/𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐒\ [𝒔. 𝒃𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒌]

𝟑.𝟝.𝟣

"she only looked away for a moment, and the mask slipped, and you fell. all your tomorrows start here." ~ Neil Gaiman

~november 1973~

Ten months. Andromeda's baby would've been ten months old that day. She stood in the kitchen of her and Ted's apartment chopping up vegetables to roast for dinner. Silent tears trailed down her cheeks and her all-too-thin shoulders trembled with sobs. She continued chopping, altogether ignoring her own tears. There had been good days and bad days since they lost the baby. Sometimes, things felt like they were going back to normal. Ted would come home from work and they'd laugh and eat dinner together like they used to. But on the bad days, Andromeda remembered that they would probably never go back to normal again. Things would get better, but they'd always have a missing spot in their lives where the baby would've been.

But things got better. They kept moving forward. The pain subsided for longer amounts of time now before coming back lesser than it had been before. Andromeda finished chopping up the vegetables just as the apartment door opened and Ted stepped through, taking off his traveling cloak as he closed the door behind him. Andromeda hurriedly wiped at her cheeks and took a shaky breath before turning to face him with a forced smile. "How was work?"

"Same as always," Ted murmured, stepping forward to envelope Andromeda into his arms. He held her for a long time, rocking back and forth ever so slightly and sinking his face into her soft, dark hair. "How were things here?"

Andromeda shrugged. "Same as always. I've been doing a lot of thinking."

"Thinking about what?" Ted asked, letting go of Andromeda only to take her hands and look down at her with a serious sort of longing in his eyes.

To his surprise, a glimmer of a smile sparked in Andromeda's eyes. The kind of spark he hadn't seen in months. "Come over here," she said, and pulled him over to the nearby couch. The sat side by side, close but not touching. Andromeda took a deep breath. "If you're not ready to have this conversation, stop me."

"Okay," Ted said uncertainly.

"Teddy, I love you so much," said Andromeda, struggling to find a good place to start. "And- do you remember... before the baby was born? All the love we had for it?" Ted nodded. "I think... I think we could still have that love. I want to try again for another baby."

"Andy-"

"No, no, listen to me," Andromeda said quickly. "Before you say no. Just- the love we have for our first baby will always be there. They'll always have a special place between us. But, Teddy, shouldn't we at least talk about trying again? I think I'm ready. To talk about it. In the future."

Ted took a deep breath and reached out to pull Andromeda's hands into his. "Okay, Andy," he said at last. "Okay. Maybe it's time to... to discuss it. We'll discuss it."