Work Text:
Theme: Denial
Summary: No, she couldn’t go through that again. Never again.
She found herself down the eighth aisle of the store, staring in hopelessness at the pregnancy tests. She tried her hardest to tell herself no, that it couldn’t be, they had used protection lately. But her mind always teased back.
‘Then why are you two weeks late?’ it questioned.
‘Stress. From work. Or maybe I’m sick. That would explain the nausea,’ she argued back.
‘You know I’m right. Go ahead and grab a box. Take the test. See if you’re wrong. I dare you.’
She gazed at the box in her hands, trying vainly to put it back. She was fine. So what if she was a little late?
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No, no, no. She couldn’t do this again. She sat on the edge of the tub, ignoring the tears that rolled down her cheeks as she watched the words light up the screen. She couldn’t go through that agony again.
Maybe the test was wrong. It happened sometimes, right? She grabbed the second stick, unwrapping it. Please, dear god, let the first one be wrong. She set the stopwatch function on her watch, pacing the small bathroom.
When the timer beeped, she jumped, jerked out of her contemplations. Silencing the alarm, she looked at the stick, moaning at the words. She slid down the wall, hugging her knees. She couldn’t go through it again.
She thought of the roller coaster ride of emotions that they had gone on last time. Joy at being pregnant, amazement at the miracle, and a little frightened at the prospect. Sheer and uncontrollable terror at feeling her stomach cramp that afternoon, sharp enough to make her drop the dish she was drying. The helplessness at realizing that their dream was just as shattered as the blue glass all over the floor. There was no way that she could endure that a second time. It would crush her, she was sure of it.
A flood of calm washed over her, and she carefully picked up the sticks, wrapping them in tissue and cramming them back in the box. Then she buried it under the junk mail in the kitchen trash, tranquilly washing her hands in the sink.
And sat on the couch until Jack came home.