Hey guys! Here's a one-shot from the inspiration of Ed Sheeran! Thank you buddy, your songs are awesome! Please enjoy this AU one-shot I'd like to call "Small Bump"...

Twitter: TheCliffyG

No Beta Reader, so ignore mistakes if any :)

Small Bump

They were told that having one of their own wasn't an option, that she couldn't have babies. Her body wasn't built to hold a baby in her womb; she couldn't fulfill the simplest task of being a woman.

She'd never felt so broken, so alone, and so ashamed.

He would never judge her, of course. He would be supportive of whatever she wanted to do for the sake of starting a family. One of their best qualities in marriage would be the constant support of one another's wishes.

"After the tests, we've come to a shocking conclusion. Clare, I'm sorry, but you won't be able to have children."

But those words never stopped them from trying.

XXX

Eli covered the room in scented candles, placed rose petals on their bed and played her favorite songs from an old boombox that sat on her vanity. He wanted her to be relaxed, to feel like every time they made love now wasn't for the hopes of a baby, but was for their bond to grow stronger.

It takes time to convince yourself that you won't be able to make your own children; that you'll never have a child that's yours with ten tiny toes, and petite, clammy hands.

The thought of cradling a bundle in her arms was all that she ever wanted; and she couldn't have it.

"I love you so much Clare, you're perfect," he'd whisper these words in her ear, and sometimes, she would believe him. She would believe she was perfect just because he told her so, until she remembered that she wasn't.

If she was so perfect, her body would be able to carry a baby.

He lied to her.

Tears trickled down their faces each time they were physically intertwined. They both tried-with much effort-to forget about having a baby, starting a family and being alone together for the rest of their lives.

They would have to adjust; but he refused to let them win.

Eli, out of a desperate plea to try harder, would thrust his hips with extra force, to enhance the chances of his wife getting pregnant. He knew it was pathetic, but it was worth a shot.

Sweat collided with Clare's forehead as she stared up at her husband, tears in his eyes and his hair in a frazzle. The veins in his neck were pulsing, his bottom lip bit back as his hips rocked back and forth. He was trying so hard, and the physical struggle was bearing him down. You could now count the worry lines on his face, to the stress wrinkles on his forehead.

"I-I want to stop," he remembers hearing her voice in the mist of love making, her fist pushing away his chest.

"If you stop, that means you give up. Quitters give up. We're not quitters, Clare."

She cried as he continued; but it wasn't out of pain, or displeasure. It was because he loved her so much that he had innocently convinced himself that they had a chance, that she could still get pregnant.

The thought seemed hopeless to her.

He kissed her fingertips, down to the pit of fire rising inside of her. His entire body shook above her, his muscles clenching as he came to an end. She squirmed beneath him, her back arching and slamming down onto the bed in a frenzy.

She'd never felt like this before, so riled up in the pleasure.

Their lips met in a passionate need for closeness, for they both felt so alone. Eli kissed her; from her tense shoulder blades, to her tightened jaw, back down to her delicate hip bones.

He showered her in kisses.

"We're not quitters," she heard him repeat constantly, his head resting on her shoulder.

XXX

Four hours later, the young woman lies awake in her husbands arms.

Her head rested against his chest, listening to the light thumping of his heart. She slips away from his tight grip around her waist. In relief, she watches him roll over onto his stomach, signaling his sleep wasn't disturbed.

With a bit of hesitancy, she steps out on their bedroom balcony.

Clare's blue eyes stare up at the sky in curiosity, counting the stars from left to right to pass the time. The strain in her face is visible to any bystander, and her heart races dangerously at the sight of a mother and her child.

She envies them, and jealousy courses through her veins when the toddler begs their mothers to pick them up; but they don't.

"I would carry you everywhere," Clare would whisper, a desperate need to hold the child in her arms taking over. She would spoil their child to no end, and she wouldn't care who judged that decision.

Their baby would be a miracle.

"Honey? What're you doing out there?" She craned her head to the sound of the grouchy, muffled voice behind her.

