Running away from home was never a thought that crossed Ceiarra's mind, not realistically, until that morning. She had sat there, staring at the tiny plastic stick, wondering what to do. Her mother would surely kill her, and her father as well. She had family in Washington-her older cousin Emily- that she was sure would take her in. She picked up her cell phone and dialed the familiar phone number.
"Hello?" the person on the other line spoke.
"Em? It's me. I was wondering…could I come live with you? I'm in sort of a pickle…" Ceiarra suddenly felt nauseous, no doubt from the talking about the pickles.
"What kind of a pickle? Are you in legal trouble? Because I love you, Cici, but I am NOT going to help you avoid prison."
Ceiarra's stomach lurched. "For the love of God Emily, please stop mentioning pickles." At that last mention, Ceiarra dropped the phone to run to the toilet, not even trying to mask the sound of her morning sickness, knowing nobody was home. She rinsed her mouth out before going back to the phone.
"Oh my god. You're pregnant." Emily's voice said, shocked. "I take it your parent's don't know yet?"
"Nope."
"Well, if you tell them and they say it's okay, you can come here."
"Thanks Em, I owe you." Ceiarra hung up and started to pack, throwing as much of her stuff into her suitcase and duffle as she could.
"Cici? I'm home!" Ceiarra's mother, Anne Dennis, called from the first floor. Cici kept packing and only looked up when she heard her mother's hand knock on the door.
"Going somewhere?" Anne asked with her eyebrow raised.
"Mom, I need to tell you something…" Cici looked at her mom. At 19 years old, it wasn't as if the pregnancy was necessarily scandalous, so much as the father of the baby was one of the boys from La Push that she had slept with on a recent visit.
Anne stayed silent, patiently waiting for her daughter to continue.
"I'm pregnant, and the dad is one of Sam Uley's friends, so I asked Emily if I could go live with them and she said I could." Anne still stayed silent, thinking about her words carefully. Suddenly, she stood and hugged Cici.
"Good girl for taking action and responsibility. I love you baby. Let me talk to your father though, because I know we have a rental property out on La Push, family property. Maybe you could move in there and give Emily and Sam their space. I can't believe I'm going to be a grandmother!" Anne squealed, hugging her surprised daughter again before walking out of the room. Cici sat still for a good few minutes before she heard her mother on the phone with her co-worker, a fellow Real Estate Agent.
The train ride from Oregon to Washington was surprisingly long, but Cici sat with her hand over her tiny baby bump and wondered everything about the baby. The gender, the eye color, how far along she was. She just hoped the baby's dad wouldn't be too upset. At 19 years of age, Seth Clearwater seemed to still have a bunch of things he wanted to do with his life. She had felt a certain connection with him, a pull. She had started to dose off whilst thinking of baby names when the train came to a stop.
"Let me help you with your bags." A voice had said from next to her.
"Actually, I've got it." She eyed the strange man next to her. She reached up cautiously and grabbed her suit case, which she tugged down the isle of the train with her duffel strapped across her chest. The train station only went to Port Angeles, a small city an hour outside of La Push. Emily said she would send one of the guys to get her, but Cici never found out which it would be.
She looked around quickly, attempting to recognize anyone who could be from the Rez. There were a lot of pale people, people that looked sick from lack of sun. Ceiarra's own heritage was pure Native American, Makah on her mother's side and Quileute on her father's. Her skin was as creamy and russet as the rest of the La Push citizens, possibly a little darker from the Southern Oregon sun. Her parents had packed up and moved south before Ceiarra was born as an attempt to make a better living in the real estate world.
"Ceiarra!" a voice called. She spun around, trying to locate the sound of the voice. A grin spread across her face when she saw Sam, Emily's husband, standing tall and russet and warmly, nearby. She dropped her bags and ran to hug him, a friendly face in an unusual environment.
"Sam! How's life?" Cici asked as she let go of her grasp on him. Sam walked to go grab Cici's bags, easily scooping them up before he walked back to the shorter girl.
"It's pretty good. Emily is excited for you to come. She said you came with a surprise but she won't tell us what it is." Sam huffed, annoyed, but Cici just rolled her eyes, thankful she wasn't showing just yet.
"Yeah well, she's a good cousin and it's not her secret to share." Cici elbowed Sam playfully. He pretended to look offended before ruffling her hair.
