Chapter Text
It was growing a dark hue of blue outside when Clementine finished getting herself prepared for bed. Her girlfriend’s plate of that night’s dinner, which contained some of Minerva’s favorites: five evenly spoonfuls of well-cooked rice, grilled chicken sliced up into tiny bits and sprinkled on top of said rice, a dollop of mac and cheese beside the hill of chicken and rice, along with green beans, and because of her mood throughout the day, a scoop of corn, all neatly arranged on the platter. It sat still on top of the kitchen counter, growing colder and colder by the passing minute.
Clementine didn’t know why Minerva didn’t slip out of their bedroom to eat. She knew the redhead loved eating; it was one of her favorite things to do. Something must’ve been bothering her to force her back from not doing one of the many things she loved to do. But what exactly was bothering her so much she didn’t want to eat? That is what the brunette was dying to know. Her worry for her was exploding. She was going to get to the bottom of it before drifting off to sleep for the night. She had to know what was wrong.
Immediately once she finished getting dressed for sleep, Clementine went into the kitchen and obtained the plate of untouched dinner, putting it into the microwave and heating it up for the redhead. It wasn’t the same as it being freshly cooked right off the stove, but it was better than nothing. And being a nice girlfriend, she dug through their refrigerator and pulled out an already made pitcher of fruit punch, getting a cup out of their dedicated cup cabinet and pouring a glass for her. She knew she’d eat dinner eventually. She had to. Even if Clementine had to force it down the redhead’s throat.
With no trouble she brought the plate of food and the glass of fruit punch down to the bedroom the couple shared, the same room her girlfriend was currently cooping herself in. Clementine used her elbow to turn the doorknob, and when she opened the door she found that Minerva was busy hugging a decorative pillow - one Clementine had gifted her for their three month anniversary - and was staring deeply at her lap. The brunette walked into the room. “Hey, you never ate your dinner.”
Minerva said nothing at first, almost ignoring what her girlfriend said, and continued to stare at her lap. She knew she couldn’t ignore Clementine, or the topic at hand, so she spoke up in a whisper. “Just not very hungry, that’s all.”
The brunette frowns. “I don’t believe that.”
“And why not?”
“Because, you love eating.”
Minerva lets a simple “shit” escape her lips. She hated how the brunette was right. “Okay, fine. You got me. I do love eating,”
“Mhm,” Clementine sets the plate of food down on Minerva’s dedicated nightstand, along with the cup of fruit juice. “You wanna tell me what’s bothering you?” She asked, being careful as to not sound pushy. She didn’t want to push past any boundaries, she knew her childhood was not pleasant and her life before they met was rough.
“I’ve been thinking.” Minerva simply responds, fidgeting with a tassel on the pillow she clutched before speaking again. “About kids.”
This gets Clementine to raise a brow. “Kids? What about them?”
“I just-” The redhead bites her lip. “I don’t think I’ll be a good mom.”
“What?” Clementine nearly scoffs, but bites her tongue to stop it from slipping out. She wasn’t expecting to hear her girlfriend confess such an opinion, one she already believed to be false. “What makes you think that?”
“I just don’t think I’d be good at it. The whole parenting thing,” Minnie could feel her hands shaking softly as she messed with the pillow she held. Why was she getting so nervous over speaking up about this? Shouldn’t she be glad she’s communicating with her girlfriend about said topic? “Might mess things up.”
“Well,” The brunette sits down on the bed, close to her girlfriend. “I think you’d be a great mom. And I’m being honest.”
Minerva couldn’t help but let a smile slip out. “At least someone in the world has faith in me.”
“Mhm. Believe me, you’d be a fantastic mom.”
“I just-” Minerva pauses mid-sentence, making sure what she said next was worded right. “I just don’t feel like I’d keep them happy. I don’t want them to hate me…”
“Hey, Minnie,” Clementine reaches forward and grasps one of the redhead’s hands. “You keep me happy. I don’t think it’d be hard to keep a child happy.”
“But you’re not a child Clem, you’re an adult. Like me,” Minerva lets her pout return onto her face. “What if I shed off standoff-ish vibes? What- what if I’m like my parents?”
The brunette purses her lips into a narrow line. “Well, let’s think of an example,” Clementine thought for a moment before she spoke again. “What would you do if there was a crying child in front of you?”
“Um,” Minerva considers the question, thinking deep into it. What would she do? “I’d probably… try to get them to stop?”
“Okay, good. This is good. And what exactly would you do to help them stop crying?”
Minerva blinks. “Feed… them? Or give them some type of toy, I dunno,”
Clementine grins to the redhead’s answers. “See? You’ll do perfectly fine.”
Minnie shakes her head. She still couldn’t see how she’d be a fantastic mother. “I don’t know Clem…”
“Hey. Just believe me for now, okay? Can you do that?”
“I mean, I guess I can.”
“Thank you,” The brunette leans over and presses her lips to her girlfriend’s cheek, feeling relief swim through her skin when she catches sight of a smile coming and going on the redhead’s face. “Okay, now I’m going to bed before I pass out.”
“Alright then. I’ll just sulk in the meantime.”
Clementine frowns. “Why don’t you eat? I made your favorite,”
Minerva lets a groan escape her lips. Why did her girlfriend have to treat her in such ways? Then again, food did sound good. She couldn’t complain about food. “Fine. I’ll eat and sulk.”
The brunette playfully rolls her eyes before slipping underneath the covers of their bed, sighing happily at its warmth. “You’re such a weirdo.”
“True, but you love me.”
“I do. I really do.”
