Author's Note: I hope you guys like Spelissa and Spanna because there's some in this chapter. Also Tomily. Did I mention Toby finally comes back? He's been missing for forever.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Melissa woke up bright and early the next morning. She left Pamela sleeping when she got up. She did some laundry which Spencer had clearly been neglecting. She had just put the laundry in the dryer when Spencer woke up and stumbled into the kitchen. She was very clearly hung over. Melissa slid a bottle of aspirin and a glass of water towards Spencer. Spencer groaned as she took out two aspirin and washed them down with the water. "Do you want to talk about what happened last night?"
Spencer stared at Melissa for a few moments. "I'll let you know when I remember," she said.
Melissa frowned. "We need to talk." Before they could answer, they heard Alex crying through the baby monitor. Spencer quickly walked upstairs to go get her soon. Melissa followed her upstairs.
By the time Melissa had gotten up the stairs and walked into Alex's room, Spencer had him in her arms and he had stopped crying. Melissa stared for a few seconds. "Aren't you worried about him?" she asked.
Spencer bit her lip as she held him closer. "I am but…I mean, if our relationship has run its course, maybe it's better we split up."
Melissa shook her head. "But it hasn't."
Spencer sighed. "And how do you know that, Melissa?"
"Because a month ago, Toby looked at you like you were the most important person in the world to him and you looked at him in the same way. You're going through a rough patch because something horrible happened," Melissa declared stubbornly.
"Well, it feels like more than a rough patch."
"You both love each other," Melissa said. "Nothing the both of you say or do can convince me otherwise."
Spencer didn't respond to that. "I'm going to make eggs. Alex likes eggs. Does Pamela?" she asked.
"Spencer, stop avoiding the subject!" Melissa exclaimed. She pulled out her phone and handed it to Spencer. "Here. Call your husband."
Spencer sighed. "Melissa…I'm not doing this now."
"Well, when are you going to do it?" Melissa demanded. "You need to, Spencer! I know you keep saying that Toby won't talk to you and when he does, it's in a couple of words, but how many times have you actually reached out to him?" she asked.
Spencer didn't answer at all. "I'll be downstairs," she said as she brushed past her sister.
Melissa let out an exasperated sigh before she left the room. She went to wake up Pamela, who woke up reluctantly. She got up and rubbed her eyes, yawning slightly. "Mommy," she complained.
"Come on. Aunt Spencer is downstairs cooking breakfast," Melissa said as she ran her fingers through her daughter's hair. "How did you sleep?" she asked.
"Good, but can we go home tonight?" Pamela asked.
Melissa nodded. "Of course, Bumblebee. Come on," she said as she took her daughter by the hand and walked downstairs with her. "We're just taking care of Auntie Spencer right now."
"Where is Uncle Toby?"
Melissa stopped. Pamela looked up at her expectantly. "I don't know, Pam, but he's coming back soon."
Pamela smiled. "I miss him."
"Emily, this is a very bad idea," Natalie said to Emily on the phone.
Emily rolled her eyes. "I promise, this is a good idea. Listen, I have to go, but I'll see you later."
"Emily!" Natalie protested. Before she could say anything else, Emily hung up on her. She focused on what was in front of her.
She was standing in front of the building where Toby and Jason worked. There were one or two other offices in this building. She made a beeline for the elevator. Toby and Jason were on the third floor—the top floor. Emily hoped Toby would listen to her. She hadn't seen him in quite a long time. She was almost scared to see him again.
Toby hadn't opted for the high-fashion design (he was always more of a traditional kind of person), so Emily couldn't see in his office from outside. She found the door which had his name on it. She knocked softly on the door.
"Who is it?" a muffled voice asked.
"It's Emily," Emily announced. "Will you please let me in, Toby?"
There was silence for a few moments. Emily was scared he was just going to ignore her. Just as she was about to give up and walk away, she heard someone opening the door. Toby opened the door and he looked…well, awful, to say the least.
Emily bit her tongue to keep from saying something she shouldn't about his appearance. "Can I come in?" she asked after a moment.
"I have a lot of work to do," he said as he avoided eye contact.
Emily glared. "I know you. You're usually already a week or two ahead in work. You've been holed up in your office for so long that you must be ahead for at least a month," she said as she pushed her way into his office. He sighed and closed the door behind her. She looked around the room. She noted the bag of clothes sitting beside his desk. "When was the last time you went home, Toby?" she inquired. He didn't answer. More sternly, she asked again, "When was the last time you went home?"
"I don't know," he responded.
"This isn't fair," she said finally. "This isn't fair of you to do this to Spencer. She misses you, Toby. She needs you. You're her husband!"
He just sighed and sat down in a chair near his desk. "I'm sure she's better off without me…"
"Okay, then what about your son?"
Toby buried his face in his hands. "I don't want to talk about this, Emily…"
"Well, when are you going to talk about it? You don't even talk to Spencer anymore. Do you know how much it must hurt her?" Emily asked.
Toby didn't answer. "I don't know how to talk to her."
Emily sat down next to him. "Just open up and talk to her. The two of you love each other. You've told each other everything about your past. Just be open with her about your feelings," Emily insisted as she put her hand on his. "You're going to be alright. But go back home to her. Ask her out so you can talk about this. Pick a neutral place," she suggested. "But you need to do it now."
Spencer fidgeted with her dress as she looked in the mirror. A few months ago, she would've told herself that this feeling was absolutely ridiculous; he was her husband. Now, she felt as though their marriage was completely falling apart. She felt like if there was any hope at all for their marriage, this night had to go perfectly.
They met in a small restaurant two blocks away from their house. Toby was sitting, waiting for Spencer when she got there.
"Hello," he said uneasily when she saw him.
