Tracy was thankful that she had managed to slip into the building unnoticed by Mike. she successfully managed to work her way through the house to the bathroom up the stairs. As she locked the door behind her, she sunk to the floor in tears. Her hand laid upon her stomach. She couldn't believe she had told Mike that she needed to talk to him. He was surely going to be worried. He didn't deserve that in the slightest.
She was broken out of her trance by a recognizable knock on the door.
"Tracy, is that you?"
It was Mike. she didn't know how to react. If she faced him, she would have to face her problem. If she didn't, she would have to remain in the bathroom all day. She couldn't leave the house, it wasn't fair on Mike, Gina or the kids.
"Tracy, I promise I'm on my own. Gina has taken the kids into the living room. Its just me. Come on, we'll go into the quiet room and have that chat."
She sighed and pulled herself up to her feet. She reluctantly unlocked the door and opened it to face a worried looking Mike. he was speechless. The look of pain and hurt in her eyes made him internally squirm. He didn't know the cause of her pain, and he was determined to find it out. He hated seeing the girl who had become like a daughter to him in pain. His eyes searched her body for signs of the root of her problem. He wasn't greeted with answers, only more questions.
"Tracy...what's that?"
She looked down to where he had pointed and mentally swore at herself. How could she have been so stupid. She held her arm close to her body; shielding it from anyone's sight and pushed her way past Mike. he quickly checked the bathroom for anything she may have forgotten and followed her down to the quiet room. The walk down the stairs was filled with wandering thoughts about what he thought he had seen. He could have sworn he had seen that she was injured. He shook the the thoughts away. No, Tracy wouldn't have hurt herself surely. She had seen children enter the home who battled self harm. She had seen the damage it had done to the child, and their ability to form healthy relationships with others.
His hand slowly turned the doorknob to the quiet room as he simultaneously knocked three times. He could finally take her appearance in. The sound of him entering the room hadnt fazed her in the slightest. She was sat on the sofa with her legs crosssed and her hands met where her ankles crossed. Her hair was covering her face and her fingers were fiddling with some loose cotton threads hanging from the cushion she held tightly in her lap as if it was her lifesaver. His heart broke at the sight of damp patches on the pillowcase, and the sound of faint sniffles with the odd whimper in an attempt to stop crying.
He softly laid her handbag on the floor by the sofa and proceeded to sit next to her; wrapping his arm around her shoulder. Gently resting his head on her shoulder, he whispered, "Tracy, what's the matter?"
She slowly reached into her jacket pocket and handed mike the same stick that changed her life; knowing it would change his too.
He didnt know how to react to the object Tracy had handed him. The positive sign would be etched into his mind forever. But surely this was a good thing for her. Wasn't it?
"I didnt know you had a boyfriend Tracy."
She shook her head as an answer to his question. Mike didnt know what to say. If he wasnt confused and lost for words before, he definately was now.
"We'll drop this for now okay? Ill put this in the office out of reach and we can go and sit with the kids and watch some TV, yeah?"
She looked at him and gave him a faint smile; thankful that he wasnt going to bring up what he saw at this moment in tine. She wiped the trears from her eyes and stood up. Mike oulled her in for a hug, knowing that no matter what she said, she needed one. To his surprise, she hugged him back tightly before leaving the room.
Tracy sat down on one of the sofas and was quickly joined by Harry sitting on her knee. She smiled at him, thinking about her future with her own child.
"What are we watching then?"
He gave her a large smile and replied, "Jeff says that he wants to watch Finding Nemo."
She gave him a smile in return and got up to locate the DVD. When mike entered the living room after dropping Tracy's things off in the office, he coukdnt help but smile at the sight of Tracy sat on the sofa, watching the opening credits to the film with Harry on her knee. He had no answers to what was going to happen in the future, but he was certain of one thing - she was going to be a good mother.