The twelve-sided figure shown has been drawn on $1 \text{ cm}\times 1 \text{ cm}$ graph paper. What is the area of the figure in $\text{cm}^2$?
[asy] unitsize(8mm); for (int i=0; i<7; ++i) {   draw((i,0)--(i,7),gray);   draw((0,i+1)--(7,i+1),gray); } draw((1,3)--(2,4)--(2,5)--(3,6)--(4,5)--(5,5)--(6,4)--(5,3)--(5,2)--(4,1)--(3,2)--(2,2)--cycle,black+2bp); [/asy]
$\textbf{(A) } 12 \qquad \textbf{(B) } 12.5 \qquad \textbf{(C) } 13 \qquad \textbf{(D) } 13.5 \qquad \textbf{(E) } 14$
We count $3 \cdot 3=9$ unit squares in the middle, and $8$ small triangles, which gives 4 rectangles each with an area of $1$. Thus, the answer is $9+4=\boxed{\textbf{(C) } 13}$.