Jacob's P.O.V.
I woke up to Winston trying to carefully get back into the bed. I'm sure he was hoping to not wake me up, but he wasn't doing a very good job. I blinked my eyes a few times and hummed into the pillow that was covering half of my face. Winston looked at me and gave me a sheepish smile.
"Did I wake you up? I'm sorry".
I shook my head a little, "it's okay, where did you go?"
"Had to use the bathroom".
"Oh".
"Did you sleep good?"
"Yeah" I turned over so I wasn't speaking into my pillow. "Did you?"
"I did".
Winston returned to laying beside me and a soft sigh of content left my mouth when I was gently pulled into him. We continued to lay in bed for a while before I turned over to look at the time on the clock that was sitting on the nightstand.
"Shit" I swore, abruptly sitting up. "Winston, we've got to go. We're going to be late for school".
"Can't we just not go?" He asked, looking at me curiously.
"As much as I would love to stay in bed with you all day, I'm still trying to catch up in some of my classes... I'm sorry".
"No, it's okay" Winston assured, "I understand. I need to go home so I can get ready for the day".
"Wait for me?" I asked, "I'll get ready quickly".
After Winston nodded his head, I got out of the bed and began to get ready for school. It took me a bit longer than I expected to take a shower and get dressed, and do all of my other daily hygiene, but that was only because Winston was purposefully being a distraction.
"You know I could've gotten ready in about fifteen minutes instead of twenty five if you had just sat down somewhere" I stated once we were in Winston's car and on our way to his house.
"Sorry".
I looked at him and rolled my eyes when I noticed the look on his face. "No, you're not".
"You're right, I'm not".
"You're a nuisance" I murmured, turning my head so I could peer out of the window.
When we got to Winston's house, Mr. And Mrs. Daniels was still there and so was Aspen and Trenton. Aspen squealed in excitement when she noticed Winston and I had walked into the kitchen. She hopped down from the chair she was sitting in and walked over, giving me a hug.
"What're you doing here, Jacob?" She asked curiously, "I'm going to school!"
"So am I" I replied, "I'm here because Winston has to get ready for school".
"Oh".
Aspen turned her head to look at Winston, but she didn't say anything to him. I laughed a little when she walked back to her chair.
"It's like I've suddenly become a disappointment to her" he stated, rolling his eyes in amusement.
"Good morning, boys" Mr. Daniels spoke, catching our attention. He was leaning against the counter, looking at us from over his coffee mug. "How was the movie last night?"
"Good morning" I greeted, "and it was nice, Grease is a classic. Your son got me to sing Summer Nights with him, it was cliche".
"Sounds like something he would do" Mr. Daniels said with a nod of his head.
"Hey, I'm right here" Winston waved his hand in the air.
"We know".
"I'm on your side, Winston. I think it's cute" his mom said, she smiled a little as she waddled her way to the refrigerator. "Your father never sang songs with me".
"Geez, you don't sing along to one song and then you become the bad guy!" Mr. Daniels exclaimed, rolling his eyes in amusement.
"That's right" Mrs. Daniels agreed, smiling a bit.
I took a seat at the table and watched Winston's parents move about the kitchen. Winston was still standing around and his mom looked at him expectantly.
"Shouldn't you be getting ready for school?"
"Oh, yeah" he nodded his head, "Jacob, I'll be back".
I watched him leave the kitchen, once Mrs. Daniels was sure Winston was gone, she looked at me.
"How've you been?" She asked sincerely.
I could tell by the way she had asked me that she was referring to my mental health. I had told Winston's parents about my health the day after I had stayed for dinner. They both took it very well, not that I was expecting them to freak out and kick me out of their house or something, but still. I felt a lot better after telling them about what was going on with me. They asked me questions and I answered them as best as I could. Winston was right when it came to his parents actually caring about me and how I was getting through things.
"I've been okay... I guess" I answered quietly. "I've been taking my medicine".
"That's good, I'm glad to hear. You remember what I told you?"