Minerva lets yet another smile spread across her face, taking a hold of the plate at her side and taking a large bite. Of her dinner, not the plate. Making that clear. “Goddamn, this is good.”
“I’m glad you like it,” The brunette then yawns and snuggles deeper into the sheets. “Goodnight babe.”
“Night. Love you,” Minerva got no verbal response, instead receiving a snore from Clementine. She rolls her eyes to the sound. How she fell asleep and stayed asleep while her girlfriend’s tiny - yet annoying - snores bounced through the bedroom Minerva didn’t know. Within short minutes Minerva was finished with her dinner, and sets the empty plate back onto her nightstand. The clock perched up on the same nightstand brightly shone in her eyes when she moved to place the plate down, it reading exactly midnight. Minerva should probably go to sleep as well, otherwise she’d never hear the end of it from her girlfriend.
With ease she got out of bed and slipped into a pair of her own pajamas, which consisted of an oversized tee and boxer shorts. Once dressed she plopped herself back onto the bed and tucked herself under the comforting sheets beside the sleeping brunette. Minerva leans over and presses a teeny kiss to her forehead before she leans back onto her pillow and lets exhaustion take over her body and consume her into dreamland.
Minerva’s dreams usually were random. She didn’t know what caused them to be… inscrutable. Some were memories of her horrid childhood, others were possible takes on her future. Some were good, others were bad. Tonight Minerva's mind played out a good dream, however, one where she made a family with Clementine. How badly she wanted it to be true. How badly she wanted to be the mother her own never was. Maybe she could work hard to achieve that. Let Clementine’s word sink deep into her and become the mother she dreamed of being.
Dreamland was cut shorter than usual, and Minerva was woken up to her girlfriend rushing out of bed while pained groans escaping her lips. Her footsteps were rushed, and the sound of the bathroom door opening and slamming shut came by afterwards. That didn’t sound good. That didn’t sound good at all. In an instant Minerva is up, and when she reads the clock it shines it was past five in the morning, quarter past five to be exact. Why were they both up at such early hours?
“Clem?” Minnie sits up and dangles her legs off the side of the bed. “Babe? Are you okay?”
“Y-Yeah! I’m fine!” Clementine’s voice was heard through the bathroom door. The redhead could visibly hear the brunette’s voice shake. “I’m- fuck!”
“That doesn’t sound like you’re fine,” Minerva gets out of the bed and walks forward, standing right beside the door to the bathroom. “Do you need anything? Water? Some Advil?”
“N-No! I’m… I’m okay!”
“Clem, I love you, but that isn’t the voice of someone who’s okay.”
“Babe-!”
“Nope, I’m getting you some medicine. Be right back.”
Clementine didn’t complain. In fact, she didn’t say anything at all, the redhead was met with an uncomforting silence from the bathroom. Minerva takes that as her cue to rush to the kitchen and get her girlfriend some painkillers, along with a glass of water to help drain the pills down. In a flash Minerva gets everything she needs and races back to the bedroom where their bathroom is connected, being careful as she sped as to not spill the water in her hand.
“Heyyy Clem,” Minnie cooes once at the bathroom door, using her elbow to gently knock. “You okay?”
There was still no response from Clementine. The redhead frowns to the silence that she was being thrown out at her. She begged deep down Clem wasn’t seriously hurt or anything. How she’d hate to see her girlfriend in a frightful state.
“Okay, uh, Clem? I’m gonna come in, so prepare yourself in case you’re like, naked or something.” Minerva sets down both the painkillers and the glass of water before she grasps the doorknob to the bathroom door. With ease she slowly turned it, just in case the brunette wanted to stop her. Except Clementine didn’t, and when Minerva fully opened the door, she was greeted with no sight of the girl. It was as if she suddenly vanished out of thin air.
“Um, Clem?” Minerva scans the bathroom in search for her girlfriend, even looking behind the bathroom door, but ends up empty handed. There was still no response from her either, but instead there were soft shuffling noises coming from within the shower. Was it Clementine? Surely it must be, right?
“Clem? Are you trying to take a shower? Cause I think you’re doing it completely wrong,” The redhead takes a few steps close to the shower, finding the curtains drawn shut so she couldn’t fully see who was behind. The noises only grew louder the closer she got, and once Minerva was directly in front of the shower she was able to hear strange, unintelligible mumbles coming from the other side of the curtain.
“Uh, babe?” Minerva reaches a hand out and grabs a hold of the silky white curtains and draws them back. Minnie half expected to see her girlfriend standing within the shower, but instead she was met with nothing but air. Raising a brow, the redhead looks around and spots something, someone, within the shower, sitting down on the tiled floor and babbling to themselves.
It was a baby. It wasn’t hard to be mistaken on what the being was. The baby looked no older than two, and was wearing nothing but an oversized shirt, one the redhead could see being one of the brunette’s. But that wasn’t what got Minerva confused. What was this baby doing in her shower, and where was Clementine?
“That’s a baby,” Yes, we can see that Minerva. “There’s a baby in my shower.”
The baby lets out a squeal among noticing the redhead in front of them and attempts to get up so they could move forward towards her, but instantly loses their balance and falls right back down onto their butt. The baby didn’t seem bothered at all, however, instead taking their hand and curling it up into a fist before sticking it directly into their mouth while bursting into a large fit of giggles.
Minerva was so confused. She didn’t know what to say, she didn’t know what to do. One minute she and her girlfriend were discussing possible motherhood, then she awoke to hear said girlfriend was in pain, now there’s a baby sitting in her shower and no sight of her girlfriend? Minerva pinches herself. This wasn’t a dream. This was reality, and she was directly facing the fact that she had to deal with the baby that sat in front of her.