around I ordered plain pasta. As he walked back off I placed a hand on my stomach as I turned to look at Denny. Behind him, Vaughn was staring at me. I smiled to him before turning my focus back on Denny.
"Are you alright?" He asked looking at me. Honestly, all the smells mixed together was making me feel really sick but I managed to control it so that I didn't throw up and put everyone off their food.
"Yeah, just feeling a little peaky" I smiled weakly. He nodded before turning his attention to me.
"Chelsea?" He asked staring directly into my eyes. I looked at his and furrowed my eyebrows together.
"Yeah?" I asked, unsure what he was going to ask me.
"You know that I love you right, and I'd do anything for you?" He asked looking at me. I nodded slowly just as Luke brought our food to us. He didn't say anything after that. He just stared at the fish in front of him. I loved at it too and a full new wave of nausea swept over me.
"I'll be right back" I said before rushing towards the toilets. Throwing up in the loo I quickly flushed and rushed to the mirror again to check my reflection. I looked sweaty and unwell; who knew pregnancy would be so hard? Splashing a bit of water on my face I sighed and smiled at my reflection. Yeah that looked convincing enough. I walked back out of the toilets and re-joined Denny at the table. He smiled at me nervously before sighing deeply. I took a bite of my pasta just as Denny got up out of his chair. I frowned as he stood beside me and dropped to one knee. Everyone around us was staring at us.
"Chelsea, when you were in the hospital I thought that you were never going to wake up again. I thought that I'd lost you and then I realised that I couldn't live without you. Chelsea Elizabeth Edwards, Will you marry me?" He asked. I froze, the whole world span around me as I was left to answer the worst possible question that could be asked at this moment in time. I turned to face Vaughn who had his eyes closed. It looked as if he had known this was coming. I turned back to face Denny who was smiling nervously.
"Just give me a second to get my head together" I whispered before I ran out of the diner. I heard a chair scrape behind me and footsteps follow me outside where I stood against the tree opposite from the diner. Closing my eyes I took in a deep breath before opening them again. Vaughn was stood in front of me, holding his hands on my shoulders.
"Vaughn, I can't do this …" I panicked, my breath becoming rapid.
"Shh-" He soothed stroking my arm. A tear ran down my face, I had to tell him. What if he was angry? What if he never wanted to talk to me again? A million outcomes ran through my head at once.
"No Vaughn I really can't" I sobbed; all I wanted to do was reach out and grab him. Hug him tight and never let go. He looked at me, his deep purple eyes staring at me through the darkness. The tree above us shivered in the breeze as the tears rolled down my cheeks.
"Chelsea …" Vaughn began but before he could make up some stupid reason why everything was going to be alright I interrupted.
"Vaughn I'm pregnant" I said, another tear running down my cheek. His hands dropped from my shoulders and hung by his side. He was mad; I knew he would be mad.
"You and Denny should be happy together then … happy families" He said coolly, his face looked as if I'd just slapped him. Wait, did he think it was Denny's? I laughed angrily before turning to face him.
"Vaughn you are the only person I've slept with!" I said in a half shout, half whisper. Still afraid someone would hear us. He turned to face me, his face scrunched up.
"Wait …" He paused looking into my teary eyes.
"You're going to be a daddy…" I said. That had to be the weirdest thing to have rolled off my tongue. I think throughout the period of those words coming out of my mouth and the time I'd started breathing again, Vaughn had already had three strokes. There was a long silence. Like a seriously long silence, I could hear Vaughn's brain cogs turning. After a while he took a step closer and pulled me into a hug. I wrapped my arms around him and buried my head in his chest. He stroked my hair and soothed me.
"Chelsea?" He asked, pulling away to look at me. I looked up into his eyes and held my breath. I knew whatever he was going to say next, wasn't going to be good.
"I want you to marry Denny" He said. I felt as if I was just punched in the gut.
"What?" I asked taking a step back in shock. He bowed his head and sighed before looking back up at me.
"I want you to marry Denny …" He repeated as he closed the gap and placed his hands on my shoulders. I shook my head in confusion.
"What? Why are you saying this?" I asked confused, a wave of tears sweeping over me. He shook his head and sighed.
"Chelsea, Denny can give you a good life. A better one than I could ever give you…" He said, staring directly into my eyes. I felt myself welling up and my nose began to tingle.
"There are so many things that I would love to give, so many things I would love to teach you but in the whole I could never do any of that. I couldn't raise a family or be the kind of gentleman Denny is. Chelsea, I want you to be happy and you never will be if you're with me." He said it in such grace, such sincerity that it made my stomach churn. This wasn't right.
"Vaughn it's not Denny I want, it's you, this is your baby. Don't you think Denny would get a shock if they're born with silver hair or violet eyes?" The tears swam down my face as I blinked furiously to get rid of them. He sighed again and pulled me into his chest before gently rocking me back and forth.
"Chelsea Edwards, I love you. I have always loved you and I always will, since the very first day I met you. That's why I can't do this to you, I want you to marry Denny … for me," He whispered into my ear as he stroked my hair. I buried myself into his black shirt; the scent of hay filled my nose as I stained it with my salty tears.
"Vaughn …" I began to protest but he soothed my hair and shushed in my ear. His velvet voice was soft and smooth as he rocked me back and forth. I looked up into his eyes before drawing away from his embrace.
"I love you" I whispered letting go of his hands and reaching up to his face "I always will until my heart stops beating" I kissed his check before falling back onto my feet. Pulling my hand out of his I stood back.
"I will never stop" He added as I turned to walk back to the diner. I was in a daze, the world was drifting by as I opened the doors and came face to face with a group of people staring at me eagerly. Denny stood at the other end of the diner looking at me. I walked over to him and pulled him into a kiss.
"Yes" I said as the crowd behind me burst into a round of applause. Denny picked me up and span me around before placing me back down onto the ground. How was I supposed to explain to him why I was throwing up all the time or why my mood swings were getting worse? If I told him I was pregnant then I couldn't do what Vaughn wanted me to. We turned around to look at the entire crowd behind us which were smiling and congratulating us. I felt as though a mask had been glued onto my face which was forcing me to act in the charade. The doors quietly opened and Vaughn snuck in. His face was white and made him look really ill. This shouldn't be happening; this wasn't how things were supposed to turn out. All I wanted to do was run away with him but the frickin cowboy wouldn't have it. Apparently Denny was better for me, but I knew otherwise.
So this chapter is finally over, I hope you all like it and the next update should be fun :D Thanks for staying tuned; you know how much I appreciate it. Please review me and again, the next update should be soon :) x