Love And Leather

Chapter 18

Betty

“Baby, what's wrong?” I ask Millie as she starts crying while I'm walking towards the house the daycare is at.
“Don’t leave, Betty,” she cries.
I sigh and start swaying with her a little, standing on a place now. “Millie, I'll be back after school, I can't take you with me,” I say softly.
“No,” she cries. It's not a regular crying, it's a child-cry which means it's loud and sounds like she's gonna choke.
“Shh,” I say, calming her down by rubbing my hand up and down on her back, swaying her a little. “You know what?” I ask with a happier tone even though I'm worried as hell. “I’ll stay with you for a while, okay? And then go to school and then come right back to you to pick you up.”
“Don't leave,” she cries, even though she's calming down now.
“I'm not,” I say and give her a kiss. “Okay?” She nods and I make her face back to normal even though it remains red. “Come on,” I sigh and keep walking.

“Hey, where have you been?” Jug asks as I sit down in our lunch table.
“She started crying, I had to stay for a while,” I say and give him a soft peck on the lips, pulling his food in front of me.
“Is she okay? It's been a month,” Veronica says. Yes, my siblings and Veronica are also siting with us now. Somehow I've become a better friend with V than even Kelly has.
“Google says wait for two months and then take her to a doctor,” I say making them laugh.
“You google everything,” Fangs says.
“Do you have experience on two year old girls who've lost her parents? No?” I ask, getting annoyed again.
They chuckle. “Take it easy, it was just a statement,” he smirks. I roll my eyes and eat Jughead's food since he has it two piles anyways.
“You okay?” Jug chuckles as the others try to talk about other things. He puts his arm around me as I just shake my head for the answer. “Wanna talk about it?”
“It's first day of school and I missed four periods,” I say.
“Since when do you care about that?” he asks with a small smile.
I sigh and place the burger back on the table and swallow. “I’m not the same girl anymore, Jug. I can't.” He looks at me sadly, but seems understanding. I cup his cheek with my hand and caress it with my thumb softly, making him smile just a little. “I’ve told you, baby. If you can't handle this or want to-“
“Betts,” he interrupts and I sigh. “I love you. No matter if you have to be a mom to your sister or not, I'll still always love you….. Okay?” he asks quietly.
I nod, close my eyes and lean my lips onto his.

“I’m hungry,” Millie tells me as we enter home and I place her down.
I chuckle. “I swear to god, you're acting like Jughead.”
“But I'm hungry,” she whines.
“I know,” I whine back, making her giggle. “You’ve been saying that for like ten times now,” I say, hanging her coat and hat and everything up and then take off her boots. “Okay, come on,” I say and let her go to the kitchen in front of me. Kelly is at work today and Kevin is probably somewhere making out with Fangs.
I pick Millie back up and sit her on the counter. “So what are we gonna eat?” I ask and kiss her forehead.
“Chicken,” she says.
“Mhmm, but until it gets ready?” I ask with a little smile.
“I'm hungry,” she says again, making me chuckle.
I open the fridge and take out the chicken and the carrots I'm gonna add to the potatoes. And then I see the baby food or whatever it is that reminds me of smoothies. I take the banana and strawberry one and show it to her. “How about you eat that until the chicken is ready, yeah?” I ask her. She nods with a smile and I take the lid off and taste it myself.
“Hey,” she giggles.
“What?” I ask and lift her down and onto her feet, handing it to her as I squat down. “Go and play in the living room, okay? And try not to make a mess.”
She nods while already drinking or eating that stuff and I give her a kiss before she walks into the living room. The only thing that sucks is the fact that I have to check on her in every five minutes or so.
I start peeling the potatoes and carrots and then cut them into slices. Then I go to look if Millie is okay and when I see that she is, I go back to the kitchen and continue.
Another bad thing: I made all of it. Got too carried away in my thoughts and trying to understand what Millie’s talking while playing, that I totally forgot what I’m doing. Which means I have three baking pan full of potatoes and carrots (chicken accompanies only two of them). So I just put them into the oven and text Jughead my situation, hoping that maybe he can bring some of the Serpents here who don't have much money and live on the second floor over the Whyrm. At least I won't have to throw it away, since I think it'll taste pretty good.
“Baby, Juggie is coming over with some Serpents to eat, is that okay?” I ask Millie even though she always agrees. I just wanna make her feel a part of this.
“Yeah,” she says with a smile and I sit down next to her. “Jelly?” she asks.
“Mhmm, I think Jelly's coming too.”
She smiles at me and gets onto my lap, but turns to face me, holding one of her dolls. I put my hands on her back not to let her fall and she parts her legs around mine.
“What are you doing?” I ask.
“Wanna color,” she says.
“You wanna color?” I ask. She nods. “Okay,” I say and tickle her a little, making her scream at first and then laugh. I chuckle myself and kiss her cheek, placing her on the ground. I get a few coloring books and then crayons and give them to her while going to check on the food again.

The doorbell. “Coming!” I shout and go there and unlock the door, Millie running to me as well. I raise my eyebrows seeing Jug on the door, Jelly next to him and like 20 more guys plus some on the bikes. “I said some,” I chuckle as he picks up Millie and kisses her cheeks.
“That is some. You have three pans, right?” Jug asks.
“We need to save for Kelly and Kevin and also me and Millie,” I smirk.
He nods and gives me a peck on the lips and goes unto the kitchen. I look at Jellybean. She smiles at me. “He’s crazy.”
I chuckle and nod, kissing her hair and then letting in all the other guys greeting me. They all go into the living room as the house doesn't have the dining one.
I go into the kitchen. “Not ready yet,” I tell Jug and push his hand away before he can open the oven. He pouts.
“I'm hungry,” he says.
“Me too,” Millie says the same way, making me, Jelly and even Jug now smirk. He kisses her cheek repeatedly which he always does when he thinks she's too cute.
“Wash your hands,” I tell Millie and Jug keeps holding her up in front of the sink as she does it, splashing the soap into Jug's face and then giggling, satisfied with herself.
“You think that's funny, huh?” he asks and she nods, still giggling. Jug starts tickling her, holding her up in front of him. She tries to curl up, but he doesn't let her, so she just keeps laughing and wiggling.
“Can I get some food?” Jelly asks with a smile, leaning against me.
“Mhmm,” I say and take the mittens and then open the huge oven. I take out two big pans and leave the last one in because it's not quite ready yet. I look at the dishwasher and see that all the dishes are dirty, which makes me groan and Jellybean and Jug chuckle.
I lean on my tiptoes and take out a bunch of plastic plates and everything. “Since here are so many of you and I'm not gonna wait for that to finish…” I point at the washer I just activated.
“No one even cares,” Jelly says to me and takes one of the plates and starts filling it up.
“Jelly, here are like 30 more people,” Jug tells her.
“Exactly, I can't take more later when it's all gone,” she says, making us chuckle.
I put some potatoes and carrots and then some chicken into Millie's bowl and cut it to pieces already so that it would cool down faster. I take some to myself and then Jug gives Millie to me while he takes a lot of food to himself.
“Guys, the food's ready, but you have to save it for Kelly and Kevin too,” I tell them as we make our way into the living room. They all say something like all right and get up immediately and basically race to the kitchen.
I chuckle, sitting down Millie on my lap. “I thought they et food from the bar?” I ask.
“They do, just not too much,” Jug says. I frown sadly and start eating slowly. He kisses my temple. “Don’t worry, they'll be fine. This tastes amazing.”
I smile and he kisses my cheek. And then I look at Millie. “You like it, baby?”
She nods while eating, which makes me smile. “Good,” I sigh and kiss her head.