Missing Pieces

Clay

A/N: This is a bonus scene for Fanboy, but you could also read it if you've only read Haunted or Comfortable. This scene can be considered fact (canon) for the series : )

"Sadie?" Clay was barely awake, but the bed was getting colder so he knew she'd been in the bathroom a while. "You okay?"

If she answered, he didn't hear. He was drifting off to sleep and imagining how he could program their heated mattress pad to simulate another person's body heat. That was a product he could sell for sure. Maybe it would seem creepy to some people, but for the person who was on a different schedule than their partner it might be nice. He'd have to work on that. It should be simple, actually, just a few tweaks. He'd just have to convince Sadie to let him bring a thermometer in their bed so he could figure out the right temperature.

She'd probably think he was nuts, but she'd let him do it anyway. That was how their relationship worked half the time, it seemed. God, he loved her. Sadie was gorgeous, a fashion and beauty guru, and they'd met at NY Fashion Week, the same night Bryce and Kimber broke up. He'd been in the right place at the right time, catching her phone before it suffered a disastrous fall. She was the first person to ever seem starstruck by him and he'd loved her for it.

That night, Sadie seemed shy, almost like she didn't want to talk to him. He'd stepped closer to her for a picture when a photographer from Vanity Fair came by and she almost ran away. He'd followed her around the party, maybe seeming a little desperate, to get her number. It wasn't until they'd been texting a few weeks that she admitted she was afraid people would accuse her of using him for attention. He'd laughed because she really meant that but he knew she didn't need his help in the slightest. She worked hard and she was so talented, much more ambitious than he'd ever hope to be. When he proposed 5 years later, he'd asked if he could be her Instagram husband. He knew his place was behind the scenes, just like it had always been.

He still couldn't believe she'd said yes. Couldn't believe they were married. It had only been 6 months since the wedding but there was still a moment in every day when he looked at Sadie and was stunned that he got to share a life with her. He'd insisted on pictures of the wedding all over their house and his desk at work because he needed proof that it was real. Clay didn't feel like he deserved someone like her, not when he looked back on his life and everything he'd gotten wrong. That she could possibly love him as much as she insisted she did, constantly showed him she did, was just impossible.

Light woke him up again and Clay thought he heard a sniffle. The bathroom door was open and the light was right in his eyes.

"Clay?"

He was wide awake in an instant. Sadie was crying, he'd recognize the clue in her shaky voice anywhere.

"What's wrong? Are you okay?" he sat up, throwing the covers off.

"Um," Sadie didn't answer. "Can you come here?"

"It'll be okay," Clay promised as he took the few steps to their bathroom. He hugged her and she cried a little harder. "Are you sick? Want to lie down?"

"No, um," Sadie took a deep breath. "I...took a test."

"Oh, wow," Clay was glad she couldn't see his face. Suddenly the room felt very small. Maybe he was still asleep. Maybe he wasn't understanding right. He could see it there on the counter but maybe he was dreaming. "A pregnancy test."

"Yes."

He could picture it already. Their lives turning upside down, the house full of diapers and toys, never getting an entire night of sleep again. Her body, oh god, that perfect shape, never looking the same as it did now. The fear, doubt, arguments that were sure to follow. And then there were the decisions. So many decisions. Everything he knew and loved changing in...well, with...a heartbeat. A tiny one, but maybe the loudest sound he'd ever heard.