by Eveh
Lacey had learned a very important lesson; never give a woman who is pregnant and has already been under the threat of miscarriage more stress than she already has. Logically she knew that Tamera's great misfortune wasn't entirely her fault, but logic often wasn't powerful enough to overrule the guilty ramblings of the mind and conscience. She had only brought more tragedy to the woman's life and that was not her intent at all. She wanted to make things better. She wanted to help in the only way she knew how.
Things had not been getting better, they had been getting progressively worse so Lacey had decided to take action and for every action there is a reaction. This lesson had not been lost on Lacey in the past and was not lost on her now. Her actions caused a very violent reaction and she could do nothing to take back her own actions.
Kelli had supported what Lacey had done. She had stood by her side through it all saying that Lacey was the strongest of any of them for actually taking a chance-- because Lacey did indeed take a huge chance. She had knowingly chanced losing her best friend by just demanding that said friend come clean and admit to her sins. Lacey wasn't Catholic but she knew that confession did have it's merits. Sometimes there was only one way to cleanse the soul and Lacey had hoped she was guiding her friend in the right direction-- a direction that would eventually set her friend free.
Unfortunately or maybe fortunately, Morgan had never gotten a chance to confess and neither had Tamera. Lacey had said she would give them a week until she told anybody about their relationship, but it only took them three days to make her ultimatum completely inappropriate to follow through on. Only three days later Tamera had suffered the very horrible loss of a child.
Tragedy had struck and Lacey could blame no one but herself, she didn't even have the mind to curse the Divine on the matter. God? What does God have to do with anything? Fate? Is there even such a thing? Chance? That was even a more obtuse concept than fate. No. The entire fault of the matter landed square on Lacey's shoulders because the doctor had said that the miscarriage was most likely caused by stress.
Who was the person that added more stress to the already very stressful situation? It hadn't been Morgan. Morgan was willing to do whatever made Tamera happy. She was always willing to do whatever Tamera wanted. It hadn't been Kelli because Kelli, even though she talked big, wasn't going to actually do anything about the situation. She would just sit back and watch what would happen next. Ultimately, Kelli didn't have the courage to do anything except watch.
Often those with courage suffer more than most individuals realize. That one moment spent in the shining light of what they have done fades and they are left with only a memory that holds no true value, unless that courage had incited great change. Lacey's courage incited nothing of importance. Her courage did nothing that warranted even the slightest mention in history books, and her courage had played in the role of a life never getting the chance to mature. Sometimes having courage meant nothing.
"Has Morgan contacted you yet?" Kelli walked into Lacey's bedroom and lay down beside her somber girlfriend.
Lacey shook her head. "I haven't talked to her since she called to tell me that Tamera lost the baby and that it was all my fault."
"Darlin' I'm sure that she really doesn't blame you. She was probably very upset at the time. It's like she lost her own baby, you know." Kelli reached out and took Lacey's hand. "I think she'll come around."
Lacey drew their joined hands closer to her and studied them carefully. She was intrigued by how her dark skin looked against that of Kelli's soft brown. "Have I ever told you how surprised I am that we are actually together now?"
Kelli looked at Lacey strangely but accepted the change of topics. "Darlin' we've been together for a while." She turned onto her side and propped her head up with her free hand. "But you haven't told me this, no."
Lacey mimicked Kelli's movement and propped her head up. "Well I am. If you had told me just six months ago that I'd actually commit myself to this relationship then I would have laughed."
The brunette smirked, "Should I be offended?"
"No," Lacey chuckled, "you should be impressed of how far we've come. I never would have imagined that I'd want to spend my life with a woman who when I first met her told me that I had the comprehension of an amoeba and shouldn't be allowed within a thirty mile radius of any teaching facility."
Kelli bent her head ashamed for her initial behavior when they had first met. In her defense she had been having a bad day. "Didn't I apologize for that after you bought me lunch?"
"I always thought the apology came from ulterior motives," Lacey raised her brow, "I just thought you wanted to keep your job. You really should have known better than to speak to the Dean's daughter that way."
"I didn't know," Kelli shrieked. "How was I to know that you were the all mighty Dean's daughter? You don't look a thing like him."
"Because he's white." Lacey stated easily. "And I'm adopted. But he's still my father and man did you hate him."
