Her Baby Secret (Friends & Lovers Book 1) (8 page)

“If she's suffering as much as I am, why won't she even talk to me?” Devin ran a hand through his hair.

“She told me you rejected her and you wanted the relationship to be over.”

“You spoke to her?”

Javy nodded. “You dumped her. It's going to take time to get her back. Women have their pride too. But I know she loves you.”

“Yeah,” Devin agreed, allowing a half smile to curve his lips, “Yeah, she loves me.”

“I knew you were crazy about her for years,” Javy said, “But when I realized you and her were messing around I thought it was just about sex. I thought I was going to have to hurt you.”

They laughed for a minute before getting serious.

“She's always been special,” Devin admitted. “But I had a lot of growing up to do. And she did too.”

“You two will work it out,” Javy said. “Maybe you should wait until after Christmas, when there aren't so many people around who might hear something they shouldn't.”

“I can't,” Devin said. “I can't even sleep. I have to fix all this.”

“Well...” His brother rubbed a hand over his jaw, deep in thought. “If she wasn't hurting so much she'd be just as eager as you. Hell, she
is
just as eager as you are. But my bet is, she's just scared.”

“Scared?” Devin asked, puzzled. “Scared of me?”

“You did dump her, bro.” Javy's voice was mildly sarcastic. “She said she didn't even know why.”

“I did it because I thought that's what she wanted,” Devin said, that same old frustration roaring inside him. “When a woman sends me signals, I don't ignore them.”

Javy was frowning. “She thinks it's all you and you think it's all because of her. What the hell happened?”

Devin wished he knew but he felt so confused himself. But he would not give up on Robyn as easily as he had the first time. No, before this night was over they would fix everything between them. That's the promise he made to himself.

Robyn sat at the long dining room table in the elegant dining room, sipping lemon water in an effort to combat the queasiness. Everyone was stuffing their faces and talking and laughing. Perhaps if she didn't feel so grossed out, she'd be interested in making conversation.

Her parents had made several items for breakfast but the only thing she'd managed to have was a plain croissant and some fruit. She'd raid the kitchen later and see if anything else appealed to her.

Peyton, seated to her left, nudged her with her elbow. Robyn stared at her sister and raised her eyebrows.

“Are you okay?” Peyton asked. “You've barely touched your food.”

“Yes, I'm alright,” Robyn answered, lifting her glass and taking a sip.

Keith, Peyton's husband, leaned over and whispered something in his wife's ear, prompting Peyton to laugh and run a finger across his chin and lip. Robyn looked away from their small sign of intimacy, a pang of longing filling her heart.

Elena stood up at the table and clapped her hands, waiting for the conversations to come to a stop.

“Everyone, I have something to say,” She said, her Spanish accent filled with an almost musical lilt.

Devin mumbled something in Spanish to his grandmother that Robyn couldn't hear and Elena laughed.

“We will be welcoming two new babies,” Elena said, causing a few gasps and then absolute quiet.

Robyn's heart instantly began to thump and she wondered if they could all hear it. She counted as she inhaled and exhaled, trying to keep control of herself. She'd heard stories about Elena's power of detecting pregnancy but it seemed to only work with her family.

Marjorie and Angelica spoke excitedly to each other about new grandchildren coming along and then they both looked expectantly at Peyton.

“It's not me,” Peyton said with a laugh. “Whitney's enough for us to handle!”

That brought a few giggles.

Elena went on, “I won't reveal who is pregnant. I'm sure they will come forward when they feel ready. But I must say, these children will be loved and cherished by all. God bless these precious children.”

“It's me!” Elizabeth suddenly gushed, putting both of her hands over her mouth as if she couldn't believe she'd said it. “I'm having a baby!”

Instantly, everyone erupted. Angelica began to cry happy tears while Jared beamed. Everyone congratulated Javier and Elizabeth. Elizabeth began to cry. It was happy chaos and Robyn felt tears fill her own eyes, wanting badly to confess. But her pounding heart told her she wasn't ready and she wanted to escape to her room as soon as possible.

Once it was established that Elizabeth was not having twins, the questions began.

“Who else is it?” Keith said, when everyone began to quiet down.

“Is it you, Grace?” Peyton asked, her tone teasing.

