Chapter Two
The Husbands Night In
Lopez-Fitzgerald House
Miguel was in the kitchen making some drinks when he heard the doorbell. "Hey, Max, would you get the door?" he yelled as he added some more soda to the drinks.
"Sure," Max responded as he made his way to the door and opened it to an irate looking blonde man in a trench coat.
"Who is it?" Miguel called out somewhere in behind.
"Well, my guess would be, Philip. Come on in man. We've heard a lot about you." Max said as he held the door open for Philip to walk in. As he passed through the threshold of the door, Max shut it quietly. Then, he walked with Philip to the living room where Michael was sitting on the couch.
"Go ahead and take a seat, man. I'll be out in a second." Miguel yelled and then appeared a few minutes later with four glasses of soda in his hands. "I thought everyone might one of theses," he handed a glass to all of the men. After passing Philip's glass to him he did the 'man's handshake.' "Hey man, I haven't seen you in a while. How's life been treating you?"
"Oh it's been pretty okay, I guess." He drank from his glass.
"So, am I to assume that you are here for your wife, because you think that she is here?" Miguel questioned as he took a seat.
"What do you mean? She isn't here. Where is she? Damnit, I could have sworn investigator gave me this address." He took a big gulp of his soda.
"You hired an investigator to find Chloe? Philip, I don't you all that well but I'm starting to see why your wife thinks you have issues." Michael said from his seat on the couch. "Oh by the way, I'm Michael, Maria's husband."
"Yeah, I'm sorry I forgot to introduce everyone. That's Max, you already know him from the door. He's my cousin Liz's husband. And that was Michael, my honorary cousin Maria's husband." Miguel explained as he pointed everyone out.
"Michael, you shouldn't have said that. You were out of line."
"Oh, Max, the only reason you're saying that is because of how you were like when Liz was pregnant. Michael, you know what I'm talking about. Help me out here." Miguel asked Michael.
"Oh you mean the way he tailed her car to make sure she got to work okay, or the time when he had me on speed dial every time she and Maria went some where. Just to make sure that I had all the instructions on what to do for her when he went away." Michael responded as he laughed at Max's expense with Miguel. As he laughed Philip noticed how organized his messy hair looked.
"No, I mean the time when he had us sit up all night with him when the girls went out. And then we had to actually follow them to the movies." Miguel continued to laugh at a now red-faced Max.
"You know I think that, that is enough about Liz and me. May I remind you guys that this is about Philip and his wife! And besides Michael, you don't want me to start sharing stories about you when Maria was pregnant." Max said as the redness in his face started to fade away. And Michael stopped his laughing to give Max his famous glare that made Max smile amusingly.
"You know you are right Max, this isn't about me and Maria either. It's about Philip and Chloe."
"Well, since the focus is back on me and my wife. Would one of you mind telling me where my wife is?" Philip asked looking expectantly at each of the men.
"Girls' night," all of the men answered simultaneously.
The Evans' Home
The ladies all sat on the floor of Liz's living room eating food and talking about their husbands' respectively.
"So tell us Chloe, what exactly did he say to you? And don't leave out a single detail." Maria said as she licked the chocolate covered spoon.
"He said 'You shouldn't be out on the dock at night.' Then, I just completely lost it and hugged him. I don't know what happened. One minute, I was wishing he was there. And the next minute he was there and I practically attacked him." Both Liz and Maria laughed. "Anyways, after I hugged him he tilted my chin up and kissed me. I don't mean any kind of kiss. It was a kiss of nothing but pure passion. You guys know the kind of kiss I'm talking about. The kind of kiss that makes you feel like your lips are permanently glued to his."
"Oh, I think that we all know what kind of kiss you're talking about, Chloe. Especially, you Maria." Kay said as Maria blushed guiltily and picked up some popcorn to throw it at Kay.
"Hey, don't pick on me I'm pregnant," Maria said as she tried to divert the attention to her status.
"What's that got to do with anything? Kay's pregnant and so is Chloe. Besides, how do you think you got this way if it wasn't for those passionate kisses that you and Michael share." Liz said to her friend who turned bright red and through a piece of candy at her.
"It's not my fault that my husband finds me so desirable. And it's not as if your husbands aren't the same way. Besides, we were talking about Chloe and Philip not Michael and I." she said as she rubbed her two-month pregnant stomach. "So Chloe, go a head and finish your story."
"Okay, so where was I?" She paused for a moment. "Oh yeah, so after we stopped kissing he was saying something. I honestly don't know what he said because I was still caught up in his kiss." The girls all laughed at this. "So when I finally came down off my cloud of love, I realized that he was talking about going back to his hotel room. At first, I was totally about to go with him. But, then it finally registered what he said to me. So I was like 'What?' I asked him, 'What are you doing here, Philip?' He says something like 'I gave you two weeks to yourself to get over your little hissyfit. So now, you need to come home.' And all that time he was steadily dragging me towards his car. When we finally reached the carport, I told him that I wouldn't go home with him until he least figured out the reason for my little hissyfit as he called it. I mean can you guys believe that he had the nerve to call it a little hissyfit." She said as she grasped a hand full of popcorn and began to munch on it.
"Well, Chloe at least he finally had the sense to come after you. I mean I personally thought that he left alone for a little too long. Or did he just figure out where you are?" Kay asked as she pushed her dark hair out to her face and munched on some popcorn.
