Hi everyone, thank you for the reviews.
I feel like you guys aren't going to like the outcome here :-) , but it works best for wrapping up the story and it links to what I had planned at the start. I promise the ending will be a happy one.
Also just a quick note to say apologies if not everything is medically accurate.
Please enjoy x
Rachel's hand shook profoundly as she made contact with the all important white stick. She resisted the urge to prize her eyes shut forever - it was only right to face this outcome head on. The impossibility to think with a positive and open mindset overwhelmed Rachel. Equally though, she knew it was a pivotal goal for both herself and Eddie.
Everything happens for a reason.
With that key thought in mind, Rachel's gaze was met with the physical object that defined her future.
….
Hadn't it been more than three minutes?
Eddie's mind was driving him crazy, he could manage nothing but the continuous journey back and forth across the landing. Whatever the result, the love surrounding him and Rachel would remain - Eddie knew that for sure. Despite this, he worried how Rachel would cope, how he would cope, if they were simply unable to have children.
What if they had left it too long?
If that was the case, Eddie would never be able to forgive himself for the time they spent apart. All of it was down to him. His wrong doing.
Just when he thought he couldn't take his own thoughts any longer, Rachel emerged from the bathroom. Her expression was unreadable, Eddie had never seen her features contorted in such an intonation. He expected her to speak, to reveal the result. Although the silence, it was too powerful. The ominous atmosphere seemed to pervade the room.
Instead of speech, Rachel gestured for Eddie to take the test, to look for himself.
First and foremost, Eddie wanted to comfort Rachel and to query her current feelings. As well as this though, he believed part of that was following her wishes.
So slowly but surely, Eddie's eyeline switched from Rachel's face to the object in her hand.
It was happening again.
His vision blurred out the isolated line along with the reality. It was there though, he had seen it.
Negative.
Rachel wasn't pregnant.
….
Rachel was just about holding it together until she witnessed Eddie's reaction. He was equally as broken as her. Every glimmer of hope, of ambition, no longer remained. His features were drained by the outcome of the day and what it could mean for their loving desire to have a child.
….
Unbeknownst to the both of them, their expressions were identical. The way Eddie's upper lip curled was a carbon copy of the position Rachel's lips lay in.
It was only when Eddie's tentative nature took over that this similarity was altered. The slight gap between the couple was closed in an instant. Eddie's arms enveloped Rachel in his touch along with his warmth and compassion for her. He aimed to convey every last drop of his emotions into the embrace.
Words were not required, they could read one another like a book at this moment. Their thoughts and feelings were strikingly similar.
Time froze and the pair were lost in each others presence - nothing could tear them apart. Not after everything they had been through.
….
A week later
"I'm afraid the test results show that Rachel is having problems with ovulation. The results I have here along tell me that Fibroids are present in and around your womb which are preventing fertilised eggs from attaching to it."
After their second loss of hope, Rachel and Eddie had resorted to booking a doctor's appointment. If there was a problem, Rachel wanted to be alerted to it; she had to know why it seemed impossible for her to be a mother. Not knowing was something Rachel was overly afraid of.
The doctor's words were like a knife to the heart for Rachel. Apparently the only thing to relieve a sliver of that pain was the warmth of Eddie's arm across her back. She was unbelievably grateful for both his care and presence.
"So... where do we go from here? What are our next best options?"
Eddie spoke straight to the point, and Rachel loved this - she needed his strength and stability more than anything.
"IVF is a possibility for success, but I'm afraid to say it's unlikely."
For a moment the doctor paused, she wanted to allow time for these words to sink in.
"Have you thought about adoption?"
Hope. It was limited, but it had been brought to the surface once more.
A deep and meaningful glance was exchanged between Eddie and Rachel. They both wanted a child, someone to nurture and care for. Surely, genetics weren't essential for that.
It crossed both their minds that this could be it - a solution to their current situation. Perhaps this lingering hope was worth fighting for.