by Jaye Diane
He made it to the foyer and felt a hand touch his shoulder. He turned around and found his brother staring at him, a closed expression on his face.
“Can we talk for a minute?” Javy asked, crossing his arms over his chest.
“Nah, bro, now's not a good time.”
“Robyn's not going anywhere,” Javy said, surprising Devin. “She'll be right in her room. I just need to talk to you for a minute.”
Devin wanted to ask his brother what he knew about Robyn. Or what he thought he knew. But instead, he quietly followed him to Quintin's office and closed the door.
“What's up?” Devin asked. “Is everything okay?”
“I wanted to make sure you're okay,” Javy said, “After all, you are dealing with your first broken heart.”
“What the hell are you talking about?” Devin tried to laugh but it sounded stale to his own ears.
“I knew you and Robyn were messing around,” His brother confessed. “But you wouldn't say anything about it. And since nobody else in the family knew, I knew it was supposed to be some secret. Then you guys broke it off and you looked all fucked up... Why didn't you talk to me? Do you know how many times I tried to call you?”
Since there was no point in denying any of it, Devin decided to come clean to his older brother. He began pacing as he explained briefly the relationship that he and Robyn had had and how he was trying to get her back.
“I thought you looked like shit the last time I saw you but then I started to doubt myself about the whole situation,” Javy said with a sigh. “But when she got here yesterday and I got a good look at her, that's when I knew for sure. She's suffering too.”
“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.