Thursday 8th June 2024
that morning was exactly the same as the one before. winter's alarm woke the two of the up, but they lay in bed for a while before starting to get ready. winter and autumn had taken the morning off to attend a doctors appointment revolving their unborn child, so they were in no rush to get out of bed. as autumn brushed her hair and put on her makeup, winter sat on the bed behind her and watched her, his eyes full of love and adoration, gazing intently at her every move.
in his eyes, she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.
they grabbed a quick breakfast, and headed out the door and into the car. winter drove, as usual, with his hand on her thigh, slowly stroking it, and lightly squeezing it as they turned a sharp corner.
the drive to the maternity clinic was long, but was comfortable, due to the light conversations about the baby, winter's horrendously bad singing, (he only did it to try and make autumn laugh) and the soft music playing in the background.
when they eventually arrived, they signed in at the reception and took a seat in the waiting area. what winter did not relay to autumn is that he had seen a parent from the nursery leaving the shop across the street, and that they had made direct eye contact. they had been trying to keep the baby a secret for so long, but winter knew the timer was about to run out.
when autumn's name was eventually called, they were lead into a small room, where autumn and winter both sat down into seats.
"the reason we have scheduled this appointment today, is to give you some news." the nurse mumbled.
autumn and winter looked at eachother. winter could see the fear, excitement, stress and joy in her face all at once. this could be anything.
"i am so sorry to announce, but we couldn't find a heartbeat at your last appointment. the tests had only come back yesterday. i'll leave you two to discuss, and i will be back in a few moments with your options."
as soon as the first four words had left the nurses mouth, autumn's heart stopped. the whole world stopped spinning. her mouth instantly went dry and her throat began to hurt.
looking back, she can't remember the nurse leaving the office, and she can't remember winter taking her hand and staring at the wall.
for autumn, she needed this baby. now, you would probably hear most women saying this, but autumn, needed this baby.
when autumn was 10, her mother had packed her stuff and left the house. left autumn and reece alone with their abusive father, who would often beat them and lock them in their rooms. growing up she would debate whether she deserved to have children, and for a while she was convinced she didn't.
but once she found out she was pregnant, everything changed. this baby would give her a chance to prove her mother wrong, that she could love her child more than her mother loved her. that was the one thing autumn was sure of.
until now.
