Fall 29

Sera and Serena''s birthday party was tonight. I rummaged through my dresser, looking for something nice to wear for today! Most of my nice, party clothes had been replaced with maternity outfits. I pulled out a black empire waist midi dress and accented it with a pink studded belt. My belly wasn't hidden completely, but the dress did make me appear smaller. I smiled in agreement with myself, strapping on a pair of black one-inch heeled ankle boots and tying a pink ribbon in my hair. I studied my face before applying a light layer of make-up; I didn't want to overdo it, though! I grabbed the two perfectly wrapped birthday presents from my desk before waddling downstairs.

"You look great, Clara!" Mom exclaimed.

"You do." Dad began, "Have fun!" I blushed.

"Thanks mom and dad. I'll see you later!" And with that I left the farm house for the party.

I made my way to the port where the party was being held. I was greeted with balloons, some music from a nearby record player, and a few tables: one of the tables, I noticed, was for presents and a buffet table with a sheet of orange cupcakes at the end. There were also some smaller round tables for guest seating.

"Hi, Clara!" Sera greeted me, I nodded.

"Hey, Sera!" I exclaimed before looking behind her. "Where's Serena?"

"Bathroom. She went in not too long ago, but she shouldn't be long! I'll let her know you're here. Until then, have fun! Help yourself to some food, dance, oh, and just put your presents on the table with the rest of them!" I smiled and nodded as Sera went back to mingle with her other guests. I placed my gifts on the table.

"Good evening, Clara!" I looked over towards Ray. Though, his appearance didn't really surprise me, considering what happened to Leonel and me at his party. I'm pretty sure the adults are going to be supervising our parties until our eighteenth birthday.

"Hey, Dr. Ray!" I greeted, as he smiled.

"Did you walk here by yourself?" He asked as I noticed Yue behind him with her arms crossed.

"Do not do this today." she scolded him through gritted teeth. Ray turned towards her.

"Yue? What are you doing here?" He asked slightly nervously as I noticed Yue's eye twitch in annoyance.

"Today is my daughters' birthday party. Did you just ask me what I'm doing here?" Ray became slightly nervous.

"Ah…I-I never…" But before Ray could finish.

"You're right. You never think! You don't realize how much this divorce has hurt us!" Tears began to stream down Yue's face.

"I loved you, Ray. But I'm starting to think you don't really know what love is." I shifted awkwardly as Yue noticed.

"Sorry you had to see and hear that, Clara." Yue said, wiping her teary face.

"Mom!" Sera and Serena exclaimed in unison. "You made it!" Yue's face changed from sadness to delight as Sera and Serena rushed towards her, embracing their mother.

"Of course I did! Did you really think I would miss today, of all days?" Yue gave Sera and Serena each a kiss on their forehead.

"Oh! Hi, Clara! Sera told me you were here!" Serena said with a blush. I just smiled and nodded my head.

"Go hang out with your mom." I gestured, "You guys can talk to me later." They smiled, pulling their mother.

"We wanted to show you the balloon arch Leann helped put together with us, mom!" Sera's voice traveled further.

"Uh to answer your question, Dr. Ray, I…" I stopped when I noticed Ray's eyes were filling with tears, and his lip was quivering.

"She's sacrificed so much for our family. I know she lives mainly anywhere she wants to now and has become a traveling sales merchant again. But…" he covered his mouth with his hands.

"Maybe she's right…maybe I don't really know what love is."

"It's never too late to learn, Dr. Ray." I encouraged him "You can start by being a family again. Maybe make an agreement with Yue and travel somewhere for a week of a season for a vacation. The four of you!" Dr. Ray looked down, but I saw him smiling.

"You're right, Clara. I'll talk to Yue before she leaves." He looked over at me, slightly blushing.

"You know, I actually really…" but I stopped him.

"I know, you like my mom." I sighed as he blinked.

"I liked your mom." He corrected me, "I was so blinded by my own pain when she married your father, that I never looked at what was in front of me the whole time. I believe it may be too late to save my marriage since the divorce is final, but I know it's not too late to save my family. And I know I love my daughters!" Ray began to walk away, before turning towards me. "I'm going to be spending some time with them. Enjoy the party!" I watched as Ray left.

I noticed that my other friends were dancing to the music. I kind of wanted to dance with them, but what if I lost my balance and fell. I sighed before hitting the snack bar, stuffing my plate with just about everything available at the buffet before sitting down at one of the tables. I began to hork my food down. The baby kicked as I quenched in pain. The ribs again, I hated it when it did that! I looked up from my fork when I noticed someone started to take a seat in front of me. I smiled at the one in front of me.

"Hi, Serena!" I exclaimed, she smiled and nodded, blinking a few times.

