~February~

“But I don’t want to go to church!” Misty whined.

Daphne sighed and shook her head as she put Misty’s breakfast plate in the sink.

“Its just for an hour, Misty. Church is good for you,” she told her.

“But I don’t want to go!” Misty huffed, stomping her foot.

Daphne clenched her jaw, keeping her temper in check. Today, Misty was having one of her rare bratty days. These were the days when Daphne just wanted to drop her off at Matt’s for the day.

“Well you’re going. The faster we get there, the faster we can leave. Now we have to leave now, before we’re late,” she told her.

“But mommy!”

“No buts! Now lets go,” Daphne insisted.

Misty groaned before stomping off towards her.

“Its so boring!” she complained on the way down the steps.

“Its just for an hour. If you’re good and you stop whining, we’ll do something fun afterwards,” Daphne compromised.

“Can we go to the playground?” Misty asked.

“Sure,” Daphne nodded.

As soon as the word left her mouth, they walked out of the complex into pouring rain.

“But its raining!” Misty whined.

Daphne huffed; thinking her day couldn’t get any worse.

***

Around one that afternoon, Brian straddled his motorcycle outside of Matt’s house.

“Be careful riding in this man,” Matt told him.

“I will,” Brian nodded.

“Tell Zoey thanks again for the clothes. Jade will appreciate them.”

“Its no problem. She didn’t want them anymore.”

“How’s she holding up?”

“She’s alright, I guess. I mean its been a month,” Brian shrugged.

“Well that’s tough shit to go through, man. It ain’t going to be something to easily get over with,” Matt told him.

“Well we’re working on it.”

“Let us know if you guys need anything.”

“Alright, Dr. Phil,” Brian smirked.

“Fuck you,” Matt laughed.

“Later, man,” Brian laughed as he started up his bike.

He kicked off and started his way back to his house. An hour and a half ago, Zoey sent him out to bring Jade her maternity clothes. The miscarriage happened nearly a month ago, but it was still fresh to the two. Ironically enough, this past month has been about the most peaceful one they’ve had in a while. They haven’t fought about anything. They’ve just been there for each other, silently comforting each other. They haven’t really talked about Stella since the miscarriage. The wound of it was still too new to admit to each other.

By the time Brian broke his train of thought, he was rounding onto his street. He parked his bike in the garage and entered the house through the kitchen. He threw his wet jacket onto the back of one of the chairs and grabbed himself a beer from the refrigerator.

“Zoey? I’m back!” he called as he entered the living room.

He didn’t see her in there. Shrugging, he made his way towards the stairs. He pulled his wet shirt over his head as he made his way up them. He turned to walk into their room and nearly tripped over something.

“Fuck!” he hissed as he rubbed his aching shin.

He looked down to see what he tripped over and noticed Zoey’s luggage bags by his feet. Furrowing his eyebrows, he stepped over them and walked over to the closet. He walked in it and saw her side of it bare. Her vanity was bare as well.

“Uh, Zoey?” he called.

“In here!” he heard her reply.

He walked out of the bedroom and hesitated before walking to the nursery. His breath hitched in his throat when he walked into the room. The nursery hasn’t changed at all. Everything was still up and intact. He just hadn’t been in there since the miscarriage. He saw Zoey standing by the crib, admiring it.

“What’s going on?” he asked.

She turned to him and gave him a sad smile. He noticed tears in her eyes. She walked towards him and wrapped her arms around his torso. She rested her head on his chest and closed her eyes. Brian immediately wrapped his arms around her and rested his chin on top of her head. They stood there for a few silent minutes.

“What’s going on, Zo?” he repeated.

She let go of him and grabbed his hands.

“You know I love you, right?” she asked.

He nodded.

“I’m going to go stay with my parents, Bri,” she told him.

“Back in Seattle?” he asked.

She nodded.

“Is everything okay with them?” he asked.

“Yeah, they’re great,” she told them.

“Well why are you going there?” he asked.

She hesitated.

“Just tell me what’s going on, Zo,” he urged.

“I’m leaving, Bri,” she finally told him.

That set him back.

“Um, leaving?” he asked.

“I’m really sorry, Bri.”

“Zoey, if this is about Stella, we could always try again-”

“Its not about Stella, Brian.”

“Well what is it then?”

