Goodbye

23

"What do you mean it was awful?!" Pippa frowned at Steven. He shrugged and put the box back on the counter.

"It just is." He shrugged while walking to the trash to spit out the food.

"I like them..." Pippa frowned while taking another cracker out of the box and eating it.

"They're awful. Stop eating them. Who wants to eat those anyway!?" He asked while reading the label on the box. "Seriously Pip. Stop. They can't be good for you." He frowned.

"I don't care if they're good for me. I want them!" She pleaded. He held the box above his head and smirked. "Please Steve! I need them!"

"Why?! You shouldn't be eating this on a performing diet anyway." He laughed.

"Oh psh." She frowned. "Fine. But I'm gonna be unhappy." She pouted. Steve rolled his eyes and gave her back the box of disgusting tasting vegetable crackers. He normally liked vegetable crackers, but these were just abnormally awful. He watched her inhale the box of crackers and just laughed.

"I love you." He smiled.

"I love you too." She laughed.

===

"Will I be good to keep going at least half of the time...?" Lin frowned at his doctor. He knew that doing eight shows a week was going to seriously dig him a huge hole, but he did it for the fans.

"I would go on as an understudy." His doctor frowned. "Maybe two shows a week tops... I wouldn't push yourself this far." He explained.

"I can't let everyone down... I just can't." Lin sighed.

"You won't. Dave and Pippa will understand." Vanessa whispered. She placed a hand on his arm, hoping he would relax.

"I hope so..." he sighed.

When the Miranda family got back to the house, Lin looked down at his dufflebag. It was ready and packed for the night's show.

"I'll text Rodger and let him know to have my understudy go on for me tonight." He said to Vanessa. She nodded once, knowing it was going to kill him not performing anymore. But she wanted him home more.

"Good." She said quietly. She watched Lin send the quick text and hoped, just hoped he wouldn't go in tomorrow. She wanted to spend as much time with him as possible.

===

"Bad news! Lin isn't showing tonight, good news though! Tyler gets to do his debut tonight!" Rodger smiled while clapping his hands together. A younger man smiled nervously while looking at everyone.

"What happened to Lin?" Tyrese whispered to Pip. Once he looked down, he saw her phone in her hands texting him already. "Look at you go." He chuckled.

"He told me this would happen..." She frowned.

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"I'll tell you later. When not a lot of people are around..." She whispered. Tyrese was beginning to be a great friend to Pippa. Him and his husband were. She loved that she was able to have a great bond with him instead of having an awkward one.

"Alright." He shrugged. He knew not to push Pippa. Both of them had a very long conversation before previews, both of them instantly clicking into a great friendship.

===

"The show is doing well tonight. Everyone loves Tyler just as much as me." Lin smiled while looking at his phone. Vanessa looked at him, thinking that he was completely obsessed with his own show once again.

"You should put the phone away." She laughed. "Your show will do fine even if you weren't in it." She laughed at him. "Things will be okay." She whispered.

"How do you know they will though? What if they never be okay?" Lin frowned. He had so many questions. So many answers he demanded.

"Because that's what I keep telling myself right now. I can't function on anything else. I've been distracting myself with work and the kids just to make my life a little easier. Trying to force the negative thoughts out of my head. But I can't do that anymore..." she was crying by this point. Revealing everything that had been bottled up for months now. She was afraid, just like him. She didn't want anyone to die or be this depressed. But that was how life wanted to play out for them.

"I'm guessing that me doing the eight shows a week... wasn't helping either." He frowned.

"It did. But it didn't." She answered. "I felt like everything was normal. Everyone was going to be okay. But at the same time, I felt like you were hiding from it all. Drowning yourself in work just so you wouldn't have to think about it." She sighed. "I just want you home." She whispered. Lin looked into his wife's eyes and saw how distraught she was.

"I promise I'll stay home. Just let me have a proper goodbye." He whispered. He said while putting his arms around her for a hug.

"Of course." She sniffed, enjoying the warm embrace.

===

"What are you talking about?" Steve and Pippa gasped at the doctor.

"I'm saying you've been pregnant for a while now. You haven't had any symptoms?" The doctor chuckled.

"I haven't..." Pippa frowned. "I just thought that after the show stress and everything else, my period was just all sorts of messed up." She shrugged while looking at Steven.

"When was the last time you remember having a period?" She asked her.

"Ahh..." Pippa frowned, trying to remember when she did sacrifice her uterus to Satan. "I think... Before previews... Maybe.. four months ago?" She shrugged. The doctor nodded, writing the information down on her chart. "Does that mean I'm..."

"We'll run some tests tomorrow, make sure everything is correct and do an estimation on how far along you really are. So, congrats!" Their doctor smiled.