Day After Day

Not Yet

AN: I realized I sort of backed myself into a corner with this one and should probably write a second part because with one exception these all take place in the same timeline and anything I write past 2023 needed to have the events of 3 Months addressed. Content warnings: talk of abortion and ableism. Updated version found in external link.

Richelle doesn't get much sleep that night, she wakes up multiple times thinking it's morning only to realize it's still the middle of the night. Finally at 5:30 she gives up and grabs her laptop from where Noah put it last night and goes to the couch in their communal seating area to work on her lists some more. Their cat, Baryshnikov (although Richelle is the only one who actually calls him that, Jacquie and Noah usually call him Bary), settles with his head on her knee when she sits down next to him.

By the time Jacquie exits their bedroom her lists are pretty much complete and she's started looking for doctor's offices. Even as focused as she is, she manages a half-hearted acknowledgement when Jacquie presses a kiss to her forehead.

"C'mere," Jacquie says when she sits down next to Richelle after making herself a cup of coffee, Baryshnikov has long since abandoned her once he figured out she wasn't going to be feeding him anytime soon. She puts an arm around Richelle's waist and pulls her closer. "How long have you been up?"

Richelle glances down at the clock on her laptop screen, "A few hours." She tears her gaze away from her screen long enough to see the worried look her girlfriend is giving her. "I'm just trying to feel like I have some control. We had this whole plan and I didn't know I was pregnant for three months and I feel like I should've known before it got this far and I—I don't feel like I have control over my life right now. Not just with this, Noah's finally getting consistent work, and you have a job that you love but I'm still struggling to find my place."

"You said you had a good audition though last week, right?"

"Yeah, but I've had good auditions before and when I request accommodations when getting hired they always back out. I just wish it wasn't so hard." She leans further into Jacquie and rests her head on her girlfriend's shoulder.

"I know Riche." They're quiet for a few minutes on the couch before Jacquie starts talking again, "You're looking up doctors. Does that mean you made a decision?"

Richelle looks back down at her forgotten laptop. "Oh, yeah. Um, I was gonna wait for you to both be up before I told you, but I guess I can tell you first."

"We can wait, it's okay. Do you want me to help you look through the list of doctors?"

Richelle shakes her head and puts the laptop down on the coffee table. "I just want to cuddle with you."

She doesn't remember falling asleep but she must have because she wakes up to Noah and Jacquie talking softly, her head in Jacquie's lap and she can feel her girlfriend running her fingers through her hair. She shifts enough to be able to tilt her head back and look at her partners.

"How long was I asleep?"

"Only about an hour." Richelle makes a noise of acknowledgement before sitting up and claiming a portion of the blanket Jacquie and Noah are sharing.

"So, um, I made a decision." She's looking down at her lap and playing with her fingers. She knows that neither of her partners are going to judge her for her decision and they've both said they're behind her no matter what. But that doesn't make saying it out loud any easier. "I want to get an abortion. I think I want to have kids with you guys some day, y'know if it's something we all decide on together. But not yet."

AN: I was gonna post this last week, but then remembered that it references some stuff from chapter 12 of LitM so I had to wait until that was up first. Mostly tying up loose ends but also some "the dance world kinda sucks a lot of the time for disabled dancers".