“We’re not going anywhere, Bri. We fight all the time. Don’t you think it’s a bit sad that one of the most peaceful months of our whole marriage was after the miscarriage? We just haven’t been happy, Bri,” she told him.

“I was happy,” he muttered as he looked at the floor.

“I know you were, but not with me.”

His head snapped up towards her.

“You know?” he asked.

“I know,” she confirmed.

“But…how?” he asked.

“I saw you two at Matt’s on New Year’s. Abby told me about the first time. Daphne told me about the other two,” she shrugged.

“I’m so sorry, Zoey. We stopped seeing each other. You didn’t deserve any of that,” he rambled.

“Bri, stop! Its fine, really. I’m done being mad at something that already happened.”

“So, why are you leaving, Zo?”

“We deserve to be happy, Bri. We haven’t been happy with each other in a long time. Daphne and Misty make you happy, and you definitely deserve to be happy. So that’s why I’m leaving.”

“What about you though?”

“I think I’ll be happier just getting away from everything. I just need a fresh start.”

“Zoey, you don’t have to do this.”

“Yes I do, Bri. This was going to happen sooner or later.”

Brian smiled lightly and tightly wrapped his arms around her.

“So this is it, huh?” he asked.

“This is it,” she muttered.

“Do you want me to help you pack anything?” he asked.

“I packed all of my stuff. Its just all of this left,” she muttered, motioning to the nursery.

“I wanted to wait for you to get back. I figured we should do this part together,” she added.

He smiled sadly and nodded. They solemnly and silently packed away all of Stella’s would-be belongings.

“What should we do with it all?” he asked once they were finished.

“Matt and Jade are having a boy, so they won’t want it. I guess we could donate it.”

“I’ll go and drop everything off sometime this week,” he muttered.

“I guess I should be going then,” she muttered awkwardly.

He took all of her bags and helped her load them in her car.

“There’s one more thing,” she added when she came back in for her purse.

She pulled a manila envelope out of her purse and handed it to Brian. He opened it and pulled out the papers inside. The papers were their divorce papers.

“How long have you been planning this?” he asked as he looked over the papers.

“The day after the miscarriage; I called a lawyer a week afterwards,” she told him.

“Thanks for the heads up,” he laughed as he laid the papers on the side table.

They both signed and initialed the papers. Once she packed them away, Brian grabbed an umbrella and walked her out the car.

“Oh, here,” she muttered before getting in the car.

She grasped her engagement ring and wedding band and shimmied them off her finger.

“Keep them,” he told her.

“Are you sure?” she asked.

“They were bought for you, Zo. They’d be a little small for me anyway,” he smirked.

“Just a little,” she laughed.

“Are you sure this is what you want?” he asked.

“I’m sure. This is for the best. We deserve to be happy.”

“Come here,” he muttered, pulling her into him.

She didn’t hesitate to tightly hug him back.

“You take care,” he muttered, pressing a kiss to her head.

“You too, Bri. I hope Daphne makes you happy,” she smiled, pulling away from him.

“Thanks,” he muttered.

She hesitated before leaning up and pressing her lips to his for the last time. He smiled at her when she pulled away.

“Love you, Mr. Haner,” she smiled, placing a hand on his cheek.

“Love you too, Mrs. Haner,” he laughed.

“We’re divorced, its Dugan now,” she smirked.

***

“Mommy, I’m bored!” Misty whined.

“Its raining, baby. We can’t go out and do anything,” Daphne muttered for what felt like the hundredth time.

Misty pouted and sank back on the couch. Daphne put on a cartoon for her before reaching for her purse.

“I’ll be up in a few minutes,” she told her as she grabbed her cigarettes and lighter.

Misty didn’t say anything as she walked past her. Daphne made her way down the steps and into the parking lot. She stood under the awning and lit her cigarette. As she inhaled the nicotine, she let her mind wander. Naturally, it wandered to Brian. She hadn’t seen or heard from him since the miscarriage. She only heard about him and Zoey through Matt. She had enough respect for Zoey to not contact him herself. Apparently, Brian did too now. She was broken out of her thoughts when she saw a car pull into the parking lot. Being nosey, she watched the driver park and pause before opening the door. An open umbrella came out before the driver did. Daphne almost dropped her cigarette when she noticed that the driver was Zoey.

Notes

One more to go!
I was going to end it with one chapter but it was getting really long lol.
Let me stop rambling!
:)
<3