Chapter 2

Audrey left the door and went to her room to think. She knew that her sister was unable to give birth but she hadn't ever felt as bad as she did right now. Maybe it was because she thought of everything she had done just to have a child and all the heartbreaks everytime it didn't turn out well. She couldn't imagine how sad Christina was, coupled with the fact that she always bottled it up. She sat motionless, deep in thought at the edge of her bed and didn't get up to see Michael and Christina off when they were leaving which was highly unusual of her.

"Goodbye Dad, Mom" Christina said as she kissed her father goodbye at the door. "Say goodbye to Audrey for me," she added. Her mother also came to kiss her goodbye and gave her some groceries to take home with her.

"Goodbye Sir, goodbye Ma," Michael also greeted. Together, they left for their house which was about an hour drive from here. Margaret went inside while Pete stood at the door and watched them zoom off in their white Lexus car before closing the door.

Audrey didn't come out of her room for the rest of the day and her mother went to see her. "Sweetie, are you okay? May I come in?" Receiving no answer, she let herself into the unlocked room and went over to her quickly upon seeing her sniffing back tears.

"Oh no, honey," she helped her wipe her tears, "What's wrong? Why are you crying?"

"Mom, I just don't understand," she sniffed, "why does Christina have to keep going through this when she did nothing wrong? How does she even always appear relatively calm about it? I would kill myself if it had to be me," she sniffed again.

"Shh, don't say things like that. You know that some people are lucky while others just have to live through their luck."

Audrey burst into more tears hearing this and her mother quickly hugged her.

"Please stop crying, she's not the first person to go through this and she will eventually accept it and live in peace with it. She'll definitely find her joy elsewhere so please don't cry like this my love. It hurts me to see you cry like this." Margaret stood to her feet and kissed her on the head before silently leaving the room.

Everyone was sober that night and went to bed earlier than normal. The day that was meant to be a happy get-together ended up being dull. Even Pete was unhappy in his room, sitting on his side of the bed and was also lost in his thoughts when Margaret came in and prepared for bed on her side of the bed.

"For goodness sake Pete, I can't have everyone sulking tonight, I don't even know what's gotten into you too. Pull yourself together because that mood you're in pisses me off." She removed her earrings one by one and put them on the dresser.

"Pete, I'm talking to you and- where are you going?! Pete!"

"Shut up Margaret! Please! I only wanted to think, not have someone nag me incessantly!" Pete was getting ruffled and he wanted to leave the room as soon as he could.

"I wasn't nagging you! I was only saying how I felt!" she screamed out loud "You never say the right thing at the right time, always looking for how to start a fight!"

"Says the one who was insensitive to Christina during dinner! You know how much she's hurting and you thought it was okay to bring up her mate who just had children. Tell me, what did you gain by doing that, huh?"

"Do you," Margaret's eyes began to water as she sniffed, "do you think I purposely want to hurt our daughter? Do you think I just love her pain and agony? Is that what you think?" She looked at Pete, holding back tears.

She turned to leave the room when Pete spoke, more calmly this time, "Margaret I-"

"No," she stopped him without turning back, "you don't have to say anything. It was my fault." With that, Margaret left the room and went to stay in the guest room.

Michael and Christina had just gotten home that night and Michael brought down the groceries and went to set them in the kitchen. Since they had had dinner already, they didn't need to cook anything. He went to his bedroom and expected to find Christina there since she said she would go straight to bed on their way back home. But she wasn't here and he instinctively knew where she was.

Christina opened the door slightly and slipped into the nursery room quietly. She didn't bother to turn on the lights as she walked slowly to the drawer and brought out some baby clothes. She held the clothes for a long time before she slipped down to the floor and sat there in solitude. Then a lone tear ran down her left cheek which she didn't bother to wipe.

The night wore on and she stayed there crying silently, crying for children that hadn't been born, crying because she knew she would have done anything for at least one child. She was hurting because she didn't know how to talk to anyone about it.

Michael came into the nursery later that night and, leaving the lights off, he sat down on the floor near the door. Christina saw him come in and she was grateful for his silent company. Together they sat each in their own thoughts for a long time not knowing that dawn was drawing near.