𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳 • 𝘣𝘦𝘯 𝘣𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘴 [✔]

chapter one hundred thirty nine.

JUNE 2017

"Wait, that doesn't look good there!"

Janis thought about it hard. She didn't like her paintings just randomly hanging on a wall. She ran towards the nearest wall that didn't have a hole in it and imagined her painting hanging on the wall. She smiled to herself when she was content with how good it would look.

"This is the wall. Yeah, right here." Janis nodded.

Ben nodded and proceeded to grab the hammer he had been using to hang portraits on the wall. He frowned when he realized the hammer was no longer near him. He looked around him trying to find it, but heard Claudia struggling to take out a nail from a wall. "Love, you're going to hurt yourself." He walked towards her in a hurry.

"I'm fine. This stupid nail won't come off. I think it hates me," Claudia continued to pull the nail. Ben sighed and took the hammer from her hands. He then took the nail off with ease. "That's not fair." Claudia scoffed.

"Sure, whatever you say. How about you go sit down? You've been on your feet for quite a while." Ben said.

"I'm okay. I still need to unpack mom's things from the boxes upstairs then I'll start on the kitchen-" Claudia couldn't even finish her sentence since Ben decided it was a good idea to kiss her.

"We have time to do everything. I'm worried that you're going to hurt yourself lifting boxes. If I need help, I'll call Lucy or Andrew. Sit." He said once he took his lips off hers.

"Fine, you can deal with my mom if she doesn't like how her house looks."

"Thank you."

Claudia playfully rolled her eyes at Ben's response. She walked slowly to ghe kitchen where her mom was putting away her pots and pans. "I've been instructed to sit down so blame lover boy if he hammers a giant hole in the wall." She joked asshe made it to kitchen table and sat in one of the chairs.

"This house has been through much more than that. Remember how you tried to ride the bike down the stairs when you were seven? The dent is still in the wall by the way."

In reality, Claudia thought she it was easy and a good idea.

"Wrong, I was ten and at least I was wearing a helmet."

"Whatever, I hope your baby at least has more brains than his mother. Oh no, I just realized I have to baby proof this house. You were clumsy as hell when you were little." Janis said as she rinsed off a pan.

"I was not! I was a really well behaved, perfect foot coordinated kid." Janis laughed.

"I can show you all the dents, holes and scratches on this house that you caused. Let's pray your little gremlin doesn't do the same to you."

"Did you just call my baby a gremlin?"

"Yeah. I used to call you E.T, seemed fitting because you made weird noises.

Before Claudia could say anything else, her phone alerted her that she had gotten a text. She looked down at her phone and saw Edward's name appear on her screen.

Edward
You look very lovely! The bump is cute! Hope all is well ❤

When Claudia told Edward that she was pregnant, the older man couldn't contain his happiness. He hugged Claudia tightly, but then let her go when he realized that there was a little baby forming in her belly. He probably talked for hours about his experience as a father, but Claudia didn't care. Edward loved talking about his daughter which Claudia noticed right away. He mentioned how he immediately cried the second Layna was in his arms after his then wife had given birth.

"She was so small. I was afraid I was going to crush her, but when I saw her little hands, I knew that i could never hurt her." Edward told Claudia.

The way that Edward talked about being a dad made Claudia's heart melt. He hardly ever talked about his past wife, but that day, he mentioned her numerous times.

"Her name was Sofia. I miss her, but I miss her more when I see Layna's eyes. Layna looks just like her mother."

Claudia almost cried when Edward told her that. Or maybe it was the hormones, she really didn't know.

"You okay? You got all quiet on me. Is it because I called your baby a gremlin?" Janis' voice brought her back to reality.

"What? No, I just got a text from Edward."

It was Janis' turn to be quiet. She still felt bad for ruining her and Edward's perfect day. She spoke about it to her support group, but somehow the guilt was eating her alive.

"Ma, when do you think you'll talk to him?" Claudia asked.

"Sweets, it's not that easy. He probably hates me and wants nothing to do with me. I ruined his life." Janis walked over to the next box of pans, but winced when her head started to hurt.

"Slow down, did you take your meds?" Claudia questioned.

"Yeah, I think? What day is it?" Janis asked.

"Friday."

Janis blinked several times as she felt the room start to spin. She could feel her head start to hurt more and more and tried to reach for the wall for support, but fell as he body grew weaker.

"Oh my god, mom! Ben, help!" Was all Janis heard before her eyes closed fully.

An: anyways, how are y'all? <3
🏃🏽‍♀️💨 this is me running away before y'all murder me for what I'm about to do to janis