Baby Bump
Hope knocked on the door and was surprised to see Lizzie with sleepy eyes.
"I thought you were in Europe"
"I arrived last night" she growled, dropping onto Josie's bed.
"So why are you up so early?"
"Because of Josie, she got up early to throw up and then she looks for clothes while singing to the babies, I have tried to explain that the babies still cannot hear, but she says that she is the mother and only she can know" Hope couldn’t hide the silly smile that adorned her face. "And since you're here, it's clear that I won't be able to sleep anymore, so I'll go for coffee”
Hope laughed when the annoyed blonde left the room, still in her pyjamas. Shaking her head, she removed her jacket and dropped it on Josie's bed.
The door opened and the sound of Josie's voice almost screamed.
"Lizzie, look. At first I wasn't sure, but now I definitely think I have a… "
Josie stopped when she saw the auburn girl in the room, the words frozen in her mouth.
Hope's eyes travelled over her, even as she told herself to look away. She was clearly expecting her sister because she only came dressed in a robe that was open that revealed her unbuttoned black shorts and a red bra. Her hair was still damp from the bath, the tribrid gazed in wonder as a small drop of water slid down her collarbone, disappearing into her bra, leaving a shiny trail across her skin.
"What's wrong?" she asked hoarsely.
"I’ve a small bump" she said breathlessly and then she laughed "I’ve a baby bump, I'm starting to show"
Her hands framed a small part on her belly and Hope reached out, but then stopped to look at her.
"may l?"
Josie nodded, trying to avoid feeling something for Hope's hand on her, struggling to remind herself that it was the babies that she was touching and not her. What Josie didn't expect was for Hope to slowly kneel in front of her. Josie gasped silently at the warmth of her breath on her skin.
Hope's hands carefully passed over her stomach, feeling the difference in her skin and the tension in it. She framed her hands like she had done before, lost for a moment in her enthusiasm for the babies, marvelling at how small the area was.
"There you are, little ones"
"I told you" Josie said hoarsely.
At the sound of her voice, Hope looked up, realizing how intimate the moment had become, her hands squeezed Josie tighter, pulling her closer when a distant part of her brain noticed that one of them was trembling and she wasn't sure who was. She stood up still holding her and making Josie sway against her. But the sound of the door opening, made the brunette walk away.
Lizzie walked in, taking a sip of her coffee.
"I missed something?"
Hope only smiled weakly.
Since Alaric had found out about his daughter's pregnancy, he asked Elena to care for the rest of the pregnancy on the school’s facilities for safety. Hope's blood couldn't fall into the wrong hands. But the short trip to the infirmary didn’t avoid the tension between the couple.
Hope didn't know what had happened in the twins' room, but something had changed between her and Josie. Their relationship had changed, in what exactly, she didn't know. But it was more than it had been before.
Josie looked at the auburn girl, who had the familiar thoughtful expression on her face that meant she was struggling with a problem she didn't know how to deal with and wondered if she was that problem. She knew that the tribrid was part of hers. Even now, she could still feel the warm touch of her hands against her skin. She sighed. Just when her life couldn't get any more complicated, she began to realize how blue Hope's eyes were.
"Here we are" Hope said as she looked at the door to the infirmary.
"let’s go, Hope, come in and see how our babies are"
The triumphant smile returned when Josie tugged at the sleeve of her jacket.
"I bet we'll be the first people with smiling babies"
"Please, with all your broodiness, I highly doubt that" said Josie smiling.
They were so busy making fun of each other that they didn't notice the two boys walking down the hall.
Rafael and Landon were talking.
Shit, Josie thought as she saw Hope's ex.
Landon looked up, surprised to see Hope standing in front of him.
"Hope, Josie. What are you doing here?" he asks as if they don't live in the same school.
Josie opened her mouth to reply, figuring the best way to end this was quickly when her Aunt Elena came out of the infirmary.
“Josie, Hope” she greeted the girls warmly as she looked at Josie's file “I have a few things to verify, but it shouldn't take long as Hope's family bought all the necessary equipment. Today will be your first ultrasound, Josie. You must both be very excited "
Hope nodded.
Elena handed them a pamphlet while asking them to wait a moment while she prepared everything.
