Antonio stood looking at the two offensive blue lines on the small piece of plastic, his mind was racing a thousand thoughts a minute. Elias had a habit of throwing random stuff into the kitchen trash and Antonio was searching for his cell phone that had mysteriously disappeared from the coffee table when his eye caught what he thought was a pregnancy test shoved under a bunch of papers. He reached for it, he had seen enough positive ones in his life to know exactly what he was seeing. He shook his head and buried the test back where he found it.
"Hey babe" he eyed Sylvie as she walked through the kitchen to the front room wondering how long she had known and when she was planning on telling him. "Hey, can you round up Eli and Sophia we're supposed to be at Matt and Gabby's in half an hour?" she smiled as she headed up the stairs.
"On it" he agreed as he headed toward the backyard. He wanted to let her come to him but his mind was spinning and he wasn't sure if he could keep it to himself.
"Elias you have to come down now, SoSo already went inside" he pleaded with his two-year-old son who wasn't willing to come out of the fort. He climbed the latter but the toddler wasn't going to go easily. Elias screamed and kicked his foot out to block his dad from grabbing him and caught Antonio in the mouth, he cursed under his breath as he tasted the blood on his lip. He flipped the screaming toddler over his shoulder and hauled him toward the house.
He was trying to keep his eyes on the road but he couldn't help glancing at Sylvie, "What?" she caught his eye, "Nothing" he smirked. "Something, you keep staring at me" she was playing with her hair, twisting it around her fingers.
He didn't want to give away that he knew but he wanted to make her uncomfortable. "Nothing, just after Elias kicked me in the face I realized as soon as he's out of this stage, we're done with babies and that's a relief because I'm really too old for all this", he watched her carefully, he knew every line, every crease of her face, he knew what every movement meant.
"Shut up you're not old you're only forty-four, Herrmann had one at fifty." She laughed. "You're just bitter that you let a toddler get a kick in."
"I don't know Syl, Eva's graduating college this year and Diego is leaving to do a year in China, I think this is our time to finally slow down."
"Maybe" she glanced back at the back seat, "it has been a pretty chaotic past couple years, hasn't it?" she closed her eyes and exhaled loudly, thinking about all the heartache and chaos they had been through "you want to slow down, then how about we take a nice long vacation this year, just me and you." She smiled at him, "We never had a honeymoon and we've never really been alone."
"Yeah, that sounds nice, somewhere tropic." He was confused, he was hoping to back her into a corner but she was acting as if everything was completely normal.
"Ohh a cruise, Bahamas or the Caribbean or something!" Her eyes lit up as she thought of the destinations.
"Really, you have nothing to tell me?" he chuckled, deciding to just confront her.
"What would I have to tell you?"
"I found the test in the trash this morning, it's okay" he grinned.
"Test? What are you talking about?" she shifted in her seat to face him, utterly confused by what he was talking about.
Antonio glanced at her, now even more perplexed the obvious confusion on her face. "The, uh, positive pregnancy test that was buried in the trash this morning. I thought maybe Eli threw my phone in there so I was looking for it." He tried to reach for her hand and she pulled it back.
Sylvie stared at him a moment, "It wasn't mine, I'm not pregnant." She shook her head at him.
"Then whose would it be? Someone we know is pregnant."
Sylvie was wracking her brain trying to remember if anyone had been at their house but the only person was Kim and she was ready to pop any day. "Ohhh..." she stopped when she had a sudden realization. "What?"
"Promise me you won't flip out" she knew as soon as she suggested it that rational Antonio would cease to exist.
"What?" Just tell me he barked at her, clearly growing impatient with the whole situation. "Why don't we just have this conversation after dinner when we get home?" she didn't want the evening to be ruined but she knew there was little chance of him waiting now. "Just tell me" he growled, he knew he wasn't going to like what he said one bit and had a suspicion as to what she was going to say. He pulled into his sisters' driveway and parked.
"Eva's been the only other one at our house." Sylvie watched as Antonio's whole body tensed up, she knew he was going to blow any minute. "Just be calm, let's get through dinner with Gabby and Matt and we'll talk to Eva when she gets home later but promise me you won't blow up."
Sylvie watched him and the look in his eyes scared her, he reached for his phone and she grabbed it away from him. "No, you're not going to scream at her over the phone, we're going to go inside and have a nice dinner with your sister and then we will go home and calmly talk to Eva."
"Sylvie…" he warned as he tried to grab his phone back but she pulled back and shoved the phone in her purse, "Give me the phone, I'll call MY daughter if I want to." He yelled causing Elias to cry.
Sylvie opened the door and climbed out and unloaded Elias and Sophia from the backseat. "I'm taking the kids in, join us when you get that temper in check." He snapped as she slammed the truck door.