"It's good to have you back, Cici." Sam had been dating Emily for a few years and Cici had been visiting Emily every summer since she was little, so once Emily and Sam had become close, Cici had met him, approved of him, and then given them her blessing after spending a week on a summer vacation with the two of them and a bunch of their family members. She remembered how happy they were together, and Cici had always been thankful for Sam taking such good care of Emily after she had been attacked.
"It's nice to be back. It has always felt weird living in Oregon when it feels like Washington is my home." Sam led Cici to his truck and turned on the engine once she got settled in the cab.
"Are you hungry? We can stop and pick something up on the way to the house, or I'm sure Em wouldn't mind cooking." Sam hadn't taken his eyes off the road as he spoke, but Cici quickly decided she didn't want to think about food at the moment.
"I'll just find something when we get back." She didn't want to talk much more so she started to fiddle with the radio. She found a semi-decent station and left it on as her eyes followed the bright lights of the city buildings as they turned into smaller homes in small towns and then eventually all lights disappeared except for the car's headlights and the occasional street lamp. It wasn't dark yet, but there was a steady light rain flowing and it made the darkening sky appear grayer.
"Almost there." Sam's voice said suddenly. Cici's eyes looked up from her lap to see the trees change. It wasn't that they were thinning so much as it looked like they were being peeled back from the road, opening up in small areas to reveal the first La Push homes. Emily and Sam lived among these, their house set further back among the trees than the rest. Sam's truck made a wide turn into the unpaved driveway, pulling to the side to park in front of the closed garage. Cici knew from past visits that the garage was full of Sam's car fixing things and their extra food store.
"Go on in, I'll get your stuff." Cici smiled appreciatively towards Sam before jumping down from the cab and walking towards the house's front door. The cool misting rain felt nice on her face; it was a welcome change from the warm, humid sun she had left behind.
"Em?" Cici called, walking through the front door. The small house was painted warm, sunny colors in attempt to bring the sun to La Push, something that always made her smile for some reason.
"Cici!" Emily's voice was close by, making Cici jump before she spun around to find her cousin almost right next to her.
"Jesus, you scared me!" Cici laughed, hugging her cousin.
"Come upstairs and freshen up, I've got some dinner ready if you'd like. Plus, we need some privacy to talk." Emily eyed Cici's belly. The two girls walked side by side to the upstairs bathroom where Cici washed her face and hands and pulled back her hair and Emily spoke quietly to her.
"This house echo's like crazy, I didn't want anyone else to hear us." She explained. "I called the best doctor in the area, he also happens to be an acquaintance of ours, his name is Dr. Cullen. He's got an appointment for you tomorrow to find out the due date and how far along you are as well as get you started on the proper vitamins. It's first thing in the morning, so I figured we could get up, you could shower and we could eat and then head over." Emily looked satisfied as she finished talking.
"Thank you so much Em. My mom said they have property here that she's going to check out for me, but thank you so much for taking me in." Cici hugged Emily.
"Hey Cici…its Seth's baby isn't it?" Emily asked. Cici bit her lip before nodding. With that, Emily got up and went downstairs to heat up food for Cici, who ate quickly before falling into bed and passing out.
"Rise and shine!" Emily's voice startled Ceiarra from sleep, though with the odd dream she was having she can't say that she minded being woken up.
"Urg." She said rolling over. She pushed herself up from the bed, rubbing her eyes before turning to look at her cousin.
Laughing, Emily spoke. "Go shower, I'll make breakfast. Any foods to avoid?"
"Eggs. No eggs." Cici told her, and to prove her point, started turning slightly green. She bolted up and for the bathroom, leaning over the porcelain throne to vomit up whatever had been in her stomach. Emily rubbed Cici's back as her cousin heaved, handing her a fresh bottle of water when she finished.
"Got it. Muffins it is." Emily nodded before standing up and moving to get a towel for Cici, who stood up and started the shower.
"Thank you Em." Cici smiled. Emily went downstairs to the kitchen to start the muffins while Cici got her toiletries and hopped in the shower. Emily wondered how long she could actually keep the house empty for when the door opened and Jake, Embry, Quil, and Seth walked in with Sam.
"Muffins?" Jake asked.
"Yep!" Emily responded cheerfully. Sam kissed her cheek gracefully before moving out of her way and sitting on the couch with the rest of the guys.
"Who's in the shower?" Quil asked loudly.
"You didn't tell them?" Emily asked Sam, giving him a look.
"Nah, I hadn't phased recently."
"Okay, so who's in the shower?" Embry asked.
