713This is a sequel to my other story Metamorphosis! In order to read this, you need to read that first.
Edited 5/4/13
Ascension
Chapter 1
Whoever said being a mother got progressively easier once you get the hang of it, needed to be shot.
Sixteen-year-old Mira Pascal yawned loudly and bounced baby Lucy in her arms. It was almost two in the morning, and both she and the baby were exhausted.
Mira was a teen mother. She had gotten pregnant at a party after sleeping with womanizer Seth Elsen. At first, Seth had been cold and distant toward her when she told him she was pregnant, but after he heard the baby's heartbeat for the first time, he had come around to become an amazing partner throughout all this.
Mira's pregnancy had been anything but easy. Between betrayed at every possible turn and dealing with the staggering amount of pressure of the decision of keeping her baby, abortion, or giving her up for adoption, it was a wonder that she maintained her sanity through the end.
But six weeks ago, Mira had given birth to a beautiful little girl, and it was like all she had gone through hadn't mattered at all.
Mira cradled Lucy to her chest with one arm and used her free hand to brush away a stray piece of blonde hair that had escaped her messy ponytail. She leaned back in the rocking chair and closed her eyes. Lucy was nursing at her already sore breast, and it hurt like hell.
"Ow, Lucy that hurts!" she hissed. Of course, the baby didn't understand and just kept nursing. Mira was blinking back tears of both pain and exhaustion.
After Lucy was born, Seth started staying the night and they took turns taking care of the baby when she cried in the middle of the night. But last week, he started staying home more and more. He still came over every day after school and stayed for hours to see his daughter, he just didn't stay the night.
During the day, Mira was home alone. She woke up early, fed Lucy, ate her own breakfast, changed Lucy's diaper, cleaned the house a bit, played with Lucy, put Lucy down for a nap, and then if she had the energy, by eleven in the morning, she would work on her homework assignments. Most of the time, however, she was too exhausted to even look at the books.
She really had to admire women who managed to go to work after giving birth. Sometimes she was so exhausted that she slept through Lucy's midnight cries and one of her parents had to wake her up.
Now it was the middle of the night and Mira was completely worn out. Lucy had finished nursing and started crying again.
She groaned, "Lucy, come on stop crying!" She said. But the baby obviously didn't feel like stopping, as she continued to squirm and wail for all her tiny body was worth.
The last six weeks, Mira was lucky to get a couple hours of sleep at night. She walked the walk of the living dead. Mira's entire existence narrowed down to making that horrible screaming stop as soon as possible. Then her next goal was getting enough sleep to get herself through the next moment.
All her wants had came to a screeching halt to make room for Lucy's needs. She had barely left the house anymore; too ashamed of her still-pregnant-looking body to go anywhere.
"Come on, sweetheart, please stop crying," Mira begged. She checked her diaper and saw it was empty, so that wasn't why she was crying.
Not for the first time since giving birth, Mira felt alone. Seth wasn't here to help and she didn't want to go to her parents.
Mother and daughter cried together.
Almost immediately after she began crying, Mira felt two hands go under her arms and take Lucy out of them. Without looking up, she knew it was her mother, Audrey.
Audrey was easily the best mother in the world. From the minute she had found out about Mira's pregnancy to this very moment, she was a constant support system to her daughter.
"I got her, Mira, go to sleep," The older woman said gently. Mira lifted her head and looked at her for a moment.
"She-she won't stop crying. I can't make her stop," she said over the sound of Lucy's squeals and wails.
Audrey placed her granddaughter's head against her shoulder and shushed her quietly her. "I'll take care of it."
Seth Elsen was not looking forward to working later today. He currently worked two jobs to help Mira pay for Lucy. It was Friday and he just wanted to go home and curl up in bed and sleep.
He stood at his locker, one hand holding his backpack while the other fed books into it. There was a lot of homework to do tonight. And in-between working and going over to Mira's to see Lucy; he didn't know where he would find the time to do his homework. He was just glad it was the weekend.
"Hey Seth!" A voice called over his shoulder. He turned around and saw Paige Taylor standing there. Seth and Paige had a bit of a complicated relationship. Last Christmas, Seth had gotten drunk after a fight with Mira and ended up in bed with Paige. When Mira found out, she had literally been driven over the edge. Now they just tried to get along because she was Mira's best friend.
"Uh, hey Paige," he greeted.
"I bought this for Lucy," she handed him a colorful package of teething rings. "I know she's not teething yet, but I figured Mira would appreciate them. Can you bring them when you go over later?"
