"Voulez-vous! Take it now or leave it. Now is all we get, nothing promised, no regrets."
As they start the next line, Mia lets Taylor spin her, and as she comes out of the turn, a wave of nausea overtakes her. It was a heat pooling deep in her stomach and spreading to every centimeter of her body. She had the shivers and the sweats all at once and could feel her stomach churning, rejecting every single thing she had eaten.
They were well into one of the most technically complicated dances in the show, it was the number that took Miyana the longest to actually nail down, and stopping now was not an option.
She breathes in through her nose and out through her mouth, thinking to herself the entire time: just breathe, just breathe. Don't throw up; whatever you do: don't throw up.
When she finally has an opportunity to sneak out, Miyana races off stage, through the Stage Left wing, pushing past the cast and crew standing there asking if she was okay, up the stairs and into the bathroom she and her roommate share with the two girls next door. Mia dives onto the floor in front of the toilet and is violently sick.
She hadn't noticed someone had followed her until she feels her hair being pulled back as she continues to throw up. When she can lift her head without getting sick, a wet paper towel is put in front of her.
"Here: wipe your face," the Assistant Stage Manager, Nicole, murmurs with a half-smile.
"Thanks," Miyana replies, doing as she's told, turning to face her friend and superior. She tosses the used towel into the trash can and rests her chin on her bent knees. She's sweaty and shaky and her head hurts, but at least the nausea is gone.
Over the speakers set into the ceiling, Mia hears Act One end and she groans, embarrassed. The hallways and stairwells start to fill with noise as her castmates return to their dressing rooms for intermission.
"Hey, are you okay?" Allie asks, standing in the doorway.
"Yeah, I'm good," Mia nods.
"You sure?"
"Yeah, but whatever you do: don't eat the Pastrami from the Deli down the street, okay?"
"Oh," Allie grimaces, knowing her friends meaning without her having to say anything. "Okay," Allie nods. When she leaves, Miyana groans and drops her head to her knees.
And the next second, her boyfriend rushes in and kneels down next to her, obviously concerned.
"Hey! Are you okay? I saw you run off," he asks, rubbing her cheek and neck. Mia leans into his touch, feeling better with it.
"Yeah, I'm fine. I guess something I ate didn't agree with me," she shrugs. Mia knows Byron doesn't believe her, sees right through the façade she's putting on for everyone, but she smiles, hoping he'll drop it for now.
"Are you sure?" He presses.
"Yes: she's sure. Give the girl some space to clean herself up," Nicole directs, pushing Byron out of the room and shutting the door in his face.
Miyana laughs so hard her sides start to hurt. "Colie! That was mean!" she laughs.
"But it worked, didn't it?"
"Yeah," she chuckles, tucking a fallen section of hair behind her ear.
"Are you okay? Do you think you can do Act Two?"
"Oh, yeah!" Miyana says, standing. "I'll be fine."
"Okay," Nicole nods, still skeptical. "If you need anything, come find me, yeah?"
"I will. And thanks."
"No problem."
Miyana crosses the hall and readies herself for the second half of the show.
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Act Two goes off nearly perfectly, only mistakes the cast who were with the show every second would catch, and they receive a standing ovation and thunderous applause during their curtain call.
After changing out of their costumes and back into street clothes, signing autographs and taking pictures with fans at the stage door, and ordering food to be delivered, Miyana and Byron ride the train together back to their apartment.
The second Mia turns the key in the lock and pushes open the door, her Bull dog barks and barrels into their shins.
"Hey, Goose!" Mia cheers, squatting down. She rubs the animal behind his ears and down his neck as he bounces into her torso, begging for love and attention after a long day away from his mom. "Okay, I know," she croons as Goose starts licking her face. Mia lets him carry on for another few moments before pushing him away and finally getting a chance to set her bag down and relax.
Their food is due any minute and Miyana and Byron pass each other in the bedroom doorway, the dog at her feet. He stops her with a hand on her shoulder and kisses her quickly.
"I'm gonna change. Will you listen for the door?" she asks him.
"Sure thing. You want some wine?"
"Um, no," she answers, shaking her head. "Just some water."
"Alright," he nods, switching places with his girlfriend and heading down the short hallway as their bedroom door clicks closed behind him.
As soon as the door closes, Mia strips off her shirt and heads for the bathroom. She turns on the sink and pulls her hair back while waiting for the water to warm up. She washes her face, and with water dripping off her face, looks up into the mirror. Her eyes catch the reflection of the shelf behind her, and nerves spike in her stomach. Mia shuts off the water and reaches for her towel, holding it under her chin after drying her face off. Her mind wages a war with itself, and after a minute she groans and pegs her towel at the ground to dispel some of the nervous energy she has.
