Bad News

Rikki, Emma, Bella, and Cleo sat around at a booth at The Fortune's Cradle. They had just ordered drinks and were waiting for an explanation from Cleo. After five more endless minutes of waiting, Rikki couldn't take it anymore. She just wanted Cleo to spit it out.

"Well?" Rikki asked, edgy.

"Rikki!" Emma scolded her. Rikki just shrugged. Emma wanted Cleo to start talking when she was ready, and by the look on Cleo's face and the sound of her voice on the phone earlier, she could tell this was serious. Finally, Cleo started to speak.

"I, uh…I wanted to talk to you guys about something really serious going on with me…and…I don't want you guys to tell anyone…" she said, feeling her nerves rebuild.

"You can trust us," Emma said sympathetically. Bella and Rikki nodded, and waited for Cleo to speak up.

"I'm…uh…," she started, "I'm pregnant."

Big smiles grew on the three girls' faces. "Oh my god!" Emma said, happily.

"You're pregnant!" Rikki finished.

"We're gonna be aunts!" Bella said, excitedly. They all started asking a million questions as once.

"Guys…" Cleo said, but they didn't seem to hear. So she continued, "Guys!" a bit louder this time. They all grew silent. "This isn't a good thing!"

"Why! You and Lewis are gonna have a baby!" Rikki said excitedly with still a smile on her face.

"That's the thing!" Cleo shouted back. They all grew silent, once again, with looks of confusion on their face. Cleo swallowed, and continued with all the confidence she had left, "It's not…Lewis's baby."

The girls all looked at her in disbelief. At first, they didn't know whether to believe her or not, but by the look on her face they could tell it wasn't a joke. "W-what do you mean it's not Lewis's baby?" Emma asked, nervous. "What happened?"

Cleo's eyes started getting teary. She started shivering, then gulped and continued. "It…it was the night we came here…to celebrate finishing college," she stopped to look up at them to see if they were going to say anything. Noticing that they were waiting for her to continue, she did. "When…when we got really wasted…I…I did something really stupid…" instead of continuing, tears started running down her cheek at the memory. They all looked shocked; they didn't know Cleo left the group while they were dancing like mad women.

"You…you were that bad?" Bella said, feeling sorry for her friend. Cleo just nodded, still with tears streaming down her face.

"Well…that's ok," Rikki started. "I mean…if it's some random guy's baby, then you can tell Lewis it's his."

Cleo started crying again. "It's not a random guy! It's…it's…" They all looked at her, waiting to hear who. "Ryan's!" she spat. Out she started tearing up again and sniffling. "He was at the club that night…and…and…" Emma quickly moved out of her side of the booth and sat on the other side where Cleo was. She put an arm around her friend and hugged her.

"It'll be ok," Emma reassured. Rikki and Bella didn't look as convinced.

"No it won't!" Cleo shouted through tears. If I tell Lewis it's his, what is he gonna do when it comes out looking like half Ryan's. What if it looks more like Ryan's when it grows up!" Cleo sniffled a few more times, blew her nose into her napkin, and continued again. "And if I tell Lewis, what if he dumps me because I cheated on him!"

"He wouldn't do that with you in this situation," Bella said. "He's not that kind of guy."

"But he'll be disappointed! And…what if Ryan agrees to help or something? Then he won't need to help, and he'll leave me! He's the only one I ever loved," Cleo said through her tears.

"Here's a thought: don't tell Ryan!" Rikki retorted.

"Rikki! She has to tell Ryan eventually!" Emma shot back.

"No she doesn't. She and Lewis can raise it," Rikki said.

"No, Emma's right," Cleo said. "I can't hide this from him forever." With that, she wiped her eyes, got up and left. Right after she left, the waiter came with four drinks. He set them down, then left.

"Who's gonna drink the last one?" Rikki sighed.

"I guess it's better she doesn't drink anyway. Alcohol isn't good during pregnancies," Bella stated.

"Hold on. I'm gonna call Ash and see if we three can go over there and talk," Emma said, staying on the safe side. She called Ash, and started talking while Rikki and Bella were sipping their drinks. She finally hung up and said, "We can go over there."

