Forever.

Chapter 35: "It"

Claire's P.O.V. (4 months later)

A/N: sorry about the big time jump!

It's been four months since the house began being built. It's crazy to think that it's going to be done in a few months.

It has also been a while. I'm a little over 5 months pregnant, and it's very obvious. I have a decent sized baby bump, and it'll only get bigger. I've been going to the doctor every month to make sure everything is okay and what not.

And you know what Braden got me for my birthday three months ago? Maternity clothes. We really didn't do much on my birthday because I had morning sickness all day. So that was fun. Not really. So I'm not nineteen.

I have a doctors appointment in a few days and I'm far enough along that, if we want, we can decide if we want to know the gender of the baby.

I mean, I want to know, but at the same time, I don't. Knowing would make things a little easier, like what clothes to buy, giving it a pronoun than just "it", and names. I don't even have any names in mind and I have no idea if Braden does. As time goes on, I'm getting more and more nervous about becoming a mother.

I don't know if I'll be good at it, but I know Braden will. I don't want to mess anything up. I seem to do that whether I mean to or not.

"Morning sunshine." Braden says as he comes in the room.

"Good morning." I say as I slowly sit up. It's been getting harder to do simple things like sit up or walk because my stomach is getting so big and I'm not used to it yet.

"I just saw that we are out of milk and those yogurt things you like, so I'm going to go run out to the store and get some more real quick." He says as he comes over to me and takes my hand in his. "Will you be okay?" He asks.

"It's not like you'll be gone for hours, it'll just be a few minutes. I'll be fine." I say. He's been worrying about me a lot more as the pregnancy progresses because I haven't gotten the cramps yet, and he's worried that try could happen at any moment. Which, I guess, is technically true.

"You sure?" He asks.

"I'm sure." I say.

"Okay," he says as he kisses the top of my head. He takes his keys off of the dresser and leaves.

I stand up and half walk half waddle to the kitchen. For the last month or so I've been eating every twenty minutes. I grab bagel and go sit on the couch.

I told my mom and Jake that I was pregnant. My mom is excited to be a grandma, and Jake can't wait to be an uncle. I want them to be as involved as possible because I want this baby to have a loving family. Something I didn't have.

I haven't been doing much for the last few weeks. But, what am I supposed to do? Braden won't let me out of his sight for more than an hour, and I don't know what to do anyway.

I hear my phone ring from the bedroom, so I stand up and go to answer it.

I ignore the caller ID and answer it.

"Hello?" I ask.

"Hi, Claire. It's Max." He says.

"Hey," I say.

"Did you guys decide on a color for the nursery, or do you just want us to leave it for later?" He asks.

"We haven't decided if we want to know the gender yet, so I would just leave it for now." I say.

"Okay, will do. Thanks." He says, then hangs up.

It's a big decision and I don't know. Having the baby be a surprise sounds fun, but knowing would be more practical.