[ONESHOT] 

@nadine had started to behave differently a few days after he had publicly proposed to her. At first Aldrich hadn't made much of it, but it was starting to get to him. He wondered if he had done something wrong by giving her the ring in public. They had agreed on getting married in private and he had told her he would get her a ring. Maybe he should have given it to her in the privacy of his house, but that also didn't make sense. She wanted to become public. She didn't want to be his little secret, and neither did he. Nadine had seemed eager to let the whole world know just how in love she was with him. 

He then wondered if she had run into Grayson, and after thinking about it for two days, Aldrich had reached out to his brother to ask him about it. It was still a very touchy subject. He hadn't forgiven his brother for sleeping with Nadine while he was deployed, even though his brother hadn't known that Aldrich had been involved with Nadine at that time. But it was a dead end. Grayson hadn't seen or talked to Nadine and he knew his brother was telling the truth. 

Nadine would start to come home after Aldrich was already asleep, or she would stay in the barracks at the palace. She turned down every request to talk and would say that everything was fine. It was truly starting to drive the lieutenant crazy. He was already working a lot more than before Woodwick had left for Cambria, so this odd situation with his fiancée was something that worsened how stressed out he was. 

But then, five days after the Spring Festival, Aldrich returned home to a letter on the kitchen table. 

My dear Aldie,

I am sorry. I can't do this. Moloch won't let me. I know I said that I had told you everything there is to know about him and the day I summoned him, but I lied. In order to summon him, I had to give him our child. I am sorry for keeping it a secret, but I was pregnant with your child. I did what I thought was best to save everyone but instead I gave up everything that ever mattered. People lost their lives, and so did our baby. 

I couldn't marry you without telling you, but I also couldn't marry you if you knew the truth. I need to accept the consequences of my actions, and I need to leave. 

Don't look for me, you won't find me. I love you and I'm sorry. 

Yours forever, 

Nadine

Aldrich had to read the letter over and over again to register what it meant. He had found happiness and just like that it had been ripped away from him again. Was this a sick joke? Was there a curse on him? Apart from losing Nadine, it now turned out that he had also lost a child he had never known about. 

So Aldrich did the only reasonable thing he could think of: grab a bottle of whiskey and drink.