#phoenixthread

It had been eighteen weeks. Roughly three and a half months since she had clumsily peed on three different test in their small apartment, clutching a glass of wine. Now here they were, her hand gently slipping into Rucas' as they walked through the sliding doors of the doctor's office. Her belly once flat and still unnoticeable in her short summer dress had taken shape, a small bump appearing over the last week. "Are you excited? We get to find out the sex today if you want to." Speaking up as they took their seats in the waiting room she looked around, her eyes scanning the other expectant mothers. "I think I want to know."

"Happy Birthday." It was the only two words that left Phoenix's mouth as the bedroom door opened. The rest of the apartment was dark, only a small trail of candles placed strategically along the hallway floor lighting the way for Vince once he had gotten home. She had spent the better part of the day planning what they would do and now sitting on his bed in her best red lace lingerie she held up a cupcake with a single candle ready for him to blow it out. "If I am correct it was a certain someone's birthday party exactly a year ago that me and my very drunk friends wandered into. I managed to wander off and was dancing all by myself and then someone caught my eye and then I caught their eye..." Smiling as her words drifted off she stared up at him a warm feeling washing over her thinking back.

This was bad. Leaning against the elevator wall as she listened to the numbers beep softly as they rose to Vince's floor she pursed her lips, her hand running over her cheeks. The mixture of tears, mascara, and blood was everywhere and digging around in her purse she found a tattered tissue trying to clean herself up. It was late, some hour between night and morning but she had nowhere else to go. She had kept her head down the whole way there, but now as the doors opened one stop away from her refuge the harsh lights exposed her damages to two unsuspecting girls stumbling inside. Their eyes gave them away even without them saying a word. She looked like shit. Pushing past them she opted for the stairs the rest of the way not sure if she could handle the awkward silence in such a small space. She had a key which meant no knocking, which meant maybe him not waking up. She could hurry to the bathroom, get in the shower before he even knew she was there if he was even home at all. Reaching back into her bag her fingers tripped over themselves until they found what they were looking for. Sticking her key into the lock she turned it slowly, walking through the door not only to see all the lights were on, but the one person she was trying to avoid was standing right there in front of her.