“Hell no!” Grace denied loudly. “Never!”

Robyn forced a laugh but she was on edge. At any moment, they'd start looking closely at who else it could be and then all hell would break loose.

“It has to be either Robyn or Ines,” Grace said, sticking her tongue out at her older sister, who glared at her.

Robyn felt like she was going to be seriously ill at the table. She felt all eyes go from her to Ines, who remained quiet as well.

Enrique, to his credit, remained composed, nonchalantly sipping coffee. Angelica and Elena whispered furiously to each other.

Robyn's gaze met Ines' and she wondered how the hell she would get out of this situation.

“I think Abuela might be off on this one,” Ines said, folding her hands on the table. “Unless Elizabeth is having twins, there's only one baby. And since we know it's not twins...”

“I am not wrong!” Elena declared, rolling her eyes. “I am never wrong. There are two unborn babies in this room.”

“It's okay, Mami,” Angelica said, smiling behind her hand.

Elena muttered to Ines in Spanish, making Ines smirk at her grandmother until Elena walked around the table and swatted her on the arm.

“I'm headed outside to shovel some of this snow,” Quintin said, standing up and leaving the table. And just that quickly, it was over. Disaster averted.

After the remnants of breakfast had been cleaned and put away, Robyn escaped to her room as quickly as possible. She shoved a mint into her mouth and called Emerald, telling her about the events that had occurred. She still felt shaky from almost being found out. She was going to be the first one out the door the following morning, maybe even that night if the roads were cleared up enough.

Emerald threatened Devin with violence and told Robyn that she just might kick him in the balls when she saw him. And she told Robyn to just tell her family about the baby.

“If you just come clean,” Emerald said, “It will relieve a lot of stress. And your parents are not going to be mad at you. They love you and they're proud of you. They just want you to be happy.”

“I'm going to tell them eventually,” Robyn whispered. “I can't handle this right now...”

“Aw, honey, it's going to be just fine...”

A knock sounded at the door and Grace walked in, a huge grin on her face.

“I have to go, Emmy,” Robyn said, a small sigh escaping her. “Grace just came in.”

“Call me later,” Emerald said, “I mean it. And tell Grace I said Merry Christmas.”

“Okay,” Robyn said, “Talk to you later.”

Once Robyn hung up the phone, she put it on the bedside table and clicked the TV on.

“What's up, Grace?” She asked, remembering that Grace had wanted to talk to her.

“I know about you and Devin,” Grace said bluntly, making Robyn's jaw drop.

She'd suspected that Grace knew her secret but hearing her say it so plainly still filled her with dismay.

“So much for secrets!” Robyn said, falling back on the bed and pulling her pillow over her head.

“So it's true?” Grace demanded, her voice rising.

“Is what true?” Robyn pushed the pillow to the side and slowly sat up. “You just said you know...so what are you asking me?”

“I saw Devin leaving your room last night,” Grace said. “He looked very happy.
Very happy
,” Grace said, drawing the two words out.

“He came to talk,” Robyn said. “It was no big deal.”

“No way,” Grace scoffed. “There's no way my brother looked that happy after just talking. And it was really late. He waited for everyone to go to bed so he could sneak into your room without us knowing. Why are you guys keeping this a secret? We're about to be sisters-in-law!”

“Grace, slow down!” Robyn couldn't help but laugh at her friends' excitement. “There won't be any weddings or anything like that.”

“But I know what I saw...unless,” Grace frowned. “Oh my god, I'm going to kick his ass! He's just
fucking
you?”

Devin was two years older than both her and Grace, and a hell of a lot taller and bigger. Robyn couldn't see Grace inflicting any pain on him no matter how hard she tried.

“Lower your voice!” Robyn said through gritted teeth. “Damn!”

“I can't believe this...my own brother...” Grace was shaking her head. “Just wait until I see him!”

“Grace, I'm grown. I wouldn't do anything I didn't want to do,” Robyn said, putting a hand over her eyes. This had exploded in her face in more ways than one and there were still so many hours left in the day.

“But...”

“We're not even together anymore,” Robyn rushed to say. “It's been over since October.”

“You two were friends with benefits?” Grace looked so disappointed that Robyn wanted to cry for letting her friend down. “And what was he doing in your room last night?”

