Sweet Child of Mine

Chapter 27

The dreaded day of Harold Seniors funeral had arrived, and the dark cloud that floated above the Cooper home had only darkened further upon the appearance of Hal's mother earlier in the week.

It had taken Alice everything within her to remain considerate and hold her composure in her Mother in laws presence regardless of her insensitive snide remarks given the fact that she was recently widowed and a civil war between her and Caroline right was the last thing Hal needed.

Alice had felt an abundance of nerves surge through her body all morning, along with added sweats and nausea, which was unusual, but she chalked it up to the stress, funerals were never easy after all.

She was stood in the mirror, add the final touches to her blonde curls as she observed her slightly clammy face.

"You alright?" Hal spoke from behind the door, taking her by surprise. "You're looking a little worse for wear, well actually not a little. You better put some concealer on." Hal advised in mild disgust, his tone completely void of any tenderness or concern. Of course his only worry was how she looked in terms of vanity, never mind the fact that she looked sick as a dog.

Alice practically snarled at his words, reluctantly taking the concealer from his hands and strongly putting it on, refusing to put up a fight as she just didn't have the patience for it right now.

He shortly exit the bathroom, leaving her alone with her thoughts, and she took the time to truly ponder on how she was feeling. It wasn't an unfamiliar sensation, but the timing and convenience just seemed rather off to her, leading her to conclude that it must be pre funeral nerves. Possibly that and having to see Hal's mother, who thankfully by the grace of God had decided to spend her week in Riverdale planning the funeral at the Four Seasons rather than the couples home.

Alice continued to drift blissfully in her sea of thoughts, before her focus lead her to her bathroom cabinet, and a pack items that had hit her hadn't been used in a few weeks. Her period was indeed late, and not stressed late, way past menstruation date.

Suddenly it all clicked, the queasy feeling bubbling in her stomach, the extreme tiredness and fatigue, granted she hasn't had a baby in five years and as for her other pregnancies, she had miscarried too early to present strong symptoms, so who could blame her for not picking up on it sooner.

She instinctively clutched onto her stomach softly, glaring down in deep thought as she processed the strong possibility of being with child, and an abundance of emotions began to pour, but first and foremost, she needed to do a test, and immediately.

"Honey? The cars are here!" Hal called out from the bottom of the stairs as he heard the doorbell.

"I-I'm coming!" Alice stammered before quickly leaving the bathroom.

Downstairs, Hal opened his front door, preparing to leave and make his way to the cars his Mother had arranged, but was disappointed to find not a chauffeur on the other side, but a seemingly sympathetic FP with a bouquet of white lilies in his hands.

"What are you doing here?" Hal questioned rather rudely, looking the leather clad 6ft ex boyfriend of his wife up and down.

"I've just come to pay my respects." FP stated innocently, grinding down on his teeth to control his rising fury over Hal's disrespectful attitude, regardless of his situation it was no excuse for asshole behaviour.

"FP?" Alice gently calls upon noticing him from halfway up the stairs.

FP glanced over Hal's shoulder, his chestnut brown orbs following her delicately as she made her way down with a wondering smile.

"Hey, what are you doing here?"

"I just came to pay my respects." He explained, gesturing to the flowers in his hands.

Alice bashfully looked down at her feet, suddenly becoming very aware of her down trodden expression and tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "Sorry, I know I look a mess-"

"No, you look beautiful as ever." FP interrupted, concluding with a longing gaze that sent a warm sensation down her spine and butterflies in her stomach, but the moment was interrupted by a snide cough from Hal.

"Well thank you, for the gas station bouquet." Hal rudely stated, taking the flowers from FP before practically ushering him out of the door.

•••

As expected, the service for her Father in law was an emotional rollercoaster for the Cooper dynasty. There were tears, there were tantrums, there were heartfelt moments, but overall the experience left Alice with mixed and reserved emotions, and as guilty as she was for feeling this way, she couldn't wait to get out of there.

She couldn't remember ever being as anxious and filled with discomfort before as she calmly kept herself reserved and made her way down the family planning aisle of the chemist, her black kitten heels hitting the tile floor in a rhythm heard through the establishment, and it only made her feel more weary and exposed.

The boxes of tests practically stuck out like a sore thumb, ranging from many varieties such as speedy and convenient to professional and highly approved, but the qualities of the pregnancy tests and sizing up the pros and cons was the least of her worries, she just needed to simply know.

She had opted for the clear blue package, she recalled the commercials for the product and figured it would be the safest bet, along with picking up a few medical and toiletry supplies to mask the main item at the checkout and made her way home in the sleeting rain.

20 minutes later, she finally arrived to Elm street, parking her car in a hurry and racing to the front steps with an old newspaper over her head to protect her hair and the brown paper grocery bag in her arms, using her free hand to dig through her purse to retrieve her keys and finally making her way inside.

Thankfully, Hal seemed to be in bed and fast asleep already as she didn't see him waiting up for her in his armchair, the long day of burying his Father and dealing with gina Mother must've exhausted him.

She packed away the groceries as quickly as she could and tided the downstairs area before making her way up to bed.

Usually, she'd use the master bedroom for such an act, but she could risk waking Hal, not did she want him in near proximity as she waited for the results.

Carefully, she removed the packaging and slowly but nervously took the white stick out of the plastic, her eyes skimming over the instructions clearly before sitting down onto the toilet and proceeding.

She could've sworn the next three minutes were the longest of her life as she paced anxiously up and down and in circles along the tile bathroom floor, inhaling and exhaling deep breaths as she squashed her palms together repeatedly. Finally, the quiet beep on her cell phone timer sounded off, and in a flash she retrieved the white stick from the sink counter edge and turning it over, only for her heart to sink and her breath to hitch in her throat at the sight of two very vivid pink lines.