3. DECISIONS
"You're pregnant, Phoebe?!"
Both Phoebe and Matt stare-wide eyed at the man standing in the doorway with equally-wide eyes.
"No... No way. You misheard me. I just told Matt that I'm um, pre-arranging... Not pregnant."
However, Chris doesn't buy the weak excuse and instead he bounds over to Phoebe, wrapping the girl that he considers as a friend in a big bear hug.
"You can't tell anyone, Chris!"
"Mum's the word" Chris replies with a big goofy grin on his face. "This is so exciting! I promise that I will throw you the best baby shower you've ever had!"
Chris' smile is bright and excited for his friend, assuming that she would be reciprocating the mood just as much. However, his happiness is short lived as he remembers a small detail from a week earlier.
"I can't believe I sold you a coffee last week! Why would you order one?! I feel like a criminal! Don't you know that caffeine is a no-go for bubs?"
Under her breath, Phoebe mutters a few harsh words about the local who has a penchant for rubbing people up the wrong way, despite his good intentions.
Of all people in Summer Bay, why did it have to be Chris Harrington who overheard her confession?!
"Listen Chris, thanks for being all supportive and excited for me. The thing is, Kyle and I aren't really in a good place at the moment. He doesn't know that I'm pregnant, I intend to keep it that way for now, and I don't know what is happening about the pregnancy as of yet. It wasn't a part of the plan."
Chris takes what Phoebe is telling him seriously, the excitement on his face dying down a little as he nods solemnly.
"So what are you doing here in the first place?" Matt asks Chris bluntly, in an attempt to try and move away from the topic of what he wasn't supposed to hear, for Phoebe's sake.
"We're out of takeaway containers in the Diner. Reenie sent me up here to see if you've got any to spare. We'll pay you back for them."
Matt and Phoebe instantly give Chris opposite answers with a fast and sharp "No" coming from Matt while Phoebe says the opposite before grabbing a few take away containers and handing them to Chris with one condition.
"Remember. No one can know, Chris. I'll maim you if I find out you've told anyone."
Chris's face falls before he clarifies one person in particular.
"Not even Reenie? But she's my bestie... We tell each other everything."
Phoebe doesn't say another word, instead letting her frightening 'what do you think?' expression do all the talking as Chris simply nods in understanding before leaving very soon after.
"Phoebs... You know that the whole town is going to know within approximately 45 minutes, right?" Matt informs his friend with personal experience of Chris's abysmal secret-keeping skills from when he would stay with Sasha.
Phoebe just nods knowingly, feeling like she is being pushed between a rock and a hard place. The more people who know a secret means the harder it is to keep it a secret...
#
Later on that day, back at the Braxton houses, Ricky hasn't given up on her suspicions of her close friend. So, considering that she is going a little stir-crazy, seeking a little bit of drama, she pays a visit next door to the main house.
"So did Phoebe work today?" Ricky asks as she walks through the door without knocking, causing Kyle's head to prick up from the accounts that he is working on diligently at the dining table.
"Yeah, she got to work alright and seeing as I didn't get any phone calls to go back and cover her I would assume she stayed there."
Ricky just nods from where she is standing in the doorway, before walking over and taking a seat on the lounge.
"That's good. When I saw her yesterday she said you made her leave early. I haven't really seen her much beyond that. Do you know how she's going overall? Is there anything new going on with her?"
The leading questions flies straight over Kyle's head as he simply shrugs his shoulders and continues working as he replies.
"As far as I can tell she's doing okay. I briefly checked on her after work yesterday but other than that I haven't really spoken with her outside of work."
Kyle's uneventful explanation just clarifies that if her suspicions are right and if she is pregnant, then he is clueless. Kyle would have told Ricky if she is in fact pregnant and if he knew; he wouldn't be able to keep it to himself. However, just because Kyle doesn't know, it doesn't mean that she isn't pregnant, right?
In that moment, Ricky realises how pathetic she is sounding and just how much she needs to find a life outside of the walls of the Braxton house, before she turns into Chris Harrington 2.0.
Surely it's all in her head...
#
In an attempt to avoid developing anymore conspiracies in an attempt to spice up her life, Ricky takes Casey out for a walk to the Pier Diner for lunch.
"Hey Ricky" Nate greets, engaging in small talk as he stands beside the single-mum who is at the counter, ordering her lunch. "How have you and the little man been?"
"We're really good thanks."
As Ricky responds to her doctor and her close friend, she sneaks a glimpse down at her sleeping offspring in his pram.
"Good... What about the others? Have you seen Phoebe much lately? Do you know if she's doing better?"
"The others are fine, just same old, really. Apparently Phoebe was at work today, so that's a good sign, but besides that I haven't really seen her all that much since she moved out."
"Oh really? I didn't realise that she and Kyle aren't together at the moment."
The look and the surprise on Nate's face when Ricky mentions that Phoebe has moved out and away from Kyle only triggers one thing for Ricky. It feeds the suspicion that she has been trying to relinquish and let go of, convincing herself that it is all in her head.
However, that one look says a whole lot more than Nate is entitled to say verbally and that one look only fires up Ricky's suspicions and conviction that she had been onto something after all...
#
After work and later in the day, Phoebe is alone in the caravan and alone with her own thoughts.
She realises that she needs to make a decision, one way or the other and she knows that she needs to stick to that.
The decision that needs to be made is becoming increasingly urgent now that half of Summer Bay knows that she is pregnant; excluding the father.
She knows her decision can come down to a few choices. Having the baby; undoubtedly with Kyle's help, terminating her pregnancy, having the baby and giving it up or having the baby for Kyle to raise.
There are so many different factors that need to be taken into consideration... Her feelings, her aspirations, any maternal instinct she harbours, what a baby would mean for her and Kyle, what would happen if she chose to end the pregnancy.
Every detail seems blurry and hazy with the only two clear details in Phoebe's mind being one, that if Kyle knew, there would be no stopping him from helping her and two, that Phoebe is terrified of every decision and every outcome.
Then suddenly she is thinking about her friend and her situation. Having a Braxton baby had meant a whole world of difficulty and grief, leading to single motherhood for Ricky... She knows just how similar Kyle is to Brax and she shudders at the thought.
After all of the different conclusions and all of the different details that need be considered and weighed up, Phoebe finally feels like she has reached a decision. She finally feels like she knows what the right thing to do is...
So Chris knows too! Phoebe doesn't stand a chance at keeping it from Kyle now, ha ha.
Thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter! The next one will probably be up in about two weeks when I get back from overseas. But, until then, I'd love to know what you all thought as well as if there is anything in particular that you would like to see me incorporate into this story. Let me know!
Next chapter: Ricky confronts Phoebe about her secret. Meanwhile, Matt works on urging Phoebe to tell Kyle as Ricky urges Kyle to speak to Phoebe.