Yesterday | Seth Clearwater

Chapter 21

Cause he gets up in the morning

And he goes to work at nine,

And he comes back home at five-thirty,

Gets the same train every time

~ The Kinks "A Well Respected Man"

Brooklyn still wasn't showing, but she definitely noticed that some of her tighter jeans were more difficult to button. It just kinda looked like she had a really big lunch or something. Brooklyn was so not looking forward to gaining weight— she had spent her whole life playing sports and staying in shape, and now she had to face the fact that her body would probably never be the same again. That might sound shallow, but Brooklyn is still a teenage girl, and she still worried about stuff like that.

"Do you think I should get a job?" Brooklyn asked. She was at school eating lunch with Shawn— she tried to alternate between eating with the pack and eating with Shawn in order to maintain her friendships outside of the pack.

"Do you want a job?" Shawn asked her.

"I mean, not really I'm busy enough as it is, but I feel like I should be saving money or something," Brooklyn responded. "I gotta pay for baby stuff somehow."

"What about Seth?" Shawn asked.

"What about him?" Brooklyn countered.

"Why doesn't he get a job?" Shawn asked. "Like, it's his baby too. Shouldn't he take some financial responsibility?"

"He's got a lot going on," Brooklyn told him. "He's perusing something that can probably be turned into a full time job eventually, and the financial stuff isn't all on him. I have to take care of things as well."

"Well, then, yeah," Shawn told her. "Maybe you should get a job."

That's how Brooklyn ended up working part time at Newton's Olympic Outfitters in Forks alongside Bella Swan. She had applied to a few different places, in La Push, but they didn't seem to want to hire a pregnant teenager with no work experience. Bella was nice enough to offer to talk to the Newtons about giving her a part time job— all she had to do was figure out how to get to Forks everyday after school until she got her license. Luckily, her driver's test was scheduled to be in two weeks, so if all went well, she would be able to borrow Seth's car to go to work. In the mean time, Paul had volunteered to drop her off— Seth was grounded, so he couldn't— and Bella and Leah had both offered to give her rides home whenever she needed them. The pack wasn't psyched about her spending so much time in Forks, but there wasn't much they could do about it. Seth had decided that if she was going to be working with Bella, then the Cullens would be close enough to keep her safe if anything happened— not that he completely trusted the Cullens, but they hadn't given him a reason to mistrust them.

"Can you help me restock the camping aisle?" Bella asked her.

"Sure," Brooklyn said as she finished hanging up the last of the high viz vests.

Bella was starting to grow on her— they had actually become sort of friends in the few days that they had been working together. It had been a little awkward at first, but they quickly bonded over the shared experience of dealing with a group of particularly obnoxious tourists. One of the tourists— an older woman— had been furious to find out that the ice chest she had just purchased did not, in fact, come with ice already in it, and was even more upset when Bella had told her the store did not sell ice and that no she could not check the back, because there was nowhere to store ice back there without it melting. Brooklyn was so glad that Bella was skilled at keeping a neutral face, because Brooklyn was not— she was holding back laughter throughout the entire exchange. The second the lady was out the door, the two had immediately burst into an incurable fit of giggles that lasted on and off for the rest of the shift.

"So how's Edward doing?" Brooklyn asked. She knew that not a lot of people— Bella's own father included— approved of their relationship, so she liked to give Bella the opportunity to gush about her boyfriend the way any normal teenager would.

"He's good," Bella smiled. "Have I ever told you how good he is at playing the piano? He's been working on some new pieces lately."

Brooklyn listened as Bella continued to rave about her boyfriend's musical talent. She thought it was sweet how Bella was that impressed by Edward's musical talent.

"How is Seth?" Bella asked her.

Brooklyn couldn't help the smile that engulfed her face at the mention of Seth— she just loved him a lot.

"He's grounded right now, so I haven't gotten to see very much of him this week. Other than that he's doing pretty good. We're both a little stressed out by everything that's going on... you know, with Victoria, and like, the stress of the baby and all. There's still a lot we need to figure out."

"If you ever need any help with anything, just call," Bella told her. "Seriously, even if I can't help, one of the Cullens probably can, and any of them would be more than happy to help with baby stuff."

Brooklyn smiled. "Thanks Bella. That means a lot."

"What's it like? Being pregnant..." Bella asked.

"It's kind of weird," Brooklyn told her. "Right now it's mostly just like having a stomach bug while PMSing— like seriously, everything makes me either cry or puke lately. Last night, I saw this commercial for yogurt, and I started crying because the kids in the commercial were sharing the yogurt. And I can't be in the same room as pork— the smell alone makes me hurl. Plus, my pants are getting really tight— man, I am so not looking forward to when I get so huge that I can't even tie my own shoes... On the bright side, my boobs look great."

Bella looked at Brooklyn's chest. "They really do."

They laughed. "But I'm excited for the baby to get big enough so that I can feel it kicking. My mom told me that feeling the kicking was her favorite part about being pregnant. And I'm excited when the baby is born— not so much the giving birth part, but after that. I can't wait to meet him or her," Brooklyn said as she smiled down at her not-quite-there-yet bump.

The girls continued chatting and laughing, as they restocked the store. Once their shifts were over and all of the customers had gone, they closed the store, and Bella gave Brooklyn a ride home.

"Thanks for the ride, Bella," Brooklyn said as she exited the car.

"Yeah, no problem," Bella smiled, and then she drove away.