It Burns So Bright, This Flame Will Never Die.

Ronnie and I talked a little more before he left. And to be honest, us being nice to each other again didn't really make me feel any better; in fact, it actually made me even more stressed out. Because of Andy, now.

I mean, I can't just drop Andy like that and get back together with my cheating husband. He'd think I was just using him to take up my time, get my mind off of Ronnie, and most importantly, as a rebound. And that is the complete opposite. I really like Andy...and that's a little scary.

And about 15 minutes after Ronnie left, guess who called to tell me he was coming by to visit?

Yep. Stress levels just went through the roof even more so than they already were.

I sighed when I heard knocking, and walked out of the kitchen, down the entryway, and opened the door to reveal Andy. Looking hot as ever.

"Hey sweetheart." He smiled, walking in. I closed the door behind him and turned to face him, his arms going around my body in a hug. My own went around his neck, my face burrowing itself into his shoulder.

"You alright?" He asked sweetly, rubbing my back.

"Kinda." I laughed slightly. We pulled away a little and he looked down at me with a concerned look on his face. "Ronnie and I talked today."

"Oh?" He raised his eyebrow curiously. "He was telling me that we'll never get over each other, and we'll always love each other no matter what. Then he asked if I loved our family we created, and of course I said yes, then he asked me why I wouldn't let him fix this whole mess, then he asked me if I really wanted to bring our new baby in this big shitty mess, and-"

My voice was getting weaker and more choked up with every word that came out of my mouth, and my vision was getting blurrier by the second. Andy frowned slightly and pulled me back into him, rubbing my back comfortingly just like Ronnie did not very long ago to comfort me when I was crying, once again, not too long ago.

Damn hormones.

"I-I just don't know what to do...I don't want to forgive him and give him another chance, he d-doesn't deserve it," I felt Andy nod his head, since he was resting his chin on top of mine. "but everything's s-s-so difficult with us apart...and it seems like it'll never get easier if we really do separate. And, I just don't know what to do!" I whined the last part, blubbering like Travis does when he's upset.

"First thing you need to do is calm down, this stress can't be good for your baby." He said quietly. "Take some deep breaths."

I do so, trying to stop the tears and sobbing. After a few minutes I managed to succeed. "Now let's go sit down." He walked us into the living room, both of us sitting down on the couch. I snuggled into his side, liking how his arm felt around me.

"I'm sorry I'm dumping all of this shit on you," I mumbled. "I'm too damn complicated, my life's so crappy right now."

"You're not complicated." He laughed lowly. "And you're not dumping anything on me. I'm here for you, I'm willing to help you through this."

"You're too good for me!" I cried, burying my face right back into his shoulder. I knew he was trying not to laugh by the sound of his voice when he spoke. "Baby, calm down...I'm not too good for you, trust me."

I did the deep breathing crap again to calm down and it surprisingly worked a second time. "Why would you want to get involved with a 28 year old hormonal pregnant woman who has a kid and is going through a divorce? You're 20! You should be out getting all hot young teeny-boppers!" I exclaimed. This time he started cracking up, making me smile and giggle a little through my tears.

"I-I don't want the hot young teeny boppers...!" He exclaimed through his loud laughter. "Holy shit, you're funny." He grinned.

"I'm gonna be all fat in a few months." I scrunched my face up at the thought of gaining back all my baby weight again.

"You're gonna be cute," He smiled. "You're so tiny, and you're gonna have this big round belly."

"My face gets all puffy when I'm pregnant. It's not cute." My face scrunched up even more, making him laugh even more.

"I will still like you and be extremely attracted to you, so you gaining weight because of your pregnancy should be the least of your worries." I smiled and felt my cheeks heat up. I rested my head on his shoulder, and he started playing with my blonde hair.

"But seriously; why do you want to get involved with me?"

"Scarlet, you're acting like you're a convict running from the law who's addicted to crack and is prostituting her body for said crack." I laughed this time and looked up at him, my chin on his shoulder. "I think I can handle a pregnant woman who's going through a divorce."