Goose, who up until that moment had been dozing on his belly in the doorway, looks up at the sudden noise and whines.
"Sorry, buddy," Mia soothes. "Come on." She steps over him, knowing he will follow.
Miyana finishes changing into pajamas before returning to the bathroom. She bends down and picks up her towel, putting it back on the hook it had come from. Her eyes catch the shelf again, and it spikes another wave of nerves.
"Okay," she whispers. "On 'three'," she counts to three and reaches for the cardboard box hidden behind the jar of cotton swabs. It had been there since that morning when she was too chicken to look at the results of the home pregnancy test. The plastic stick rattles inside and that just makes her even more nervous and anxious.
"Hey! Are you coming? Better hurry or I'm gonna eat all the fried rice myself!" Byron's muffled voice reaches her and she huffs a laugh.
"I'll be out in a second! And don't you dare!" she calls back.
"I make no promises!" Byron answers just as she appears in their kitchen.
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He's sitting at their kitchen island, boxes of takeout Japanese food spread around him, a glass of wine at his spot and a giant cup of water at hers. The TV is playing quietly in the living room, and the oil diffuser is running, spitting out the comforting scent of eucalyptus and spearmint. Mia breaths deep and it seems to calm the raging nerves in her stomach a bit.
She honestly hasn't been this nervous since opening night, and even then it wasn't this bad.
"Hey!" Byron smiles at his girlfriend, quickly glancing over at her: the baggy sweatpants, ratty, old college sweatshirt, and long hair pulled back into a messy bun; Miyana's usual look after a show.
When she doesn't speak or sit down across from him, he looks up again.
She's looking at the wall behind him, hands behind her back, teeth turning her bottom lip white they are biting down so hard.
"What's the matter?" he sets down his fork and turns towards her. Again she doesn't speak. "Mia? What's wrong?" He stands and steps towards her right as her dam breaks and she sobs. "Hey. Hey, it's okay." He pulls her against him, tucking her in tight, and rubs her arm and shoulder, waiting her out. When she calms down, Byron lifts her face to meet his. "What's wrong?" He's so quiet, so full of love for this usually confident girl, who at that moment was sad and scared and small.
"Um," she says, hiccupping. She stammers for a moment, trying to conjure the words, but when they don't come, she simply holds out the box.
Byron gasps, his eyes wide. "Oh my god."
Mia hiccups again. "I know."
"Did you take it?"
She murmurs an affirmative. "This morning. I know it's a surprise and sudden. I mean we've only been together a few months and this is a huge life-changing event and–" she's stammering, tripping over her words, trying to diffuse any arguments that may arise.
"Wait. This morning? You've been sitting on this all day and you didn't tell me?"
"It's not like I purposely avoided it! I was scared and then we were running late and we had a matinee and those school kids came and I honestly forgot about it until I got sick tonight."
"And? Is it positive?"
"I don't know," Miyana replies, honestly, looking at her toes. "I haven't looked at it yet."
"Do you want to do it together?"
"You're not upset?"
"Mia! I would never be upset at something like this. Sure it's a surprise and sudden and all that, but it's still amazing," he smiles at her. "Together?"
"Yeah," she says, tucking herself into his side again. "On three."
Together they count.
One.
Two .
Three.
Byron pulls the test out and the both gasp when they see the results.
It's positive.
Miyana immediately starts to sob, and Byron is not far behind.
Through his tears, Byron finds his girlfriend's face. He takes it between his hands and kisses her, tasting salt from her tears. He lets that kiss do all the talking. Love and happiness and strength; all the words they both can't come up with right then.
Byron grabs Miyana's hand and leads her into their bedroom, closing the door behind him.
He kisses her again and then lets his lips wander to her nose and eyes and along her jaw line. When he moves to her neck, Mia moans and tilts her head back to grant him better access, her hands burrowing into his hair.
Byron walks them back until Mia's knees hit the mattress of their bed, then he slowly lays her down, not breaking eye contact with her. He kisses her again, letting his hand slip under her pajama shirt. She moans again and wraps a leg around his waist, holding him there.
He lifts up her shirt and kisses her still flat stomach, and whispers secrets to the tiny speck that would soon be their child.
Miyana watches him and starts to cry silently. He's so full of love and happiness in that moment, she wants to commit it to memory. After a while, she uses a hand to lift his face to meet hers.
"I love you," she whispers to him.
"I love you," he answers, scooting up to kiss her. Their kiss breaks just long enough for him to pull off Mia's shirt the rest of the way before he goes back to show just how much he loves her and their baby.
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Seven months later, Jaycee Rene Mecham was the first baby from their production to be born. The brown haired, brown eyed little girl was loved beyond measure by her entire family, biological and not.
A/N: Babies, babies, everywhere. That's what happens is such a large family. Hope you enjoyed!