I nodded my head a little, she'd told me that I could talk to her whenever I needed to. It felt good knowing that other people were willing to listen to me whenever I needed to talk, especially when two of those people were my boyfriend's parents. There was still this fear that I was being a burden though, that I wasn't allowed to tell people too much about how I was feeling. I could tell them the little things, like that I was taking my medicine and I was doing well in therapy, but I couldn't tell them the bigger things. One of the bigger things being that even though I was taking my medicine, I still sometimes felt like overdosing again. I felt like I could and should only share just a bit about how I was feeling and nothing more.
"Thank you again" I spoke, "for letting me know that it's okay to come to you both, I didn't think I could at first".
"Of course you can, Jacob" Mr. Daniels replied. "Lily and I don't want to overstep, we know that the first people you should go to are your own parents, but if for some reason you don't want to or you can't, then we're here too".
I nodded my head in understanding.
"Oh, did you want something for breakfast? We have extra pancakes and bacon".
"Oh, no, I'm okay" I answered, "thank you though".
Winston walked back into the kitchen then, he was properly dressed and ready to go. I stood up from my chair and pushed it in. Even though I had declined the offer of breakfast, Winston still picked up a few pieces of bacon and wrapped them in a napkin. He handed them to me and I decided not to argue with him about how I wasn't hungry.
"Alright, we're leaving now" Winston announced, "love you guys, bye".
I managed to give a quick wave to everyone before being guided out of the kitchen, and then out of the house. Winston drove us to school and on the way, I ate a few pieces of bacon, leaving the rest for Winston.
We were late getting to our first class, so we had to stop by the office and get passes. Even though I told him not to, Winston still walked me to my class.
"I'll see you in gym" he said before kissing my forehead, "okay?"
I nodded my head, "okay".
After first and second period, I met up with Winston in the gym's locker room. We changed into our gym clothes, and after getting checked off for dressing out, we went outside.
"What do you want to do?" He asked, looking at me for an answer.
"Let's walk the track" I decided, taking Winston's hand in my own. He let me lead him down the stairs and onto the track. We walked in silence for a bit before I spoke again. "Your parents are really nice... I didn't really believe you when you told me they would care about my health and all that... But they do".
"Of course they do" Winston replied, "you know to them you're family now, right?"
"Really?" I asked, I was a bit shocked. I never really had any of my other boyfriend's parents really care as much as Mr. And Mrs. Daniels seemed to.
"Yeah, my parents have always been pretty nice to my past boyfriends, but they genuinely do like you, Jacob".
"My parents like you too, you've left a real nice impression of yourself with the roses you bought me. They think you're a proper gentleman".
"Well aren't I?"
I looked at Winston and he scoffed when I didn't answer right away. I wasn't expecting to be picked up and thrown over a shoulder, so when I was, I shouted in surprise.
"Winston, put me down!"
"No".
"People are looking" I said with a frown.
"Because you're being loud" he answered, "and I'm not putting you down until you tell me that I'm a gentleman".
"You're going to get tired, I weigh a lot".
"You really don't".
"If you know that you're a gentleman then why do I have to tell you that you are one?" I asked curiously, staring down at the track as Winston continued to walk.
"Because I want to hear you say it, duh".
I rolled my eyes but didn't speak. He was going to have to put me down eventually. Winston was a gentleman, but the only reason why I wasn't telling him so is because I wanted to see if he was really going to carry me over his shoulder until I told him what he wanted to hear. I wanted to call his bluff because I really didn't think he would continue to carry me, but as he neared his fourth lap around the track, I knew he wasn't joking.
"Oh my god, okay" I groaned, "you're a gentleman. Jesus, can you put me down now?"
"Sure thing, and my name is Winston, not Jesus".
Once I was placed on my feet, I gave Winston an unamused look. He laughed a little at his joke and then smiled at me.
"You're annoying" I stated, reaching up and thumping him on the forehead. He continued to smile at me and I huffed in faux annoyance.
I watched him as he opened his mouth to speak but was distracted by his phone going off. He pulled it from the pocket of his basketball shorts and brought it up to his ear.
"Hi, mom" he greeted, "is something wrong? You never call me when I'm at school..."
I noticed the way Winston's facial expressions went from concerned to surprised, then to excitement as he listened to his mom speak.
"Really? That's great, do you need me to pick up Aspen and Trenton?" He paused for a moment before continuing to speak. "Okay, I'm leaving now then, love you, bye".
