If you are coming from my other Selection story Photos on the Wall, then hello. If not, then you should definitely check that out after reading this. I got this idea from a Brittani Louise Taylor video. Go check out her videos because she always makes my day.

Fun fact: I wrote this at about two in the morning last night. Very proud of myself for doing so.

Note: I am a teenager, therefore I know nothing about pregnancy.

Copyright: I don't own The Selection series. I just write them for fun.

Kiss the Pain Away:

The late Queen Amberly knew that it would be difficult for her to bear children during the late King Clarkson's Selection, but that did not stop him from picking her to be his bride - even when she told him the unfortunate news. Clarkson wanted Amberly, even if they could not produce an heir. Amberly wanted a big family having come from one herself. She and Clarkson tried numerous times at making that dream a reality. Sadly, they encountered two miscarriages before and one after the birth of their only son, Maxon.

Many years passed and Maxon grew up to be the new King of Illéa and married America Singer. Being the middle child of five, America wanted a big family just like Amberly. Maxon did as well, despite being an only child. She told him about her pregnancy on his birthday, two years after their wedding and coronation. They were both excited (especially since they later learned that instead of one baby, they would be expecting twins).

The only thing that Maxon feared in the beginning of America's pregnancy was that he would be the kind of father Clarkson was towards him - strict and sharpened into raising a flawless heir. A parent whose love sometimes couldn't be found in the coldness they echoed. America assured him otherwise, saying that he would be much-too-nice of a father. She, on-the-other-hand, had no worries about her upcoming motherhood since she helped raise May and Gerad. The only time she was scared about her babies happened one morning when she thought the pregnancy was going to have the same fate as Amberly's first, second, and fourth.

-o-

Maxon lies in bed, wrapped in the warmth of his quilt and blankets from a good late-night sleep. He nestles deeper into his pillow, turning to lie on his side and feel the sun's morning rays on his back instead of his face. Half-asleep, he stretches his arm across the bed, expecting his fingertips to lightly touch the cool skin of his sleeping wife, but all he feels is the cold emptiness of vacancy beside him. Resting his hand on the place where America should be sleeping beside him, Maxon slowly stirs awake. He sees that he's alone in bed and stretches his arms and back to wake up his body. Maxon yawns and pushes his many layers of bed sheets off of himself to get ready to start the day. He gets out of bed and hears a sound coming from the bathroom in his bedroom. Maxon cautiously walks closer and the smaller the distance is between where he's standing to where the bathroom is, the more distinguishable the sound is.

Crying. Muffled crying. America's muffled crying.

The only reason why one would muffle their cries is so nobody else could hear them.

Maxon immediately runs over to the bathroom door. He tries to open the door but it's locked. Maxon knocks softly on the door, which silences America's crying since she now knows he's there.

"America, darling?" Maxon calls in a soothing whisper. "Are you alright?"

"No..." America replies honestly from inside the bathroom. If she were to say she was fine, it would be more than obvious that she was lying so why bother wasting time for a stupid lie.

"Darling, what happened?"

"Maxon, it's - "

She cuts herself off with more crying, this time not muffled. Maxon is scared of what the end of that sentence was going to be. He needs to get in there and console his wife. His only option is to break down the door, which he was going to do, but America opens the door for him instead. She stands before him in her white nightgown with her five-month baby bump poking out (larger than the usual baby bump at this time since she was expecting twins). Her skin was almost the same shade of white. Her red hair is in a messy bun with strands sticking out all over the place, matching the state her eyes are in from all the crying. She turns around and sits back on the floor with her back against the cupboard under the sink. Her hands rest on top of her baby bump as her legs stretch across the cold, tiled floor.

Maxon approaches her slowly, not wanting to know how long she has been in here. Whether it was for hours, minutes or even seconds, the thought of his wife crying alone in a bathroom breaks his heart. America takes a few deep breaths before dabbing her puffy eyes with her fingertips as she gets ready to explain how she got there.

"I woke up early and was going through another episode of morning sickness," America explains. "But then my stomach starting hurting so much and I've never felt it so sore. Maxon, I know that miscarriages occur more often during the first trimester but that doesn't mean they can't happen during the second. I don't want anything serious to happen because it's not like we'd be losing just one kid, we'd likely be losing two. I don't want this to mean anything, Maxon. I want to be able to give you children and the big family we've always wanted."

"America..." Maxon mutters, nestling into her untidy hair. "It's going to be okay. Our twins are going to be okay."

"Your mother had three miscarriages, Maxon," America whispers, choking on her own emotions. "I don't want to go through one. Ever."

"We won't. I promise."

America looks at him skeptically. Maxon kneels in front of her and leans down towards her baby bump. He lightly kisses it a few times, making America smile a little through the pain.

"Hey," Maxon says to the twins in there, "this is your father. I know that the two of you have to share such a small space, but your pre-birth fighting is making us worry about the both of you. We don't want to think the worse. Don't give your mother such a hard time and don't make us have to scold you before you're even born."

Maxon gives a fake frown to his twins, even though they can't see it. America laughs a little, brushing her hands through Maxon's soft hair.

"I'm so sorry," America says quietly, now giving him a small smile instead of cries. "Maxon, this is our first pregnancy and my stomach was just so painful that I started crying. God, I'm such a mess."

Maxon wraps his arms around America's head and starts giving her a multitude of light kisses all over. America snickers, attempting to kiss him back but he's winning at this game.

"Stop, dear," Maxon says playfully, "I'm kissing your pain away."

America beams brightly. "It's definitely working."

Try typing this while listening to The Fault in Our Stars soundtrack and not crying. I failed. This also got me thinking of a TFIOS one-shot I want to write eventually.

Anyways, thank you all for reading. If you have the time or interest, leave me a review and check out my other stories. Have a great day!

~ MysteryGal5