Hope - A Louisentine Story

Chapter 19

Description: The morning after her dream, Clem and her family go back to Ericson one last time before the baby comes, but not everything goes as smoothly as they'd hoped.

Wordcount: 2977

A/N: Thank you guys so much for the support on this series so far. It's really heartwarming reading all your comments and thoughts, and I know that you will enjoy the chapters that are coming. The story is getting very close to its conclusion, too!

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"Didn't expect any company this time of night."

Gabe turned to Clementine with a lopsided grin. In his right hand, he held a beer bottle, half its contents gone. She returned the gesture, leaning against the frame of the hallway. He was wearing a large white t-shirt, a pair of blue leggings and, surprisingly, fluffy slippers. She eyed them for a moment, a grin on her face.

"Nice slippers," she teased, nodding to them. He looked down at them and blushed, looking down.

"For your information, they're extremely comfortable," he defended himself, puffing out his chest.

Placing a hand beneath her belly, she slowly lowered herself to his level, sitting beside him. Her face was half covered in shadow, the only light source being the moonlight that seeped faintly through a window to their right. She gave him a side glance and shrugged.

"I know," she agreed, nodding. "Louis has a pair just like that. I've been stealing them from him for years now."

At the mention of Louis's name, Gabe's face became hard. He frowned slightly and his grip on the beer bottle tightened. She noticed it but didn't mention anything. As she let her mind wander away, her hands ran over her belly slowly. So close now, she thought.

A soft breeze had blown through the open window, and she pulled her oversized shirt closer to her body, shivering slightly. Her thoughts were cut short when she heard Gabe clear his throat from beside her. She turned to him, an eyebrow raised.

"I'm sorry, Clem," she heard him say.

"What?"

"I'm sorry I was the reason you were kidnapped," he repeated, setting the bottle on the floor next to him. "I spewed that shit about my feelings and you stormed off. Next thing I knew, you were gone."

Clem weighed his words carefully, looking down at the bottle on the floor. She had half a mind to let him have it and stay silent, but then something happened. She felt the baby kick, moving around in her belly as it shifted its position. Smiling, she looked back at Gabe.

"Gabe, you couldn't have known that was gonna happen," she said. "I was dumb and got myself cornered. You had nothing to do with that."

"Still, I was an ass," he admitted, shrugging, defeated. "It's just, when I saw you that day seven months ago, all those stupid teenage feelings came rushing back. Guess I couldn't turn them off so easily."

"Well, for what it's worth, thank you for your apology." She placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, receiving a sad smile from the man. They sat there, the silence only broken by the buzzing of crickets outside the window.

She thought of Lee in her dream, his wise words swirling in her mind. Sometimes she forgot how much she missed the man. Fourteen years had seemingly passed in the blink of an eye, and she wondered if it would feel the same way with her child. Her mom had always talked about how fast she would grow, pinching her cheeks with an affection only a mother could muster, but she never took it seriously.