"Is everything okay?" I asked in concern.
"Yeah, my mom's water broke, she's going into labor" Winston smiled. "I've got to go and pick up Aspen and Trenton so we can meet my mom and dad at the hospital".
"Oh, wow, okay" I nodded my head, surprised that Mrs. Daniels was in labor. I knew she was a bit overdue for giving birth, but it was still a surprise that she was on her way to finally deliver her baby.
"Yeah, do you want to come with me?"
"I don't want to intrude, I feel like this is a family only thing, you know? I may feel like family to your parents but I'm actually not..."
"I doubt I'll be in the room with my mom, when Aspen was born my mom could only have one other person in the room, and that was my dad. I'll most likely be in the waiting room with Aspen and Trenton, trying to keep them occupied and all that. So do you want to come?"
"Do you want me to?"
He nodded his head, "yeah".
Before Winston and I could leave, we had to go back into the gym and grab our bags from the locker room. We changed back into our regular clothes and managed to slip away before the gym teacher noticed us. Winston and I were technically skipping the rest of our classes because neither of us had been picked up from school by a parent or guardian, so we made sure not to get caught in the halls by a teacher or security.
"Are you excited?" I asked when we had made it to Winston's car and had gotten in. "You're going to be a big brother to another sibling".
"Yeah, actually, I am excited" Winston answered, he pulled out of the school's parking lot and headed in the direction of Aspen and Trenton's school.
Their school really wasn't very far from ours, so we got there in about ten minutes. I decided to wait in the car while Winston went inside to check Aspen and Trenton out. Looking out of the window, I could see when they all were on their way back to the car. Winston was carrying Aspen who looked to be chattering about something while Trenton just walked ahead by a few feet.
"Hi, Trenton" I greeted when he opened the back door on the passenger side.
"Hey" he murmured.
I got this feeling that Trenton didn't like me very much because he didn't talk to me often. We spoke a bit when I stayed for dinner, but other than that, we didn't really interact. It felt like he didn't like me, but I also had to remember that Winston told me he was going through this weird phase where he only cared about video games.
"Jacob, hi!" Aspen greeted when she too was in the car. Winston returned to his place in the driver's seat and that was when Aspen spoke again, "where are we going? Can you tell us now?"
"Mom called and told me she was on the way to the hospital with dad. You know how mom's stomach was getting all round with a baby?" He waited for Aspen to confirm that she knew what he was talking about before continuing to speak, "well now the baby is ready to come out".
"Of her stomach?"
"More or less, yes" he hummed, putting his seatbelt on. "Aspen, are you buckled?"
"I think so".
"Jacob, can you check for me, please?"
I turned my head and looked Aspen over, she was sitting in her car seat. The straps looked to be buckled in, but I still positioned myself so I could reach back and give the straps a good tug just to be safe.
"She's buckled in" I confirmed as I returned to the way I was previously sitting in the seat.
"So we're gonna go home with a baby today?" Aspen asked curiously.
"No, not today, mom and the baby will have to stay in the hospital for a day or two" Winston answered. He gave me a quick glance before focusing on the road, he spoke quietly so only I could hear, "she probably has no idea what I'm talking about".
I nodded my head in agreement, "I think you're right".
Even though I was sure Aspen truly wasn't grasping what was happening, she was still excited nonetheless. When we got to the hospital, Winston had to carry her because she kept getting distracted by every little thing she saw. She was already thrilled to have gotten out of school early, now being in a large hospital was adding on to her excitement.
It took us a while to figure out where in the hell we were supposed to go, but with the help of staff and Mr. Daniels texting his whereabouts, we eventually found the floor and room. The hospital allowed family and friends in the room while Mrs. Daniels was in labor, but we were informed that when she was ready to begin pushing, everyone except one person would have to leave. Of course Mr. Daniels was the one person who was going to stay because it was his child being born after all.
At the moment, Mrs. Daniels looked quite calm, she was resting in the hospital bed, the top portion of the bed was raised so she was kind of sitting up. She smiled when she saw us walk into the room.
