6. REPERCUSSIONS

Phoebe is alone, sitting outside of the caravan. She is just sitting there thinking about the same things that she has spent days and now weeks thinking about and allowing to consume her.

She knows she needs to call Nate and make an appointment soon, but another part of her can't bring herself to do it.

"Phoebe" she hears her name being called from metres away, from almost the other side of the caravan park.

She sees Kyle walking over towards her and even at a distance she can see the look on his face.

She knows that he knows.

Phoebe stands up as Kyle rushes towards her, his pace quickening as though she might walk off. She doesn't and the two eventually stop opposite each other, with two or three metres between them, separating them.

"You're pregnant?"

Kyle tries to be angry. He tries to let his anger and fur about all of the lies and all of the hurt from last first few days out as he speaks, but instead, his voice just croaks with a hurt and devastation that he can't hide.

"...With our baby?"

Phoebe tries to nod strongly, to remain strong in her decision with conviction that not telling Kyle has been the right thing to do. But, she can't. She looks down and cowardly just looks at her feet as she gives Kyle a feeble nod in response to his question.

"Were you planning on keeping it?" Kyle asks as his voice trembles simply from vocalising the concept; he couldn't even begin to bear thinking about it.

Again, Phoebe just gives Kyle a weak head-shake, still unable to meet his eyes that would reveal exactly how she knows he is feeling.

Kyle takes a few steps closer to Phoebe, unable to know how to react, being trapped in both his dream come true and his worst nightmare simultaneously.

"Why didn't you tell me, Phoebe? You know I wouldn't have been angry. You know I would have supported you. You know much I would have wanted this. Why didn't you tell me?"

Perhaps it's the hormones. Perhaps it's the fact that she isn't prepared for the confrontation. Any reason or excuse is acceptable for Phoebe to excuse the fact that she can feel her eyes welling up with tears.

"I was scared. I was confused. You only would have supported me having the baby. Before I was actually pregnant, I had no desire to have a baby; to be a mother. I had no idea what we were and where we're at anymore. Not having it doesn't feel as scary."

Seeing her eyes well up and seeing her tears are enough for Kyle to take a few steps closer and to pull her into a hug. For a moment, it doesn't matter that she has hurt him and it doesn't matter that he is mad, but what does matter is that not a lot makes Phoebe cry.

The two take a time out from stating their cases and from discussing the sensitive topic. They take the time to just stand there, hold each other and support each other. They both need it.

Eventually, Kyle and Phoebe pull away from each other and take a few steps apart. Kyle's fists are clenched out of frustration and his mind is working in overload thinking about all of the things he wants to say and all the reasons he wants to use to convince Phoebe. He doesn't know where to start or what to say first, but he knows how much is riding on it.

"Please Phoebe. Can we please, please have this baby? Can you please just give me a chance to try and let me change your mind or for you to at least just give it more thought?"

"I don't know Kyle..." Phoebe replies with a sad sigh.

Opposite her, Kyle runs a hand through his hair, looking uncomfortable and completely desperate.

"Please, Phoebe. I am begging you. Please just think about it, give it more time. I will literally do anything, if you just give me and if you just give our baby a chance."

Phoebe doesn't reply and Kyle just stands there with more frustration, wracking his brain, trying to think about what he can do and what he can possibly say to reason with his ex-girlfriend and to save the life of his child.

"I tell you what. I'll give you more time to think about it, without my pressure. Just promise me you won't do anything about it in that time."

Phoebe nods and utters a few words not much louder than a whisper. "Some more time would be good. I promise I won't act on anything until I talk to you again."

Kyle acknowledges her request with another nod of his own, knowing that Phoebe is the sort of person who needs her own time and her own space to come to terms with things, to think about them and accept them. So, space is what he will give her, even if it will absolutely kill him not being able to do any more, knowing how much is at stake.

As Kyle walks away, Phoebe heads back into the caravan, feeling the guilt pulsing through her, thumping in her heart.

She thought she would be doing the right thing, not telling Kyle, at least until she felt a hundred percent certain that she wanted to keep their child.

Now? Now she's not so sure whether or not she has made the right decision and now she's not so sure about what she wants to do.

#

Later that day, Kyle is feeling anything but in the right frame of mind for his shift at Angelo's.

Maddy is quick to notice Kyle's gruff and unhappy mood early on in the shift and subtly encourages him to work behind the scenes, washing glasses and boxing pizzas while she focuses on providing customer service that won't scare away the customers.

The two are working together on their own until Ricky rushes in, almost half an hour late for the shift.

