Two in a Million | Auslly

Seventeen: Thanksgivings & Turmoil

the next day

Austin woke up earlier than usual, his whole body numb with pain. Though he was extremely unmotivated he decided to get the grocery shopping done as a surprise for Ally. He slid out of bed carefully, trying not to wake her up. She needed her rest, and he had a feeling that these next few days, sleep would be hard to come by.

Austin stealthily made his way down the stairs, though his growling stomach made that harder than usual. He grabbed his keys off the counter, right where he'd left them after they had gotten back the previous night. Although he worried about Ally waking up before he got back because she was usually an early riser, he knew that today would be an exception.

Austin thought that it would be easy to avoid the events of the previous night, but that wasn't the case. As soon as he got into the car and looked over at Ally's passenger seat, his eyes filled with tears. The sounds of Ally screaming in pain while he sped to the hospital and the sight of her laying down in the bed, eyes red and puffy, when he'd come into the hospital room flashed through his mind. He made a note to himself to look up how to clean the seat off later, because he knew it would upset Ally when she got in the car again and her seat still had bloodstains on it. Austin got out of their shared 2019 Subaru SUV and instead ran inside to grab the keys for his other car, the Sonata. He started the ignition and backed out of the driveway.

/

about two hours later

When Austin finally returned from grocery shopping, making sure to get everything on Ally's list (and a few extra comfort foods for her), he was starting to feel the exhaustion and fatigue set in from the previous night. It was close to 9:00 am now, and though he assumed she was still in bed, he put away the groceries then went to check on her. He tiptoed up the stairs and down the hall, slowly turning the knob when he got to their bedroom. Ally had turned on her side and appeared to be awake, but not fully conscious yet. He climbed into bed next to her and rubbed her back lightly.

"Hey, Ally-gator," he said, hoping it would at least elicit a smile from her. Ally's expression stayed blank and unreadable. He leaned down to kiss her forehead. "Are you hungry? I got pancake mix." Austin thought he saw a slight grin come from her at the mention of her husband's favorite food, but he couldn't be sure. Ally shook her head. Austin frowned, wondering how long his wife would stay like this. "Okay. Text me if you need anything. I got some of your favorite foods. I bought like four jars of pickles...no joke." Still no smile. Austin kissed her on the forehead again and went back downstairs to make pancakes for himself.

As he was sitting at the folding card table eating his breakfast, Austin realized that their friends and family didn't know about the miscarriage yet. They probably thought that he and Ally spent their first night in the new house unpacking, watching TV, or doing something else equally fun. He pulled out his phone and composed a mass text to his parents, Ally's parents, Dez, and Trish.

Austin: Hey everybody, thanks again for the help these past few days with moving. There is some news that I have to tell you- and I have a feeling Ally will be upset with me for this but I think you guys have the right to know. Ally was cramping pretty bad last night so I took her to the hospital, and we found out she had a miscarriage. She was about 12 weeks along. Neither of us knew.

Austin paused, wondering how to close out a message like this. What more was there to say? After pondering it for another minute, he pressed send. As suspected, Mimi replied right away with her message (and several crying emojis).

Mimi: Oh no! I'm so sorry honey! We will be thinking about you guys. So sad. Let us know if you need anything.

Trish: That's so sad, Austin. How's she doing? Please keep us updated.