Eli slowly sat up, scratching his bed head hair restlessly. With one swift movement, he tossed the blanket to the side so Clare could come back to bed. She smiled faintly, "Oh nothing, just getting some air. Give me a minute."

For one last time that night, Clare Goldsworthy turned her back to her husband, and glanced up at the sky. A flash flew a couple of feet across the sky, and her heart fluttered, realizing it was a shooting star.

"I wish for a baby."

XXX

"I-I think I'm pregnant."

Eli's heart stopped as he settled his fork against his plate, looking at his wife's tense posture. Clare forced a grin, asking with a hint of irritation in her tone, "What? Are you not happy? What's wrong? This is what we've always wanted."

"It's just-I don't want you to get your hopes up and then-," she scoffed, tears forming in her eyes, threatening to spill over.

"Four weeks ago, I wished on a shooting star and I'm convinced that we're pregnant," Eli bit back his bottom lip, trying not to laugh. She was predicting their future off of some silly shooting star that she probably didn't even see.

But he didn't want to upset her, so he sat up in his chair, asking in a gentle tone, "Are their any other signs that you're pregnant besides a...a shooting star?"

"W-Well, yeah. My period is two weeks late, so that's always a good sign-right?" Her heart was caught in her throat, the pessimist side of her taking a sharp turn in her mind.

"Or maybe I'm just late, I don't know."

The cold fork burned against her sweaty hand as she picked at the corn on her plate. Eli had gone out of his way to have a calm, relaxing, candle lit Sunday night dinner for the both of them.

Instead of upsetting Clare any further than she was, he decided that the excitement he was trying to hold under his belt was becoming too much.

"I-If it's a girl, what do you want to name her?" Eli asked, breaking the silence.

He had never, in their entire relationship seen her face light up that brightly. Her lips were grinning from ear to ear, and the blush on her cheeks was growing redder by the second. The look in her eyes nearly gave him a heart attack; there was a look he couldn't describe, but knew all too well.

She had hope.

XXX

"So what's the verdict, doc?" Eli asked nervously, tightening his hold on his wife's hand in a deathly grip.

They were both so excited; Clare fidgeting anxiously on the doctors table and Eli bouncing up and down lightly on the balls of his feet. Being seconds away from hearing the news that would decide their destined fate was nerve wracking enough to send the two humans into cardiac arrest.

"Well," Doctor Christopher began, "I've been overlooking this ultrasound and I would like you two to tell me what you see..."

The doctor handed the married couple a picture, a picture that said a thousand words.

"You're pregnant Clare, it's truly a miracle. Congratulations you two!"

XXX

For hours on end she would zone out with both of her hands on either side of her tummy, rubbing smooth circles over her shirt. She would miss her train stop coming home from work, or even spend her lunch hour staring at her belly, and from time to time, would whisper soothing words to her baby.

"Mommy loves you already, so does Daddy."

"You're four months grown...just a small bump. You're more than just a bump, you're my little bump of a baby."

"Do you like Daddy's music? Yeah, me neither."

"Once you're born, mommy is going to feed you, hug you and Daddy is going to clean your diapers. Isn't that right, Daddy?"

One day, long ago, they were told this wasn't possible, that this wasn't an option. No one would believe Clare if she didn't have this small bump for proof. If she could, she would kiss her own belly without hurting the baby.

But until then, he would.

His lips placed butterfly kisses upon her pregnant belly; from left to right he slowly worked his way around. This was how he showed he was thankful for Clare carrying his child, and how gravely appreciative he was of the shooting star that flew across their house that one, starry night...

XXX

"July 26th, 11:59PM. 6lbs, 15oz, 19 inches."

Eli, still wearing his scrubs, looking tiredly in amazement at the tiny pink blanket wrapped around his little girl. She was a runt, of course, but made it through the birth was ease.

As for Clare, she was sleeping.

The labor had tired her out to a point where within the same hour, she was ordered to rest and took advantage of it. Eli still peered his head into her room, seeing the smile plastered across her face as she slept.

"Which devil spawn is yours?" Eli turned to Bullfrog, who was holding the video camera up to his face.