"Hi, mommy!" Aspen exclaimed, squirming her way out of Winston's arms. She skipped across the room and stood at the side of the bed. "Winston said that the baby is going to come out today".
Mrs. Daniels hummed and nodded her head a little, "maybe today, could be tomorrow early in the morning. It depends on a few things".
Aspen nodded her head too, "okay, the baby is still going to be Charlotte, right? Because that's the name I chose, I really liked that name".
"Yes, sweetheart, the baby's name is still going to be Charlotte".
"Yes" Aspen whispered, smiling to herself before walking over to her dad and climbing into his lap since he was sitting down in a chair.
"Hey, mom" Winston and Trenton spoke, they looked at each other and Winston poked his tongue out while Trenton rolled his eyes in response.
Mrs. Daniels smiled, "hi, boys, listen, I'm sorry for pulling you away from school, I'm sure you were having fun there".
"Right... Fun" Trenton agreed sarcastically.
"And hello to you, Jacob" Mrs. Daniels said, giving me a warm smile.
"Hi, I hope it's okay that I'm here? I tried telling Winston that this whole thing seemed like it should be family only..."
"I don't mind you being here, honey, you're family".
"See" Winston nudged me, "I told you".
"Whatever, Winnie, but how do you feel, Mrs. Daniels?"
"I feel okay, the contractions aren't too bad yet. You guys just missed the nurse, she said I had a good amount of time before things really get going".
"Are you scared?"
"I'm more so nervous than scared, even though I've gone through this three times already, I don't really think I'd ever be able to get used to the process. I'm still excited though, I really can't wait to meet her" she explained, placing a hand on her stomach.
"Charlotte" Aspen informed.
"Yes, I'm excited to finally meet Charlotte".
"Me too, mommy".
Mrs. Daniels smiled a little, "I'm glad, I bet you're going to be a great big sister".
Not much happened for a few hours except for some contractions here and there, Aspen had gotten hungry so we went down to the cafeteria, and my mom had ended up calling me to see where I was. I kind of forgot to call her, so she was pretty freaked out and worried when I didn't come home when I usually do. She didn't demand me home though, which was good, she just told me she loved me and to congratulate Winston's mom on the baby.
Eventually we were kicked out of Mrs. Daniels room because the contractions were coming more often and she was ready for an epidural. So we sat in the waiting room, and I knew giving birth was long, but I was beginning to grow tired as the hours passed by, Aspen was too because she managed to fall asleep while tucked into Winston's side.
"It's getting late" Winston spoke quietly, he looked at me, "are you tired?"
"Yeah, but I'm okay".
"I can take you home, we should probably leave anyway. Aspen is knocked out and Trenton is going to be soon too. You think you can sleep over?"
"I'll ask".
I pulled out my phone and texted my mom, she answered rather quickly with a simple 'yes'.
Winston gathered Aspen into his arms and nudged his brother since he was beginning to doze off.
"Text dad and tell him we're going home" he stated.
The drive to the house felt really long even though technically it wasn't. When we passed through the threshold, Trenton immediately went up to his room while Winston carried Aspen upstairs and into her room.
"Aspen, baby girl, I need you to wake up. You have to get a bath" Winston spoke quietly.
"No" she whined, "I don't want one, I'm tired".
I suddenly felt bad for her because it was quite late for a five year old like herself to still be up. I get why she was a bit whiny, I could tell that all she wanted to do was sleep.
"Can we do a bird bath?" She asked quietly.
"Yeah, okay" Winston agreed, "do you want the Rapunzel pajamas or the Big Hero Six ones?"
"Mmm I want the Princess Tiana ones".
With a chuckle, Winston grabbed them from a drawer of the dresser, "Okay". He looked at me, "you can go lay down if you want".
"I'd love that" I smiled a bit, "but is there anything you need me to do or help you with?"
"Not really, I just need to give Aspen a wash up and that's it. I should be in bed with you soon".
I nodded my head and left the room, once I was behind Winston's closed door, I took off my clothes and just slipped into the bed. I was so tired that once my head hit the pillow, I was just about out. I barely registered or acknowledged when Winston had joined me.
(A/N: I didn't proofread, so if there were any mistakes then I apologize. More of Axel's journal next chapter).