Paranoia - s.reid

Mother Undone

"Should we look now?"

Spencer nodded. "It's been 5 minutes and 47 seconds." 

Liz instantly reached for the small stick, flipping it over. "Negative." She revealed, sitting down by the tub with him. "Are we too old?"

"If there is an issue in the age factor, I think I would be the problem. For women, getting pregnant after 35 isn't impossible, far from it, actually. You're only 36 and you haven't shown any signs of infertility such as irregular periods. Men's fertility tends to decline at age 40, although I'm nearing 38, there have been studies that stress can reduce sperm and semen quality. While this is also the same for you, I have more weakening factors." He replied, mumbling but still loud enough for her to hear.

Taking his hand, she pursed her lips. "None of this is your fault, Spencer. We're in this together. What are our chances?"

"30% chance of conceiving each month."

"Then we'll beat the odds." Liz offered him a small smile, heart lifting slightly when he returned the gestured. Small smiles were replaced with confused faces as they heard the front door open and close. Making their way downstairs, they both sighed in relief when they found Diana, schoolbag on the floor as she bit into an apple. "Hey, sweetheart. What did I tell you about leaving your bag on the floor?" She greeted softly, kissing her daughter's cheek before hanging the abandoned schoolbag on its designated hook.

"We thought you were staying behind for extra credit. You should've told me you'd be home early, I would've picked you up." Spencer handed the young girl a bottle of water.

"Don't worry about it, I'll be in my room."

The parents watched her scurry off upstairs before turning to each other, equal amounts of worry on their faces. "She's never done that before."

"Is she stressed? Maybe it's school?"

"Or maybe she's learning to pull back from other teenagers?"

"Okay. I'm going to go pick up our other 3 children, you figure out what's going on with this one." Liz stated firmly, already equipped with her purse and keys, halfway out the door before her husband could say anything.

Spencer bit down on his lip, exhaling lightly. "Okay, Spencer. You can do this. You've been a dad for over 9 years, and all of your kids have survived so far. You can do this." He began the short distance up the stairs, halting at the door that was labeled 'Diana.' He raised his fist to knock before retreating. "Do I knock? She's my kid. But she deserves privacy." He whispered, giving up on the internal battle and hitting his knuckles against the hardwood door.

"Who is it?"

"It's me."

A pregnant pause. "Come in."

He smiled to himself in relief, entering the room to find his daughter curled up underneath the covers, a copy of Wuthering Heights occupying her. "Hey, kiddo." He cringed at the nickname, knowing it was too out of character, and by the looks of it, so did she. "How are you doing?"

"I'm fine."

"Okay, well." He pulled out a chair, discarding the stray clothes on it and laying them at the foot of the bed. "If you were fine you wouldn't have ran in here."

Diana hoisted herself up, sitting against the headboard. "I guess I just need a little bit of space."

Narrowing his eyebrows, Spencer leaned forward. "Okay, that's okay. It's normal to feel like you need space. What makes you feel that?"

She shrugged. "I don't know, I guess it's because I go to school and I'm crowded. Then when I get home, I'm either with a friend or I'm with you guys. I'm almost never alone and I feel as though I can't think, you know?"