Inferno Part 2

~125~ Rare Picture

Ellie's POV

We're all in the living room one evening. We had a big family dinner, so Sasha and her family, and Liam and his family are here too. Wes and Trace are also here. Wes isn't "good" at all, but he has a little spark back. It's been almost two weeks, and Megan still won't let him come home. He tries to go over there every day. So far, nothing is working.

Alex, Lilah, and Colton come in, and Alex has a goofy look on his face.

"El, Lilah and I were going through some papers. Look what I just found," he says, handing me a picture.

I look at it and smile, looking up at him. This is one of the only pictures that was taken when I was pregnant with Liam.

I'm standing next to Alex, and he has his hands gently on my tummy. I'm probably about 8 months pregnant. My family was less-than-thrilled at the idea of me being pregnant. They definitely didn't snap pictures of us often.

He smiles back at me and his eyes are soft. Sad and happy at the same time.

"What's that, Ellie Jane?" Taylor asks, taking the picture from me.

"Dang. I don't think I've ever seen any pictures of you pregnant with Liam."

Alex nods. "That's because there's hardly any. I worked odd jobs and saved enough to buy a cheap camera. I wanted it for when the baby came. I think that's the first picture we had taken of us."

Liam takes the picture from Taylor and chuckles. "Man you guys look young."

Alex nods. "15 is young. Too young."

I look over Liam's shoulder at the picture again. "I always thought Liam looked a lot like me, but dang. He's all you, friend."

Alex chuckles and shakes his head. "He's got my height, but that's about it. He definitely takes after his momma."

"What every guy wants to hear," Liam grumbles, handing the picture to Emma.

Emma and Trace look at the picture. "You never talk about it. Can you tell us the story?" Emma asks softly.

"What story, love?"

"All of it. Finding out you were pregnant, telling grandpa, all of it. I'm sure it was hard."

Alex looks at her, and then looks at me. He nods and smiles sadly. He walks over to where I am on the couch, sits at my feet, and pulls me down to the ground with him.

He wraps his arms around me and kisses my head. "A lot of ways it was the worst time of my life. Somehow, it was also the best," he says as he kisses my head again and gets a far-away look, I'm sure I look the same. The rest of the family settles in, eager to hear too. We have never told them the full story.

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"I'm so pumped. I'm getting my permit in a few weeks. Dad said he will let me drive the second I get the permit," I say, dancing around my room.

Alex snorts. "I have no idea how I'm going to get my time in. Dad took me last week, and apparently I didn't stop at the stop sign long enough," he says, shaking his head in disgust.

"What happened," I ask, sitting next to him on the bed.

He looks at me, rolls his eyes, and lifts up his shirt.

There's a huge purple and blue bruise along the side of his stomach.

"Ah man," I say, running my hand gently over the bruise.