~May, 2022, Saturday, Family House~
Robin sat on the bathroom floor throwing up for the third time this week; gripping onto the side of the toilet for dear life.
''Was it something I ate?'' Robin wondered, as she let out another hurl and released her breakfast, and flushed the toilet, Maybe she ate to much, quickly she dug into her bag and froze when she saw a box of tampons sitting below the sink.
Quickly grabbing the box and turning it over, she read the date of when to expect your cycle and froze her eyes widening in realization. The date read she should have had her cycle over three weeks ago.
She was late. Robin found herself muttering a thousand no's as she placed the box back into it's place. She couldn't be pregnant again could she. That's when it finally hit her she and Pops didn't use protection last time.
Quickly getting up she dug into the cabinet and found 4 boxes filled with Pregnancy tests.
Robin squeezed her eyes shut.
I'm such an idiot, she berated herself. I've been through this before, why didn't I notice?
She knew why.
You thought that if you ignored it, it might go away, it might not be true. Things are finally coming together, and this has the potential to tear down everything you've built.
Well, idiot, what are you going to do now?
She was going to find out for certain, that was what.
Not that she didn't already know. She just needed something to make it real. Specifically, she needed a little piece of plastic and two pink lines to make it real.
Once it was real she would figure out how to tell Pops if she was.
She ripped open all the packages, with suddenly shaky hands.
She laid the tests out in a row on the sink, washed her hands, and sat on the edge of the tub to wait.
She stared at her hands. They were still trembling. She balled them into fists, willing them to stop, but the trembling crept up her arms and through her chest until she was shaking all over.
She wished Pops was there to hold her hand and rub her back and calm her down - but no, she couldn't tell Pops is she was . Not yet.
Deciding she could finally face the results, she went to the sink. Three pairs of matching pink lines stared back at her.
She was pregnant.
A moment of...not peace, exactly, but calm. She had her answer. She could tell Pops . And then her and Pops would figure out how this was going to work.
But if she told him she was three weeks pregnant, he would forbid her from fighting and they would argue about her special needs...
Without thinking she went to the sheriffs station...
Pops had gone out with Prue and Josh and Kyle somewhere to help them capture John and Pops was getting frustrated.
Suddenly, Kyle's phone chimed.
Saved by the bell, Pops thought, although he had no idea what it meant - Robin just said it sometimes. He kept his foot firmly planted on the brake while Kyle dug his phone out of his pocket.
"It's a text from Robin," he said, glancing at the clock on the dashboard and then back at his phone. "It's, ahhhhhhhhh, from half an hour ago. Reception out here is terrible
"Is everything alright?" Pops asked, in response to Kyle's crinkled brow.
"She went home," he said slowly. "She's not feeling well."
"Did she say what's ailing her?"
"Stomach bug," said Kyle, "It's been going around."
"You mean that virus that turns you inside out with vomiting.''?" Pops asked, alarm building. "We have to go back."
To his great relief, Prue didn't ask him to drive back to town. They sped through the woods faster than was probably safe. Pops, now that he'd been behind the wheel of a car and understood a little more about them, admired Prue's easy handling of the vehicle.
On the way, they stopped at the grocery store. Prue, Josh and Kyle helped him buy something called Gatorade (which came in all sorts of ludicrous colors), which he said would help keep Robin hydrated while this stomach bug wrung her out like a dish towel.
Robin was looking at her pregnant self in the mirror when
Suddenly, she heard the front door slam, and her name being called.
"Robin!''
Pops was home.
With a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach, Robin realized she wasn't ready to tell him.
Well, that wasn't exactly right. The truth was closer to he's not ready.
Such as a family. And that was why Robin was there, to remind him that he had changed, to remind him that he was a good man.
She knew he was wrong about not being a fit role model for children. She saw how he was with Prue. And she awlays asummed she and Pops would have more children...
But not now. Now was definitely not the right time (Pops hadn't even figured out the coffee maker yet).
But this baby's happening anyway, and it's not going to wait, or go away.
"Robin !" she heard Pops call her name again, a hint of panic in his voice.
"Here!" she called back, hurriedly brushing the tears from her cheeks.
She needed to get rid of the evidence. She raised a hand to banish the pregnancy tests (right to the bottom of the kitchen trash, underneath the 8-day-old Chinese takeout she tossed yesterday), but thought better of it -.
Instead, she stuffed them back into their packages, and then hid them in the cabinet underneath the sink, behind all the extra rolls of toilet paper. They would have to be disposed of later. She stepped back and examined the bathroom critically. Could you tell there were four pregnancy tests hidden somewhere inside this room?
She hoped not.
She put on her best "I'm fine; everything's okay" face and hoped it didn't look too fake. She opened the door and caught Pops with his hand raised to knock.
His expression went from surprise to concern. She knew she looked like a mess - crying always made her face red and puffy. At least she was wearing some good, waterproof makeup.
Thank god for small miracles.
"Everything alright, Robin ?" Pops asked. He looked like a man desperate for good news.
"I'm fine," she answered.
Oh my god, that's the best you could come up with? I'm fine?
She could tell Pops wasn't buying it. He had been able to read her like an open book since the beginning, since they first met.
"Kyle said you had a stomach bug," Pops persisted.
She gave him what she hoped was a casual shrug.
Nope, nothing wrong here.
"False alarm, I guess. I just felt a little sick this morning, that's all. I'm better now," and she gave him a smile that was maybe a little too sunny.
Pops sighed. ''I'll be back later,'' he said, ''I have to go help Prue.'' Robin nodded in understanding and watched as Pops leave and Sarah entered.
''You ok?'' she asked, Robin shook her head. ''Sarah don't tell Pops, I'm pregnant.'' Sarah gave her a smile and nodded. ''Congrats and your secrets safe with me...