"Hello," she replied as she sat down. She took a deep breath. The tension between the two of them was palpable, almost like it was visible in the air.
There were a lot of things they both wanted to say to each other. More than anything, they wanted to tell the other that they were missing them. They missed waking up together. They missed each other's smile. They missed hearing about the other's day. They felt like virtual strangers now.
"You look beautiful tonight," he said finally.
"Thanks." Normally that "thank you" would have been accompanied by a slight blush but Spencer only fidgeted uncomfortably in her seat. This "date" of sorts was already extremely uncomfortable and it had started only about two minutes ago.
"How is Alex?"
She almost wanted to yell at him for asking that question. Instead, she answered snidely, "I feel like you should know that, considering you're his father and all." She realized that was a bit harsh when she noticed how is eyes darkened. "He's okay but he probably misses you," she responded more tranquilly.
"I'm…I'm sorry," he said finally.
She just shrugged uncomfortably. They stayed silent for a while before they started drinking. It all became a haze after that.
Spencer woke up the next morning with a pounding headache. It was like she could feel how awful she looked. She groaned when she fully realized the pain she was in from this hangover.
She pulled the sheets closer to her when she realized she was naked. The clothes on the floor indicated to her that she came home with someone else—though, honestly, she was so drunk the previous night that she probably could have come home and slept with three other people and she wouldn't remember it. She looked over her shoulder to see Toby lying there.
A part of her wanted to pull him closer to her and begin crying. She'd cry over how messed up everything was and how much pain she was in (both physically and mentally).
The larger part of her won out. She groggily threw her legs over the edge of the bed and got up. She got her bathrobe and began to play the part of a housewife.
She always thought those wives who resembled the Stepfords were seriously a bit mentally deranged. She never quite understood how a woman could be alright with being so submissive to her husband. Now, it seemed almost fitting to her. She could feel herself going crazy and her only response was to be robotic. She cleaned up around the house. She prepared a perfect breakfast for three.
She was late.
Not only was she late for her meeting with Hanna about the bakery, but she was late—as if being late to the meeting wasn't already bad enough.
It was that morning that she realized she was supposed to have gotten her period five days earlier. She wasn't even keeping track. This could not really be happening.
She supposed she would've been happier if she wasn't still so distant from her husband. Though he was more consistent about coming home and everything like that, he was still not sleeping with her in the bedroom. Either she was sleeping in the guest bedroom or he was. Things weren't hostile between them, just awkward. Spencer thought she would have almost preferred if things were hostile; at least then she'd know where she stood with him. Now, she was stuck in this state of not knowing his feelings for her or even her own feelings for him.
She would have to apologize profusely to Hanna for missing the meeting, but Hanna would probably insist it was alright. Hanna was also acting weird around Spencer. She let nearly everything slide, whereas Hanna before the miscarriage would have nailed Spencer to the wall over any minor mishap. It was weird to Spencer.
After going to the store to get an early pregnancy test, Spencer arrived home to see Hanna's car on the street outside her house. She did not need this right now.
"Hey, Spencer, I—"
"Not now, Hanna," Spencer interrupted tersely before brushing past Hanna and into the nearest bathroom.
"Spencer! What's wrong?" Hanna asked from outside the door.
"I can't talk right now, Hanna," Spencer responded as she tore open the box.
"Spencer, you—" Hanna stopped herself. "Wait a second," she said. "Are you taking a pregnancy test?"
Spencer sighed loudly. "Can we not ask this now?"
"Spencer, you have to have sex to get pregnant."
Spencer set the timer and put the test on the counter before peeking her head out of the bathroom. "I know that, Han. I passed ninth grade biology."
Hanna just stared at Spencer with wide eyes. "Spencer! When did you do it with Toby? I thought you guys were in a bad place at the moment."
"We are," Spencer responded simply.
Hanna stood with her mouth agape for a few moments. "Are you telling me that you hooked up with someone else?"
"No!" Spencer exclaimed. She sighed and crossed her arms. "Do you remember that date I told you Emily set up for the both of us?" Hanna nodded. "Well, we both sort of got really drunk and I don't remember exactly what happened, but it's pretty safe to assume that we slept together afterward. I woke up the next morning naked and our clothes were all around the room."
"At any other time, I'd ask for all the dirty details but this is pretty messed up, Spence."
"I know," Spencer responded. "Hanna, I don't know if I'm ready for this this soon. And what if I am pregnant and it just ends up the same way? I don't know if I can deal with that again," Spencer said.
Hanna wrapped her arms around Spencer. A few moments later, the timer began to go off. "Spencer, do you want me to look at it?" Spencer nodded. Hanna picked up the test and looked at it for a couple of moments before showing it to Spencer.
"It's positive."
Kathryn2014: They're coming...eventually. You'll see. It'll work itself out. Just trust me. I'm not Marlene.
sarahschneider2012: Thank you. My first fanfiction's two-year anniversary is coming up soon. I'll probably try to update all of my stories to celebrate.
Summer1223: They can work out their problems. They're Spoby! They can do it! Thanks for reading/reviewing!
sarah: I think I mentioned Hanna painting an elephant in Alex's room. Isn't that enough? *sighs* fine child I will figure something out. I like you. Only sometimes, though.
arubagirl0926: It'll get better. I promise.
I really tricked you guys into thinking that an intervention was happening? Nah, Emily went with her own idea (obviously to Natalie's chagrin). You can be the judge of how successful it was.
So...for my birthday, I'd really like a review! Like I'd really, really, really like it. It would be like the cherry on top of my birthday sundae. It only takes two seconds. You know what, you could even write "this sucks" as your review and I'd still like it (okay maybe that's sort of a lie but at least it lets me know people are reading). I'll probably be updating sometime next week. -Kayson