"No comment."
"You both adore each other now, don't pretend you don't," Lacey teased.
"Again, no comment. Was there a reason why you brought this up?"
"Honey, I always have a reason to bring things up."
"Yes well that's true. I guess I should ask whether or not you're going to get to your point soon."
"That would be the better question yes."
"Well are you?"
"We've come a long ways since those days and no one had to push us along. We took our time and things worked out for themselves." Lacey's voice was almost a whisper. "I keep on asking myself why I didn't give Morgan and Tamera that same chance. Why did I need to push them along?"
Kelli could easily see that Lacey was holding back the tears from her beautiful gray eyes. "Oh darlin' you did and nothing was happening. Things just kept on getting worse."
"I meddled in something that wasn't my business. I made the wrong choice and now my best friend hates me and Tamera and Nathan lost their baby girl."
"Darlin'," Kelli's heart was breaking, "I don't know what I can tell you that will convince you that this isn't your fault. Maybe it's for the best in the long run that Tamera didn't have the baby now. I mean can you imagine a baby being brought into her world now?"
"Tamera would make an excellent mother and so would Morgan."
"And that's the problem right there, Lacey." Kelli hurried to respond. "Morgan wasn't the other mother of that baby. She wanted to be and Tamera wanted her to be, but she wasn't. It wasn't meant to be that way."
Lacey snorted. "You're not going to talk to me about fate again are you?"
"I don't know why you dismiss these things so easily. How we met, that was fate. I find it so hard to understand that you don't see that."
"I'm a scientist, honey. Fate hasn't been proven in a lab yet so I can't believe it," Lacey responded only semi-seriously.
Kelli rolled her eyes. "You'd think that after being with me for so long you wouldn't hide so tightly to your scientific method."
"Yeah, but you love me anyway."
"That's true. I just can't seem to help myself."
"It must be fate then." Lacey smiled brightly at the incredulous look on Kelli's face. "What? So you've convinced me. We were fated to work out and Tamera and Morgan aren't. It's sad really. Why do we work and they don't?"
Kelli shrugged. "They have more complications then we did. I was never married to your brother."
Before Lacey could respond the telephone on the nightstand rang. Lacey didn't bother to disentangle her hand from Kelli's she only scooted over towards the end of the bed bringing Kelli with her.
"Hello."
"I don't hate you."
Lacey was only mildly surprised to hear Morgan's voice. "I'm glad to hear that."
"It was just easier to blame you. I need someone to blame." Morgan's voice sounded distraught.
"Well if you're not blaming me anymore then who are you blaming now?"
"I've worked my way up to God."
"I guess that's as good a choice as any. So how is Tamera doing?"
"She could use some friends right now. Some real friends and honestly so could I. It's been kind of difficult for me to just sit around my family and watch them give all their support to Nathan. No one understands."
"How is Nathan doing?"
"He's trying to remain strong for Tam. I think he's going to make it."
"He's a strong man. So what's going to happen after this?"
"I don't know." There was a heavy silence that fell over them both. "Would you come to the hospital? I'd like you by my side now."
"Will Tamera mind me being there?"
"Like I said, she could use some friends. No one here really understands."
"Still, she doesn't hate me?"
"She never blamed you, only I did. But I'm over that now. Like I said, I'm blaming God now."
"We'll be there as soon as we can."
"We?"
"Where I go so goes Kelli," Lacey said this while staring into her girlfriend's vivid brown eyes. Kelli smiled back at her and leaned up to give her a light kiss on her neck.
"She doesn't hate me for blaming you? I did say some pretty nasty stuff."
"No. She understands."
"Okay. So I guess I'll see you both real soon."
"We'll be there. Do you need anything?"
"Only by best friend at my side. I could use some sanity right about now."
"Okay. One dose of sanity is on the way. Take care of yourself until we get there, Morgan, and just know that we love you and Tamera very much."
"Thanks." Morgan's voice was rough. "We love you too. Just hurry over here okay?"
"Alright. Bye sweetie." Lacey hung up the phone.
"So we're going to the hospital?" Kelli asked from her position atop Lacey.
"They need people who understand."
"I can understand that." Kelli nodded. "So what happens next?"
Lacey sighed. "The hell if I know."
The End.
Continued In Taking Chances