Today was supposed to be one of the happiest days of their lives, but instead, it became possibly the worst. Gregg and Angus walked out of the hospital completely devastated. Out of all of the tragedies in their lives, this one seemed to hurt the most. Angus' abusive household, the sheep incident, the cult, Casey's death, Gregg almost dying, none of them seemed to compare to the agony they both felt in this moment.

Earlier that year, Angus had agreed to raise a child with Gregg. When they were deciding which route to take in order to get a kid, they chose to find a surrogate. It took a while, but after about six months, they found one. Once the arrangements were made, the surrogate was impregnated, and all that was left was to wait.

Gregg and Angus grew pretty close to the surrogate, who's name was Samantha. As the big day grew closer and closer, Gregg and Angus realized they should probably start buying baby supplies, maybe even throw a baby shower.

When they threw the baby shower, Mae, Bea, Jen, and Gregg's family showed up. Matthew couldn't make it. He was still serving the military, and he was posted out of the country at the time. He apologized but congratulated the two on their upcoming parenthood.

Angus was able to transfer to a position at his work that would allow him to work from home. Luckily, his job as a computer support specialist was entirely possible to do from their apartment. He just needed some gear from the company, which they happily provided him. He had shown that he was a good worker, so they didn't want to lose him.

Finally, after babyproofing everything and setting up the apartment for their new family member, the day had almost arrived. When Samantha's water broke, it was a huge rush to get to the hospital. Both Gregg and Angus had to rush out of their jobs to meet her there.

Once in the hospital, the wait was unbearable. The doctors had requested that Gregg and Angus stay outside to make sure the delivery went as smoothly as possible. Gregg paced back and forth in the waiting room while Angus sat, his mind completely blank from all the thoughts that vied for his attention.

When a doctor called for Gregg and Angus, they both nearly ran over to him. The doctor seemed slightly shocked, but then, he failed to hide the pity and guilt that found its way onto his face.

"I'm sorry, but I've been sent to inform you that Samantha has had second thoughts about giving up the baby. She's decided that she wants to keep it."

They both felt some invisible force squeeze their hearts. It wrapped around, making it hard to breathe. This couldn't be happening, not after all of the work they'd done.

"What the hell do you mean?!", asked Gregg, his voice rapidly raising.

"I just told you. She wants to keep the baby."

"That's bullshit! Let me see her!" Gregg tried to move past the doctor, but he was cut off by him.

"I'm sorry, but she requested that no one be let in besides family."

"Are you fucking kidding me? One of us is the biological father of that baby! How are we not family?!"

"She doesn't want to see you. We have to respect the wishes of the patient.", said the doctor.

"I think we got past respecting her wishes when we spent 9 goddamn months preparing with her to have this baby! Now, let me through!" Gregg tried to push the doctor out of the way, but he was surprisingly strong.

"Sir, if you don't stop, I'll be forced to call security."

"Gregg, stop. There's nothing we can do about it.", said Angus.

Gregg turned around, "What do you mean?! We deserve an explanation from her at least!"

"I know, but if she doesn't want to see us, there's nothing we can do about it."

The fact that Angus wasn't supporting him caused Gregg's anger to die in mere seconds, replaced by an overwhelming hopelessness. He stepped back from the doctor, who wished he didn't have to turn them away. He felt bad for them, but it wasn't in his power to do anything, either.

"I'm really sorry. I wish I could help you. You have to understand that I don't have a lot of power in this situation, either."

Gregg became despondent, only giving a small nod and an "Mhm" before beginning to make his way to the front doors.

"Come on, let's just go.", muttered Gregg. Angus silently followed him back out to the car. The doctor watched them leave. This wasn't the first time he'd ever had to tell a parent they couldn't have their child, but he didn't feel any less guilty about it.

The car ride home was silent. Gregg was visibly shaking. He was trying so hard to stop himself from crying. Angus only held a blank expression on his face, yet the painful aura that surrounded him was palpable and suffocating.

When they got home, Angus held his hands on Gregg as they walked back up to their apartment. When they reached their floor, Mae and Bea were there. They were there with a cake to celebrate the new baby, but when they saw the looks on Gregg and Angus and that they didn't have a baby with them, they became increasingly worried.

"What happened? Where's the baby?", asked Mae. Bea looked at Angus, wanting an answer as well. The look he gave her back told her everything she needed to know.

"Come on, Mae. Let's go.", urged Bea, pushing Mae to go back downstairs.

"Wait, what? W-what happened?"

"I said let's go.", repeated Bea with a severity that caused Mae to give in almost immediately. Bea took her back downstairs, giving Angus one last pitying look before she went out of sight.

Angus unlocked their door and took Gregg inside. They mindlessly took off their jackets and their shoes, like they would on any other day when they got home.

