Sunny
The bed beside her was empty, the sheets cool to the touch. Liam had an early practice — something about working on power plays before the regular session. She smiled, remembering his reluctance to leave this morning, how he’d kissed her temple while she pretended to still be asleep.
Their conversation from the previous night echoed in her mind. Marriage. A family. The future stretching before them, bright with possibility. After years of temporary homes and borrowed families, she was finally building something permanent. Something real.
A sharp, cramping pain interrupted her reverie, causing her to wince and curl slightly inward.
She took a deep breath, waiting for it to pass.
Probably just normal pregnancy discomfort.
She’d been reading about early symptoms online — everything from gas to ligament stretching could cause twinges and aches.
As she swung her legs over the side of the bed, another cramp, stronger this time, made her pause. Something felt… off. Different from yesterday. She took another deep breath, trying to calm the first flutter of anxiety in her chest.
In the bathroom, she froze, staring down at the toilet paper in her hand. A small smear of blood, bright against the white. The flutter of anxiety crystallized into something sharper, more defined.
Spotting can be normal in early pregnancy, she reminded herself, recalling the countless articles she’d devoured since taking the test. But it can also mean…
No. She wouldn’t let her mind go there. Not yet.
She dressed quickly in jeans and a soft sweater, plastering on a smile as she headed downstairs to wake the girls. She wouldn’t let them see her worry. Children were perceptive, especially Maddie with her solemn, watchful eyes that missed little.
“Rise and shine, sleepyheads!” Sunny called, her voice impressively steady as she pushed open their bedroom door. “School day! Who wants banana pancakes?”
Hailey groaned dramatically, pulling her unicorn comforter over her head. “Five more minutes, pleeeease?”
“Not a chance, Miss Hailey,” Sunny replied, gently tugging the blanket down. “Your dad will have my head if you’re late again.”
As the girls reluctantly began their morning routine, Sunny busied herself with breakfast preparations, the familiar motions offering some comfort. Another cramp seized her, causing her to drop the spatula she was holding. She gripped the edge of the counter, breathing through it.
“Sunny?” Maddie’s voice came from behind her. “Are you okay?”
Sunny straightened immediately, turning with a bright smile that felt like plastic stretched across her face. “Just clumsy this morning. Did you decide what you’re wearing? The blue dress or the trousers and shirt?”
Maddie’s eyes narrowed slightly, unconvinced, but the distraction worked. “The trousers. I play better in them.”
“Very grown-up choice,” Sunny replied, flipping a pancake with deliberate casualness. “Tell your sister to hurry up before these get cold.”
The moment Maddie left the kitchen, Sunny grabbed her phone and stepped into the pantry, quietly closing the door behind her. She scrolled to her recently-saved contact — Dr Melissa Chen, the OB-GYN she’d found just three days ago.
The receptionist answered on the third ring. Sunny kept her voice low, describing her symptoms with clinical detachment that belied the rising panic in her chest.
“Light spotting and cramping at six weeks,” she whispered, cradling the phone close. “Yes, this is my first pregnancy.”
The response was immediate and clear: “Dr Chen wants to see you right away. How quickly can you get here?”
Sunny closed her eyes briefly. “The girls — my… the children I care for — they need to get to school, and their father is at practice. I can try to be there in an hour?”
“That’s fine. Come directly to the office. We’ll be expecting you.”
When she emerged from the pantry, Sunny found both girls seated at the kitchen island, Hailey drowning her pancakes in syrup while Maddie watched with disapproval.
“That’s way too much, Hailey! Daddy says sugar makes you crazy.”
“Does not!”
“Does too!”
Their bickering provided a welcome distraction as Sunny considered her options.
Liam’s parents were visiting friends in Florida.
Beth would be here later for cleaning, but that would be too late.
As if summoned by her thoughts, Sunny heard the front door open, followed by Beth’s cheerful “Hello? Anyone home?”
Relief washed over her. Beth had come early. The universe had thrown her a lifeline.
“We’re in the kitchen!” Sunny called, then turned to the girls. “Finish up quickly, okay? Beth is going to take you to school today.”
“Why?” Maddie asked immediately, her fork pausing midway to her mouth. “You always take us.”
“I have a… doctor’s appointment,” Sunny replied, technically not lying. “Just a check-up.”
“Are you sick?” Hailey’s eyes widened with immediate concern.
“No, sweetie,” Sunny reassured her, ignoring another cramp that tightened across her lower abdomen. “Just a regular check-up. Everyone needs those.”
