A/N: Hi everyone :)

I thought it was about time to give you something that isn't obvious from the title! haha

Reviews are love! Thanks for the ones I've had so far :D

xoloveJBox

Chapter Two

In all the years he'd known Phoebe, Kyle had always thought that it was her stunning looks and exuberant personality that left him speechless, but not this time. He tried to say something- anything- but his thoughts were sloshing together like oil and water, and they were too hard to hold onto for long enough to make it coherent.

Kyle hadn't been sure why his brothers had all arrived with the news of Phoebe's return, but now he was glad they had because the room suddenly felt both infinitely bigger and like the walls were pressing in on him at the same time.

The silence in the room seemed to stretch on for an eternity as Kyle searched for the words to work out whether this was just some twisted, head-spinning dream that he was going to wake up and laugh about later on.

"Kyle," Phoebe whispered almost pleadingly.

"Why didn't you tell me?" He finally asked, trying to keep the anger that was starting to bubble in his gut from slipping into his tone.

"I was scared of what you'd say," Phoebe admitted, grumbling down at her feet- or rather, where she guessed her feet would be, if her stomach wasn't in the way. "Do you mind if I sit?" she asked quietly "My feet are killing me."

Heath jumped from his place perched on a table- something Brax often admonished, but his immediate younger brother always ignored- and pulled out a chair for her. She smiled gratefully and waddled over, lowering herself slowly into the seat, her joints creaking in protest. The movement seemed to crack some of the atmosphere in the room, and Kyle turned away for a moment, scrubbing a hand over his face. He felt like the sudden discovery of his unborn child had drained all the energy from his body.

"Kyle," Brax started, and Kyle spun around to face his brother "I'll close the restaurant, and we'll leave you guys to talk."

Kyle gave a small nod, and Brax motioned for Heath, Casey and Tamara to follow. Kyle leaned against the bar, staring purposefully out of the window to avoid Phoebe's gaze as his family left.

"How far along are you?" Kyle questioned, barely audibly, once he was sure they were gone.

"Thirty-eight weeks." Phoebe answered. Kyle didn't claim to know much about the intricacies of pregnancy, but he did know that on average, it lasted around forty weeks. That meant that in approximately two weeks-maybe a little more, maybe a little less- he would have a child.

Nothing had ever sounded more terrifying to him.

"Why now?" he continued, finally turning to look at her again. She seemed like she felt guilty, but Kyle wasn't sure that 'guilt' could accurately describe what he could only see as insanity, unable to comprehend what would possess a person to wait eight and a half months to tell someone they once claimed to love that she was pregnant with his child. He couldn't help but wonder if she might have come back to him sooner if she wasn't pregnant, or if that was the only reason she'd returned.

"I wanted to know if you want to see it before I give it up for adoption." She replied, sounding horrifyingly dismissive.

"What?" Kyle demanded, honestly hoping he'd heard her wrong. "You're giving the baby away?"

"Kyle, I'm not ready for a baby." Phoebe told him exasperatedly.

"What about me?" Kyle exclaimed defensively "Did you even consider the possibility that I might want our child?"

"Do you?" Phoebe questioned sharply, and before Kyle could respond, Phoebe seemed to think she could answer for him "You live with your brothers Kyle. You work in a restaurant so it's not like you're rolling in money. Neither of us are ready for a child, and we were stupid to be so careless, but there's nothing we can do about it now. The best thing we can do for this baby now is give it to a family that can take care of it."

"Will you stop saying 'it'!" Kyle roared, indignant rage threatening to rip him into pieces from the inside out. "Our child is not an 'it.' We made another life, and you want to give the baby away? To strangers?"

"Kyle," Phoebe started, her voice low and forcefully calm "I know you're mad, but you're not thinking properly about this."

"What is there to think about?" Kyle demanded without hesitating "We made a mistake when we were careless, but why should our baby pay for that? We can do this Phoebe, I know we can."

Phoebe knew she had to push aside the almost pleading tone of Kyle's voice if she was going to go through with her decision, but it didn't seem to make things much easier.

"I've made up my mind Kyle," she told him softly, barely able to look him in the eye "I'll ask you once more: do you want to see the baby before it goes to live with someone else? Because if you don't, I'm going back to Melbourne tonight."

Kyle was silent for what seemed like forever. Phoebe was certain that if she let herself, she'd be able to hear Kyle's heart breaking. This wasn't the reaction she'd imagined he would have, and it was so much worse anything else she could have anticipated.

Kyle knew he needed time to think. He needed time to find a way to convince Phoebe to stay, just until he'd set his thoughts straight and he could work out what he was going to do. He knew Phoebe was serious about going back to Melbourne, so he nodded.

"Yes," he told her quietly "I want to see the baby."

Phoebe smiled, almost as if she was relieved.

"Ok then," she replied, reaching into her bag. "I'll get a caravan."

"You can stay with me." Kyle offered, worried that she'd change her mind and leave anyway.