"I'm going to have a baby," Josie said as the boys continued to stare at her in silence.
"We're having a baby" Hope corrected firmly. Josie thanked the support and smiled at the tribrid.
"Both?" Rafael asked confused.
That didn't make sense, Landon thought.
"Yes, Josie is pregnant with my babies" Hope explained to the wolf.
"how?" asked Landon
"Magic, I guess" Hope smiled at the boy.
"Well, congratulations, girls," Rafael commented, dragging his brother to the room that was near the infirmary.
Landon sat on the couch in the small living room. Looking from a far at Josie and Hope, unable to tear his gaze away from them.
Josie was going to have a baby with Hope. That was impossible, but somehow it happened.
That explained why Hope hadn't looked for him afterward, jealousy twisted in his stomach and he looked away.
"you're good?" Rafael asked his brother.
"Do you believe them?"
"It's crazy, but I believe them"
"It's impossible, they’re both girls" said Landon trying to emphasize the obvious.
"We live with witches, vampires and werewolves, I think the impossible can happen here" Rafael said "also, Josie smells like Hope"
"what?"
"Hope's scent is on Josie, I guess because she's expecting her babies" he shrugged.
Landon looked back at the girls sitting outside the infirmary. He watches as Hope began to move her leg, while Josie looked at a pamphlet that the doctor had given her earlier. The corner of Josie's mouth spread into a smile and she reached out to cover Hope's knee. The tribrid looked at her and leaned over to say something to her, probably to taking her hand away, Landon thought, but to his surprise, Josie's smile grew bigger and she leaned closer to Hope to whisper something to her, and to Landon's astonishment, Hope relaxed, nodding. Her hand slid up her leg, taking Josie's hand.
The ease of contact between them was pitiful to see. Why wasn't Hope like that when she was with him?
"Come on, Lan. We have class” said Rafael.
The boy nodded and followed his brother.
Hope and Josie sat down, saying nothing, waiting for Elena to call them. Josie continued to look at the pamphlet with one hand while the other was still holding Hope's hand.
"Well, that was awkward" Hope said.
It cost her a quick punch in the arm.
"You can't tell me this didn't affect you," Josie said incredulously.
The silence was so awkward that Josie wanted to leave, but Hope stepped forward, holding her hand so she wouldn't run away.
Hope sighed.
“Look, it did hurt when Landon and I broke up, it hurt even more when I saw him with that other girl, but I think it would have hurt less if he had told me about her. I didn't want to do the same as him, I should have told him about this "
"Why didn’t you do it?" An ugly thought crossed Josie's mind, one that made her look away from the tribrid. Was Hope ashamed of them?
"I was afraid of hurting him," she admitted, knowing it hadn't done any good to wait. She had hurt him anyway.
Before they could continue their conversation Elena comes.
"Alright Josie, are you ready?"
She led them into a small exam room and asked Josie to change into a gown.
Josie grabbed the hem of her shirt, pulling it over her head.
Hope seeing this turned on the spot, her eyes bathed in a golden tint and her cheeks filled with red.
Josie giggled as she pulled on her robe.
"Okay, Hope. You can turn around now”
Hope turned around again. These visits always made her uncomfortable and seeing Josie like this didn't help much.
Elena came back smiling pulling an ultrasound machine with her.
"Ready to see the first picture of your baby?"
"Babies" Josie corrected surprising Elena "Hope's aunt made a spell to help my condition, she told us"
"Twins" commented Elena
The two girls nodded.
Elena tell Josie to lie down on the bed, put a blanket over her legs and asked her to lift the robe to reveal her stomach.
Nervously Josie took Hope's hand. The babies were already real to them, but the idea of seeing them move took it to another level.
Elena squeezed some gel onto Josie's belly, which made the brunette complain a bit.
"you're good?" Hope asked going into protective mode.
"It's cold" she assures her.
Hope ran a hand over the gel, heating it up with a spell.
"Thank you," Josie whispered.
Hope smiled at her.
Elena placed the ultrasound wand on Josie.
"Here we go, let's find these little ones"
They all looked at the screen, which only emitted fluctuating patches of white and grey.
"Ah, there they are" Elena said.