Beth appeared in the doorway, her keen eyes immediately registering something was wrong. At sixty-two, the housekeeper had an uncanny ability to read situations, honed by decades of working in family homes.
“Girls, I brought those stickers I promised,” Beth announced, skillfully diverting their attention. “They’re in my bag by the door if you want to pick some for your folders.”
As the girls scrambled away, Beth stepped closer to Sunny. “What’s wrong, dear? You’re white as a sheet.”
Sunny’s carefully maintained composure wavered. “I need to see my doctor. Right away. I’m… I’m pregnant, and something doesn’t feel right.”
Beth’s expression shifted from surprise to immediate concern. “Go. I’ll handle the girls and explain to Liam if he calls.”
“Don’t tell him yet,” Sunny insisted, grabbing her purse. “It might be nothing. I don’t want to worry him during practice.”
Another cramp seized her, stronger than before, and she couldn’t hide her wince.
Beth placed a steady hand on her arm. “Go now. Call me when you know something.”
The drive to the medical center passed in a blur of anxiety and hope battling for dominance in Sunny’s mind. She recited statistics she’d read about early pregnancy — how common spotting could be, how many women experienced cramping and went on to have perfectly healthy babies.
Yet beneath those rational thoughts, a dread was taking root.
In the sterile waiting room, Sunny tried Liam’s phone again, unsurprised when it went straight to voicemail. He never kept his phone on during practice.
“It’s me,” she said after the beep, struggling to keep her voice steady. “Call me when you get this, okay? It’s… it’s important.”
A nurse called her name before she could say more. Sunny followed her through a labyrinth of corridors to an examination room, mechanically answering questions about her symptoms, her cycle, the date of her positive test.
Dr Chen arrived moments later, her kind face serious as she reviewed the intake notes. “Let’s take a look and see what’s happening, Sunny.”
The examination was gentle but thorough. Sunny fixed her gaze on a small crack in the ceiling tile, counting her breaths as the doctor worked, saying little. The silence stretched, becoming its own entity in the room.
Finally, Dr Chen took off her gloves and sat on a rolling stool, wheeling it closer to where Sunny now sat upright on the examination table.
“I’m very sorry, Sunny,” she said quietly. “There’s no heartbeat.”
Five simple words. Five words that shattered the future Sunny had just begun to imagine.
“Are you sure?” The question escaped before she could stop it, desperate and pleading.
Dr Chen’s eyes were compassionate but certain. “Yes. Based on the examination and your symptoms, you’re experiencing what we call a spontaneous abortion — a miscarriage. It’s very common in early pregnancy, affecting up to twenty percent of known pregnancies.”
The clinical terms washed over Sunny, making no impression. She could only focus on the pulsing absence where hope had been just hours before. Their baby — that tiny constellation of cells that had represented so much — was gone.
“Why?” she managed to ask, her voice barely audible.
“Most early miscarriages happen because of chromosomal abnormalities that prevent proper development,” Dr Chen explained gently. “It’s nature’s way of ending pregnancies that wouldn’t be viable. It’s nothing you did or didn’t do. Nothing you could have prevented.”
Sunny nodded mechanically, though the words meant nothing in that moment. All she could feel was the cavernous emptiness opening inside her.
“We need to discuss next steps,” Dr Chen continued. “Your body has begun the process naturally, but we should make sure it completes properly.”
Sunny barely registered the discussion that followed — medical options explained in gentle but straightforward terms She agreed to whatever the doctor recommended, signing forms placed before her with a hand that didn’t feel like her own.
In a brief moment of clarity, she asked, “Can I call someone first? The father… he doesn’t know yet.”
Dr Chen nodded. “Of course. Take your time. I’ll give you some privacy.”
Alone in the examination room, Sunny pulled out her phone with trembling fingers. Liam’s practice would be over by now. She pressed his contact, listening to the ring with her heart in her throat.
He answered on the third ring, slightly breathless. “Hey, I just saw your message. What’s up?”
The forced casualness in his voice told her he was likely surrounded by teammates. She couldn’t do this to him there.
“Are you still at the rink?” she asked.
“Yeah, just finishing up. Everything okay? You sound weird.”
Sunny closed her eyes, summoning strength from some hidden reserve. “I need you to come to Memorial Medical Center. I’m in the Women’s Health wing.”
A beat of silence. Then his voice, lower, more guarded: “Sunny? What’s going on?”
“It’s the baby,” she whispered, the words catching on a sob that had been building since the doctor left the room. “Liam, I lost the baby.”