"I don't think that's a good idea Kyle." Phoebe answered softly. Kyle quickly shook the notion that Phoebe would go against her word from his head. It was ridiculous- he knew her well enough to know that she wouldn't do that to anyone, never-mind him. Whatever she had been digging around in her bag for, she soon found it, and placed it on the table in front of her, pushing herself out of her seat. "I really am sorry Kyle."

Before Kyle could think of anything adequate to say to her, Phoebe turned and left. Kyle stayed where he was, almost as if he was frozen in place, until she was gone. Then he scrubbed a hand over his face, and trudged over to see what Phoebe had left.

On the table in front of where Phoebe had been sitting was a white envelope, and Kyle couldn't deny that his fingers were trembling slightly as he reached for it.

He pulled out two of what he thought were photographs and saw that they were actually ultra scan pictures, and Kyle felt his chest tightening.

His baby.

He sat down in Phoebe's pulled out chair and started to drink in every detail of the images.

For hours, Kyle didn't move, and the next time he looked up, it was dark outside, and barely any light lit up the restaurant. He was stiff from not moving for so long, and he wondered what had pulled him from his thinking.

He was answered a moment later when Brax appeared in the doorway.

"Mate," he greeted with a small nod, wandering over to pull out the seat next to Kyle.

"She's giving the baby up for adoption." Kyle told him quietly, a subtly bitter tone lacing his voice, answering a question that Brax hadn't actually asked but wanted to. "End of story apparently."

Wordlessly, Brax rose again, strode over to the bar and retrieved a bottle of whiskey and two glasses. He took them back over and put them in front of Kyle, and he'd barely finished pouring a glass before Kyle took it, downed the honey coloured liquid. He scrunched up his face as the taste burnt the back of his throat slightly, but he nodded to Brax for another. Brax thought about declining, but there was nothing to suggest that Kyle had drunk anything in the hours he'd been alone in the restaurant, so Brax obeyed. Kyle sipped the second drink more slowly and pushed the pictures across the table to his brother. Brax glanced over at him, making sure that Kyle was certain he wanted to share the pictures, but Kyle was gazing questioningly into his glass, as if he thought-or rather hoped- the contents would answer all the questions he suddenly had.

"Is that what you want?" Brax asked as Kyle took the pictures into his hand again.

Kyle sighed and scrubbed a hand over his face.

"I don't know what I want," he admitted "I mean, on one hand, Phoebe's right: neither of us are in the position to be raising a child, but... I don't know."

"What makes you think you can't raise a baby?" Brax was genuine in his question. Out of all his brothers, Kyle was undeniably the most responsible, and if he was going to choose one that he thought would be the best parent, it would be Kyle.

"Well, I don't have any money, for starters." Kyle replied exasperatedly.

"You don't have to worry about that." Brax told him firmly "I'll help you out with that"

Kyle shook his head "I can't ask you to do that Brax."

"You're not asking," Brax retorted seriously, though not harshly "I'm offering."

Kyle seriously considered accepting for a moment, before letting out a sigh "But that's not the only thing Brax. Right now, I have nothing to give a baby. Maybe the kid'll be adopted by a rich family that can afford to send them to a private school, and travel a lot and have nice things. I can't do any of that."

Brax could tell just how much the decision was bothering his brother, but he knew that it wasn't really his place to try and convince him otherwise. Instead, he simply exhaled a long breath and clapped Kyle on the shoulder.

"Let's go home, ey?" He suggested, his voice as soft as Kyle could ever recall in the time he'd lived with his brothers. Kyle nodded acceptingly. He knew that he should head home before he fell back into staring at the pictures. It would be easy too- he was finding it hard to take his eyes away.

Between the two of them, it didn't take long to lock up the cash register and wipe down the bar and tables. Despite the restaurant only being open for half the day, Kyle felt exhausted, and the idea of his bed was welcomed.

They drove home in relative silence, each one throwing around small, non-committal comments when the quietness lulled on for a minute too long, and soon enough, they were pulling into the driveway. Kyle could hear the television blaring from all the way down the breezeway, and he internally grimaced. He'd been hoping that he'd be able to slip upstairs unnoticed, and although it certainly wouldn't be the first time someone in the Braxton household had fallen asleep in front of the screen, he had a sinking feeling that Heath and Casey were hanging around purposely to find out what was going on.

He lingered for a moment, letting Brax walk ahead of him, and he was glad that he had, because he was met with his brothers staring expectantly at him. Kyle found himself at a loss for words, unsure how to tell them that despite the fact that they'd found out they were going to be uncles, their niece or nephew wasn't going to be around.

He opened his mouth, hoping to get something even a little explanatory out, but nothing came, so instead, he muttered "I'm going to bed."

As he headed up the stairs, he could hear Brax talking quietly, presumably filling his other brothers in on the situation, but Kyle felt too drained to really care. He simply carefully pulled out the ultrasound pictures and propped them up on his bedside table before stripping down to his boxer shorts and slipping beneath the covers.

He settled down, but didn't bother to close his eyes. If there was one thing he was sure of, it was that sleep wasn't going to come easy for a while.