"Ceiarra's going to be staying here for a bit. She needed to get away from home." Emily smiled at the boys warmly before turning to slide the pan of muffins into the oven. She set the timer before going upstairs to change for the doctor's appointment.
She didn't miss, however, the look on Seth's face of pure excitement.
"Hi, I'm here for an appointment with Dr. Cullen. The name is Ceiarra Dennis." Cici checked herself in at the doctor's office, one she was told that Dr. Cullen rarely worked out of.
"Sure hon, right this way." The secretary stood up and walked back to one of the patient rooms with Cici and Emily in tow.
"The nurse will be right in." she smiled, putting Cici's medical file folder in the pocket on the door.
"Are you nervous?" Emily asked. Cici looked at her cousin.
"A little, more about how far along I've gone without really taking care of the baby. At least I am 100% sure on who the dad is." Cici rolled her eyes.
"Knock knock." A voice called. "Hi ladies, I'm Sasha, I'm the nurse for Dr. Cullen. I'm just going to start by grabbing your blood pressure and then Dr. Cullen will be in to see you shortly." The middle-aged woman was too cheerful for so early in the morning, Cici thought. She sat still as the peppy woman wrapped the blood pressure cuff around her arm and listened intently.
"Good! 102/60. Nice and low. I'll just go let Dr. Cullen know you're ready!"
"God she was excitable." Cici complained when the door closed.
"Be nice." Emily scolded, though there was a smile on her face. The two girls weren't alone for more than a minute or so when a knock came to the door and a handsome, young doctor walked in. Cici took in everything she could about his appearance without being rude. He had milky skin and blond hair with golden eyes and a slight flush to his cheeks.
"Hello, I'm Dr. Carlisle Cullen."
"Hi, I'm Ceiarra Dennis."
"Nice to meet you Ceiarra. You are a cousin of Emily I hear?" Cici nodded. "Nice to see you again, Emily." Emily smiled at the doctor in a friendly way. "Alright, let's see what we got here. When was your last period? Emily can go sit in the waiting room for a few moments, were going to have to do a full exam today." Dr. Cullen said. Cici nodded to Emily.
"Last period was in June, when I visited."
"Alright so that was about three months ago…alright Ceiarra, I'm going to walk Emily to the waiting room and if you could undress from the waist down and put that sheet over yourself, I'll come back and we can get started." Dr. Cullen stood and left the room with Emily, closing the door behind him as he left. Cici moved quickly to take off her pants and underwear before climbing back onto the examination table and covering herself with the paper sheet. A minute or so later, Dr. Cullen came back in.
"Alright Ceiarra, so I'm going to ask some questions while I do the exam to get this appointment to go a little faster for you." He smiled up at her before sitting on the stool at the end of the table. Cici leaned back and took a deep breath as Dr. Cullen got to work.
"Are you on birth control?" Dr. Cullen asked.
"No, I was at the time but I took a pregnancy test and it came back positive and I knew I didn't want to physically be with anyone else so I stopped taking it."
"Have you been having any pregnancy symptoms? Everything looks good down here." Dr. Cullen moved to his paperwork, taking his gloves off and picking up her file.
"Yes. Morning sickness, my boobs have gotten bigger and they hurt, I feel tired and I'm gaining a little weight." Cici watched as Dr. Cullen wrote everything down.
"Alright, Ceiarra. I'm going to go get Emily now, if that's okay, and you can but your bottoms back on and well get the ultrasound going and get a blood test run for you." Dr. Cullen smiled a dazzling smile before walking out the door once more. Cici pulled her clothes back on and looked at her belly for a moment.
"Here we go." She whispered. A knock came to the door once more and Emily and Dr. Cullen came in with an ultrasound machine behind them.
"Alright, Ceiarra. If you would lie back for me and were going to lift your shirt up slightly, I'm going to apply the ultrasound gel and then use this wand to see if we can get a picture of your baby." Cici's eyes were glued to the screen as the picture came into focus. Tears sprung into her eyes as she saw a tiny human on the screen. Dr. Cullen had Emily hold the ultrasound wand while he got the baby's heart monitor set up. Soon, the room was filled with the sounds of the baby's heart beat and Emily and Cici couldn't take their eyes away from the screen.
"You are right about 12 weeks it looks like. We are going to do a blood test to rule out and genetic abnormalities, would you like us to also test for the gender?" Cici could only nod. The nurse came in and took her blood, but Cici didn't even notice. All she could think about was the little baby on the screen. Her baby.