Seth took the rings and smiled, "Yeah sure," he answered.
"Thanks. I've got to run, gonna meet Ava at Sara's." She took off down the hallway.
That little girl had quickly become his entire life. He spent every waking moment both worrying about her, and being so madly in love with her his heart almost felt like it would burst.
Seth closed his locker and smiled. He had another special girl to thank for it all; Mira. That one girl who had taught him so much, who made him feel different in ways he never thought he could. The thought that he could have such a profound link to her was still overwhelming, but he was quickly getting used to it.
As he did every day, he smiled at the pictures taped to the inside door of his locker. In just six weeks, Lucy had taken over his entire locker. Photo after photo of his baby and her smiling mother. There were even a few pictures of pregnant Mira. She'd kill him if she knew he had them on display, but he liked them so he was keeping them.
They were a family, and for the first time in his life, Seth was very happy.
Seth slid his backpack over his shoulder and walked down the empty hallway toward the doors to the parking lot.
He was going to see his daughter.
Marli Pascal leaned against the brick wall of the middle school and sighed impatiently. Her boyfriend, Zack Taylor, was supposed to meet her there so they could walk to the mall together.
Marli was Mira's younger sister. Before Mira had gotten pregnant, the two had been extremely close. But after their dad left them, Marli had started rebelling. She acted out, talked back to her mother, and even dyed pink streaks into her hair.
"Hey Mar," A voice called. She turned her head and her blue eyes fell on Zack Taylor.
Zack was Paige's younger brother. They had been friends since they were in diapers, and Zack had had a crush on her since preschool.
When Marli's life had been so difficult the last year, she realized that Zack had been the only one to stand by her. And she knew that she had developed feelings for him.
The two had been together for about a month and a half, and it was going great. Even though they were young, they knew that they really cared about each other.
"You're late," she said, turning her head so he could kiss her cheek.
"Yeah, sorry about that. I had to stay after to talk to Ms. Kirkler," he replied.
Marli just smiled and held her hand out. He took it and they began walking down the sidewalk in the direction of the mall.
"Luke, hold still!" nineteen-year-old Jamie Monroe said in exasperation. Her two year old, Luke Monroe just wiggled out of her grip and ran off without letting her put on his pants. She huffed and chased after him.
Jamie was a close friend of Mira's, a teen-mom mentor of sorts. The two had met at a teen pregnancy support group several months ago. They became fast friends. Mira looked up to the older girl as a mentor.
Jamie had gotten pregnant from her then-boyfriend Ross Walker when she was sixteen. As soon as Ross found out she was pregnant, he skipped town without telling anyone. To make matters worse, Jamie's parents kicked her out and she had to live with her older cousin, Erin, in her apartment. When she was seventeen, she gave birth to a beautiful baby boy named Lucas Monroe.
A few months ago, Jamie began seeing Mira's older brother, Matt. He was a year older than her, but she really didn't care. Matthew Pascal was the most incredible person she had ever met. He was incredible with Luke. The little boy adored him.
Even though it had only been a few months, Jamie couldn't help but picture them becoming a real family some day. She was completely in love with Matt, and she hoped he felt the same way.
Jamie scooped her son up in her arms, "Gotcha!" she said. Luke squealed. His light brown colored hair tickled her chin as she spun him around. She needed to get him ready for the babysitter's house so she could go to work.
She dropped him on her bed and quickly slipped his pants on. He kicked his feet playfully, but let his mother dress him and put his shoes on.
Jamie picked him up with one arm and placed him on her hip. She grabbed his diaper bag and her purse with the other and began shutting off the lights in the apartment. Her cousin Erin traveled a lot with her job, so she was never home. Jamie pretty much had the apartment to herself.
After the last light was off, she dug her keys out of her pocket and opened the door.
Only to be greeted by a man standing there, fist raised in midair about to knock on the door. Jamie nearly dropped Luke.
"Ross?"
"OW!" Ava White screamed at the top of her lungs. Paige pulled away and tapped her foot impatiently.
"Will you quit moving?" She asked.
Ava reached a hand up to touch her newly waxed eyebrow when Paige grabbed her wrist.
"Don't touch!" Paige said, reaching for another do-it-yourself wax strip. "Now let me do the other one!"
"No, that shit hurts!" Ava said. "I'll walk around with one good eyebrow."
Paige looked over at her other best friend, Sara Morganson, and sighed heavily.
Paige and Sara were Mira's two best friends. They had been best friends since they were four. Before she had gotten pregnant, it had just been her, Sara, and Paige. But after some serious drama and the trio broke up, Mira became close with Ava White.
