Hey babes! Back with a new chapter for ya! Just a little heads up, I may ramping up the updates over the next month-ish, because I really want to post chapter twenty-five on Christmas since that chapter is all about Christmas and it's kinda been my plan since I realized that. So fingers crossed I'll be able to do so.

Enjoy!

*November 9, 2020*

Bellamy smiles at his best friend as he sits down next to her in the cafeteria, hanging his backpack off the back of his chair and setting his lunch in front of him. "How are you feeling?"

Clarke shrugs. "Not as nauseous as I have been lately, but still kinda gross." She frowns deeply. "And my boobs hurt like crazy right now too."

Bellamy swallows thickly, forcing his eyes to stay focused on Clarke's face. "I'm, uh, I'm sorry. I wish there was something I could do to help." He winces slightly at his words, realizing immediately how it sounds and hoping Clarke doesn't pick up on it.

She waves him off. "It's fine. I know you would if you could. Oh!" She sits up a little straighter. "I meant to ask you earlier but I totally forgot. Marcus has a late meeting tonight so can I come over for dinner? What are you guys having?"

"Um, I'm not sure what we're having. But yeah, of course, you can come over. Mom would love to see you."

"I think I'm gonna tell her. About the baby."

He raises a brow. "You sure?"

Clarke nods. "Mm-hmm. Chances are high that the news has spread to other parts of the town now even if everyone thinks it's just a rumor, so hopefully, she hasn't heard it yet. I want her to hear it from me, you know?"

"That makes sense. And I'm sure she hasn't. I don't think the adults in this town are ones to gossip about the lives of teenagers."

"Let's hope that's the case," Clarke mumbles, turning back to her meal.

Bellamy leans just a little closer. "You know, you're gonna have to tell Octavia at some point too. If the news hasn't spread to the elementary school yet."

Clarke groans loudly, pushing her tray away and dropping her forehead to the table, her hair falling and spreading out around her.

Bellamy frowns as he watches her. Maybe he should have brought that up later.

"Hey, what's got her so grumpy?" Murphy's voice draws his attention.

Bellamy looks up at his friend. "She's uh...I told her that there was a chance the news about her has possibly reached the elementary school. Which means Octavia might have found out."

Murphy winces. "Ooh, yeah, that's not good. That little gremlin worships Clarke."

Bellamy sighs heavily. "Could you stop calling my little sister a gremlin, please? I've asked you so many times."

Murphy takes a deep breath and shakes his head quickly. "Absolutely not." He shifts in his seat and leans forward against the table. "Hey, Clarke."

Clarke barely lifts her head and glares at Murphy through the curtain of blonde hair in front of her face. "What?"

"Are you gonna eat that?" he asks, pointing to her tray.

This time it's Bellamy's turn to glare at the boy. Did he really just ask that? Does he not realize that Clarke needs to eat more now since it's not just herself that she has to take care of?

"Take it." She shoves her tray across the table to him. "I thought I got my appetite back, but I was wrong."

Murphy grins, leaning back in his seat. "Sweet. Thanks."

Bellamy shifts his attention to Clarke, resting a hand on her back and rubbing what he hopes to be soothing circles. "Do you at least have some snacks with you in case you get hungry later?"

Clarke rests her cheek on her arms and looks up at him. "If I can hold it down. It's all the usual stuff I bring for Monty and Jasper."

"You're gonna eat our snacks?" Monty speaks up from the other side of the table, a slight frown on his face.

Harper, for her part, lightly smacks Monty in the arm. "She's pregnant, Monty. She needs to eat when she can, and if that means she has to eat your snacks, I think you'll be okay."

Monty sighs. "Fine."

Bellamy turns back to Clarke. "Text me in class if you need me to run out and get you something, okay? I just want you and Little Bean to be okay."

She smiles softly. "I appreciate that. But we've been over this before and I'm not going to ask you to leave class to get me snacks. I'll be fine."

"Hang on," Murphy pipes up, leaning forward and resting an elbow on the table. Murphy looks directly at him and raises a brow. "Did you just do what I think you did?"

"Depends on what you think I did."

Murphy rolls his eyes. "Don't give me that. You called the baby 'little bean'."

Bellamy shrugs. "What of it? Lots of people give unborn babies a gender-neutral nickname."

