My Fair Ladies

Lift Me Up

Disclaimer: We are aware that Winter's behavior in this book is not favourable. His behavior and actions are 100% for this work of fiction. We do not condone hateful speech or actions regarding him or to his fans, nor do we believe he would ever behave like this canonically. This book is for entertainment and does not reflect our feelings about Winter or any other character. Please be kind to one another. – Will and Claire

TW mentions of pregnancy loss

Autumn woke up to her alarm and silenced it quickly. She didn't want to leave the comfort and safety of Marjorie's arms or the little bubble they had created the past few days. She leaned up and brushed her lips to the brunette's before padding off to the shower.

When she reentered the room, the brunette was awake. "Good morning, beautiful. How are you feeling about going back to work today?" She was anxious, but she didn't want to talk about her feelings. She already felt more vulnerable with Marjorie, but she wasn't sure she was ready to go down this particular road with her. At least not yet.

"I'm fine. How are you this morning?" Marjorie noticed the shift and propped herself up on her arms. "Fine?" She raised an eyebrow. "Sunshine, the Jedi mine trick only works for me. Never on me. I am fine." She pinned her hair back instead of pulling it up and finished buttoning her blouse before turning back to the brunette. "I will see you in a bit." She brushed her lips against the brunette's and attempted to turn. "You're not getting off that easy, Knight. She laced her finger through her hair and pulled her in for a more passionate kiss. "Okay, now you may go." She looked down at the brunette with a raised eyebrow before turning to leave.

She was just getting situated in the office when Sorscha walked in. "Hiya, is Marjorie around?" "She hasn't arrived yet." The redhead looked uncomfortable. "Was there something I could help you with?" The redhead very uncomfortably explained that Clodagh was overdue and that she had hoped Marjorie would keep an eye on her phone just in case.

"Give it to me and I'll keep and eye on it for you."

Sorscha fumbled her words feeling awkward, "oh no, you know it's grand. I don't want to put you out or anything, but you know and as soon as Marjorie's in ... you know you can give this straight to her." Sorscha tapped her phone awkwardly on her hand. Autumn realised the redhead was trying to spare her any discomfort. "It's okay, Sorscha, you don't need to tiptoe around me. I'm happy for you and Clodagh, and I'm more than happy to keep an eye on your phone and let you know if there's any updates." In truth it did hurt a little, but the loss would always hurt Autumn. She had lost a part of herself, and a part of her life that she had already started to envision when the test came back positive.

"Thanks Autumn" Sorscha spoke handing over her phone. "But only answer the phone if is Clodagh" Autumn thought it was a strange thing for Sorscha to say and gave her a confused look. "Me mam wants to be the first to put it on Facebook, so she wants to know first, but only answer the phone if it's my wife not me mam"

Sorscha thanked her again before leaving the office. Placing Sorscha's phone in plain sight on her desk, she began to busy herself with the paperwork left from the day before. A short while later, there was a knock at the office door. "Come in." As Autumn looked up, there he stood. She hadn't seen him since the night she watched him leaving. The sight of him closing the door behind him flashed in her mimd. "Winter." Her normal deadpan a tad more dead. She noticed he looked happy. She felt like her heart had been ripped from her chest all over again. She stilled herself remembering she was at work and had to keep her composure. "What can I help you with?" "I've brought some accident forms that need signing." The tone he used was off. She didn't expect his usual comforting tone, but she also didn't expect this. "Sooooo how's Marjooorrriiee?" Autumn raised her head to meet winters eyes. "How should I know? I'm not her keeper, I haven't seen her since the night you sent her to the bar." Winter let out a sarcastic chuckle. "Is that right?" Autumn wasn't in the mood for this. "Is there something you want to say Winter or are you going to continue on with this pointless conversation?" He snorted. "You really think I don't know what's going off? You're so naïve. Sara saw you kiss Marjorie that night." With that, Winter turned and left the office.

Autumn distracted herself again with the paperwork that had mounted on her desk. She wanted so much for Marjorie to arrive. Just as her thoughts had turned to Marjorie, the weekend they had spent together, and the changes she had noticed in herself, Sorscha's phone rang. It was time.

After frantically searching the nursery looking for Sorscha, Autumn had almost given up. "Agatha, have you seen Sorscha anywhere?" "You've just missed her. She just walked out to the car park." Heading out toward Sorscha's car she called after her. "Sorscha." "Hiya can you believe this. I came to sit in my car so I could have a bit of like air con going, but she won't start. Could you imagine if Clodagh had gone into labour now?" Autumn looked at Sorscha knowing she was about to send the redhead into a panic. "About that." "Wait! Has she?" Sorscha practically screamed back at her and the panic rose on her face. Autumn remained calm. "We need to get you to hospital now," she said as she handed the phone back. Sorscha took the phone and headed back towards her car before realising and starting to panic. "I can't get there m ... mi ..me car won't start. I can't get there. Oh my god. What am I gonna do?" Autumn wasn't about to let Sorscha miss the birth of her child, and knew if the roles were reversed, she would do the same. "Get in. I'm driving." As she started to walk across to her own car, Autumn pulled her own phone from her pocket to message Marjorie.

Sunshine, I won't be here when you arrive, Clodagh has gone into labour and Sorscha's car wouldn't start. Driving her to the hospital. See you when I get back.

She didn't even allow time for a response before getting into her car and speeding off towards the hospital running a few red lights along the way, but she wasn't about to let one of her friends miss the birth of her child.

A little while later she pulled back into the car park, and she saw Marjorie's car. Something inside her switched and she had to get inside. As she walked through the office door, she turned and locked it. She pulled the blind on the window before falling into the brunette's arms. "You were right. I wasn't fine."

The brunette held her as she sobbed. "It's okay. I've got you, beautiful. I've got you." She held her until the sobs subsided. When she pulled away, she placed a tender kiss on her lips. "You're okay. We're okay."

On the drive home Marjorie held Autumn's hand in her own. She was still in awe at the amount of physical touch she seemed to be able to get away with. She never imagined Autumn would be like this with her. She was shaken from her thoughts when Autumn spoke. "They named the baby after me. Well, her middle name. I am touched and I am happy for them. I truly am, but..."

She trailed off leaving both Marjorie and herself heartbroken. She was thinking of her own baby. The one she would never get to hold. Never get to name.

They settled onto the sofa with Caddie as they talked. "Beautiful, I can't imagine how you must feel, and I am sorry I wasn't there to protect you when Winter started." Winter had been more snarky than argumentative, but Marjorie didn't think he deserved to be snarky with her love.

"Sunshine, I am the guard dog. You don't have to protect me. We should discuss something about Winter though." The brunette was worried, but her interest was piqued. "Evidently, he and Sara have quite gossipy pillow talk. She must have witnessed the kiss at the bar."

Marjorie's eyes widened at the realisation that he must have thrown it in her face. Her anger was bubbling, but she needed to focus on Autumn. Her gaze went to Autumn, and she saw the sadness in her eyes. She caressed her cheek with the back of her fingers. "I would still protect you, beautiful, I would always protect you. Always."