"Uh, Clara? Sorry, but…could we go somewhere a little private? I wanted to ask you something." I blinked.

"Uh, sure!" I exclaimed as we got up and headed towards the clinic, walking into hers and Sera's bedroom. She looked behind her bedroom door to make sure no one had followed us before closing it.

"It's a bit, uh…personal, okay?"

"Okay." I replied in confusion as she blushed a bit, her eyes drifted to the floor.

"Tell me, did you like it?" she squeaked as I furrowed my brows in confusion.

"Did I like what?" Her face became even redder.

"Uh…what you did with Leonel." It was my turn to blush, why did she want to know that? Did she like Leonel? Did Sera like him? I shook my head and replied in a stutter.

"Uh, n-no. No, I-I just felt sorry for him, because if you think about it h-he probably won't ever get a girlfriend and he probably wouldn't have gotten any action if it wasn't for me." My whole face was a bloodshot red before I looked up at her, asking.

"Why did you ask? Do you like Leonel, Serena? Or does Sera?" she chuckled and shook her head.

"No, neither of us do, but tell me Clara, do you like anyone?" She began to blush.

"D-do you mean as a…crush?" she nodded as I blushed, "I kind of think Orland is cute."

"Oh..." She said in such sadness, putting her head down in disappointment as my eyes widened.

"D-don't worry! You can have him if you like him! I doubt he would want to date a girl not carrying his..." but before I could finish, Serena had grabbed my face and stopped my sentence with her lips. My eyes felt as wide as dinner plates, her lips pulled away from mine as she ran off in embarrassment. My heart began to race in confusion. D-did Serena just…kiss me? I placed my fingers on my lips, trying to determine if this was a dream or reality. Why would Serena kiss me? I felt my eyes widen more than they already were. Was Serena a…lesbian?

It took a few moments before I was able to make it back to the party, still in shock at what just happened. If Serena was a lesbian, did she like me? I felt a little bad for not liking her back; taking a seat at a table, I placed my cheek in one of my hands in mere confusion. My baby kicked, but I didn't really notice it. I felt an hand on my shoulder as I looked up into Leonel's eyes.

"A-are you okay, Clara?" he asked I sighed and looked down.

"Yeah…no…I don't know." I replied before groaning, he sat down next to me.

"Do you wanna talk about it?" I looked up at him, his blue eyes held concern, I didn't know how to tell him what happened, so I decided to make it as simple as possible.

"W-well someone expressed their feelings for me a while back, but I don't feel the same, and I kind of feel bad." Leonel smiled and hugged me.

"You shouldn't!" He replied as I broke the hug.

"But, Leonel, I think this person has liked me for a long time, and…I just feel bad about not liking them like that."

"Who was it?" he asked as I blushed and shook my head

"I-I'd rather not say." I replied sheepishly, I was scared of what he would think of Serena being a lesbian and I didn't want the news to travel. I was worried that no one else would accept her for who she is, minus Sera and I of course. I mean I don't have any feelings for her, but I still loved her as a friend. I wouldn't know what to do if no one accepted her for her.

"Are you enjoying the party, though?" Leonel began, trying to change the subject, I sighed and shrugged my shoulders.

"It's not super enjoyable if you can't have fun and dance because you're worried about falling and hurting your growing baby." He blushed before looking down in shame.

"S-sorry." He said as I raised my eyebrow.

"Sorry? Uh, for what?"

"Well I shouldn't be having fun if you're not having fun." Was his reply as I giggled.

"No, no. You deserve to have fun!" he shook his head.

"It's not fair for me to be having fun. I'm gonna be a dad too, you know! I need to start learning more responsibility." He cared so much for me, for us! I felt so bad for him. Maybe if I kept my mouth shut and said I was enjoying myself, he'd be up dancing.

"Sorry, Leo." I sighed.

"Don't be sorry! This is my fault, too!" He smiled as I struggled to stand up. He rushed over to my aid as I looked up towards the clock hanging over the pier. It was getting late. I glanced over at him.

"Would you care to take me home?" I asked, he just smiled and nodded. Offering his elbow, I hooked my arm into it, allowing him to walk me home. We stopped at my front door as I looked over at him smiling.
"I'll see you tomorrow at school, 'kay?." I said, he nodded before grabbing my face, planting his lips onto mine, running the opposite direction. I stood there in complete and utter shock. What was that all about? I felt paralyzed and unable to move. I felt my emotions tangle; this was all too much pressure for my body. I groaned before entering my house.

"Hello, Clara! How was the party?" Mom asked.

"Fine." I said sadly before making a fake yawn to make it seem like I said 'fine' in a tired way. "I think I'll go to bed. Good night mom and dad!" I ran into my room, flopping into my bed on my side, twisting my head to stare up at the ceiling. This was all too much for me. Way too much.