Ava's was raised by two gay men named Mason and Danny White. When she had first met Mira, she had told her parents about her and they decided that they wanted to be the ones to adopt her baby. Unfortunately, Mason got laid off from work and they had to cancel the adoption. Mira had been devastated, but later came up to them and thanked them for getting her to keep the baby. It was because of Mason and Danny's connections to the community center that Mira got her job as a swim teacher and a lifeguard with insurance and daycare.
Sara was the opera singer of the group. She was half Latina, but the only thing that that did was make her speak Spanish. She was famous in Brennan high as being in all the musicals and plays, and for her incredible singing voice. She had thick curly brown hair that hung past her shoulders. Her eyes were big and brown, surrounded by thick lashes. She had thin pink lips, a pert nose, and a gorgeous complexion.
Paige had long light blonde hair and large hazel eyes. Her skin was naturally tanned, smooth, and tight from her frequent exercise. She came from a very wealthy family, so her clothes were always the best.
While Mira had been apart from her friends, she got close with Ava. Ava was very short, but what she lacked in height, she made up in ball-busting. It was strange that Ava was so close to Paige and Sara, seeing as they were complete opposites. She had jet black hair that hung down her back, the ends dyed light blue. Her light brown eyes were piercing and could make even the strongest man flinch. Her boyfriend, Zeke Preston, was the exact opposite of her. He was over six and a half feet tall, captain of the football team, and very sweet and nurturing. He may look big and scary, but he was such a teddy bear that all the girls in the group loved him.
"Oh quit being a baby. I do mine all the time." Paige gestured to her perfectly waxed blonde eyebrows.
Sara barely glanced up from the magazine she was reading and waved her hand in their direction. "Just trust her; she does a really good job."
Ava groaned and leaned her head back. Paige expertly applied the strip to her other eyebrow.
"Ready?"
"I don't- OWW!"
Seth let himself into the Pascal house using his key. He was greeted by Mira's red Siberian husky named Carrie. Seth's own black and white Siberian husky, Cujo, loved to spend time with Carrie. He would have brought the dog over, but he didn't have time to go home and get him.
He closed the door behind him and petted Carrie's head. The smell of chicken wafted from the kitchen and he followed it. He walked in to see Audrey standing at the stove. Adam was holding Lucy over by the table. Mira and Marli were nowhere to be seen.
"Seth," Adam greeted him with a smile.
"Hey," he said back, walking over to Lucy. His daughter looked up at him with her big blue eyes.
"You wanna go to your daddy?" Adam asked, carefully placing the pink blanket wrapped baby into Seth's arms.
"Hey Sunshine," he cooed. Lucy gurgled happily at the sight of him. "Where's Mira?" he asked.
"She's up in her room trying to do homework," Audrey answered.
"You wanna go see mommy?" Seth asked Lucy while walking out of the room.
Adam and Audrey looked at each other and smile. No matter how unhappy they were when Mira first got pregnant, they couldn't deny how much they loved Lucy and Seth. Not to mention the happiness that came with falling in love with each other again.
Seth shifted Lucy in his arms and gently tapped his knuckles on Mira's door. "Come in," she said. He turned the knob and opened it. She was sitting in her desk chair, legs crossed, staring intently at the monitor.
"Hey there, mommy," he greeted with a smile.
"Hey daddy," she replied, leaning back in her desk chair.
Seth had been by every single day since Lucy was born. It was clear to Mira that he adored the baby. He constantly held her, talked to her, played with her, and everything else one could do with a newborn.
"What are you doing?" he asked, sitting on her bed and rocking the bundle in his arms.
"Trying to get some work done," she said, "I am so glad that school is almost over."
Mira hadn't been to school since two weeks before Lucy was born. She intended to go back as a junior in August and work at the community center over the summer. She started her new job in about a month, giving her body plenty of time to heal after giving birth. Seth brought her the assignments from school and took them back to the teachers.
At that moment, Lucy started fussing. Mira looked back at the monitor briefly and asked, "Would you mind taking her to the nursery and changing her? I have a lot of work to do."
"Yeah, sure." He leaned down and pressed his lips to her cheek before leaving. Mira got up and quietly closed the door.
Going back to the page she was looking at on the computer, she began typing into the internet search engine.
Quickest ways to lose weight
Well, here you have it everyone, the first chapter of the sequel!
I would like this story to get off to a great start! So everyone who reads it, please review and tell me what you think, what should happen in the future, etc.
Read and Review!