"where? I can't see them” Hope said, squinting at the monitor. "What blob are babies?"
"Hope!" Josie scolded.
"I only see blobs; do you know which blob the babies are?"
"The middle one?" I doubt Josie.
Elena laughed at the girls.
"The ultrasound is always difficult to read for new parents, so we will try this" said the doctor taking out a red marker and circled the babies’ location " better?"
Josie looked at the small spots moving inside the red circle, her eyes tearing. She knew it was the hormones, but she couldn't help herself. She was looking at their babies. Now they were more real than ever.
"They’re beautiful" said Hope
Josie rolled her eyes.
"Hope, you just said that babies were blobs"
"But they’re our blobs" she smiled joyfully at Josie.
Josie squeezed her hand tighter, her words echoing in her head "ours"
"Well, let's print some photos of these little ones" said Elena
"Can we have two?" Josie asked, so everyone would have their photo.
"Yes, I want one," Hope said.
"it is no problem"
"Okay, go with Aunt Elena while I get dressed," Josie said, feeling a bit overwhelmed and looking forward to some time alone.
Hope nodded and followed Elena. The brunette printed two images, she gives them to her. The tribrid took them and left the infirmary and sat outside waiting for Josie. She carefully tucked one into her wallet. The other held it between her hands, her fingers tracing lightly over it. There were their babies. They were real, her little blobs, she thought with a smile.
Landon walked toward her, the corridor empty except for him and Hope. He saw the girl sitting alone holding something in her hands.
When he got closer he saw that she was holding an ultrasound image. He ignored the pain in his chest and sat down next to her.
"Hey" He greet her.
Hope didn't say anything, she just kept looking at the image with a smile on her lips.
"Hope, are you okay?"
“I'm terrified and in awe” the words came out before she could stop them and she looked at Landon, who was looking at her in surprise “mostly terrified, what if I can't do this? What if something happens to babies? Or Josie? "
Despite everything, Landon smiled. As he looked at her worriedly, he put his hand on the girl's arm.
“Hope, everything will be fine. The doctor said it was fine, right? "
With a shake of her head, the tribrid nodded and looked back at the image. He removes his hand on the girl's arm, the girl he loved the most but he was too foolish to let her go. A question arose within him, he knew he had no right to ask, but he couldn't contain himself.
"Hope, how do you feel about Josie?"
She looked towards the infirmary, as if she could see through the wall and was silent for so long that he thought she wasn't going to answer.
She finally speaks.
"I feel like I should apologise for everything that happened, get down on my knees and thank her for giving me this"
Landon's eyes filled with sadness and he looked down, unable to bear the words or the feeling with which she said it.
Hope shook her head thinking of Josie.
"Most of the time I want to hide her from the world so she doesn't get hurt, not that she would leave me" she laughs, imagining how well that would go.
Landon sat there speechless as he listened to her and he wondered if Hope had ever said something similar about him. He even wondered if Hope had felt that way about him.
The boy looked as his new girlfriend came towards them, he got up immediately not wanting to make a scene.
"I have to go" said the boy.
Hope nodded, her attention again on the image she was holding. He approached the girl who smiled at him, taking her hand. He glances over his shoulder as Josie came out of the infirmary. The taller girl stood in the doorway with a hesitant look on her face. As if sensing her presence, Hope looked up and their eyes met. That anxious and happy expression that she used to see on her face when she looked at him wasn't on her face right now, it gave Landon a little hope.
Hope watched Josie approach and knew her solemn face mirrored hers. The tribrid didn't get up when she approached, just looked at her.
Josie stopped when she was standing in front of her.
Hope tilted her head and leaned it gently against Josie's stomach. Her hands came up to support the witch's hips and then she kissed the small bump on the bottom of her abdomen.
Josie's eyes closed at the kiss. Her hands moved uncertainly over Hope and she exhaled uncertainly when she placed them on the girl's auburn hair.
Landon clenched his jaw. It seemed that Hope had found a way to tell Josie how she feels, after all.
His girlfriend's hand guided him down the hall, but Landon hardly noticed. He kept looking at the two girls who were still in the same position. Landon realized in that moment that he would give anything in the world to be with Hope right now.