Chapter Three
The Secrets Out
Lopez-Fitzgerald House
"Well, I have to tell you guys that this is very refreshing to know. But, would one of you please tell me what in the hell a girl's night is?" Philip asked as he started to undo his tie.
"I'm sure you know, it's one of those things when the women get together and bond. They basically just talk about us and all of the evil things we men do." Michael asked as he took a drink of his soda.
"You mean to tell me that's all that they are doing over there. Just talking about us? Wait a minute, what about your kids, I remember Chloe telling me something about them." He asked Max and Michael, " who is watching them?"
"Yeah, I have two-year old son and he," he pointed to Michael, "has a set of two-year old twins, one boy and one girl." Max answered.
"Well whenever Maria and Michael come to town, my mother and Kay's mother always offer to baby-sit them. They say it's because Kay and I haven't given them any grandchildren yet. But, the funny thing is that between the both of them they have seven grandchildren. Naturally, that isn't enough they need to have more." Miguel answered before taking a drink of his soda.
"Hey, tell him the truth, the only reason Pilar watches the kids is because she thinks that it will motivate Kay and Miguel to get busy." Michael said as he snorted.
"Well now that Kay is pregnant, I don't have to worry anymore. So everyone is happy. But, on the other side of things I am starting to have problems with her. I swear she is being difficult with me on purpose. She's started acting weird and frankly it starting to worry me a little bit. Why didn't you guys tell me that she would be acting this way, in the first trimester?" He asked the guys, in general.
"Man, I do recall trying to tell you how she can get when she gets pregnant. But, of course you just laughed at me when I told how difficult she was. So now you'll believe us when Michael and I tell you how weird they will act." Max said as he started to smirk at Miguel.
"Yeah, well you guys didn't tell me how difficult it was going to be having two pregnant women living with me. I mean Kay is bad enough just with herself. But, when she is added on with Chloe she becomes unbearable." Miguel said.
"Wait a minute, what does my wife have to do with this?" Philip asked as he stopped taking a sip of soda mid drink.
"Don't get mean wrong, Philip, I don't mean anything. But, you know how your wife can be. Because, she is your wife. I assumed that you sent her down here so that she couldn't get into to any trouble while you were away. I have never seen anyone pine away for somebody like that. It was almost as if you didn't even know she was here. Anyway, as I was saying she became half as gruff as my own wife." Miguel said not realizing that Philip was looking at him as if he was out of his mind.
"What the hell are you talking about? My wife is not pregnant." He said but then saw the looks of doubt on the men's faces. "I think that I would know if my own wife was pregnant. Look, just because your wives are wi—with child doesn't mean that mine is. Chloe would tell me if she was." He spoke with such certainty that all of the men shared a look.
Max, Michael, and Miguel looked at each other in wonderment, and then they turned to look at Philip. A space of silence followed. The men all sat mute as if giving Philip a moment to think.
All of the sudden it dawned on Philip as he thought of all the things that had occurred between him and Chloe in the last couple weeks. It was entirely possible that she might be pregnant. Hell, it was the only logical explanation for all of the things she had done. "Oh my God, she's pregnant. My wife is having my child," he said excitedly. "But she didn't tell me. Why didn't she tell me? I can't believe she would do something like this to me." He said then with anger getting into his voice.
"Are you saying that you didn't know that she was pregnant?" Miguel asked Philip idiotically, in his denseness.
"Of course, I didn't know she was pregnant. If I had I guarantee you that there is no way that I would have allowed her to come out here."
"Kay told me that you made her come down here after you guys had a fight because you didn't want her to be alone. So are you telling me that none of this is true?" Miguel asked again as he realized that he too had been lied to by his wife.
"No, I didn't tell Chloe to come here. She left and came here without telling me. That's why I had to hire the detective. Because no one would tell me where she was. Nancy was so mad at me when I had to tell her that I didn't know why her daughter left me that I she wouldn't even give me a clue. I still can't believe that she said nothing to me about the baby." He said as he looked around to the other men in the room. Max, the dark- haired man was looking at his friend Michael. A look passed between them. "You two also knew didn't you?"
"Liz told me and I told Michael. But, I assumed that you knew."
"That's not it. I saw the look that passed between you guys. I know that you know something. Tell me what you know."