Murphy chuckles. "No, I know. And I really shouldn't be surprised. You've always been pretty whipped when it comes to Clarke."

Bellamy sucks in a breath, ignoring the fluttering in his stomach. "I am not."

Murphy nods and continues to laugh. "Yeah, you are. When did this happen, anyway? The whole 'little bean' thing?"

"At my ultrasound," Clarke answers with a small smile, sitting up in her seat so his hand falls away from her back. "We were walking out and Bellamy was looking at the printout and he just...said it. So casually. I didn't like it at first but it's kind of growing on me."

Bellamy grins. "I knew it would. It's perfect."

"Do you have the sonogram with you?" Harper asks eagerly. "I'd love to see it in person instead of just a picture of it."

Clarke frowns. "No. I left it at home. I've got it tacked up my bedroom wall. Maybe you can come over later."

"Or," Bellamy interjects, "you could see it right now."

Clarke looks at him with furrowed brows. "What are you talking about?"

"I still have the copy you gave me in my wallet."

Her eyes go wide just the slightest bit. "You do?"

He nods. "Yeah." He digs through his backpack to find his wallet—somehow it never stays where he puts it—and then tugs the sonogram out. He smiles across the table at Harper as he holds the photo paper out to her. "Here. It might be kind of hard to see because the baby's still pretty small, but it should be all labeled."

Harper takes the sonogram and looks at it carefully, tilting it and her head, squinting her eyes just a little. A smile tugs at her lips. "I think I see it. Wow." She lets out a breath and looks up. "That's amazing." She hands the sonogram back. "How was the appointment?"

Bellamy's brows furrow. "Clarke hasn't told you?"

Clarke sighs. "I fell asleep pretty much as soon as you dropped me off and Harper was busy with family stuff all weekend."

Bellamy nods. "Right. Well, it was great," he tells Harper with a wide smile on his face. "Wanna know the best part? We got to hear the heartbeat." His eyes go wide and then he looks at Clarke. "Sorry. Did you want to tell them that? I kinda jumped the gun there, didn't I?"

She laughs quietly and smiles at him in a way he's pretty sure he's never seen from her before. "No, it's okay. I don't mind."

"You're sure?"

She nods, resting a gentle hand on his knee. "I'm sure. Tell them all about it. If you want to."

He smiles brightly. "You mean it?"

"I mean it."

With an excited smile, Bellamy turns back to the rest of their friends and begins telling them all about the ultrasound appointment from over the weekend. He spends the entire lunch period doing so, and he hopes they aren't going to get sick of how much he's going to talk about Clarke's baby. He's going to be awesome Uncle Bell, he's gotta start practicing gushing over his niece or nephew as soon as possible.

.

.

.

Pulling his car into the driveway, Bellamy puts the gear into park, shuts off the engine, and pulls the key from the ignition. He glances through the rearview mirror, trying to be as quiet as possible when he sighs at what he sees.

Octavia had been quieter than usual the whole trip home. Again, it's not a long drive, but there's usually some kind of noise coming from her in the backseat. Especially on school days when she just has to tell them all about what she did.

Today, however, seems to be an off day for his two favorite girls and he doesn't like it at all.

Right as Octavia grabs for the door handle to let herself out of the car, Clarke intervenes. While he and Octavia are close, he knows that she has a special bond with Clarke, one that he can't exactly describe.

"Hey, O, can I talk to you for a minute?"

Octavia stops, then sinks back into her seat, a deep frown set on her lips. She shrugs. "Okay."

Bellamy glances at his best friend. "Do you want me to go?" he asks quietly, gesturing over his shoulder to the door.

She shakes her head. "No, you can stay." She turns back to Octavia, shifting a little in her seat so she's turned around better. "Um, I have something important to tell you."

"What is it?"

Clarke hesitates. "Well, it's, uh…" She swallows thickly. "First, did you hear any rumors or anything going around at school today?"

Octavia shrugs. "Just one. But it was dumb. And not true."

"Is that why you've been like this since we picked you up?" Bellamy asks.

Octavia shakes her head. "Not all of it. We have to do a project for science but I got the weird kid Levitt as my partner."

