“Does diabetes run in your family?”

“No.”

“Heart disease?”

“No.”

“Cancer?”

“No, none of that,” Zoey muttered, frustrated.

Daphne nodded and continued filling out the medical papers for her.

“How are you feeling?” she continued asking.

“Worse. I don’t understand why they’re making us wait,” Zoey whimpered.

Daphne quickly filled out the rest of the papers and strode over to the front desk.

“Okay, she needs to be seen now. Her cramps are getting worse and she’s scared,” she told the nurse.

“We’re still waiting on our obstetrician,” the nurse told her, annoyed.

“I really don’t care who sees her. She needs to be seen right now!”

The nurse glared at her before finally giving in.

“I’ll see what I can do,” she muttered before walking away from the desk.

“Thank you for that,” Zoey muttered once Daphne returned to their seats.

She nodded and sank down in her seat. A few minutes later, Zoey was finally called. Daphne helped her out of the chair and led her over to the awaiting doctor.

“Please don’t leave,” Zoey pleaded as she grabbed Daphne’s hand.

“I’ll be right out here,” Daphne reassured.

Once Zoey and the doctor retreated into one of the rooms, Daphne sank back down into the chair and pulled out her phone. She dialed Brian’s number, hoping he’d pick up. She only got his voicemail though.

“Hey, its me. Look, don’t panic yet, but you need to come up to the hospital. I’m here with Zoey about the baby. Just hurry up and get here,” she spoke into the phone.

She hung up after leaving her message and dialed Matt’s number.

M- What’s up, Daph?

D- Hey, could you get Misty for me, please?

M- Yeah, sure. I thought you took off half the day though.

D- I did, but something came up.

M- What happened? Did Jared call you again?

D- No, nothing like that. I went over Brian’s to cut his hair and only Zoey was there. I’m at the hospital with her now.

M- What did you do?

D- Nothing, Matt. She was in a lot of pain. I rushed her over here and she just went back with the doctor.

M- Is it the baby?

D- Yeah. It doesn’t seem too good, Matt.

M- Do you want us to come up there?

D- You don’t need to. I tried calling Brian, but I only got his voicemail.

M- I’ll try calling. Let me know if anything happens.

D- I will. Love you.

M- Love you too.

She hung up and ran a hand down her face. The minutes that ticked by seemed like hours to her. She began pacing until her feet got tired. She checked her phone every few minutes to check for calls from Brian. What seemed like hours to her, only ended up being twenty five minutes. She sank back in her seat as the nurse at the desk retreated to a room down the hall. Hesitating, she looked around to make sure nobody was watching her. She sighed before folding her hands and bowing her head.

The Sanders weren’t a truly religious family. They believed, but they didn’t show it as much as they should. Today though, Daphne wasn’t afraid to show it. She couldn’t even remember the last time she prayed. At that moment, she prayed for Zoey, Brian and their baby. She prayed that the baby would be okay. She prayed that Zoey would be okay. While she was at it, she gave thanks for everything she had. She thanked God for Misty and she thanked God for keeping them safe. When she finished praying, she looked up and saw Zoey’s doctor standing awkwardly a few feet away.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t want to disturb you,” he told her.

“How’s the baby?” she asked.

“Are you family?” he asked.

“I’m her sister,” she lied.

He hesitated.

“How’s the baby?” she repeated.

He hesitated again before shaking his head.

“She miscarried,” he told her, mournfully.

Daphne closed her eyes and sucked in a breath. When she opened her eyes, she blinked back her tears and wiped away the stray ones.

“Do you have any kids?” he asked.

“I have a daughter. I don’t know what I’d do if anything happened to her,” she muttered.

“I feel the same way. Does Zoey’s husband know?”

“I’ve been trying to call him. Hopefully he’ll be here soon.”

“Well, we want to keep her here over night just for observations. Miscarriages can cause damage to the mother.”

“Right; of course. I’ll let her husband know when he gets here.”

“She asked for you,” he told her.

“For me?” she asked.

“Yes. She’s in the third room on the left,” he told her.

She nodded and thanked him before making her way down the hall. She paused outside the door and waited a few seconds. She took a deep breath before turning the knob and pushing the door open. Zoey was in a hospital gown, lying in the bed. One hand was splayed out on the white sheets while the other was resting on her now empty stomach. She didn’t even acknowledge Daphne when she entered the room. Daphne shut the door behind her and approached the bed. Zoey looked over at her when she sat down on the edge of it. Daphne noticed tears streaming down her face.

“Hi,” she greeted, softly.

“Did he tell you?” Zoey muttered, her throat raw.

“Yeah, he told me.”

Zoey noticed her eyes welling up with tears.

“Why are you crying?” she asked.

“Because I feel horrible for you. Nobody deserves to go through this. I can’t even imagine losing Misty,” Daphne answered, pawing at her eyes.

“I can’t believe she’s gone,” Zoey muttered, her voice cracking.

“I know, honey, I know,” Daphne muttered as she went to hug her.

Zoey sat up and immediately hugged Daphne. She clung to her and sobbed into her shoulder.

“We already loved her so much,” she whimpered.

“I know you did. She would have been the luckiest little girl to have parents like you and Brian,” Daphne muttered, feeling tears run down her own cheeks.

“Why did this have to happen? Why her?”

“I don’t know, honey. Nobody knows why these things happen.”

“Its just so unfair,” Zoey cried.

***
An hour later, Daphne was sitting beside Zoey on the bed. They were sitting in an awkwardly comfortable silence. Daphne would hold Zoey’s hand whenever she got worked up.

“Stella,” Zoey muttered.

“Stella?” Daphne questioned.

“We were going to name her Stella. Stella Grace Haner,” Zoey muttered, her voice cracking at the end.