"But why?"

"...Because you're not as complicated as you think you are...?" He questioned. I rolled my eyes. "No, why do you want to get involved with me?"

"I like you." He shrugged. "What more of a reason do you need?"

"Why do you like me?" I smiled. He smiled back down at me. "You're hilarious, you're adorable, you're kind, you're an amazing and beautiful mother to your son, and you're an over-all wonderful person."

My heart melted into a big sticky pile of mushy goo at his words, and my smile grew. I pushed myself up a little, pressing my lips to his softly. He kissed back just as softly, his hand resting on my thigh and rubbing it.

"If me being able to be around you means I sometimes have to comfort you and tell you everything's going to be alright," He murmured when we were only a couple inches away from each others lips, "then so be it. I have absolutely no problem with helping you out. I just want to make sure you're OK."

"Thank you." I whispered shakily, smiling at him again.

"You don't have to thank me." He whispered back, pressing his lips to my forehead.

Andy and I just sat there for a while, not saying much to each other and just enjoying one another's company.

I made a noise of discomfort, causing Andy to look down at me. "What's wrong?"

"I've been feeling weird all day," I mumbled, scrunching up my face again. "Something hurts."

"Like what?" He asked, looking slightly concerned. I motioned to my lower stomach where there was a slightly uncomfortable pain. "There."

"...Maybe I should take you to the doctor?" He sat up straighter and looked at me. I shook my head and waved it off. "I'm going for my regular checkup tomorrow morning. And besides, this happened once while I was pregnant with Travis."

"Are you sure you're alright?" He raised his eyebrow slightly, staring at me. "Yeah. It's just uncomfortable. It's nothing major."

"What's causing it? I mean, what caused it when you were pregnant with Travis?" He asked curiously. I snickered. "Last time it was because it was my first baby, and my uterus was stretching in preparation. So that's probably what's happening again." I laughed at the slightly horrified/grossed-out look on his face. "You asked!"

"Why'd you have to be so blunt, though?" He chuckled, leaning back and relaxing.

"Because you asked." I teased, leaning into his side again.

"Nyah nah nah." He mocked me in a nasally voice, making me laugh harder than before.

"Shut up!" I playfully smacked his chest and grinned at him. He poked his bottom lip out in a pout and rubbed the area.

"Why must you abuse me all the time?" He huffed.

"It's fun!" I chirped.

"Abuse is fun?!" He shrieked. I giggled and nodded, making him gently smack me upside the head. "Hey!"

"Not so fun now, is it?!" He exclaimed, grinning also.

"You're a meanie!" I whined. His eyes narrowed at me. "So you doing it to me is perfectly fine, but the second I do it to you, I'm a meanie? How sexist!"

"You're a dork." I laughed, resting my head on his collarbone.

$$$

***Next morning***

I had just gotten done getting ready for my doctor's appointment. Ronnie was already over here to watch Travis for me, making my life a tad bit easier.

"Momma will be back in a little bit, won't be gone for long." I smiled at Travis, who was sitting on Ronnie's lap on the couch eating his breakfast that Ronnie was feeding him. He smiled at me and puckered up his lips, baby food all over them. I laughed and gave him a kiss, then kissed him all over his face. "Mmm, apples and bananas!" I cooed, making him laugh.

"Call me when you get out of there." Ronnie smiled slightly. I nodded and smiled back. "I will."

I said goodbye to the two and left with a small smile still on my face. It's very rare nowadays that Ronnie and I are actually being nice to each other. Or, more so, I'm being nice to Ronnie...it was a good change, and it took a lot of the stress I had been dealing with off of my shoulders.

The drive to the doctor's office wasn't too far, about a 20 minute drive. I had to sit and wait for another 20 minutes when I got there though, but what else do you expect at the doctors?

Finally, I heard my doctor call my name, and I got up, smiling at her as I walked over. "Hey Scarlet!" She smiled, giving me a friendly hug. She's been my doctor ever since I was pregnant with Travis, and she even delivered him.