"Hey. It's not nice to talk about people like that," Bellamy scolds his sister, even though he's called some of his friends slightly meaner names on occasion. A bit hypocritical, yes, but Octavia really doesn't need to get in that habit.

"But he's so weird, Bell."

"Give him a chance, okay? Maybe he's not as weird as you think he is."

Octavia sighs heavily. "Fine."

"Okay," Clarke interjects, "now that we've got that taken care of, was the rumor you heard today about someone you know?"

"Yeah. Um…" Octavia looks down and fiddles with the straps of her backpack. "It was about you."

Clarke blinks. "Oh." She shares a quick look with him. They'd both been preparing themselves for the possibility, but he's not sure whether he should be surprised or not that it actually happened. "Can you tell me what the rumor is and maybe I can set it straight for you?"

Octavia looks up. "I already know it's not true. Charlotte told me that she heard her big sister talking to her friends saying that you're having a baby. But it's not true. I know it isn't true because you would have told me."

He can see the words forming in Clarke's head, trying to figure out the best way to tell Octavia the news. He knows she doesn't want to hurt the younger girl.

Clarke shifts in her seat again. "Actually, O, they're right. I am going to have a baby."

Octavia's entire body deflates, her frown deepening. "What?" she asks, her voice barely above a whisper. "But...but you would have told me. You always tell me stuff."

"I know I do. But I didn't tell you this time because I was scared. You know how much I love you, right? I promise I would have told you eventually, once I was further along."

Octavia sniffles, wiping harshly at her eyes. "Does Bell know?"

Clarke nods. "He's the first one I told. Only because I was scared and I didn't want to go home. I was crying and it was raining and he was worried about me. I knew he wouldn't have told anyone else until I was ready, and I trust him a lot. So I told him."

"I wouldn't have told anyone either," Octavia responds.

Bellamy has to fight back his tears at seeing his sister so upset. He hates seeing her like this, and with one glance at Clarke, he knows it's breaking her on the inside too. Neither of them ever like seeing Octavia so hurt.

"I know you wouldn't have. I just wasn't ready to tell a bunch of people yet. I'm still not entirely ready, but because someone else at a different school found out and started telling people, it made its way here. You believe me that I was going to tell you eventually, right?"

Octavia shifts. "Yeah." She turns just a little in her seat and looks up at him. "Can I go inside now?"

Bellamy nods. "Yeah. Tell Mom we'll be right in."

The ten-year-old is out of the car like a bullet, rushing up the sidewalk and the front steps to their house, hitting the door repeatedly until it's opened. Octavia rushes past their mom in the direction of the stairs, nearly knocking both of them off their feet.

His mom shoots him a look and Bellamy does his best to throw her a look in return that says he'll explain soon. Right now he needs to check on Clarke, and then he can check on his sister.

Shifting in his seat, he focuses on his best friend, watching her carefully as she sits facing forward in her seat, her eyes staring out the windshield. "Clarke?"

"She hates me."

Bellamy frowns deeply. "What? No. Of course, she doesn't hate you. Octavia worships you, Clarke. She's upset right now but I'm sure that'll change soon. Yes, she's stubborn, but you've always been pretty good at getting her to do things."

Clarke just shakes her head, her lips pressed tightly together. "No. She hates me."

"Hey, stop. We both know that isn't true." He sighs heavily when she doesn't respond or move from her current position. He reaches out and places a gentle hand on her arm. "I'm gonna go inside and check on Octavia, are you gonna be okay out here?"

She nods silently.

"Okay." He leans across the center console of the car to press a kiss to her temple and then climbs out of the car, grabbing his backpack out of the backseat. He lets out a heavy breath as he makes his way up to the house, his mom still standing in the open doorway waiting for him.

She places a hand on his arm to stop him. "Bellamy, is everything okay? What's wrong with Octavia?"

"She's...she's upset with Clarke right now. It's not my place to tell you why, so when Clarke's ready, I'm sure she'll tell you. Clarke's pretty upset with how Octavia reacted, so she's gonna take a minute in the car before she comes in."

His mom nods. "Okay. And what about you? You seem to be caught in the middle of this."

"It's my best friend and my little sister, Mom, of course, I'm caught in the middle." He lets out another breath and runs a hand down his face. "I'm gonna go check on Octavia." He glances back out the doorway to his car, frowning at the sight of Clarke still sitting there.