"Be warned Antonio's in mood" Sylvie huffed to Gabby as she put Elias down. "Oh lord, what now?" Gabby looked at the door toward the truck, "He looks pissed, you two fighting about something? Is there something I can do?"
"Harboring Eva for the rest of her life would help" she chuckled nervously.
"Eva? What'd she do?" Sylvie rolled her eyes, "Antonio found a pregnancy test, apparently it was positive and the only one who's been at the house lately is Kim and we all know it isn't her and it isn't me so..."
"Oh shit, should I go out and talk to him?" Gabby couldn't believe what she was hearing and she knew Antonio had to be freaking out. "No, leave him, he'll come in when he calms down, IF he calms down." Sylvie sighed and headed toward the kitchen to help Gabby finish dinner.
The slamming of the front door startled everyone from their plates, "Glad to see no one waited for me." Antonio grumbled as he made his way toward the table still no better than Sylvie had left him in the truck.
Sylvie shrugged her shoulders "If you would've came in when we did, it wouldn't be an issue."
"Antonio…" Gabby started, she was worried about Antonio, she could tell he wasn't doing good, "I assume she already told you." He interrupted her before she could finish her words. "She did, and you're not even positive its Eva's so sit down and shut up"
"Eva?" Matt was watching the situation unfold but he had been outside cooking on the grill and had missed the whole conversation. Antonio through his hands up, "IT SEEMS MY DAUGHTER HAS STUPIDLY GOTTEN HERSELF INTO A MESS SHE CAN'T GET OUT OF" Antonio finally couldn't control the anger he was feeling anymore, he started pacing the room.
Sylvie stood, "Thanks guys but I think it's time we leave." She smiled at Gabby.
"SIT, WE'RE STAYING" he ordered her. Sylvie held her spot and stared at him, he had never ordered her around and she didn't like it. "We're leaving, especially if you're going to be an ass, and don't ever talk to me like that again, now let's go" she spat back at him.
She knew Antonio didn't handle any situation involving any of his children well but she would be damned if she let him bully his way through this and treat Eva like crap in the process.
The ride home was tense, she could feel the fire coming off him in waves and she doubted his ability to have a civil conversation. She thought about messaging Laura to meet them so they could all sit and talk but given their tense history she thought better of it and decided she would try to mediate and figure it out.
"It might not be her, maybe one of her friends was over while we were at work." Antonio shifted his eyes contemplating her words, "it's her" he grumbled barely audible.
"She twenty-two, she's an adult and she's had to grow up way too fast but she will be okay and she needs to know that we will all be there for her, especially you because you are her hero and she's scared of disappointing you." Sylvie grabbed his chin and pulled it towards her forcing him to look at her. "She will need you if it's her" she could see the tears threatening to fall but he was trying with all his might to hold it in.
Sylvie saw Eva's car as the pulled onto their street and sighed, "Promise me you won't blow up at her." Antonio nodded his head but remained silent, he was incapable of forming any words in that moment, his throat went dry and panic mode set in. This talk was something he had never anticipated having to have with her and it shattered his heart.
Sylvie climbed the stairs to Eva's room and knocked gently, "Hey honey, your dad wants you downstairs in a couple minutes, we need to talk to you."
Antonio was losing it inside but he knew Sylvie was right, he needed to keep calm and he did love his daughter, she was his first born and he loved her more than words could ever describe he just hated to know that her life would never be simple from here on out and if he was being honest he was blaming himself for all the mistakes he had made along the way with her and how much he had put on her over the years.
"Hey dad, what's up?" he was broken from his thoughts. "Sit" was all he was able to mutter as he pointed to the chair across from his at the table, Eva took her seat and Sylvie slid in next to her and shot Antonio a look warning him not to be mean.
"I think it would be better if Syl talks" he knew he wouldn't be able to hold it together and he didn't want to hurt her. Sylvie met his eyes and nodded, understanding that he wasn't ready.
Sylvie took a deep breath and turned to Eva, "First of all me and your dad love you very much and we're so proud of everything you've accomplished and the person who you've become." Her words were met with a wide smile "I love you guys too" she was apprehensive scared of where the conversation was going.
"That being said, your dad found a pregnancy test were almost certain belongs to you in the trash this morning." She could see the tears starting to form in Eva's eyes and she pulled her in for a hug.
"I didn't mean for it to happen and I don't know what to do, I'm sorry" Eva choked out between sobs as she clung to Sylvie. "Everything will be fine, we'll figure it all out" Sylvie reassured her, she made eye contact with Antonio begging him to say something.
"Eva," he started not quite sure what he was going to say, she met his eyes and he damn near broke, he hated seeing her upset, he pulled her to him and held on to her as tight as he could. "It will be okay, everything will be fine, I'll always be there for you"