Quiet Girl

Chapter 39

"Give you away? Bailey why would you think that?" Lucas questions me.

"I know who was on the phone with you, it was Mark, what did I do wrong? Why do you want to give me away so suddenly?" I cry. Lucas gives Cody a quick glance.

"Bailey.... we're not giving you away, what we said ten months ago wasn't a lie, we would never EVER give you away."

"Well what the hell was Mark calling for? He's not that nice of a man to check up on me." Lucas looks at Cody again. It seems they are having a mental discussion. Finally, Lucas looks back at me.

"Well we were gonna wait till everyone left but I don't think we can now." Cody says.

"The reason Mark called was... well we were thinking of.... of having another child." Lucas answers. I look at them in disbelief. Another child? A.... sibling for me? I start to cry again. I fling my arms around Lucas.

"I'm sorry!" I cry into his shoulder. He hugs me back.

"I should be the one saying sorry, I was the one expecting the call and I should have gone to pick it up, I didn't mean to worry you." Lucas apologises. He lets go of me and grabs my wrists. I whimper a little. He notices this and lifts up both of my sleeves. "Bailey, where did this come from!" He asks in despair. Cody grabs my arm just like Seth did.

"Bailey, who did this?" He asks softly. I look down. I didn't want to tell them I was a cutter. I never told them I was a cutter. "Bailey please don't tell me you did this to yourself." I take my hands away from him and cover my face. I sneak a glance at Seth. He looks at me with the expression of you-should-tell-them look. I bring my hands down from my face.

"I- I did... it." I manage. I look away. I didn't want to see their expressions.

"Is this your... first time?" He asks. I shake my head. "Bailey you should of told us, we could of helped you."

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry." I repeat over and over again.

"Hey, hey, hey calm down Bailey." Lucas says. "It's okay we aren't gonna yell at you, sweetheart."

"We're going to help you, Bailey." Cody chimes in. I nod my head.

"Now, why don't you stop crying, okay?" I nod again. I take deep breaths to calm myself down. "That's it." Once I had completely calmed down I lifted myself up and brought my sleeves down.

"I'm sorry guys." I apologise again, "I shouldn't of jumped to conclusions."

"Don't worry Bailey, we get it, you've been through a lot." Lucas says softly, "Come on let's clean up those cuts." I nod. I grab Seth's hand and we all walk out.

"Can you wait with the others?" I ask Seth.

"Okay." He walks back into the second dining room. Lucas, Cody and I go into our normal kitchen. I sit on top of the counter. I pull my sleeves up and Lucas bandages it.

"There we go, all fixed." I faintly smile at him.

"I'm sorry." I say for the thousandth time.

"It's okay Bailey, we're here to help you, it's not like your the only one here who was a cutter, believe me."

"You were a cutter?" He nods.

"High school was hard for me, being gay and all." He smiles a little, "Your father here was the one who saved me from my self hate." I nod. I hop off the bench.

"Thank you."

"No problem sweetheart, now go out to your friends they're wondering where you are." I nod. I walk out of the kitchen and head towards the second dining room. Everyone was eating dessert. I sit back down at my seat and grab some food.

"Where did you go, Bailey?" Logan asks.

"Oh um, just to the bathroom."

"Oh okay." I start to eat my food. Everyone had already finished theirs so I was trying to rush so I wouldn't hold everyone back.

"Bailey don't rush, you might get sick." Seth says.

"I'm almost finished." I eat the last few scoops of my ice cream. "Done." I get up and put my dishes in the sink then I go back and sit.

"Well what're we waiting for? Let go open presents!" Cameron shouts.

The whole family were sitting around the Christmas tree in the foyer, talking among themselves. Lucas and Cody were calling out the names for people's presents. I had gotten most of mine so I didn't need to worry. I look over at Seth. He was smiling real big, laughing with Cameron and Theo. Then I remembered something. I didn't even get Seth's present! "Oh, I almost forgot!" I say out loud. I get up and go find Seth's present. I had made Seth a scrapbook with all the things we did together. I also had a little note at the back. I run back into the foyer and sit back down. I give Seth his present. "Merry Christmas, babe." He looks at it in awe. He covers his mouth with his hand. He didn't open it, just stared. After a minute at looking at the front cover he carefully opened it. The first picture was when our friends went to the mall. Ja'mie had taken the selfie and I had asked her to send it to me. I made the details around the pictures very detailed and stylish in every page. He started flicking through it, taking in every page. Once he got got the very back of the book he read the little note. He didn't take his hand off his mouth the whole time. He closes the book then looks at me. His eyes were covered with clearness of tears. He wraps his arms around me.

"Thank you, Bailey! It's beautiful!" He sniffles.

"Seth, don't cry." I tease him.

"No one has ever given me something so.... so thoughtful."

"Your welcome." He lets go of me and wipes his eyes. I give him a loving smile. I grab his hand and squeeze it. "I love you so much, Seth." I whisper.

"I love you too, Bailey."
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By 11 o'clock everyone had left. It was hard for Seth to leave but he eventually left. I had opened all my presents and placed them in my room. I had gotten some real cool stuff. Ja'mie and Logan had gotten me some clothes, Cameron got me makeup, Theo had gotten me a new skateboard, Ivy got me a friendship bracelet and I got a lot of books, movies and anime merchandise from the rest of the family. I walk down to the second kitchen and clean up the dishes. I had no idea where Cody and Lucas went so I packed away most things for them. I go into the kitchen we normally use and make myself some chamomile tea. I make Cody and Lucas tea, too. When I finished all three cups Lucas and Cody walk in right in queue.

"I swear to God that you two always know what I'm about to do and then come in right on time."

"We have a way with doing that." Cody chuckles. I laugh and hand them their tea. We drink in silence until Lucas starts to talk again.

"So Bailey uh, we never got an answer if you wanted siblings or not." Lucas was careful with his words. I look at them both.

"So what you say, would you like to expand our family?"