“We liked each other,” Robyn said, the sadness creeping up. “We wanted to tell everyone...when the time was right... But it didn't last anyway and there was nothing to tell. As for last night, he came to talk.”

“I don't get it,” Grace said. “What went wrong?”

“I honestly don't know and I'm so tired of talking about it.”

“So does everyone know? And no one told me?”

“No. Javy knows and I'm pretty sure he's told Elizabeth... Peyton knows now too.”

“So why not just come clean?” Grace asked.

“We're not even together anymore,” Robyn said forcefully. “There's nothing to
come clean
about.”

There was her baby, but she was much too frazzled to bring that up after Grace's reaction to finding out about her and Devin.

“I feel so sad,” Grace said, sitting on the bed with Robyn and hugging her. “I was so excited about you and Devin being together. You've been half in love with him since we were in high school.”

“I was not!” Robyn denied, mortified that she'd been so obvious.

“You were!” Grace said matter-of-factly. “But of course you were. All the girls wanted my brothers. But it was different with you. I knew that you would be great for him. I knew you had real feelings for him.”

“Well,” Robyn said, swallowing several times before continuing, “It didn't work out.”

And she was afraid that she'd never get over it. Her heart felt like it would be broken forever.

Chapter Seven

Devin didn't care that some people hadn't shoveled and that many of the streets were covered in almost two feet of snow. He had to get out. He'd been cooped up in the house for twenty-four hours. That, combined with his stressing over Robyn, made him eager to get out. In only sweatpants, a sweatshirt and sneakers, he left the house, stretching for a few minutes before taking off running.

He had a gym in his condo. He loved having his own personal gym, not having to wait for a turn to use equipment. He sometimes worked long hours so the home gym was convenient. He liked being active so he put the gym to good use.

He ran at a fast pace, trying to stick to shoveled areas. When he came to snowy patches, he slowed down and made his way through. After running for several blocks, he was covered in sweat, breathing the cold air in deeply. He felt calmer, his mind a little clearer, and he smiled.

He couldn't wait to get Robyn alone and talk to her. He felt strongly that once she heard him out, once they finally talked, they could start their relationship again. He was overanxious to talk to her. He'd been trying to get close to her all day but she – or he – was constantly with someone. By the time he'd finished talking to his brother that morning, Robyn was already at breakfast. After breakfast, he planned to follow her to her room but he'd gotten caught up talking to his brother again, along with his sister-in-law, about the news of their new baby. When he was done with them, Robyn had been in her room with Grace. Once Grace had come back to the living room, he'd thought that was his chance to talk to Robyn but Peyton had taken Whitney “to go play with Auntie”. He'd sat on the couch, trying to pretend to be interested in the endless stream of Christmas movies that the family insisted on playing.

When Ines said that she was going up to Robyn's room, the frustration began to eat at him and he decided he needed to get the hell out of the house for awhile. He began running back to the house, his legs and arms burning from his run. He needed to shower, which would make him a little late for lunch, but he knew no one would care. Everybody was so wrapped up in Elizabeth being pregnant that that was just about all they talked about.

He was so happy about being an uncle. His brother was going to be a father. It was almost too much to take in. And if Abuela was to be believed, there was another baby as well. Peyton and Grace said it wasn't them. He'd felt a leap of panicked worry, thinking Robyn might be pregnant. But she would have told him if she was. So did that mean Ines was pregnant? Unless Peyton or Grace was lying?

Grace liked her freedom too much. He really couldn't see his little sister having a baby anytime soon. She was always flying out of state, and sometimes out of the country, working on photo shoots for magazines. She freelanced for three different magazines and she loved it.

His cell phone rang in his pocket and he took it out, looking at the small screen and seeing Casey's flashing name. He and she hadn't had an actual conversation since their talk at the restaurant. When they'd seen each other in the office, they'd just managed to say hello or goodbye. He thought about not answering the phone but he owed her more than that.

“Hello,” He said, out of breath, stopping in front of the Phillips house.

“Devin?” Casey asked hesitantly. “How are you? Merry Christmas.”

“Merry Christmas, Casey,” He replied, stretching his legs while he held the phone in his hand.

“How's the family?” Casey asked, her voice unnaturally bright.

