“You said there was nothing in the world that could stop it.”
She wondered if there would ever be an age where these things didn’t make her nervous. The best part was she wasn’t even sure why it did. Looking at the rectangle shaped box with the directions sprawled out beside it she covered her mouth with her hands and stared, a reflex she could remember doing at seventeen. One plastic applicator could so drastically change lives, a single piece of plastic that could make or break a life.
The time on the clock ticked past slowly as she glanced up at the red apple shaped clock above Quincy and Cecilia’s fridge. These things seemed to have a way of controlling time too. They were evil little devices that were probably to some people blessings and happiness. For Wave, they were the meaning of fear typically, of moments that she preferred not to think about. In her past experiences, they were carelessness on a stick.
She blew a dark strand of hair from her face, it was still strange to not see bleach blonde, it had been exactly the same for years, she couldn’t remember the last time it had been so close to her original hair color. Reaching up she ran her fingers through it, tucking the stray strands behind her ear.
“Are you sitting here staring at that thing?”
Cecelia’s voice made her head turn to look at the figure who’d just entered the room, her arms full of a sick sleeping four year old. Theo had been sent home from school the day before and still hadn’t felt quite up to par when he’d gotten up in the morning. As Cecilia walked closer to the table she put her arms out for the child.
She could remember the months before Jamie had been born, how much time she and Jude had spent with baby Theo so that Ceecee and Quincy could get a little bit of sleep before adding double the chaos to their home. Theo had been one of the reasons she’d decided to go off the pill before she’d gotten pregnant with Eleanor in the first place. Jude had been such a natural with him. His entire world had suddenly stopped to revolve around the baby every time Theo was placed in his arms.
Not looking up at Ceecee she took Theo and cuddled him closer to her, her lips brushing his warm forehead. She’d missed so much time with the boys. So much time that in the past couple of months she’d only begun to make up for. She still had a whole lot more making up for it to do. The boys and Eleanor were her main focus for the year, to garner a little more involvement with her family.
“How are the two of you? Any progress?”
With a sigh she pulled her eyes from Theo and looked back up at Ceecee. These were the questions she dreaded the most. Her shoulders rose and fell in a shrug as she attempted to cultivate her words enough to explain anything.
They weren’t exactly on speaking terms, it had been since Christmas, it was just easier to not talk than to have it land them in bed where he got up in the morning and left, leaving her alone and questioning what it was even worth.
“That good, huh?”
Instead they took their turns with Eleanor, they were cordial and careful, but there really wasn’t anything more than discussing their daughter. The whole thing killed her and she wanted nothing more than to have spent the mornings sharing coffee and discussing their day instead. But this was the hand of cards that they were playing with now.
“He’s coping with everything. I guess we both are. I honestly don’t know.”
The amount of excuses she’d tried to make for the situations that they were in she couldn’t come up with any more, she was too tired. In time they would hopefully discuss it all. For now she’d drop it, she wasn’t about to hassle him for answers or anything else. The honeymoon phase of him being home was over, now it was time to get to the bottom of things and figure out where to rebuild from.
She could just hope that when rebuilding it lead them in some way back to one another.
“You guys will be fine. He still looks at you like you’re the only person on the planet you know.”
They had been the same words that her brother had uttered out, so of course part of her believed them. No one knew what went on in Jude’s head better than Quincy, at least, it had always been Quincy. They’d had a bond like no other, she’d grown up watching that.
“I hope you’re right.”
As she said it the kitchen timer went off indicating that it was time to check the results on the test. To see if the future was changing or not. Reaching forward she picked the test up off of the counter in front of her with the hand that wasn’t supporting a sleeping child. She tipped the window to her view before looking up at Ceecee who looked impatient.
“Better luck next time.”
She shook her head no, before handing the stick back in Cecilia’s direction. The other girl took it from her hand and scowled at it for a moment before wadding up the directions in a ball and getting up to toss all of the evidence into the trash.
“It was so easy to get the first two. Your brother is failing me this time.”