3. Destiny

       As I watched my three children run around the living room, I couldn't help but have a small smile on my face, though part of my was feeling heartbroken. I had no idea what I was going to do about this.

       The front door opened and my husband walked in, carrying a tray of milkshakes. After six years of owning the 50's diner, I would have thought we would have gotten tired of having milkshakes all the time. That, apparently, wasn't the case.

       "Dad!" Anastasia said, running over to Dan and wrapping her arms around him. "Did you bring a milkshake for me?"

       "Of course I did," Dan said, handing Anastasia her chocolate milkshake. "Did you really think I'd bring milkshakes home for all my children and not you?"

       Ace immediately frowned. "Aw, so I don't get one?"

       "What makes you think that?" Dan asked.

       "You said all your children," Ace said. "I'm technically not your child."

       Dan rolled his eyes and handed Ace his milkshake. "You're my stepson, Ace. That still counts."

       After Dan gave Harry his milkshake, he sat down on the couch beside me. "Are you okay?" he asked in a quiet voice.

       "Yeah," I said. "Yeah, of course. What makes you think otherwise?"

       "We've been together for six years, Destiny," Dan said. "I can tell when something's bothering you, and it's not like you've been acting like this only today. You've been different for the past couple days, and I want to know what's going on."

       I sighed, and didn't say anything mainly because our children were in the room. Dan must have known them being in the room was why I wasn't saying anything, because he asked Anastasia if she could take Ace to the playroom because he and I had to talk.

       "How come Harry gets to stay?" Anastasia asked.

       "He's two, and he can't eavesdrop," Dan said. "Now go, please, before I take your milkshakes away."

       Taking any food or drink away from Anastasia was a huge threat to her, so she quickly led Ace into the playroom so she wouldn't lose her milkshake.

       "So, are you going to tell me what's wrong?" Dan asked. I didn't reply. I just looked down. "Des, come on. I'm your husband. You know you can trust me with anything, and I really don't like seeing you like this."

       "Dan, I..." I had to take a deep breath before saying it. "I'm pregnant again."

       "You are?" Dan asked and I nodded, so Dan pulled me into a hug.

       I loved kids a whole lot, and I've always wanted a big family, but I didn't no if I could deal with it this time. I wanted Harry to be our last kid, and Dan and I were also so careful.

       I guess you could never be too careful.

       "I don't know what to do, Dan," I said. "Of course I want to keep it, but... I don't know if I can go through this again."

       "Destiny, it will be okay," Dan said. "Just because it happened once, it doesn't mean it will happen again. Besides, miscarriages, unfortunately, are common. They're not rare."

       "A miscarriage is one thing," I said. "But... I still had to give birth to her. We had to bury her right after. If that happens again..."

       "It won't," Dan said. 

       "You can't be too certain," I said. "Anything can happen."

       "You're right," Dan said. "And you can't be too certain that it will be another stillbirth. After all, anything can happen."

       I sighed and dug my face in my hands. "I know. I'm just scared."

       "I know," Dan said, pulling me into another hug. "Whatever happens, we'll go through it together. I'll never leave your side." He kissed the side of my head. "Now, how about we take our kids for a walk. I know how much you love the winter, so walking in the snow will definitely clear your mind and help you feel better."

       I smiled softly. "You're right." While I would still feel worried, I could definitely use the fresh air.

       It took a while to convince Anastasia to go for a walk in the snow, mainly because she already got her milkshake and didn't want to leave it behind, but she also didn't want to take it with her outside.

       Dan knew exactly how to convince her; by saying he would make her some popcorn when we got home.

       I helped get Harry ready to go for a walk in the snow while Dan helped Anastasia and Ace. Believe it or not, it was a lot easier getting a two year old ready than getting a five and six year old ready.

       After we were all ready, we left our house to walk around the village. What I really loved about Spruceworth in the winter time was all the lights strewn on the buildings, which looked especially beautiful in the night time.

       Harry really loved all the Christmas lights too. He always got so excited seeing them hanging on the buildings.