Max and Michael looked at each other again and this time, Max nodded his head slightly. "It's just that I know a little something about pregnancy. And I can tell you that whatever it is that got Chloe mad enough to leave you, she won't just forget it. She will still be mad at you for whatever reason and her attitude will be ten times as bad as when you normally get mad at each other." Michael said as he shoved his hand through his unruly hair as if he was reliving a moment.
"How do you know this?" Asked Philip on the edge of his seat.
"Look, I just know. I know pregnant women and that is exactly what will happen. You can ask Max, if you don't believe me. Hell, you can even ask Miguel. But, when it comes to this pregnancy stuff I know women."
Max sighed. "He's not lying. He does know pregnant women well. He can tell you exactly what to expect from Chloe tomorrow."
"Alright, then if you are the authority tell me where do you get your expertise from?" Philip sarcastically asked him.
"My own personal experience with a pregnant wife."
"That's it? You are going to give me advice on how to handle my wife from your own experience. That only happened once, " he laughed. Yeah, right."
"Hey, don't laugh at the man he is serious. He has dealt with the mother of all pregnancies and pregnant woman. And now, he is doing it again. I truly don't know how he deals with it. "
Philip sobered up and stopped laughing because of the seriousness of Max's tone of voice. "Okay, okay will you please tell me what you are talking about?" He posed the question to Michael who was looking a little disconcerted.
"I'm talking about Maria. My wife. You don't know anything until you have dealt with a woman like her. She is a difficult person to deal with normally, for me. That is just the kind of relationship that we have. But, anyway, when she is pregnant, she's like a totally different person. She pulls complete 360s with her personalities. One minute she is a sweet as can be, out of character, if you know my wife. The next she is completely wacko, doing things that you would swear aren't normal. And then, in the next minute, she is doing whatever she can to get you annoyed with her. It was a very difficult time for me when she was pregnant the first time. Because, I never knew what to expect. I always suspected that the reason I never understood is because she was pregnant with Twins, you know double the behavior patterns to account for each child." He explained before, he took a breath. "But, now I totally know how to handle her. I can predict her moods so that I stay out of trouble with her when she is pregnant. Because, it is ten times worst when a mother-to-be is mad."
Philip sat back in his chair and absorbed everything Michael had to tell him. "Oh my God, how am I going to get through the next couple of months?" Philip said as he rubbed his hand over his temples as if he was soothing a headache.
"Since, you're new at this I am going give you a few tips. But, based on what we already know I don't think that there is going to be much that I can do for you."
"Please, you have to tell me something. Anything that you can tell me."
"Well, we're going to have to pull off a strange maneuver to make this work so that your wife will even go home with you."
"I'm not worried about getting her to go home with me now. I just want you to tell me how to stop being mad at me."
"Well, if you want my advice I'll give it to you."
"Oh, this should be good." Max said before taking a sip of his soda and waited Michael's expert advice.
"Maxwell, is there something wrong?" Michael asked as he looked over at his friend, who while smirking beneath his cup shook his head. "As I was saying, in order to get Chloe not to be mad at you, ask her about the baby. That way, it will divert attention away from you and onto her not actually telling you about the baby. It's simple, really." He drank the rest of his soda and reached for the bottle to pour more soda into his cup.
"You aren't actually going to use his advice are you?" Miguel asked
"Well, yeah, why wouldn't I use it? Both of you," he gestured to Miguel and Max." Told me that it would be good advice and that he knew what he was talking about. What do you think is wrong with what he told me?"
"Yeah, what's wrong with my advice?" Michael questioned too.
"Nothing, it's just that if Chloe is anything like her cousin, I suspect that nothing will truly help you. And in the end you might just get yourself in more trouble than you know. So I think that under the circumstances you should not listen to him at all. Now, Michael you know you need to be honest, anyway, you advice is not always full proof. I know for a fact that it doesn't always work for Maria. And so does Max." Miguel said as he stood up as walked to the kitchen. He came out of the kitchen with a bowl of chips accompanying him.
"Okay, honestly, it doesn't always work Maria. But, you have to understand that Maria can be very, very difficult. If you don't want to listen to my advice, that's your business. However, I just think that you should be prepared because, now they have had a chance to regroup and you are going to be in for it." Michael said to the men in the room. When his gaze landed on Philip, he saw that the man was staring at a picture of Chloe and Kay that rested above the fireplace. Man, he's as bad as Max . Michael though as he settled himself back into his seat.
