Chapter 3-5: Heroes

                As the pain subsided briefly, Abrielle rushed inside to wake her father-in-law. He calmed her and examined her, palpating her stomach and listening to her belly. Finally, he looked up, with a sad face she knew all too well.

                 “Abrielle, I’m sorry but I believe you are having a miscarriage.”

                Even though it had been what she had expected, her eyes still filled with tears hearing the words out loud.

                Shane pulled her into a hug, hushing her and assuring her that everything was going to be okay.

                 “Do you have time to see me today after work? I think a more concise examination would be best,” Shane suggested.

                She agreed and told him she would stop by when she finished her day at the school.

                As promised, she made her way to Shane’s office in the hospital after work. He did a thorough examination and looked over her previous medical records. Then, he told her the last news she was expecting.

                 “You know you’ll need to tell Verne about this, right,” he asked. “I can’t disclose it to anyone.”

                “I know,” she whispered, hanging her head to hide her tears.

                When she arrived home, she asked Verne to join her on the couch.

                “We need to talk.”

                “Abrielle, what is it,” he asked, worried by the look on her face.

                “It’s a long story. Just promise to listen to the whole thing before you stop me.” With his promise, she began.

                 “When I was younger, my parents and I lived in a really small town. It was devoted to the environment, trying to preserve nature, prohibit technology from advancing any further. It was rather like a cult really. Ever since I had been born, my parents had pushed me towards Lawrence. He was my age, his parents were also involved in the research and development that mine were involved in. Lawrence was really all I knew since we were both homeschooled. He used to serenade me on his guitar when he wasn’t singing to his parents’ garden plants.

                 When we were 17, our parents married us. His father had the court paperwork to legally allow him to do so and our parents were consenting, negating the fact that we were minors. We celebrated, just the 6 of us, around a bonfire that night. 

                  Shortly after our wedding, I became pregnant. Lawrence and I were rather shell-shocked but happy. 

                  Then, one night, I woke up with horrible pains. His mother, who constituted as our mid-wife, told me I was having a miscarriage. She told me that it was because I didn’t love Lawrence enough and was being punished. I believed her.

                 The second time it happened, his mother was even angrier. I believed that I was a bad person and must not be the person for Lawrence. 

                  His mother and father quickly had our marriage annulled and my family moved to Twinbrook. My failure reflected badly on my parents as well and they were shunned in our small community as well.

                When we met, I was sure you were the one. So when we found out I was pregnant, I wasn’t worried. Until I miscarried this baby too. I went to see your father today. He told me that due to some complications with my body, I likely won’t ever be able to have children. I am so sorry. I know we talked about kids and how much you want them. If you, if you want to annul our marriage and find someone that can have your babies, I won’t make it difficult.”

                Abrielle stayed silent, her story now over. Then, Verne pulled her close. He held her to him for a few minutes before speaking.

                 “I promised to love you for better or worse. We’ll figure things out, discuss our options. You’re the person I want, not just some incubator for babies. I love you, just the way you are.”

                Abrielle was happy that Verne still loved her and didn’t care that they couldn’t have children together. However, she was still discontented that she was unable to do a ‘normal woman’s job’. Verne could tell every day that not having children was eating her up inside. He decided they should visit Vesper. Her sarcastic sense of humor might be just the thing to cheer Abrielle up.

                They arrived at the house just in time to see Vesper puking on her lawn.

                 “Vesper, are you okay,” Verne asked. “Maybe we should get you to see dad.”

                “No I am not okay. I’m pregnant. Damn Thaddeus and his condom malfunction.”

                “Oh, that’s great,” Abrielle gushed to her sister-in-law.

                “Great? What am I going to do with a baby? I don’t know the first thing about them. “

                 Of course, Verne couldn’t help tell his parents the news. Both were excited to be grandparents and had been waiting for this moment since the wedding. They hadn’t expected Vesper to be the first to give them the grandchild they so wanted but they weren’t picky. They invited her over for supper to celebrate.

                “Honey, you look tired,” Shane told Vesper as the evening wore on. “You should stay the night and get some rest instead of driving home.”

                “Thanks daddy. And, yeah, I’ve been pretty exhausted ever since I got pregnant. I can’t wait to give this baby up for adoption.”

                “You’re, not keeping it,” Shane asked. “Have you told your mother yet?”

                “No, not yet. I know she isn’t going to be happy.”

                 The next morning, before he left for work, Vesper approached her father cautiously.

                “I’ve been thinking. Thaddeus really wants to keep the baby but we don’t even live together. I can’t do it alone and I’ve never really even wanted kids. But, could you tell me what it is?”

                Shane listened and poked her belly a bit before pronouncing that she was having a little boy. He looked at his little girl, about to be a mother, and knew that knowing it was a little boy in there was going to make all the difference in the world. He smiled and whistled on his way to work.

                “I don’t understand why I can’t have children,” Abrielle cried in the kitchen. “Your sister doesn’t even like children or want  them and she got knocked up without trying! It’s so unfair.”

                 Verne pulled her into a hug, knowing that he needed to find a way to make her happy.

                 They began fervently discussing their options. They finally both decided that adoption seemed the best choice to them. Verne called the agency first thing the morning after they decided and set up an appointment with a social worker. 

                  He and Abrielle were both a bundle of nerves. He hadn’t been lying when he told her that he wasn’t angry or disappointed in her that she couldn’t have children but he did want them. And leaving it up to the government rather than just the two of them was nerve wracking. The morning of the appointment, they could barely eat.

                 Finally, the social worker arrived. First, they took the woman on a tour of the home. Then they made their way to the dining room and had a long discussion regarding what they wanted and were looking for, what their goals and plans were, and how they were prepared for a baby. 

                “Look, Mr. and Mrs. Avendale. You seem like fantastic people who really want and would cherish a child. You come from a respectable family and have enough money to give any child a good life. Unfortunately, your home just isn’t prepared for a baby. There doesn’t seem to be any baby supplies or even room for a child as it grows. You work on that and then call me again. I have a lovely woman who is having a little girl but can’t keep her. I think we can work something out if you can get the house settled.”

                  With that, Verne and Abrielle went into overdrive trying to prepare the house for a baby. They started by buying a small cradle and rocking chair for their room for the baby to stay when she first arrived.  

                   They finally furnished the foyer and even finally finished furnishing the house both upstairs and down. The second room upstairs was storage for the moment but they were thinking of either moving their room upstairs to be close to the nursery or turning it into an office for Verne. The nursery seemed like a wonderland to them. 

                  They snapped some pictures and Verne emailed them to the social work office. All arrangements were made and their baby would be brought home in just a few weeks.

                The day couldn’t have arrived any faster. So when they heard the car pull up, both Verne and Abrielle rushed into the newly decorated foyer to meet their baby girl for the first time. 

                  They had settled on the name Wren and were ecstatic when they finally got to hold her. 

                  Both of them took to parenting with ease. 

                  Just about any time they were home, they could be found near her cradle, cooing at her and snuggling her close.

                 Then, one night just a few short days after Wren’s arrival, Abrielle had news to share with Verne.

                 “I’m pregnant.”

Chapter 3.4                                                                                                                                         Chapter 3.6
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I want to apologize for the lack of updates. Things have been hectic around my house for the last week or so. My husband just got home from training and is leaving for a combat deployment in the next week or two so we've been trying to spend as much time as we can together. He comes first! After he leaves, I'll be starting a new job but I hope to get on some kind of schedule. Just please stick with me guys!