Only Hope

Chapter 1

Past

Cassandra looked down at her daughter Serena and noticed chocolate smudge on the corner of her lips, bending down Serena's level Cassandra pulled out a tissue and wiped the corner of her daughter's mouth. Fiddling with her dress and playing with her hair, Serena waited patiently for them to get to her friend's house. She smiled a little when they got into the car and drove towards his place. Even though she was five years old, Serena already had a crush on her friend, just like her mommy had on her dad.

Lucas was eating ice cream waiting on Serena to get over to his place already, he was bored out of his mind watching the news with his dad. Chris was a news man and watched in the morning, afternoon and late at night. He always told Lucas that watching the news was important and you never know what could be happening around the world. Even the weather was important to watch, his dad told him that he was lucky it was a sunny day outdoor because if the day was rainy Serena wouldn't have been allowed to come over.

"Sweetie, Serena is here!" Rhea, his mother shouted from the front door. Hopping off the couch Lucas quickly ran to the kitchen to dispose his ice cream before running to the front door. Serena was standing there with her mother, smiling. Lucas quickly said hello to Cassandra then reached out and grabbed Serena's hand pulling her along with him to his room.

"I got new toys we could play with, my mom bought them for me" Lucas pulled out his new toys which was a car with a controller. Serena wasn't much of a girly-girl so she loved to play with the cars as well. The both of them trotted downstairs out the backyard and put the batteries in the controller and car. Serena saw her mother talking with Mrs. Palmer, they were laughing about something whilst watching Lucas and Serena play.

"Just wait until they understand what love is, the both of them would be head over heels for one another" Rhea countered, pouring tea into Cassandra's cup. The kids were playing outside in the lovely day and all seemed well. Rhea sat down the other end of the table, carefully sitting hand on her small baby bump.

"And I have twins on the way. How am I going to deal with all three of them when they're teenagers?" Cassandra laughed thinking that it was going to be a train wreck for Rhea. Her best friend since college wasn't the type of girl who wanted to have kids at all. She didn't want to get married or be pregnant because she was scared of wrecking her body image, but after falling in love Chris and he proposing, she accepted right away and being pregnant made her a happier person.

Being pregnant with Lucas made Rhea a whole different person; she enjoyed the life of motherhood and never in a million years thought that she love would the feeling. It's like a different experience all the time. Lucas and Chris changed her life forever and she didn't know what she would do without them.

Cassandra was a whole different story. Since college she wanted the life of a perfect wife and mother. It became a reality when Daniel came along and swept Cassandra off her feet. Everything seemed to be perfect for them two. Getting married a year later, they'd bought a house and were expecting their first child. Cassandra was ecstatic. The reality of her life soon settled in two months later, a miscarriage had taken place. It tore her into pieces and worried Daniel a lot. The mood she was in led to a depressed state. Daniel had taken her for some counselling and was with her every step of the way. Eventually she began to heal a little and once again was at peace with herself, but it wasn't quite the same. After trying for a baby again, along came Serena. Daniel and Cassandra cried laying eyes on her for the first time. It was a second chance.

"Come on Serena" Lucas said grabbing Serena's hand. They had run off from their group of friends and hid behind a building. They were now both in 9th grade and matured a lot over the years. Rhea was right; they had found love in each other. Lucas pressed his forward against Serena and kissed her nose, earning a giggle from her.

"That was ticklish" Serena countered, putting both her palms behind Lucas neck pulling him closer. Staring in her eyes Lucas chuckled.

"You're silly" He said kissing her nose again, once again earning a little squeal.

They were in the same position for a while holding each other's gaze, not daring to ruin the moment. A group of the friends decided to go for a walk after finishing eating out. The moon was out in full force, the light of it making the sky bright and the streets didn't seem to need the street lights. Lucas and Serena were walking in front of their friends when Lucas decided to pull her away. The light shone down on them, making them see each other perfectly. His brown eyes are captivating Serena thought. Being that Serena was fourteen and Lucas was fifteen, he thought she was too young for kissing. She on the other hand thought that was overdue.

"Serena and Lucas, where the hell are you two love birds?" shouted Mila. Groaning they both went back to their friends. Mila watched quietly with a smile on her face as her best friend returned by her side. She could tell Serena was in love with Lucas and wanted for nothing more, than for them two to admit it to the whole world. Maybe even one person in particular. Jude.

Jude was one of Lucas best friend. He was respectful, loyal and lovable. Every girl in the year wanted to get with him. Even though he had his fair share of girls, at a pretty young age and was pretty experience, he only cared about one: Serena. The girl who wanted Jude's heart though was Mila.

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Don't forget to look at the pictures! :))