"That's my little girl," Eli spoke softly, as Bullfrog followed his hand gesture. In awe, the two stared through the glass at the one baby who was smiling in the entire room. She was wrapped up, enjoying the feeling of being restricted.

The toothless grin nearly stopped his racing heart, tears collecting quickly in his eyes.

Bullfrog snorted, zooming in on the baby girl, "W-What's her name?"

"Clare and I have decided once we saw her." Eli declared, rubbing his hands together, adrenaline pumping through his veins as Bullfrog grew anxious, accidently zooming in on his sons nostrils.

"Up here Bullfrog, not my nose!" The young man instructed, as Bullfrog got a good view of Eli, double checking to make sure the recording button was on. "Honey, if we're watching this ten years from now, huddled around the television ordering take out food...I want you to know that your mommy and I have decided to name you Vanessa Marie Goldsworthy. We love you Vanessa, and we can't wait to raise you. You're our little miracle..."

XXX

Eli and Clare sat on their couch, her head resting in exhaustion against his shoulder. The bags beneath their eyes grew heavier as they stared at their daughter, who was smiling up at them, drool dripping down from her mouth.

"Come on Nessa, just crawl...just one little push..." Clare begged through weak lips.

They had videotaped hours of Eli beside Vanessa, crawling, to show her an example of what she was supposed to do. But all that Vanessa did was sit on her bottom, bite on her teddy bears ear and drool with a toothy grin on her face.

"It's useless Clare, she won't do it and we can't push her. When she wants to, she'll do it on her own," Eli concluded, rubbing his eyes tiredly.

"Alright, I guess we'll just go to sleep. I'll carry her-."

"ELI!" Clare cried out, pointing to their daughter who gripped a fistful of the carpet beneath her, mindlessly pulling herself along. The two parents stared proudly down at their little girl, who turned her head up to her parents, grinning widely.

"That's my girl!" Eli cheered, kissing Clare on the lips, sliding his tongue eagerly into her mouth. The kiss was cut short though, on a count of being responsible parents.

A distressed cry filled the air, and Eli placed a kiss on Clare's temple, asking aloud, "Is little Vanessa's diaper filled? Is it?"

Clare scoffed in amazement, watching in awe as her husband lifted Vanessa off the floor, using a baby voice to talk to her. Never, in the fifteen years that they've known each other, had Clare ever imagined he would be using that tone...

And to her surprise, she enjoyed it more than she should.

XXX

From her first crawl, to her first step, to her first word, they were immensely proud of her.

Words couldn't describe how special she was, and how much of a blessing she began to be. Ever since Clare found out she was pregnant, Vanessa was pictured similarly to an angel in her parents' eyes.

"Let me go Daddy! Let me go, I can do this!" He listened to his daughter beg, who was trying to pedal the tricycle on her own. Although the training wheels, knee, elbow, and hand pads were on, along with the helmet resting tightly around her head were active in this situation, their was a part of Eli that didn't want to let her go.

"Come on Eli, she can do it!" Clare tried to convince him, as Vanessa's cheeks turned red from frustration, trying to get out of her fathers tight grip on the back of her seat.

"Mommy said I can do it! She believes in me, why can't you?" The six year old asked innocently, her blue eyes boring into her fathers. The question didn't mean much to the little girl, but to Eli, it was the world in his hands, and he didn't want to shatter it.

Clare placed a gentle hand on his shoulder, kissing his cheek, "She's ready honey, you've told her all you know on riding a bicycle. Let go."

It took all the strength inside of him, but just like any other father, he couldn't admit that his little girl was growing up.

"Look at me! I'm riding! I'm doing it Daddy, I'm really doing it! Mommy, look! Are you guys looking? This is so much fun!"

Tears streamed down their face, staring at the sight before them. Their daughters black hair flowed through the helmet in the wind as she rode down the sidewalk, and like she was told, made a cautious U-turn, making her way back to her parents.

"You know Clare, it's funny how...Vanessa started out as just a...a small bump."

END

I'm a bit nervous about this one...not sure why. Reassure me? :3

Love you guys,

Cliffhanger Girl

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