"Sorry I'm late. Casey wasn't in a good mood and it took me ages to settle him down when I dropped him off."

Really, Ricky's statement isn't an excuse or a justification, but simply just an explanation to her co-workers since she's a half-owner of the establishment.

Maddy brushes it off and makes some pleasant comment about hoping Casey's okay now, while Kyle just ignores it and continues with cleaning glasses that he is on the borderline of breaking with his bare hands.

Ricky is quick to sense her brother-in-laws foul mood and approaches him without hesitation, having had years of becoming accustomed to grumpy Braxton moods.

"Phoebe's pregnant. Doesn't know if she's gonna keep it."

Kyle says simply, forcing his words to be completely emotionless. No emotion is better since half of him is overjoyed at the fact his ex-girlfriend is carrying his child, while the other half of him is completely panicked and fearful as to what the fate of that child may be.

Looking over to Ricky when she doesn't say anything to his massive announcement, Kyle is quick to read the look on the woman's face who is standing beside him. There's no shock and no surprise, just an unusual expression that clearly indicates that she's only surprised by the fact that it's Kyle telling her those words.

"You know, don't you? You knew and you didn't tell me?" he says, quick to call Ricky out on her lack of response.

Ricky can hear the hurt and the betrayal in Kyle's voice, after the blows that he has been dealt by two of the women who are closest to him.

As Kyle releases his grasp on the glass and the tea-towel that are in his hands, it's little wonder how the glass doesn't break as it slides along the bench-top.

While he walks away from the bar and away from Ricky, he quickly tells her he's taking the night off before storming out of the restaurant as she continues trying to call his name, without making a scene to the diners.

#

The following morning after a very sleepless night, Kyle sluggishly walks up to the counter in the Diner.

Despite leaving work early, he had spent almost the entire night tossing and turning in bed with his mind working on overdrive to try and think of ways that he could try and convince Phoebe to keep their baby.

Since he has learnt of their child's existence, he can't stop himself from thinking about the prospect of being a father.

"One flat white; triple strength, thanks" Kyle says tiredly to Chris who is his polar opposite on the other side of the counter, as he refrains from bouncing off the walls with his bubbly manner.

"Good morning Kyle!" Chris chirps happily, in natural greeting before a look sets across his face as he realises that he hasn't congratulated the father-to-be yet. Sure, he'd promised Phoebe that he wouldn't say anything to him, but of course she's bound to have told him by now, right?!

"And might I say congratulations to you! It's been absolutely killing me to hold it in" Chris says congratulating the male opposite him happily before racing around from the other side of the counter to give the not-so affectionate man a man-hug.

While Kyle feels initially bowled over by hurricane Chris, his next thought quickly turns to the fact that yet another person knew about the existence of his child before he did.

"Sorry, cancel the coffee" Kyle quickly utters before fleeing the diner as quickly as he can.

Opposite him, Chris looks a little stunned, but of course, like a dog with a bone, it does anything but stop him. He quickly calls out to Irene about taking his break now before trailing after the Braxton who had left for whatever reason to continue telling him what he was trying to.

Chasing after Kyle's big strides, Chris tries calling out the Braxton's name, before eventually catching up with him. Despite being completely ignored he continues to speak.

"Now, I've already been compiling a really great mix of traditional and unique baby names for either gender for you guys. But, might I just say that Christopher or Christy are non-negotiable middle names for bubs. Plus they go great with Braxton... Or Nicholson. Whichever last name it takes."

Chris's good intentions eventually bring Kyle to snap as he suddenly stops on the spot and turns back to the human puppy-dog that is following after him.

"Listen! There might not even be a baby, Chris!" Kyle exclaims angrily, although his feelings are directed at everyone other than the man that he takes it out on.

"What- but-?" he stammers speechlessly; a modern day miracle for anyone who knows Chris Harrington.

"Yeah... Just leave it Chris. I'm having enough trouble trying to find a way to convince Phoebe to keep the baby."

As Kyle walks off, he is glad when he feels like Chris is finally off his case and he is glad for him to have left it be... Until minutes later he can hear someone bounding up behind him once again.

"Wait, Kyle. Let me help. I want to help you convince Phoebe. After all, I'm not known as an ideas man for nothing..."

I am SO sorry that I haven't updated in approximately 100 years. That's what it feels like anyway! I don't know how many people will continue to tag along with this story, but I hope that there's a few of you out there.

Next chapter: While he just can't stop thinking about the prospect of being a father, Kyle continues doing everything in his power to think of how he can convince Phoebe... With Chris' help.

Please let me know what you thought of the chapter and if you would like some more!