Maybe This Time

Chapter Seven: Along Came Misery

Pic credits to Arni! Go follow her twitter! @1023Yourstar

"I've got the confirmation number." Vera says, walking into the kitchen. Nestor looks over and smiles at her outfit. She is wearing a yellow shirt with jean overalls with paint splatters that are the color of their nursery room. Her hair was tied up in a pony tail with strands falling out in a messy, beautiful way.
"It says this baby tub fits almost every tub. Almost, so not all tubs." Vera says, reading the email.
"What if it doesn't fit our tub?" she asks with worry.
"Then we will find another tub. Or we will bathe our son in the sink." Nestor tells her.
"That joke isn't funny anymore. We are having another girl." Vera says with a smirk. Vera hadn't been able to get pregnant for months and then luckily, four months ago, the test had turned positive.
"Let's see, Annie, do you want a baby brother or baby sister?" Nestor asks, finishing tying Annie's hair into a pony tail. She was almost one year old but her hair was already long enough for a short pony tail that stuck up into the air.
"Sissy." Annie says.
"There you have it." Vera says with a smile.
"Hey, I thought you were daddy's girl." Nestor says, picking her up from her high chair.
"Daddy." she says happily.
"There you go." he says, placing a kiss on her chubby cheek which is still sticky from todays pancake syrup.
"I'm off to work." Nestor says, setting Annie back in her chair.
"Alright. I'll see you tonight." she says, kissing his lips.
"Miss you already." he says, grabbing his keys.
"Yeah, yeah." she says, watching him walk away.
"Love you." he shouts across the house, closing the front door behind him.
"Love you too." she says softly, looking at their daughter. A few minutes later, the front gate rang, confusing Vera. She wasn't expecting any visitors. She glances at the camera, smiling when she sees Olivia sitting in her car at the front gate. She pressed the button, opening the gates to allow Olivia to drive in.
Vera grabs Annie and settles her on her hip before walking to the front door, opening it just as Olivia walks onto the front porch.
"Hey." Olivia says, hugging Vera.
"Hey. What're you doing here?" Vera asks with a smile, letting Olivia inside.
"I just...didn't want to be alone anymore. Max left for work and the house was so quiet." Olivia says sadly.
"I know the feeling. Those boys, I swear. They will work until they die if we let them." Vera says, closing the door behind her.
"So what're you up to today? Anything I can help with?" Olivia asks.
"I'm actually in the middle of repainting the nursery. I didn't like the green that was in there. It was making me nauseous." Vera says, setting Annie down on her play mat.
"So you're going yellow?" Olivia asks.
"How did you know?"
"You're practically wearing the paint." Olivia says with a giggle. Vera looks down at her splattered overalls and sighs.
"I guess I am pretty messy." Vera says, grabbing the paint brushes from the sink.
"We should put Annie down for a nap while we paint." Vera says, walking back into the living room. Olivia grabs Annie for Vera, letting the girl tug at her braid.
"We moved her into the guest room so that she doesn't have to sleep with the fumes." Vera says, leading her up the stairs to the guest room.
"She's getting so big." Olivia says, laying her down in the crib.
"I know. I can't believe how fast the time has gone." Vera says, turning on a night light for her before walking out of the room.
"Should we start painting?" Olivia asks, grabbing a brush from Vera.
"We shall." Vera says, opening the can of paint.
"How has it been? Parenting, I mean." Olivia says as they begin finishing the wall Vera was working on.
"Wonderful. I've never seen Nestor so in love. She took her first steps the other day. And she sort of babbles but she can say a few words. Nestor is so good with her. He reads her stories and plays with her and is always filming her. He is so taken with her. I mean, he watches her put apple sauce in her hair and he is just enchanted." Vera says with a dreamy smile as she thinks of how Nestor is with Annie.
"Although, on the other hand, I have microwaved the same cup of coffee three times today and still managed to drink it cold. But I didn't get poop on me so I guess that's a win." she says with a laugh.
They finish painting the first wall and start on the second when the doorbell rings.
"Seems like a good time for a break." Olivia says, following Vera out of the room.
"We should order some pizza or something." Vera says, walking to answer the door.
"Delivery for Miss Vera Farmiga." the man says, holding a dozen white flowers.
"Wow, thank you!" Vera says, taking the flowers.
"Just sign here." the man says, holding out a clip board. Vera signs the paper before closing the door.
"Who are they from?" Olivia asks, fingering on of the petals on a rose.
"Is there a card?" Vera asks, looking around the bouquet.
"Here." Olivia says, finding it. Vera grabs it and reads it aloud.
"Vera,
Sorry I haven't been around much lately. I just wanted you to know how amazing you are and how lucky I am to be with you. Yours, forever and always.
Nes."
"That's so sweet." Olivia says, taking the card to reread it.
"I should send a picture of this to Max. Give him a hint." Olivia says, taking her phone out.
"I'm going to put these in a vase." Vera says, walking into the kitchen. Olivia takes a picture of the card and sends it to Max, with a text that says, What a good boyfriend Nestor is, isn't he?
She slides her phone back into her pocket just as a crash is heard from the kitchen.
"Vera?" Olivia asks with worry, walking to the kitchen.
"Liv!" Vera cries out. Olivia runs the rest of the way to the kitchen to find Vera leaning against the counter, holding her stomach, the vase shattered around her and the flowers sprawled across the floor.
