Coming Home To You

“Brian get off of him!” Lizzy screamed and jumped up, dragging her brother away from Zacky and raising her fist as a warning to him. She wasn’t afraid to beat the shit out of her older brother, because she’d done it enough times before. Brian struggled, but when she slapped him hard, he paused, and then slumped. Instead, he put his arms around his sister tightly, and turned back on Zacky, who looked like he was about to pass out.

“I can’t believe you got her pregnant you son of a bitch!” he yelled, and Lizzy pushed him away looking up at her brother disgustedly.

“I can’t believe you’d just walk into someone elses house and try and choke them! Jesus, Brian I am not going down this road again!” Lizzy growled at him and ran over to Zacky, wrapping her arms around his waist. She loved him, and he had promised he was going to look after her and the baby. She believed him for once.
“What are you talking about?”

“Brian, you threw me out of your house when you heard we’d slept together, and then pull this crap when you find out I’m pregnant. I’m twenty eight, I can be a mother. But…I need you in this Brian. I need to know that my big brother is supporting me”

Staring from Lacey to Lizzy, Brian sighed for a moment, his gaze thinning when he saw Zacky tighten his grip around his little sister.

“Brian…Lizzy’s scared. She’s going to have a baby. You know how terrified I was when I was pregnant with Tyler. She doesn’t have someone like you, she’s not married. Not only does she need Zacky, but she needs you. You’re her big brother, Brian. Please…you have to get past your anger” Lacey said, getting up from the couch and placing a comforting arm on Brian’s shoulder.
He looked over at her, and then back at his little sister. She did look scared, and the way Zacky was holding her made him feel a little better about what she was about to go through.

“Lizzy…tell me. Tell me what you want me to do” he said desperately, shaking away his wife’s hand and taking a step forward, watching her dislodge herself from Zacky’s grip.
“I need you to be OK with this pregnancy, and with me being with Zacky. I love him, and he’s going to support this child whatever happens. I need you to be there for me. Please?”

Brian sighed, and then grabbed her into a bear hug, kissing her hair softly. He didn’t want to hurt her; he just wanted to make sure she was protected from those who wanted to hurt someone as precious as her.
“Baby, I’ll always be here for you. And…if this is what you want to do then…I can support that. But next time- please don’t hide it away from me. Tell me” Brian whispered and she nodded, clutching at his thick arms.

Satisfied, Lacey looked over at Zacky, who was still processing the news that he had fathered a child. He looked…happy. And that was good enough for her.

***

Jimmy hadn’t spoken to Jamie all day, and he was worried about her. She’d woken up, thrown up and then gotten changed and run out of the house before he could even wake up properly. She hadn’t left him a note, or even something to tell him where she had been going, he just assumed she was running late for work or something.

He’d moped around his own house all day, and it was only when he walked into his bedroom to try and find something in the back of the closet that he noticed it.
A deep dark red blood stain in the middle of the bed.

Shaking it off as something that must’ve gotten there by mistake, he grabbed what he was looking for and was about to walk down the stairs again, when he heard crying from the bathroom. He hadn’t seen or heard Jamie come in, and if she had, she must’ve done it so quietly, she’d evaded his bat like hearing. Putting down his books, he walked towards the bathroom and gently pushed open the door to find his wife on the floor, sobbing.

“Baby?”

Jamie looked up, her hands shaking violently and black tears dripping slowly down her cheeks as the salty water from her eyes mixed with her mascara. Instantly, he felt his heart tug and pull at the sight of her so upset, and sunk down to the bathroom floor, pulling her onto his lap and putting his hands over her stomach. It wasn’t swollen yet and when he pressed his hands against the skin, she just started to cry harder, curling up in his arms.

“Baby, tell me what’s wrong. Why are you crying? Please, let me make it better- you know I hate seeing you upset” Jimmy said softly, wiping away some of her tears with his sleeve.
She shook her head, sobbing harder into his shoulder, and he wrapped his arms around here thin little body, rocking her like a child and gently hushing her cries, a horrible feeling in the bottom of his stomach.

“Please baby…I don’t want to see you cry. Tell me what’s going on, I’m worried for you” he whispered, running his hands over her hair and kissing her forehead softly.
“Y-Y-You’re g-g-going to h-h-hate me” she whimpered and he shook his head, holding her tighter.
“Jamie, you are my wife, I could never hate you- not even if I tried. Now please darling- tell me what’s going on” Jimmy replied, kissing her again and holding her hands in his.

“You found the bloodstain, didn’t you?” she asked, wiping away some of her tears and he nodded, looking down into her watery eyes.
“I went to the doctors and found out what happened…” she started, slowly working up the courage to say the next thing.

“I miscarried, Jimmy”

As she dissolved into tears again, clutching at his lanky body, Jimmy felt his heart sink into his stomach as he held his wife. He wasn’t going to have a child, it had…died. He wasn’t going to be a father like his best friend. But…he couldn’t quite explain it, how he felt inside now that he knew what was going on.

He just felt empty.

Notes