Little Things {Gumlee}

Chapter 1

Eleven long months had come and passed with nothing but struggle, and life for the now three of them seemed to finally be coming up roses. Or so he thought.

Valerie Jade Abadeer was born on a warm night in mid-March with a head full of hair and beautiful olive skin. Ashley's labor process had been a rough one due to this being her first child at such a young age, but luckily everything went perfectly.

Well, for the most part.

The original plan was for the young couple to give their baby away to a nice family that couldn't have one of their own. There wasn't supposed to be any holding of their child so that the birth parents wouldn't get attached and decide to keep her. However, Marshall Lee's heart acted over his brain and he did just that. Ashley wasn't exactly thrilled to say the least, she didn't even want to keep the baby in the first place.

For the entirety of his girlfriends pregnancy, Marshall had been conflicted. His brain knew that there was no way he could provide for the both of them at this age, but his heart just couldn't fathom leaving behind something so precious. His impulsive action to hold his child made the choice clear, however. He absolutely had to keep her.

In the two months that their child had been alive, many things occurred. Both good and bad. For one, baby Valerie was healthy as can be and growing and learning as normal so that was a plus. On the flip side, there were a lot of legal things that had to be done, hospital bills and doctors visits to pay for, baby stuff to buy, school to drop out of; a whole plethora of stress. All the while getting no help whatsoever from their own parents. Marshall's mother had kicked him and his new family to the curb shortly after finding out they were expecting, and Ashley's parents still had no idea. Their daughter did whatever she wanted in secret and they never asked questions, just signed the checks without a second glance.

Ashley was able to persuade her parents into paying for an apartment, unaware that she was going to be living with her teen boyfriend and child. It wasn't big or fancy, but it was enough. The teen couple might not have a lot of money, but at least they weren't homeless.

Marshall started to notice that Ashley's "baby blues" were developing into something greater. He'd done his research on all things baby related and found something called postpartum depression. It seemed his girlfriend was showing most of the signs. Ashley was constantly tired, upset, and worst of all, didn't want anything to do with their baby. It upset him, he didn't understand it. The girl had carried their baby inside her for a whole nine months yet she didn't want to go as far as to try and hold her. Or at least when she did, neither of the two girls seemed happy while doing it.

Marshall was doing all the work instead. He felt like a single parent trying to take care of two children. He knew Ashley didn't want to keep their kid at first but he figured she'd get over it quickly. He was still hopeful, however. There was a chance that she could still open her eyes and see how wonderful life was with their new baby daughter.

That's why Marshall Lee was going to do something special today. He figured that maybe one of the reasons why his girlfriend was so sad was because he wasn't giving her much attention anymore due to him being so busy with Valerie. If he did a little something special for her that made her feel important again, maybe their little family would change for the better.

The young teen walked into his apartment building with a hopeful heart. He had a large bag full of diapers and baby formula in one hand (Ashley refused to breastfeed for multiple reasons) and a small bouquet of roses in the other. (His income wasn't high enough for him to be able to afford the ring he wanted to get.) Lee was nervous going up the elevator, though he didn't think he had a reason to be. They already have a kid together so why would she say no?