come home, my love.

Prologue - Silence Lay Steadily

Prologue: Silence Lay Steadily

Stand firm between the world out there and those little souls; because the world out there has teeth, and it is hungry, and it is stupid, and it eats, and it eats mindlessly. It doesn't care that they're innocent. Listen to your gut. Hold the door; even if it makes them hate you.

"Nell," Steve snapped his fingers in front of his sister's face, pulling her back down to earth. Steve looked more annoyed than anything, but what else was new? "You're sure about this?"

"You know, Steve—when I told you guys I was pregnant, the first thing you said to me was 'you're not seriously thinking about keeping it, right?' Now you're questioning my decision?" Nell's hand gravitated toward her stomach, feeling the familiar flutter of her baby moving. That was almost enough to make her change her mind, but she knew what was best for her daughter.

Her Olivia.

"I just didn't expect..." Steve sighed, putting his hand on his forehead and resuming what he'd been doing for the past hour—pacing. "You don't want any sort of special visitation? Weekends, holidays? Nothing?"

"Nothing," Nell said immediately, before her mind could convince her to say otherwise. "She'll see me on the rare occasions where we actually get together as a family. That's enough for me." She didn't believe her own words, but she figured if she said them enough—she might start to.

"Nell, I don't know how to feel about this," Leigh finally broke her silence, leaning forward in the armchair she was sitting in. "We'd talked about adoption before, but—what do we tell her? If she asks about her birth parents? How do we explain that, then expect her to be able to be comfortable seeing you during a family get together?"

Nell knew she made a valid point, and as much as it killed her—she knew this was the right thing to do. "So, we won't tell her the truth," She sniffled, her gaze shifting down to her stomach. "I'll just be her Auntie Nell; she doesn't need to know anything more than that."

"That could have serious lasting affects on her if she does find out—" Leigh started but Nell cut her off with a wave of her hand.

"Then make sure she doesn't; and if she does, I know a pretty good child psychiatrist that could take care of it," She stood up, her eyes more determined than before. "Look—if you don't want her, I'll just ask Shirley and Kevin. I'm sure they—"

"Wait," Steve interjected, standing between his sister and his wife. "Nell, can we... can we just have a few days to think about it? This is kind of a big decision to just... rush into."

"Yeah, yeah—fine. Just... call me when you make your decision." Before anyone else could say anything, Nell took the opportunity to make her exit.

XXXXX

"I'm sorry, she asked you to do what?" Shirley's voice came through the speaker of Steve's phone, disbelief evident in her tone.

"Exactly what I said," He answered, pinching the bridge of his nose between his fingers in frustration. "Nell showed up here, offering to sign the baby over to us as soon as she's born."

"W-why would she do that? After everything we went through last month—why would she just change her mind?" Shirley speculated, and Steve picked up on the slight change in her tone.

"What are you trying to ask me, Shirl?" Steve questioned, taking the phone off speaker, and putting it to his ear. "C'mon, out with it—let's not beat around the bush."

"What did you say to her?" Shirley asked accusingly, the obvious resentment in her voice becoming crystal clear. "To make her offer the baby up to you; what did you say to her?"

"Shirley, don't be ridiculous—"

"Is that so ridiculous, Steve? You and Leigh want a baby; you don't think Nellie should be allowed to have a baby—you've made that abundantly clear. So tell me, Steven—what did you say to make Nellie decide she didn't want her baby anymore?"

Before he could answer her, Shirley hung the phone up—leaving Steve in complete silence, his head falling into his hands in defeat.