“Everyone's good,” Devin said, “No. Everyone's great. Elizabeth's pregnant.”

“Wow,” Casey exclaimed. “That's awesome! Tell her I said congratulations.”

“I will.” He smiled, imagining his brother playing with a cute little baby. “So what's up?”

“Nothing much...I just... I wanted to call and say hi.... Are we still friends?” The doubt in her voice made him feel like an asshole.

“I don't think we should be,” He said slowly. “If you have these...feelings for me, then us being friends isn't a good idea.”

“I know,” Her voice was so low that he could barely hear her. “But I don't care if we can't get together. I really don't. We can just be friends.”

“It's not a good idea, Casey.” He closed his eyes, shaking his head.

“I don't want you to shut me out,” Casey said, sniffling. “You're my only friend.”

But he suspected she'd only been his friend for so long because she'd secretly hoped for something more. And he'd never feel that way about her. He could only see her as a friend and had only ever seen her as a friend.

“You're going to have to meet some new friends,” Devin said, his tone firm. “I care about you, Casey. I truly do. But this isn't healthy and we both need to move on.”

“B-but, Dev-”

“That's how it has to be, Casey. I'm sorry.”

She didn't reply. He could hear her crying on the other end.

“Take care, Casey.” He hung up the phone, the bitter sting of regret making him feel hollow inside. He didn't know how he was going to handle seeing her at work. He was going to do his best to make sure that they remained professional. He already felt bad enough that Casey's feelings were hurt. He didn't want to do anymore damage.

Her head was throbbing. Robyn willed the headache away but of course it just seemed to get worse. She'd pulled the shades down and closed the curtains. The lights were off and she'd taken a couple of acetaminophen tablets. She knew the pills probably wouldn't help. Normally, when she got a migraine, she'd take four pills. But since she worried about the safety of the baby, she wasn't even slightly tempted to take that many.

A knock sounded at her door and she called out, “Come in.”

She'd had a lot of company that day, which she ordinarily would have enjoyed. Of course when she needed alone time it was nowhere to be found.

Marjorie entered the dim room, quietly closing the door behind her. Frowning, she walked to where Robyn lay on the bed.

“Why didn't you come down for lunch?” Her mother asked, sitting on the edge of the bed.

“I have a massive headache,” Robyn said, “I took medicine but they haven't kicked in yet.”

Marjorie nodded a little and stared at Robyn for several quiet seconds. Robyn closed her eyes, her temples throbbing ruthlessly.

“It's you, isn't it?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Elena said someone else is pregnant,” Marjorie said, her voice very low. Robyn opened her eyes, her heart leaping within her chest. “It's you, isn't it?”

She couldn't lie to her mother again, not after the tutoring for Christmas lie and not after all these hours of hiding her pregnancy and her relationship with Devin.

“Yes,” Robyn confessed, her eyes filling with tears. “Yes, I am. Mom, I'm s-s-sorry,” She ended on a wail. Her own sobs made her head ache even more.

Marjorie pulled Robyn up and into her arms as if she was a child. Robyn cried helplessly while her mother gently held her. She was sure, if her head wasn't pounding, that she would feel some kind of relief. But all she felt was sadness for lying to her mother and hiding secrets from everyone. Sadness that Devin hadn't been a part of her pregnancy and wasn't going to be.

When her sobs had subsided and she'd cleaned up her face, she lay on the bed feeling weak. Her throat felt raw.

“You have nothing to be sorry for,” Marjorie said at last, tears in her own eyes.

“I feel like I've let you and Dad down.” Robyn's voice cracked. “I know you want more for me...”

“You're a wonderful teacher who is well loved by her students. You've made a great life for yourself. That's all we have ever wanted for you. You have not let us down.”

“You told Dad?”

Marjorie nodded, smiling. “I told him that I suspected... He's dying to come in here with us but I told him I didn't want you to feel like we were ganging up on you. He's excited.”

Robyn allowed herself to smile, a huge weight lifting off of her. Her parents didn't hate her and weren't upset with her.

“I
knew
something was going on,” Marjorie said, a hand on Robyn's arm. “I wish you would have told me sooner. I hate knowing that you felt so alone.”

“I didn't tell anyone,” Robyn said, body still trembling from all the tears and strain. “I only told Emerald. And Ines figured it out this morning when she heard me in the bathroom.”

