I thought about my deadlines. The investigations I was building. The career I'd fought so hard for—the one finally starting to take shape.
Garrett took my hand in the car afterward.
"What if we push the wedding?" he said. "Wait until after the baby comes. One less thing to juggle."
"But all the planning?—"
"Can wait." He lifted my hand to his lips and kissed my knuckles. "You and the baby are more important than a party."
I leaned into him across the center console. "If we delay it until after I give birth... that means I can wear the dress I actually want."
He laughed softly. "You'd look beautiful in anything."
"Sweet talker."
"Truth teller."
I believed him.
I was sixteen weeks when I felt the first cramp.
Garrett was on shift.
I told myself it was nothing. Braxton Hicks, maybe. Normal pregnancy discomfort.
I made tea. Sat on the couch. Tried to focus on the article I was editing.
The cramp became a wave. The wave became a flood.
I made it to the bathroom before the blood started.
I called him. Barely got the words out.
"Something's wrong. There's blood. There's so much?—"
He broke every speed limit to get to me.
He found me on the bathroom floor. Phone still clutched in my hand. Shaking so hard I couldn't stand.
He didn't hesitate. Didn't panic. Just pulled me into his arms, called 911, and held me while we waited.
"Stay with me." His voice in my ear—steady, calm. The voice he used on calls when people were dying. "Stay with me. I've got you. I've got you."
The ambulance came. The hospital. The cold gel on my stomach. The ultrasound wand pressing down. The technician's face going carefully blank.
The doctor's voice was gentle in that horrible way that meant nothing good was coming.
"I'm so sorry. There's no heartbeat."
The sound I made wasn't human.
I don't remember making it, but I remember the way Garrett's arms tightened around me. The way he held me while I fell apart.
He stayed through the procedure. Through the discharge paperwork. Through the silent drive home to an apartment that was supposed to hold three.
And now held only two.
"We'll get through this," he said, helping me into bed. His voice cracked on the words, but he kept going. "Together. We'll get through this together."