"Vera! What's wrong?" Olivia asks, stepping on the glass with her shoes to get to Vera. Vera looks up with tears in her eyes, lifting her hand to show the blood.
"Did you cut yourself?" Olivia asks, searching her hand for the cut.
"No. I...I'm bleeding." Vera cries, looking down. Olivia follows her gaze and sees that her pants are stained red. The blood drips from her pants onto the white petals of the flowers, staining them.
"Oh my god! Okay. I'm gonna grab my keys and grab Annie and I'll take you to the hospital." Olivia says, rushing out of the kitchen. She grabs Annie and her keys before running back to the kitchen where Vera is staring at the blood stained roses beneath her. Olivia grabs Vera's hand to lead her out of the kitchen.
"I lost the baby. I can't believe I lost the baby." Vera whispers, tears running down her cheeks and slipping down her neck.
"I'm going to call Nestor and-"
"No!" Vera squeals, stopping them.
"Don't call him. Please. I..I can't tell him. Not yet." Vera says.
"He would want to know-"
"Don't tell him, Olivia! Don't tell him. Don't tell him." Vera pleads, her hands gripping Olivia's arms.
"Okay. I won't. But we need to get you to the hospital." Olivia says, guiding her out of the house. Vera sobbed the entire car ride, her hands never leaving her stomach.
They were ushered into a room almost as soon as they arrived. The nurses and doctors helped remove the fetus from Vera while Olivia tried to calm her down. She had never seen Vera in such pain, not even when she went through the break up with Nestor. The fetus was barely the size of the palm of the doctor's hand.
"You should feel some cramping after, but it will be mild." the doctor tells her before leaving Olivia alone with Vera.
"Are you sure you don't want Nestor?" Olivia asks, holding Vera's hand. Vera shakes her head, her eyes staring vacantly at the ceiling. Olivia crawls onto the bed, her head resting on Vera's shoulder.
"I'm so sorry." Olivia whispers, rubbing Vera's arm. Vera hadn't spoken a word since they arrived at the hospital other than a soft sorry whispered to the baby. The hospital offered Vera a bed for the night to which Vera refused.
"You could use the rest, V." Olivia says.
"Nes will be home soon. I have to get home." Vera whispers, getting out of bed. She takes off her hospital gown and stops, staring at the fabric.
"Vera?" Olivia asks with confusion.
"I...have to get home." Vera whispers, still not moving.
"Okay." Olivia says.
"I have to get...home, I can't feel anything." Vera whispers.
"I know. I know, lets go. Okay?" Olivia asks.
"No, I...I can't feel anything. I can't move my legs." Vera whispers, shaking.
"I can't feel anything." she repeats.
Olivia seems to understand, grabbing Vera's clothes and walking over to her. She slips her yellow t shirt on before grabbing the overalls and pausing.
"I can see if they have a pair of jeans." Olivia says, staring at the blood on the overalls. Vera doesn't move, her eyes staying on the red stained fabric.
"I'm going to find pants." Olivia decides, walking out of the room with the overalls. She throws the jeans into a trash bin before finding a nurse.
"Can I get some pants?" Olivia asks.
Vera had never felt so broken before. She never imagined a pain like this could be possible and she didn't know how to break the news to Nestor. She knew she had to but she was hurting so badly and she didn't want to inflict this pain upon Nestor as well.
Olivia walks back into the room with a pair of grey sweat pants and a sympathetic look on her face. Vera knew she meant well but the look on Olivia's face was exactly the look she wanted to avoid. The look of sorrow, as if Vera were broken. She is broken though.
"Do you want me to put them on you?" Olivia asks when Vera doesn't move. She grabs the pants from Olivia and slides them onto her legs.
"I'll drive you home and wait for Nestor to get home so you don't have to be alone with Annie." Olivia says, grabbing the infant from the crib that the nurses had let them borrow.
"I can't tell Nestor tonight." Vera says as they walk out of the hospital.
"Vera he has to know." Olivia says, unlocking the car.
"Not yet. I...I want to let him have a few more days of happiness. I'll tell him. Just not yet." Vera says, slipping into the car while Olivia places Anita in the car seat. Olivia gets into the driver's seat and starts the car but doesn't move it.
"I...I'm so sorry, V. I can't imagine what this must be like for you." Olivia says. Vera tries to hold a sob back while she nods and gazed out the passenger window.
"Just drive." she whispers.
"Take me home."

Nestor had come home to a clean house and a hot cooked meal waiting on a plate. He kisses Vera's smiling lips before sitting beside her at the dinner table.
"How was your day, hon?" Vera asks, feeding Annie the pasta.
"Tiring. Hey, did you get the roses I sent you?" Nestor asks, looking around for them.
"Roses? No. No I didn't get any roses." Vera says with mock confusion. She had thrown the blood stained roses in the ocean down the hill from their house. It was Olivia's idea. Their own little funeral for the baby who just couldn't hold on any longer.
"Huh. That's odd. I sent you roses." Nestor says.
"Perhaps they got lost on the truck." Vera says casually, keeping her face towards Annie to avoid his gaze. If he saw her pain filled eyes, he would surely know.
Like most misery, it started with happiness. Too much love for something that wasn't set in stone, and it was just her luck to have her baby ripped from her body, never to experience the love she would have shown it. They had been in a blissful bubble, she and Nestor. It was only a matter of time before something like his came along and popped it.