"I'm sorry Carrie, you're having a miscarriage."
The words rang through her head over and over as they drove home from the hospital. She stared out the window as the two sat in silence.
Mike pulled into their driveway, putting the car into park. He sat still and looked over at Carrie.
"Don't." Carrie said, getting out of the car and slamming the door behind her.
Mike jumped out of the car and ran after her, catching the door right as she tried to slam it.
"Carrie wait up." Mike said, following her as she walked into the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of water.
Carrie faced the kitchen counter, looking out the window. She felt Mike place his hand on her arm and she flinched. "Please don't touch me."
"Why?"
Carrie swallowed hard and squeezed her eyes shut. "If you hug me, I'll cry."
Mike sighed quietly and put his hand back on her arm, turning her around. Big tears started rolling down her face when she looked at him. She fell into his chest and Mike wrapped his arms around her tiny body.
She sobbed into his chest, gripping his shirt with her hand. Her body went limp, leaving all her weight in Mike's arms. He guided her over to the couch, where he sat with his arms around her. She kept her face buried into his shirt as she continued to cry.
Mike debated back and forth on whether he should speak or not, and finally decided she would talk when she was ready.
He sat rubbing her back and periodically kissing her forehead in silence for twenty minutes while she rode out the meltdown.
Carrie couldn't stop crying. The words swarmed her head as she thought back to when she'd told Mike the news just a month ago.
Carrie's stomach was full of butterflies as they pulled in to the store parking lot. She'd spent over an hour looking at ways to tell your husband you're pregnant and finally found a good one. She was so nervous as to how Mike would react to the unexpected news.
She took a deep breath and let her plan unravel.
"You can park there." Carrie pointed to the "Pregnant Woman" parking sign near the front.
"But that's for pregnant women." Mike said a tad confused. He figured she just didn't see the sign.
"I know." Carrie tried to keep a straight face as she turned to look at her husband. She let out a smile when he looked at her with a confused face.
It took him a few seconds to register what she was saying and when it finally clicked he gasped loudly.
"You're-?" Mike was completely speechless.
Carrie smiled from ear to ear and nodded.
"Oh my gosh, oh my gosh Carrie!" Mike's face lit up like a kid on Christmas morning. Carrie was beaming as well.
"You're really pregnant?"
"I'm really pregnant!" Carrie giggled.
"Carrie this is amazing, I can't believe this! You're pregnant!" Mike was bursting with excitement. Carrie couldn't be more relieved that he was happy-she was so afraid he wouldn't be happy because it wasn't quite planned.
He cupped her cheeks with his hands and kissed her passionately. "We're going to be parents Carrie."
Carrie eventually fell asleep in Mike's arms. Carefully, he placed a pillow under her head, put a blanket over her body, and let her sleep.
She slept for almost an hour. Mike piddled around the house, called Ivey and Carrie's mom-the only two that knew she had been pregnant, and fixed Carrie's favorite dinner.
Carrie woke up to Mike in the kitchen. She rubbed her eyes, which were red and puffy, and sat on the couch.
"Hey sweetheart." Mike cooed, giving her a small smile. He sat the pot he was holding on the counter and walked over to her.
"Hey" Carrie croaked. Her voice was weak and raspy.
"How you feeling?" Mike put his hand on her thigh and rubbed it gently.
"I'm okay." Carrie mumbled, looking at the floor. She wrapped the blanket tighter around her.
"Do you want the heating pad?"
Carrie nodded.
"Okay." Mike kissed her forehead and stood up. "You can take more medicine in an hour or so."
Mike warmed up the heating pad and brought it back to the couch, helping her get situated with it on her lower back. He sat down on the other end of the couch and Carrie stretched her legs out to rest her feet on his lap.
"Thank you." Carrie gave him a small smile.
They sat in silence for a few minutes-Carrie didn't know what to say, neither did Mike.
"I miss our baby."
"I know Care, me too." Mike sighed, gently rubbing her legs.
"I don't understand. It's not fair." She sighed. Tears welled up in her eyes but she managed to keep them from falling. She sat up and turned around, now resting her head on Mike's lap.
"I know sweetheart. I don't understand it either. I wish I knew the reason. I know it's hard, it's hard for me too, but we're going to get through this. I promise we can get through this together."
"Promise?" She sat up and looked him in the eyes. Mike could see the pain in her eyes and it absolutely killed him.
"I promise." Mike kissed her forehead and softly caressed her tear stained cheek. "It'll get easier soon. And I'll be right here to wipe your tears until it does."
