Yesterday | Seth Clearwater

Chapter 36

The timer went off, and Brooklyn quickly picked up her baby.

"It's alright," Brooklyn cooed. "Do you want to go to Uncle Sam and Aunt Emily's house?"

Ellie didn't respond— she was only three months old, and didn't know how to talk yet.

"I'll take that as a yes," Brooklyn said. Seth was already over there, running patrol.

Summer break was quickly coming to an end, and in a few short days, they would be back at school. Brooklyn was dreading it. So, she decided to go spend time with her friends while she still could.

"Hey, Brooke!" Jared called as she entered the house. He was sitting in the living room, stuffing his face with muffins.

"There's muffins?" Brooklyn asked excitedly. "Here, hold her for a sec."

"I don't know— okay," Jared began to object, but gave up as Brooklyn quickly passed Ellie to Jared. 

"So," Jared said awkwardly to the baby. "How's it going?"

Ellie stared up at him blankly.

"Cool..." Jared said. He was an only child, and Seth and Brooklyn were his only friends that had a kid, so he wasn't really comfortable around kids yet. Should he be talking to her in a different voice or make faces at her or something?

"Where is your mom?" he asked the baby. She had definitely been gone long enough to grab some muffins and come back.

Jared stood up, careful to make sure that Ellie was secure in his arms, and that her head was supported. He walked over to the kitchen to see if Brooklyn was there— she was. And so was Seth. He had just gotten back from patrolling, and found Brooklyn when he went to the kitchen to grab some food. They were making out against the counter when Jared walked in. 

Jared looked down at the baby in his arms. Should she be seeing this right now? 

"If you guys aren't too busy making another kid, could you maybe take care of the one you already have?" Jared asked, interrupting his friends. "Or else I'm going to have to start charging you guys an hourly fee."

Brooklyn and Seth pulled apart.

"I was only gone for a few minutes," Brooklyn scoffed as she grabbed the baby from his arms. "But you're right. She should be with her parents. We wouldn't want her to catch your stupid."

"You're calling me stupid?" Jared exclaimed playfully. "You're the ones who don't know how to use condoms. It's really not that difficult."

Seth laughed. "How would you know?"

"I have a girlfriend," Jared exclaimed. 

"You keep forgetting, I've seen in your head," Seth replied. 

"Virgin," Brooklyn said in the form of a fake cough.

"How dare you disrespect me in my own friend's house?" Jared screeched. "Bullies."

"You brought up our sex life first!" Brooklyn exclaimed gesturing between Seth and herself.

"You were the ones who were basically fucking in Sam and Emily's kitchen," Jared retorted.

"And there goes my appetite," a voice said from the doorway. They all looked over and saw Paul with an uncomfortable expression on his face.

"Sorry, Paul," Seth said sheepishly. He had found that Paul was less likely to kick his ass in situations like this if he showed remorse.

"Whatever," Paul grumbled as he stalked away. He hated that he and all of his friends knew so much about his sister's personal life.

Seth smacked Jared on the back of the head.

"Ow! What was that for?" Jared exclaimed.

"Every time you open your mouth, Paul has one more reason to hate me," Seth told him.

"Well, if you stopped doing things that you know will piss Paul off, then I wouldn't say anything," Jared said.

"You're so annoying," Brooklyn scoffed as she threw a muffin wrapper at Jared. It hit him on the forehead and fell to the floor. 

"You've wounded me," Jared said dramatically as he clutched his hand to his chest. Brooklyn and Seth laughed at his antics.

The sound of Ellie giggling along with them caused them to pause.

"Did she just...?" Brooklyn asked.

"Yeah," Seth said in awe. "She just laughed for the first time."

"I can't tell if I should be offended that she's laughing at me being bullied, or if I should find it totally adorable," Jared spoke.

Ellie giggled again.

"Nope, it's adorable," Jared concluded.