“She didn't let on... No wonder you two stared at each other when we were talking about who could be pregnant... But honestly, that's when I started thinking it was you. And my morning sickness was awful with both you and your sister.”

Robyn remembered when Peyton was pregnant. She'd had bad morning sickness too, even worse than Robyn. Peyton would puke all day long.

Marjorie stood up and began to pace the room. Trying to watch her mother pace made her head feel worse so she closed her eyes.

“I'm so excited,” Marjorie exclaimed in a hushed tone. “I'm going to be a grandma again! How far along are you?”

“I'm eleven weeks,” Robyn answered. “I'm due on July 15
th
.”

“A summer baby!” Marjorie sung from across the room. “I can't wait to tell everyone the great news!”

“Mom, please don't,” Robyn said quickly, opening her eyes, her nerves jumping to attention again. If everyone found out she was pregnant, Devin would definitely figure out that he was the father. And that's not how she wanted to break the news to him. She didn't even know
how
or when
she would tell him. She'd been so focused on her broken heart and on her parents' reaction to her pregnancy, and on keeping her secrets, that she hadn't even really considered how to tell Devin.

“I was so scared to tell you and Daddy,” Robyn admitted. “I felt like a high school kid again. I'm so happy that you two aren't angry with me. But I'm not ready for anyone else to know yet. Please.”

Marjorie was frowning. She walked back to the bed and sat down again.

“Okay, honey, but a lot of people know already. Your father and I know. Ines knows. And Elena knows, of course.”

Robyn had been trying to avoid Devin's grandmother once it became clear that she had detected Robyn's pregnancy. Elena seemed intent on keeping quiet about Robyn being pregnant but Robyn didn't want to risk her saying or doing something suspicious.

“The less people who know, the better,” Robyn said. “Please, Mom.”

“Of course,” Marjorie said, looking almost somber. “But let me know when I can tell everyone because I can barely contain myself!”

Robyn's head hurt too much to laugh but she gave her mother a beatific smile. Her mother left a couple of minutes later after asking Robyn what she wanted to try eating. Robyn turned over onto her side, hardly believing that her parents knew about the baby and that everything was okay. More than okay. Her parents were happy about the baby.

For once happy tears filled her eyes. She wiped them away thinking of the hurdles that she had yet to get over. Telling Devin, along with his and his parents' reactions. But she figured that could probably wait awhile longer. There was only so much she wanted to deal with at once.

Devin entered the dining room to see his mother clearing the table.

“Come eat,” Angelica said. She immediately began loading food on a plate for him. He took the plate and went to the living room.

He discreetly looked around for Robyn but she wasn't in the room. Ignoring the disappointment that he felt, he ate his lunch, observing his family and close friends. Javy and Elizabeth were cuddled together on the loveseat while she spoke on the phone to her parents. The roads hadn't been cleared enough for travel so a phone call would have to be enough.

His dad and Quintin sat at a small table in the corner playing a card game. Peyton and Whitney were doing a doll's hair while Keith typed on a laptop. Grace was polishing her nails. Ines and Enrique were talking in very quiet tones, sitting on the other couch. His brother-in-law had been a little sad that morning because of the snow keeping him from his family but he'd cheered up somewhat.

Marjorie entered the living room and asked, “Where's Elena?”

“In the kitchen,” Grace replied, blowing on her fingernails. “How's Robyn?”

“Bad migraine,” Marjorie replied, looking kind of red in the face. “I'm going to ask Elena to make her something. Those pills aren't helping.”

Devin forced himself not to show a visible reaction but he became very worried. Robyn had obviously lost a lot of weight since they broke up. And now she had a migraine. She'd suffered from migraines since they were kids. She'd had severe ones a few times that had caused her to miss school.

“I'm going to go check on my baby girl,” Quintin said, standing up. He told Jared, “I'll be back in a few minutes.”

Quintin and Marjorie both walked out of the living room.

“Poor Robyn,” Grace said, giving Devin a strange look, her eyebrows raised. “That migraine hit her pretty fast.”

Devin put his fork down and stared at his sister. What was that look all about?

Grace got up and came to sit next to him.

“A good boyfriend would check on his lady,” She whispered in his ear, winking at him.