“That’s pretty,” Daphne muttered.

“Yeah, we were hoping for a boy too, though. So we could name him after Jimmy,” Zoey told her as she rested her head on her shoulder.

“Maybe you guys could try again.”

“I just don’t know how we’re going to pull through this. I mean with everything that’s been going on, this is basically the end for us.”

“You don’t know that. Maybe this could bring you and Brian together,” Daphne muttered, pawing at her eyes.

“You really mean that? Even after what happened between you and Bri?”

Daphne contemplated the question until the door opened and the nurse walked in.

“There’s a man here for you. Should I let him in?” she asked.

Daphne and Zoey looked at each other.

“That’s Bri,” Daphne muttered.

She saw Zoey’s eyes well up with tears again.

“Do you want me to tell him?” she asked, dreading the answer.

“Please,” Zoey pleaded.

Daphne sighed and nodded before climbing out of the bed.

“Daph,” Zoey muttered, grabbing her hand.

“Yeah?” Daphne asked.

“Thank you, for everything.”

“You’re welcome,” Daphne smiled, squeezing her hand.

She reluctantly walked out of the room and saw Brian pacing the hall.

“Bri?” she called.

“Daph? What are you doing here? Where’s Zoey?” he asked, approaching her.

“She’s in there. I brought her here and she wanted me to stay until you got here,” she told him.

“Well what happened? Is she okay?”

“She’ll be fine.”

“What about the baby?”

Daphne hesitated.

“What about the baby, Daph?” he repeated.

“She lost her, Bri,” she finally told him.

She saw all the color drain from his face. He backed up and sat in one of the chairs. He laced his fingers behind his neck and put his head between his legs.

“Bri?”

He didn’t respond.

“Come on Bri, talk to me,” she pleaded as she placed a hand on his back.

She backed off when he quickly stood up and made his way into Zoey’s room. She let out the breath she’d been holding. She calmed herself down and told herself that this is how it was supposed to be. He was supposed to be with Zoey. She shouldn’t feel upset about him ignoring her.

“Daphne!”

She looked towards the entrance and saw Matt and Jade coming through the doors. Matt had Misty in his arms. She squirmed out of his arms and ran towards her. Daphne knelt down and tightly hugged her.

“Hi, mommy.”

“Hey baby,” Daphne smiled.

She took her face in her hands and kissed her forehead.

“Mommy, why are you crying?” Misty frowned.

“I’m just so happy to see you, baby. I love you so much,” Daphne smiled, hugging her again.

“How’s Zoey?” Matt asked.

“She’ll be fine,” she told them.

“What about the baby?” Jade asked, protectively putting a hand on her own stomach.

“She lost her,” she muttered.

“Damn…” Matt muttered.

“Is Brian here?” Jade asked.

“He just went back with Zoey.”

‘We’re going to stay here for a little while. Are you going to stay?” Matt asked.

“No, I’m taking Misty out. We need to spend some time together,” she smiled as she picked Misty up.

“Alright, I’ll call you later,” Matt told her.

“Okay. Alright, lets go to eat. We’ll go wherever you want,” Daphne smiled as she walked out of the hospital with Misty.

“Chick-Fil-A!” Misty smiled.

***

Hours later, Daphne and Misty trudged into the apartment. After their dinner, Daphne took Misty to buy some new clothes and then to get ice cream.

“Go put your clothes away, baby,” Daphne told her.

She walked to the back and stripped off her clothes. She pulled her hair into a messy bun on top of her head and took her contacts out. After putting her glasses on, she pulled on a pair of yoga pants and a tank top. She walked into Misty’s room and found her putting her clothes away.

“Lets watch a movie,” she smiled.

“But its almost my bedtime,” Misty pointed out.

“Don’t worry about it, tomorrow’s Saturday. Come on,” Daphne smiled as she held out her hand.

After popping in Beauty and the Beast, Daphne sat down next to Misty and pulled a blanket over them. About halfway through the movie, they both began nodding off. A loud knock at the door woke them both.

“Who is it, mommy?” Misty yawned.

“I don’t know,” Daphne muttered as she hesitantly stood up.

She slowly walked over to the door and looked out the peephole.

“Shit,” she muttered.

She looked down at her outfit and huffed in frustration. She reluctantly opened the door.

“Hey,” she muttered.

“Is this a bad time?” Brian asked.

“No. Shouldn’t you be with Zoey?” she asked.

“Her sister is with her. I told her I was going to run home and shower real quick,” he told her as he stepped inside.

“Well then why are you here?” she asked.

“I just needed to see you,” he muttered after a few seconds.

“Brian?” Misty groggily asked from the couch.

“Hey, princess,” he smiled sadly.

He walked over to the couch and sat down next to her. Daphne shut the door and sat on the other side of Misty.

“Did you find her?” Misty asked.

Brian looked over at Daphne, questionably.

“Did I find who, princess?”

“Your baby. Mommy told Uncle Matt and Aunt Jade that Zoey lost her. Did you find her?” Misty asked.

Brian tightly closed his eyes and sank back into the couch. Daphne sighed and kissed Misty’s head.

“Why don’t you go to your room, baby? I’ll be in to talk soon,” she told her.

Misty nodded and climbed off the couch. Once she was in her room, Daphne hesitantly slid over near Brian.

“Are you okay?” she muttered, placing a hand on his arm.

He opened his eyes and looked over at her. Her heart slowly broke when she saw the tears in his eyes. He pulled her onto his lap and tightly wrapped his arms around her waist. Daphne hesitantly placed her arms around his shoulders.

“I’m so sorry, Bri,” she muttered.

He didn’t respond. He just buried his head into her shoulder and quietly cried. All Daphne could do, was let him.