"Go," his mom says, gently nudging him toward the stairs. "I'll keep an eye on Clarke."

He smiles softly. "Thanks." He turns into the house and moves up the steps, dropping his backpack on the top landing and then heading straight for his sister's room. He knocks softly on the closed door when he reaches it, leaning against the frame as he waits. "O? It's me."

There are a few moments of silence followed by some shuffling, and then the door is cracked open. "What?"

"Can I come in?" he asks, offering her a small smile.

Octavia hesitates and then pulls the door open, walking back to her bed and climbing onto it. She pulls her favorite stuffed animal into her lap, crosses her legs, and leans back against the wall.

Bellamy crosses the room and stops in front of his sister's bed, gesturing to the open space next to her. "Can I sit?" She just shrugs, so he sits down on the edge, turning enough so he can look at her better. "How are you feeling?"

Octavia shrugs again, staring down at her blanket and fiddling with the ears of the stuffed animal.

"Well, I know you're mad at Clarke. But is it because she's pregnant or because she didn't tell you?"

Octavia lets out a huff of air. "I'm not mad at Clarke. Not really."

"Okay. So then what's going on?"

Octavia looks up at him with glossy eyes. "Clarke tells me stuff. She always does. She said one time that we're like sisters and sisters tell each other stuff. But she didn't tell me about this."

Bellamy shifts a little on the bed, feeling bad that his sister is feeling so hurt by all of this. He just wants to make her feel better in an instant, but he knows that isn't always going to happen. "You know why she didn't tell you, though, right?"

Octavia nods. "It's because she's a teenager and not married."

"Well, that's part of it. She also wasn't sure if she was going to keep the baby or not. So she didn't want anyone to find out until she'd made a decision."

"But she told you. I get it, because you're her best friend. It just sucks."

He smiles softly. "I know it does. And it's okay to feel that way. It's okay to be a little upset that she didn't tell you, but you need to understand that it's not easy for Clarke either. She's gonna be a single mom while she's still in high school. So she needs as much love and support as we can give her. Do you think you can do that eventually?"

Octavia's face pinches together as she clutches her stuffed animal a little tighter. Her head tilts to the side and then she locks eyes with him and nods. "Yeah. I think so."

Bellamy smiles. "Good. I'm glad to hear that. And I'm sure Clarke will too."

Octavia frowns again. "Is she mad at me?"

"No, of course not," he answers instantly. "I think she just might be a little sad about how you reacted. But I think if you go talk to her it'll make you both feel a lot better."

Octavia nods. "Okay." She sniffles. "Will you come with me?"

He smiles, reaching out to gently squeeze her leg. "Of course. Come on," he says, gesturing with his head to the door as he stands, "I think she's probably inside by now."

Octavia stands and they walk out of the room together and then down the stairs where their mom and Clarke are sitting silently in the living room.

Bellamy stands back and watches as Octavia approaches Clarke, sitting next to her on the couch and starting up a conversation. He has a smile on his face the whole time, watching as Clarke confesses her secret to the woman she's always viewed as a second mom, and then as she and Octavia apologize to each other and hug. His mom joins the hug and he can't help the way his heart grows a little at the sight.

He's so lucky to have these amazing women in his life. And he wasn't at all surprised when he realized that he wants Clarke's baby to be a little girl, hoping that she'll be the spitting image of her mom. He knows he'll be wrapped completely around that little girl's finger if she looks anything like Clarke.

"Bellamy, get over here," his best friend calls out to him.

He pushes off the wall and walks around the back of the couch to lean forward and wrap his arms around the three in a hug. He drops a kiss on the top of Clarke's head, smiling at his mom when she catches his eye.

"I just want you three to know how much I love you," Clarke speaks up. "You're my family and I honestly don't know if I'd be able to get through this otherwise."

"Oh, I'm sure you'd find a way," his mom says, smiling at Clarke. "You're an incredible young woman and I know you're going to be just as incredible of a mom."

"Ooh!" Octavia shouts with a grin, bouncing a little in her seat. "Can I be Auntie O?"

Clarke laughs quietly, running a hand over Octavia's head with a smile. "I think that would be perfect."

So? What did you think? Let me know in a review down below.

Until next time,
Jellybean96 out!