Rikki, Emma, and Bella had finished most of their drinks by the time they got up to leave. They got into their cars and followed Emma to Ash's place.

"Go! Go! Go! Go!" Zane and Ash yelled, leaning forward on their couch. Once the soccer player scored a goal, they both got up and shouted, "GOAL!" and high fived. The doorbell ringed and Ash got up and left the couch to get it.

"Who is it?" Zane asked as he sipped his beer, eyes glued to the soccer game on TV.

"Emma, Bella, and Rikki," Ash said. I invited them over. With that, Ash opened the door and welcomed them in.

After hearing Rikki, Zane managed to remove his eyes from the TV, and look over. He saw Rikki walk in, of course looking amazing. Her hair was up in a bun with black and white chopsticks, with two pieces of straight hair hanging down. She was wearing a black and white dress that stopped right above her knees. She had a little black jacket over her spaghetti sleeves (she had to dress nice for The Fortune's Cradle), but took that off and hung it on the coat hanger as she walked in. "OH! AND THAT'S ANOTHER GOAL FOR NEW ZEALAND!" the TV sports announcer shouted. But Zane didn't care, he was too busy staring at Rikki.

"Thanks for letting us stay here and talk," Emma smiled. She kissed Ash's cheek and sat down at the table.

"Anytime," Ash said, smiling from Emma's kiss. I'm gonna get back to the game, and with that, he squeezed her shoulder then walked back over to the couch.

"So…why exactly did we come here?" Rikki asked Emma.

"To talk about Cleo's situation. I mean, we couldn't continue talking about it in the club. We don't know who hangs around there and who could be eavesdropping. Rikki and Bella thought about this and agreed, noticing that it was a good call. "I have a feeling...," Emma started, "I think…she's gonna get an abortion." Rikki and Bella looked shocked.

"What!" They said in unison. Before they could continue, Zane walked into the kitchen.

"Don't mind me, ladies. Just getting a drink," he said as he walked over to the counter to poor himself another rum and Coke. The girls went quiet, not wanting to talk about this situation in front of Zane. Zane finally noticed they were quiet. "Oh, by all means continue."

"Zane, what are you doing here?" Bella asked.

"He lives with Ash," Emma said.

"Uh, correction, Ash lives with me." Zane corrected.

Rikki rolled her eyes at that comment and looked down at her fingernails. After taking Zane too long to poor his drink, the girls started getting annoyed.

"Zane, this is a private conversation," Emma snapped.

Zane finally turned around and said, "I just wanted to talk to Rikki."

Emma and Bella looked at each other, both thinking, This is so typical. "You may wanna take to her, Zane, but I'm pretty sure she doesn't wanna take to you," Emma spat. Bella nodded in agreement, which made Zane roll his eyes.

"Emma, you, Cleo, and Bella are all just the same. You always make Rikki's decisions for her, and automatically think whoever made the decision is right," Zane shot back.

"I can make my own decisions," Rikki spoke up, "and I decide that I don't want to talk to you. Ok? So give it up."

"At least let me say my piece," Zane replied.

"Not this time," Rikki said. Emma and Bella felt out of place, and looked at Rikki to try and remind her of the purpose of why they came here. At the same time, Zane wouldn't leave either. "You have two minutes." Rikki got up, told Emma and Bella it'd be quick and followed him to the living room. Zane looked at Ash sitting on the couch, and motioned for him to leave. Ash took the hint, recorded the soccer game, then left. Rikki sat down in his place. She wondered what excuse Zane was gonna make up this time.

Zane sat down and said, "I apologize for everything that's happened in the past.

"I know. You've already apologized God knows how many times," Rikki snapped.

"That's because I really am sorry!"

"Zane, you keep saying you're sorry, but how do I know?"

"Trust me!"

"Maybe my trust for you is gone."

"Rikki…"

"I'm serious. If you prove to me you really are sorry, then we can't start talking. But until then, I don't want much to do with you." She got up and left. This gave Zane slight hope of proving it to her. Only one problem: he didn't know how.