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Rushing to put shoes on was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. My ever-growing baby bump was proving to be a pain as I hobbled around making myself seem to put together. I could hear my Dad calling for me, telling me to hurry up. It was currently two in the morning and he raced home from working the night shift as soon as he got the call from the Newtons.
"Let's go," I announced as I wobbled down the stairs. We raced out to the car and began our journey to the hospital. It was a silent ride, neither one of us knowing anything about the situation at hand. All we knew were the frantic voices of the family reaching out to us. It didn't take us long before we were parking and running (well as fast as I could go) inside the building, searching for one of the familiar blonds.
"Clary!" My head bobbed around looking for the person calling my name and I briefly saw Mike stick his head out of a doorway before disappearing again. Dad and I walked in his direction and warily entered the small hospital room. Dad stayed put by the door while I ventured in and caught my first glance of the thin boy lying unconscious on the bed.
"What happened? I came as soon as I heard." I moved to the side of the bed that wasn't crowded and reached out to take Joshua's warm hand.
"He had a really bad asthma attack, Doctor Cullen said he'll be fine, it was just really scary to see. He ended up passing out but before he did, he asked for you. He's been drifting in and out since we got here but he hasn't fully awakened yet." Mike's Mom explained. My heart broke for the family and Joshua. I knew about his asthma but he seemed to have it under control last I saw.
"What triggered the attack?" I asked.
"We don't know. The doctor thinks he might have had a bad dream or maybe just watched a scary movie and didn't anticipate one of the scenes."
"Well, at least he'll be okay. Before you know, I'm sure he'll be running rabid like usual." We all joked and I felt Joshua squeeze my hand lightly as he slept before letting go.
"Sorry to make you come here so late. I know the stress probably wasn't good for your baby." Mike's Mom, Judy, smiled at me. Throughout my pregnancy, Judy had been secretly helping me with advice. She was also a pregnant teenager and frowned upon for it. So she understood most of the turmoil I dealt with.
"I'm sure I'm fine, baby Eli is stronger than I give him credit for. Plus, I'd do anything for Joshua, even coming to the hospital at 2 am." I assured her.
"Well now that you've seen him, you should head home for some rest. I'll call you the second he wakes up."
"You sure? I don't mind staying?" She shook her head and denied my request.
"You two go on home, I'll call you if anything happens." I nodded and pecked Joshua's forehead before hugging the others and eventually leaving. I spotted Carlisle nearby and I strayed from my Dad to head his way.
"Carlisle." I smiled at him. He turned around to face me and his eyebrows furrowed together.
"What're you doing here? Are you okay?" He put his hands on my shoulder and glanced down at my baby bump.
"I'm okay, I was here to see Joshua Newton." He sighed in relief and removed his hands from my shoulders. "I just wanted to stop and speak to you for a moment about the baby shower later today." He motioned for me to continue. "If I oversleep and am late an hour or so, please tell your family not to hate me."
"They won't. They'll understand." He chuckled. "Alice may be a little tense but we'll calm her down. How about you just call when you're ready and one of us will come to get you. I know Jasper volunteered but if he's not available I'll send someone else."
"That works for me." I glanced at the clock hanging on the wall and let out a small sigh. "I'd better get going, I need some sleep tonight." He gave my shoulder a small affectionate squeeze and we went our separate ways.
"Everything okay?" Dad asked as we exited the hospital together.
"For now." I chuckled. And for once it did seem that way, I didn't want to jinx myself but despite Joshua's accident, things were slowly getting better.
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Later that day, I was headed to the Cullens residence with Seth in the backseat talking Dom's ears off as he drove. I was dressed in a simple navy blue sundress that Alice had sent over. It stopped right above my knee and it paired nicely with the brown boots she insisted I wear.
"She didn't agree with me though. She said I was too much of a boy to understand but also it's like how does she not know that I have two older sisters? I'm pretty much an expert when it comes to girls." Seth rambled on.
"I thought you said you had one sister, her name something like Lilly?" Dom glanced back at him, his eyebrows furrowed.
"Leah. And no I have two, Clary's my sister." Seth explained before going back to his usual ramblings about a girl in his math class.
"So I guess your family is bigger than we expected," Dom smirked.
"It's been three years, you should know all this by now." I laughed. The conversation died down a bit as we pulled up to the giant house. Seth opened my door for me and held my hand as we entered the mostly glass building.
"It's just a small gathering, it's only us here," Dom told me as I ascended the stairs behind him. When my eyes fell upon the decorated living area, my eyes started to water. It wasn't as over the top as Alice probably would've liked but I loved it. It was perfect.
"You didn't have to do this," I told her as she embraced me.
"You're family Clary, we wanted to." I went around the room and gave everyone hugs and it wasn't until I made my way through the circle of people that I realized neither my sister nor Emmett was in attendance. "Bella's taking a nap and Emmett is in his room." I nodded and decided that it was time to take that first step and try to make peace. I left the group and made my way down the hallway to a room that was once my second home.
I didn't bother knocking, he already knew I was there. I gently pushed the door open and saw him sitting on the edge of the bed. He was twirling a small blue bear in his hands and I smiled at the sight. Without saying anything, I sat beside him and placed my hands on top of his, taking the stuffed animal out of his grasp.
"Why don't you come and celebrate with us?" I asked quietly. He didn't look up at me as he answered.
"Are you sure you want me to?"
"I do." I grabbed his hands again and placed them on my stomach. "We do."
He left his hands there and gently cupped my belly. "I'm all in Clary. No more running." I smiled at him and stood up.
"Then come on. Let's go celebrate our baby." He grabbed my hand and let me drag him out to where everybody was. I knew I was giving in too quickly but I had to think long-term. This baby was coming faster than planned and I wanted Emmett there for every moment. So I did what was best for me and Eli and I took that step. One small step for me but one giant step for Eli's future.
