Suddenly

Waking up Wednesday

It was somewhere around two thirty in the morning when Hannah awoke, seemingly out of nowhere. She blindly looked around her darkened bedroom. Nothing seemed amiss. Something had to of brought her out of her deep sleep, Hannah had always been a good sleeper, never any real issues.

What had caused this?

Then she heard it.

Soft whispering coming from a room down the hall.

It was Grace.

The blonde shot a look over to her digital clock on the nightstand. It was much too late for Grace to be awake, even Ayla should be sound asleep still. Hannah had been there nearly six hours ago when Grace had put the little girl to bed.

So why were they awake?

Her first thought was another nightmare. While she didn't like the idea of once again finding her best friend in a position of pure terror that she was unable to physically stop, the resulting sharing of a bed a been nice.

Honestly, last night had been a little lonely, being back in her own king sized bed. She had missed the warmth that Ayla and Grace gave off.

Slowly, she lifted herself off the bed and tiptoed towards the bedroom door. Grace's voice was soft as she neared the room at the far end of the hallway.

Silently, Hannah peered through the cracked door. Grace sat in the middle of the bed, legs crossed, holding a sleeping Ayla in her arms. She wasn't focused on anything besides the small girl in her arms. Softly, she ran a finger lovingly over her chubby cheek.

"It's going to work out, Aylie, I honestly don't know how, but I'm going to keep telling you every day that it is going to be okay." Her voice was soft, motherly, as she spoke to her daughter.

Hannah felt like a peeping tom watching the intimate moment between the two. Of course she knew to what Grace was referring, but it still confused her slightly as to why she was talking to a sleeping toddler.

"It's going to be hard, and Mama hopes she don't fuck it up. But I think we have a real shot." Now Grace's voice was slightly huskier, as if she were trying to keep tears a bay. Hannah wanted to rush into the room, gather Grace in her arms and hold her until this whole debacle was over, but she couldn't.

At some point, Hannah had sank to the ground beside the door and listened as the other woman spoke softly to the child. It was soothing, at some point, she found herself drifting off to the soft sounds of Grace's voice telling a sleeping Ayla all the things she hoped for their future.

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Morning came much too soon in Grace's opinion. She opened her brown eyes to the sun shining brightly through the sheer curtains on the window.

I don't think it should be so bright outside today. She grumbled in her mind. For some reason, today would be better suited in a loud, ominous thunderstorm. The sun just seemed to be taunting her.

It would be more fitting for rain. She thought as she busied herself with carefully moving closer to the edge of the bed in hopes of escaping before Ayla awoke.

Once she was safely out of the bed, she silently made her way to the kitchen for a large cup of coffee. On her way out the door, she nearly tripped over a sleeping Hannah.

The shorter blonde mumbles something sleepily.

"Hannah?" Grace asked, confused as to why she was sleeping outside the door. "Why are you sleeping out here?"

Embarrassed that she had not awoken to return to her room, Hannah fumbled for an explanation.

"I-I mean-Shit-" she had nothing.

A grin broke out across Grace's face as she watched Hannah flounder. Instead of teasing her, she sat beside her on the floor.

"So, truth? I won't judge, did I wake you last night?"

Hannah nodded silently, there was no sense in denying it. "I didn't mean to eavesdrop, but I heard you talking to Ayla and it was so soothing. I wanted to run in and hug you but I thought that would be inappropriate."

The older woman laughed lightly. "Of course, because being caught out here is totally normal."

The two of them shared a laugh before a comfortable silence fell over them. Grace let her head drop onto Hannah's shoulder, Hannah's hand traced a path up and down Grace's thigh absently.

After a while, Grace sighed sadly. "Why can't things just stay like this?" She didn't really know if she was speaking to Hannah directly or just making a statement.

Hannah shrugged. "Because life likes to keep itself interesting." She trailed off for a moment. "What is going to happen today, Grace?"

The other woman lifted her head to look Hannah in the face. "I honestly don't know. I somehow thought when I woke up this morning that he would be standing at the end of the bed, ready to kill me for leaving. Or at least I would have half a dozen phone calls from him, but he doesn't have my number, and he has no clue where we are. I'm not even sure if he has made it home. It's only ten AM in New York. I never asked Tatiana what time his plane came in. And it's not like we ever really spoke when he was gone on these trips."

Hannah sat thoughtfully for a moment. She took was expecting some giant ruckus to start today. It seemed odd that nothing had happened yet, but as Grace had said, Josh didn't know where she was, or how to get a hold of her. Most everything would be filtered through Joan at this point.

"How did it get to this?" Hannah blurted out, completely unintentionally. Her hand clapped over her mouth as soon as she said it.

Guilt filled her as she felt Grace stiffen beside her.

She watched silently as the blonde woman stood from their spot in the hall, she immediately missed the warmth of Grace's body next to her.

"Because I let it." Was her answer. It was spoken coldly, and without any emotion.

She watched her friend turn on her heel and return to the room she was sharing with Ayla, shutting the door firmly behind her.

Hannah pretended not to hear the sobs that echoed through the silent house for the rest of the morning.

A/N Hey we are at chapter 20 and hit 1000 reads! Holy Moly! Thank you all! ❤️