Yesterday | Seth Clearwater

Chapter 38

I need you you you

To see me through, babe

When the sun go down

Ain't nobody else around

~ The Rolling Stones "Everybody Needs Somebody to Love"

Ever since all of that stuff had gone down with the pack, Brooklyn had been pretty much taking care of Ellie on her own. For the most part, it was easy— Ellie was typically a very calm baby. Unfortunately, there were some days when Ellie wasn't her usual calm self. Even more unfortunately, today was one of those days.

"Shh, it's alright," Brooklyn cooed as Ellie screamed. They were both missing Seth— he had been gone for most of the week since there were only three of them in his new pack. 

Brooklyn knew that it was important for Seth to be at the Cullens' house protecting Bella and her baby, but Ellie wasn't old enough to comprehend that. All she knew was that most of the people who usually took care of her were gone, and that made Ellie grow even more attached to Brooklyn. Every time that Brooklyn left Ellie's sight, the baby would begin to scream. Brooklyn hadn't gotten to shower since the day that Seth left the pack, and she was a little exhausted.

Brooklyn had been staying in Seth's room while he was gone. She didn't want to talk to Paul at the moment, and her mom was working too much to help her out with Ellie anyway, so she decided to stay at Seth's house for a while. 

Sue had been helping Brooklyn out when she wasn't at work, and Brooklyn had called in sick to school for the entire week so that she could focus on finding childcare during the day while she was in school since Seth wasn't comfortable leaving Ellie at Sam's house anymore. Her grades were important to her, but making sure her daughter was properly cared for was the most important thing to her. Brooklyn was sure that things would work themselves out eventually.

Ellie finally calmed down, and Brooklyn let out a sigh of relief.  

Seth had texted a little while ago, and asked Brooklyn to drop off some clothes for him and Leah. Brooklyn had been struggling to step away from Ellie long enough to grab all of the stuff they had asked for.

The sun was going down by the time Brooklyn knocked on the Cullens' door. She was holding a duffel in one hand, and the baby carrier with Ellie in the other hand.

"Brooklyn! It's so nice to see you," Esme said sweetly.

"Hi, Esme," Brooklyn grinned. Esme's caring demeanor and general kindheartedness had made it easy for Brooklyn to like her. "I'm here to drop off some provisions for the troops."

"Of course, come on in," Esme replied. "They're out back."

Brooklyn quickly made her way through the house— she would never get over how amazing their house was. There were windows everywhere, and beautiful hardwood flooring. Not to mention, the house was immaculately decorated. Brooklyn's house was significantly smaller with old floral wallpaper, graying carpet, and furniture that had been previously owned by other people before Brooklyn's mother had purchased them. 

Brooklyn set the duffel down on the deck, and sat down next to Ellie's carrier. Ellie cooed happily as Brooklyn focused on her. 

Seth emerged from the treeline wearing a pair of denim shorts, and no shirt. It was a sight that Brooklyn would never get sick of. She sprung up from where she was seated, and threw her arms around Seth.

"I've missed you so much," she murmured. 

"I've missed you too," he said, and then he pulled her into a kiss. 

The sound of Ellie fussing broke them apart.

"Don't worry. I missed you too," Seth cooed as he unbuckled Ellie, and cuddled her in his arms.

"I think she missed you more than I did," Brooklyn stated. "She won't let me leave her sight anymore."

"That explains your whole..." Seth trailed off as he gestured at Brooklyn. Her hair was a mess, and she was wearing one of Seth's old hoodies that was now stained with baby food and spit up. 

"Shut up," Brooklyn grumbled. "I'd like to see you take care of a moody infant all by yourself. You wouldn't look any better than I do right now."

"I really appreciate you doing that by the way," Seth told her. "I'm really lucky to have such a supportive girlfriend. I'm sorry that things have been so difficult since I left the pack."

"Please, I would have kicked your ass if you had sided with Sam on this one," Brooklyn scoffed.

A gray wolf emerged from the trees and made a soft barking sound.

"I'll be right there, Leah," Seth called. "Just give me a second."

Seth and Brooklyn stood together, unspeaking, for a few moments. Neither of them knew when they would be able to see each other next, and they were reluctant to part ways again.

"You should get back out there," Brooklyn finally said, though she was thinking the opposite. She really didn't want him to go.

"Yeah," Seth said, but he made no move to leave.

The sound of Leah barking again reminded Seth of his pack responsibilities, and he left Brooklyn standing alone in the backyard with a crying baby and the fading sensation of his lips on hers.

She sighed, and made her way back inside as soon as she soothed Ellie.

Brooklyn decided to see Bella before she took off. She hadn't spoken to Bella at all since she came back from her honeymoon, and she missed her friend.

"Hey Bella," Brooklyn greeted. "Are you up for a visitor?"

"Hey," Bella smiled weakly. "Uh— yeah, come on in."

Rosalie let her into the room, and immediately started fawning over Ellie.

Bella looked rough— she was paler than usual, she had dark bags under her eyes, and her cheeks were sunken in. 

"I can see that you had a good honeymoon," Brooklyn said, eyeing Bella's growing stomach.

Bella chuckled. "Yeah, Rio was beautiful."

The two chatted for a while about anything and everything they could think of, and Rosalie chimed in every once in a while. It made Brooklyn realize how much she missed talking to people who weren't Sue Clearwater, or her own baby— Ellie's gurgles were cute, but they didn't make for great conversation.

She hoped that one day the pack would mend, and she would be able to see everyone in one place again without a war breaking out. She just felt like there was always something going wrong.