"Hello!" I greeted happily.

"So, how ya doin'?" She asked as we walked to her check-up room.

"Good." I smiled. "Pretty sure baby's good too." I stated, rubbing my stomach. She nodded and smiled. "Well let's check up on baby, then."

As I got ready for my ultrasound (aka laid on the uncomfortable bed, lifted my shirt up, and had some cold shit spread over my stomach), I decided to bring up something. "So for the past 2 days or so, I've been getting those really light, uncomfortable cramps like I did with Travis, when I was early in my pregnancy with him." She looked at me and nodded as she sat down in her chair next to the ultrasound machine. "Is that just my uterus stretching again?"

"Well, I wouldn't have thought you would get those this time, because of the fact that you got pregnant again not even 2 years after Travis...but that's probably what it is." I nodded, feeling just a tad nervous when she said she didn't think I would get those cramps again this time. "Normally that only happens to women having their first baby...but who knows. Maybe your uterus just sprung back to normal quicker than others." She joked, making me laugh.

"Maybe so." I chuckled.

"Alright, let's see what's going on in here..."

She put the wand on my stomach and looked at the screen. She started moving it around, slowly at first. Everything was silent for at least 5 minutes, and she kept moving it around. I glanced between the screen and her face; I could see my little baby just fine on there, which is why I don't understand why she looked confused.

"Is baby okay?" I asked. She glanced at me, then back at the machine. She started pressing a certain button on it a few times, and when nothing happened, she suddenly looked worried. That's when I realized we couldn't hear anything.

"...Why can't I hear the heartbeat...?" I asked hesitantly.

"That's what I was just wondering." She murmured. My nerves went straight through the roof, and I started breathing heavily. "Honey, calm down," She said quietly, looking at me. I gulped at her expression.

"Is my baby okay?" I repeated. She bit her lip and moved the wand around some more. "I don't think so, dear."

My heart dropped straight into my stomach, and the tears instantly sprung to my eyes like a switch had just been flipped. "I can't find a heartbeat."

"Stress." I mumbled, looking down at my stomach. She looked at me confused for a second, but then mouthed, "Ohh."

"I can't believe this..." I whimpered, looking down at my stomach that had barely formed a bump. My doctor stood up and leaned down, giving me a hug which I gladly returned. "I'm so sorry, dear."

"Thanks." I sniffled, pulling out of her hug and wiping away my tears. She cleaned my stomach off, and gave me a sympathetic smile when I stood up and grabbed my purse. "You can always try again."

Another pang of hurt hit my heart. I forced a smiled and nodded. "Of course."

I said goodbye to her and quickly left. I barely made it to my car before I burst into tears and started sobbing. I tried to find my phone, which was a bit of a struggle at this particular moment, and when I finally did I slowly dialed Ronnie's number.

"Hello?" I responded by sobbing, slapping my hand over my mouth milliseconds later. "Scar?"

"Ronnie..." I whimpered again. My head thumped against the headrest, my eyes closing as tears streamed down my cheeks at an even pace.

"What happened? What's wrong?!" He asked frantically. "...Scarlet, please don't tell me-"

"There wasn't a heartbeat." I choked out. "I miscarried due to stress."

The other end of the line became extremely silent, and after a minute I could hear shallow, choked breathing. "I'm so sorry!" I cried.

"D-Don't even for one s-second think this is your fault." He said quietly. "This is entirely all my fault."

"No, it's not..." Even I knew that was a lie. Ronnie was the reason I was stressing, and therefore caused the miscarriage. But would I really tell the father of my child, and what was supposed to be children, that he was indeed the reason that I miscarried? No. Even though the bastard cheated on me and we're going through a divorce, I would never do that to him.

"Yes it is!" He cried back. "Fuck, I...oh my god...our baby." I started crying harder at the last two words, and I could tell he was crying too.

"I want to die right now." He sobbed.