       While we were walking through the village, we ended up running into Calvin and Kenny. Well, not really. Ace saw them in the distance and said, "Dad!" before running over to Calvin and giving him a hug.

       "I see you're going for a walk too," Calvin said to Ace. 

       Ace nodded. "We all love the snow. Except Tasie. She's lame."

       "Uh, false," Anastasia said. "I love the snow. I just love food more and I had a milkshake."

       "Milkshakes are drinks," Ace pointed out, to which Anastasia responded by sticking out her tongue at her younger brother.

       "I can't wait for the drama to start unfolding," Calvin said.

       "What drama?" Dan asked.

       "Dan, come on, it's Christmas time in Spruceworth," Calvin said. "Surely there's some drama going around. Actually, I'm positive there is some going around. I know everything that's going on with everyone."

       "That's probably an overstatement," Dan said.

       "Overstatement?" Calvin said. "No way. There's so much drama waiting to unfold."

       Dan raised an eyebrow. "Okay, I get that you love drama, but there's no way you know what's going on with everyone."

       "Sure I do," Calvin said. "Josh has to choose between Cleo and Cassidy. If you ask me, I only think he's actually considering Cassidy because of their daughter. Cleo's his true love. There's also the fact that Ariella and Horatio have been arguing a lot for whatever reason. I think it's because he's been overworking. Then there's Julian who got an early acceptance into McGill University, but he's not sure if he wants to go because it's hard to separate from your twin. Ooh, then there's the fact that Destiny... I probably shouldn't say that."

       "If you were going to say what I think you are, how on earth did you find out?" I asked.

       "Like I said, I know everything," Calvin said. "Ooh, I forgot my personal favourite, the fact that Holden has a secret boyfriend that only Josh knows about. Well, and me, because everyone has a gay cousin and it's so obvious that it's Holden."

       "Aren't you the gay cousin?" Dan asked.

       "Yes, but then that means I don't have a gay cousin," Calvin said.

       "Wait, hold on, who is this secret boyfriend?" Ace asked. "I have to know for... drama purposes."

       "Yeah, me too," I said. Calvin made me obsessed with gossip and drama because of all the time I spent with him.

       "Sorry, no can do," Calvin said. "He's hiding it for a reason, and that being that his parents will probably kill him."

       "Why?" I asked. "I'm pretty sure they're supporters of the LGBT community."

       "Oh, no, not because Holden's gay," Calvin said. "Because of who his secret boyfriend is."

       "You really need to stop getting involved in drama," Kenny said. "And talking about it every chance you get."

       "Hey, at least I'm not saying who it is," Calvin said.

       "Well, yeah, but still," Kenny said. "Anyone could have passed by and heard you say that Holden is gay. He hasn't told anyone yet, so you shouldn't be announcing it too the world. It's not like Ariella was going around saying you're gay when she found out."

       "Please, everyone already knew," Calvin said.

       "That's true," Dan said. "He wasn't the best at hiding it."

       "I wasn't even trying to hide it," Calvin said. "Anyway, my lovely husband and I should get home. We need some rest if we're going to witness all the drama slowly unfold."

       "We're not going to witness th--" Kenny began, but Calvin cut him off.

       "You're not, but I am," Calvin said.

________________

Yes, Calvin, yes. Every single main character in this story is going to go through something, except for Calvin and Kenny. They've already been through enough, so they're just going to sit back and witness all the drama.

So Destiny's dialogue was the only one nobody was able to guess. I can see why, because her line ("I don't know if I can go through this again.") was very vague. Everyone else's had at least some sort of context to it to make it easy to guess, like Julian's.

I now have a lot of Holden and Shaw gifs, and I'm going to make a lot more when I wake up, so I shall post one right now:

I was going to make more not too long ago, but right as I was about to make one my internet shut off. -.-

Lol, and if you haven't noticed, I keep changing their gif in the character list of this book. Ooh, which reminds me, I have to add one to the cast list of Progress.