Cross my Heart (Clean Version)

~Chapter One~

"Luna, I present to you your little sister, Sarah Julia Manion," Mum said, handing me Sarah swaddled. She had a pacifier in her mouth as she reached for my hand. I gave her a finger and she took it.

"I love you Sarah. I always will. I promise," I said to her. Mum sat next to me.

"We got one. I got her," Mum said, starting to cry a little bit. I kissed her cheek.

"I like coming to visit," I said.

"After two weeks here, you're leaving to go back to the US with the biological family," she said.

"But none of that matters, because, right now, I'm here with you and Sarah and Dad," I reminded her.

Two weeks later, I was boarding a flight to Los Angeles from Tasmania. I texted Darren Criss. He was my biological overprotective slightly insane older brother. I could spend a week telling examples, but I'm not about to get into that.

To DareBear: On the flight. About to take off...call you when I get there.

I flexed my wrist. Six months after only wearing a brace for my wrist while writing, I took it off to type. It's weird.

From DareBear: Okay. I'll be tracking your flight. A week in LA before Chicago then Brooklyn. You have a lot of family!

I smiled and turned my phone onto airplane mode. I was only seeing Darren for a week before going to Chicago for a week and a half with my friends Brian and Meredith Holden who are expecting their first child. Also, I get to see my cousin by adoption, Robert. He had grown to be my best friend from the time his aunt and uncle adopted me. Once I saw everyone in Chicago, I was headed to Brooklyn, New York to visit my boyfriend, Clark Baxtresser. Yep, I am in a romantic commitment. It surprised me too. I was only spending a week there before going back to my life in Chicago, where I currently lived.

After sleeping and stressing about how much time I had slept, I relaxed while the plane landed. I took my cell phone off of airplane mode to text Darren. Just landed... excited to see the gang!

I ran into Darren at the airport. "Wow, Elle, you're excited," he noticed, kissing the top of my head.

"Only a little bit," I said as we wove through the airport. Having a brother who is famous and likes to keep parts of his life private is a little weird when you go out in public. Because I never even knew Darren was my brother until almost a year ago. We finally made it into the car and Darren started on the drive.

"How was Australia?" Darren asked.

"It was great. I got to meet Sarah," I said, "My baby sister. Mum and Dad and Sarah and I watched a Disney™ movie each night, just like the old times."

"Now you're with us and coming on set with me one day," Darren said.

"Okay!" I exclaimed. I looked outside the window. "Wow it's only noon?!"

"Yeah!"

"Oh. I'll spend eight hours with you guys before I crash," I said.

"I'm pretty sure you'll be too excited to sleep," Darren said, pulling up. I took his hand and we walked in. When I arrived, I found not only Julia and Sophia, but also Chuck and Mom. Everyone wrapped me in a group hug.

"I haven't seen you in forever," Mom said. I smiled.

"Same. I've missed you," I said, hugging everyone again. We broke apart when I yawned.

"Come on, Luna. We have news and caffeine in its best form which is more commonly known as chocolate," Julia said, leading me to the table. I sat down and Julia passed me some chocolate. I finished it within a few seconds.

"Geez, slow down blue whale," Chuck said. I put my head on his shoulder.

"What's the news?" I asked Julia. She was putting something in a folder.

"One sec," she said, sliding the closed folder to me. I took it. "Open it."

I slowly opened the folder and there was an ultrasound of something. I moved it aside and read the other sheet of paper. It was a medical form with a sticky note stuck to the front. I read the sticky note in Julia's familiar handwriting. The test came out positive, so I went to a doctor. I'm pregnant, Darren. Twins. I opened my mouth and closed it, trying to speak but unable to organize my thoughts. Deciding to not do that, I looked at the ultrasound again. I could barely make out the shape of two children. "Twins?" I finally asked. Julia nodded happily. "Congrats!"

I hugged Darren and Julia tightly. "I'm three months along," she said.

"Sophia's going to be a big sister twice," Darren said.

"On the same day!" I added, yawning.

"Wake up. It's only noon," Chuck said.

"That doesn't take away from the fact that I'm jet-lagged from Australia," I said.

"I know it doesn't, but you're the only one that's tired."

"I beg to differ." I pointed at Sophia.

"She slept 95% of the night," Julia said, on my side.

"I didn't sleep as much, but I slept a whole eight hours," I said proudly.

"That's not a ton," Darren said, "Science says it's healthy to sleep up to nine hours."

"I'm still alive and well so I beg to differ. Science lies in this case," I said.

"They wore lab coats. That's proof enough," Darren said.

"Oh really, Mr. Science?" I asked. I get salty when I'm tired.

"It's some proof. They also wrote a lab report."

"Who's this 'they?'" Chuck asked.

"The scientists," Darren responded.

"I'm making lunch," Mom said, getting up from the table. "Elle, come on."

I figured she wanted to talk, so I followed her to the stove. "How was Australia?"

"It was hot. I also got to meet Sarah, so that was nice. I've missed the US though," I responded.

"That's good to hear. I was just wondering how you're feeling knowing that there are two more people joining the family," Mom said, heating up some water and preheating the oven. I shrugged.

"I didn't have much of a family that I felt I could spill my heart out to, so I'm good with it. I like kids. A lot. I've found that babies are great to talk to. No matter what happens, I'll love these kids forever. Cross my heart."

Disclaimer: I only own Luna and the plot line.

Well, here we are again. I couldn't bear to leave these characters, but let's have a quick fangirl moment on everything that's happened since I last updated.

THE KICKSTARTER: Guys, we raised over half a million dollars. That's insane.

STARKID HOMECOMING: I didn't get to go, but I'm super excited for the DVD/Digital Download. It's gonna be totally awesome. ;)

MARIAH AS REGINA: Did you guys see? Mariah is going to be playing Regina George in the Mean Girls national tour. She has rightfully earned it. She's not going to be able to play Lex in Black Friday, but she's gonna rock it as Regina.

THE BREREDITH WEDDING: Guys, Brian and Meredith got married like two days ago and it's the best. The content is so cute and I hope to find a love that strong one day.

So, school starts in a few days for me, so I'm going to try and upload weekly (Fridays) but it might be a week or two before it's regular uploads.

--Luna :D