Gregg simply plopped down on the couch, bent over, still trying not to cry. Angus sat next to him. There was once again more silence between them. Gregg was the one who finally broke it.

"It's not fair, Angus." His voice was barely a whisper, yet in the silence of their apartment, it was clear as day.

"I know it's not, bug.", replied Angus.

"It's not fair.", Gregg repeated, louder this time. He buried his face in his hands. Angus didn't respond this time. He didn't know what else to say. Gregg was right. It wasn't fair, but there was nothing he could do about it.

"It's not fair!" This time, Gregg was almost yelling. He began whimpering. That whimpering grew into sobbing, which then grew into wailing. Angus felt tears slide down his cheeks as he struggled to hold himself together. He gently pulled Gregg into an embrace. Gregg responded by gripping his shirt and crying into his chest. Angus stroked the back of his head to try and calm him down.

Mae and Bea could hear Gregg's cries from their living room.

"I don't get it. Did something happen to the baby?", asked Mae.

"I'm not sure. All I know is they don't have a baby, and judging from the looks on their faces, they probably won't be getting one.", said Bea.

"I hope the baby's okay at least." Thoughts about her parents and all of the miscarriages came to mind.

"I'm sure we'll find out what happened soon. Right now, they just need their space."

"I guess you're right. What should we do now?", asked Mae.

"I'm not sure. I think I want to go to sleep."

"Yeah, me, too."

An eternity would be an understatement when describing how long the pain seemed to last. Even when Gregg lost the will to cry anymore, it still lingered. It took a while, but Gregg's now silent sobs carried him off to sleep. Angus was left to lose himself in the depths of his despair.

Angus held onto Gregg. He was his only source of comfort right now. He finally let himself cry. With Gregg asleep in his arms, he cried. He cried until he couldn't anymore. When he found that the tears refused to come out anymore, he carried Gregg to their bedroom, laying him on the bed and covering him before climbing in next to him. Sleep struck quickly and without warning.

The two of them were too tired and broken to dream that night. When they woke up, it felt like just seconds ago that they had fallen asleep. Gregg woke up first, followed by Angus. When Angus woke up and found himself alone in bed, he got up to look for his husband.

"Gregg?", called Angus, still not fully awake yet. Gregg wasn't in the living room or the kitchen. Angus was getting a bit worried now.

It wasn't until he went into the second bedroom that he found Gregg. The second bedroom, that was the one they had prepared for their new baby. Gregg was on his knees next to the crib, his hands wrapped around the bars. He was crying. It seemed like he had been for a while since his eyes were red, and his cheeks were puffy.

"Gregg?", called Angus again, "Are you okay?" That was a stupid question. Of course, he wasn't okay.

"What do we do now, Angus? What are we supposed to do?", asked Gregg, completely disregarding Angus' question. He didn't even look at him when he said it. His eyes were too fixated on the painfully empty crib in front of him.

Angus didn't know what they were going to do after this. He was just as lost as Gregg was, but he knew he had to be the one to take charge. Gregg was too emotionally unstable to figure out where to go from here on his own. The only question was what did Angus want to do?

After a moment of contemplation, he decided what they had to do. "We have to try again." This sentence came out as a matter-of-fact statement. Gregg looked over to Angus, confused.

"What? How are we supposed to do that? Finding Samantha took forever, and then we had to wait nine months after that before we even got a shot. What if it happens again?" Gregg's voice seemed hopeless. His resolve had been shattered after last night. At first, he had been the one to suggest becoming parents, but now, he was questioning it all.

"That's why we're not going to get another surrogate. No, this time, we're taking a different route."

Gregg now seemed intrigued, "What would that be?"

"We're going to adopt.", said Angus with finality.

"Really? Are you sure? If we do that, then they won't be 'ours'. Are you okay with that?"

"You're wrong, Gregg. They'll be just as much ours as this one would have been. Honestly, we should have started with this. Why should we go through so much effort to make a biological baby that's only going to have the genes of one of us when we could go and give an already born child a home? We were being selfish."

Gregg stood up, pulling himself up from the hole he had dug for himself. "If that's what you want, then I'm with you all the way."

Angus smiled solemnly, "It's settled then."

"Alright. Let's give this a second chance.", said Gregg, turning his head back to the crib. "What should we do with all of the baby stuff? The odds of us getting a baby are pretty small."

"Let's just keep it. If we do end up getting a baby, then we'll have what we need, and if not, we can save it for if someone else needs it.", replied Angus.

"Okay. Yeah, we're actually doing this." Gregg hugged Angus, "I love you, cap'n."

Angus returned Gregg's embrace, "I love you, too, bug."

The air, which had just moments ago been completely saturated with sadness and despair, was now bittersweet. It wouldn't be that easy to get rid of the pain of their loss, but this was definitely a step in the right direction. As long as they stood together, nothing could truly keep them down.