"Oh please, Kay. Knowing my husband went probably went to my mother and she read him the riot act for about two days or mostly likely everyday that I was gone. Then, he probably asked Belle or Shawn, and only Belle knows and she would never say anything to him about where I was. So he probably ended calling a private detective. He's probably known the entire time where I was, and decided that if he gave me some time I would probably forget why I'm angry with him. Philip is just like that, he probably thinks that after three weeks I would miss him so much that I would forget why I left too." She continued as if all she had said was nothing different or weird and munch on popcorn.
"I can't believe that he would do something that drastic. I mean to hire a P.I. sounds a little disturbing to me." Liz said
"Well, Liz you would have to understand my husband, and trust me that is not something that is easy to do. I've been married to the man for two years and there are days when I think that he is the most difficult man on earth. Then, there are those days where he is the sweetest and most loving person that it becomes a complete annoyance. But, that's just the way Philip is and he is my husband so I love him no matter what." Chloe said with a look of complete love on her face.
"That really is beautiful. I can totally understand what you mean. He sounds like Michael. But, anyway, you forgot to tell us how he reacted when you told him about the baby. How did he respond when you told him you were pregnant?" Maria asked as she adjusted her sitting position so that she was sitting against the arm of a chair. Then she saw Chloe's look of sudden dismay. "You did tell him didn't you?"
"Well I was going to, but I never got around to it why?"
"It just occurred to me that you said Philip knew about you staying at Kay's house all week, right?' At Chloe's nod she continued. "Then, he probably didn't know that tonight Pilar and Grace offered to watch the kids. Which means that he doesn't know that we are having a girl's night here. So he obviously went to Kay's house thinking that you were there. And he is there with our husbands." She said as she looked pointedly toward Kay and Liz.
"What? I'm still not seeing that problem. So what if he went to Kay's house he's just going to be there with the guys. And all they are going to talk about is us." Then, as if it finally clicked she turned and looked each woman in the eye. "Wait a minute, the problem would only happen if your husbands knew that I'm pregnant. Which would mean that your husband wouldn't know that I haven't told him yet." She looked the women in the eyes again; first Liz, then Kay, and finally Maria. When she turned her head back in the direction Liz she noticed that Liz had her head down and was looking at something interesting on the floor. "Liz, I can't believe that you told."
"I didn't mean to do it."
"My God, Liz Parker Evans, you have no will power?" The pixie-looking blonde asked.
"Maria, don't act like your all innocent and try to pretend that you didn't tell Michael."
"For your information, Liz, I didn't tell my husband anything. He found out from Max. Because, unlike you Liz, I don't fall for that 'I-can-tell- just-by-looking-at-you-that-you-have-a-secret,' look that you and Max communicate with. I hate to tell you this Chloe but tomorrow your husband is going to be pissed that you didn't tell him about your pregnancy himself. Trust me when I tell you that it is not going to be pretty." Maria told her as she twirled a strand of her long blond hair in her fingers.
"Well, wait a minute, are both of you certain that they will tell, I mean, why would they say anything about it at all? That can hardly be something that men want to talk about right?" She asked but her question fall silent on the laughter of the other women.
"Are you kidding? Please, our husbands are talking about everything that concerns us. And if I'm not mistaken, my husband is probably offering some advice on the topic of pregnancy. He thinks that he is the absolute authority on the topic since I'm pregnant, again." Maria answered.
"You really think that is what they're doing?"
"Yes, I know that is what they are doing they are always like that. But, I think that you should know that Miguel also knows about the baby. And if Max or Michael doesn't say anything than Miguel will most definitely say something. I told him Philip knew you were pregnant when you had the fight and that's why he didn't make you come home immediately."
"Why would you tell him that Kay?"
"Well, what did you expect me to do? He is my husband and he is the noble sort of guy. So he would have called Philip the same day you arrived, and practically ordered him to come here. And I figured on the other side of things that I would take the lesser evil."
"I'm sorry, you're right Kay, I think that you did the right thing under the circumstances. So now, let me make sure I have this right, Miguel knows, Michael knows and Max knows. But, only Miguel doesn't know the whole truth?" She questioned the three women, who nodded in affirmative. "So guys are absolutely sure that one of them will tell?" She asked for the second time that night.
"I am absolutely sure that Miguel will say something about your being pregnant. Well, I'm not that sure. But, I do think that he will most likely ask. I'm not positive that he will say anything. But, I do think that if anyone spills the beans it will be him for sure." Kay answered. "Besides, let's not some forget that he thinks Philip already knows that you are pregnant."
"Well, now that I think about it, I'm not exactly sure if Max knows that Philip doesn't know. I just told him that you were pregnant. But, I didn't say whether Philip knew or not," she bit her lower lip. "But, I guess that he could have made an assumption that Philip knows." The dark- haired girl said before she looked at Chloe with a look of sorrow.
"And if he assumed that Philip knew than he figured that it was fair game and knowing my husband he's probably comparing notes on the problems dealing with a pregnant wife as we speak. But, there is nothing we can do about this tonight. So why don't we just enjoy the time we have here because you aren't going to have as peaceful a time like this for a very long time. Enjoy this while it lasts. Because, tomorrow all hell is going to break loose." Maria said before she forked in another spoon full of Tabasco-laced vanilla ice cream and Chocolate syrup.
