Rio waited outside of Claire's, bored out of his mind, bouncing a ball he'd bought a few minutes ago from one of the quarter machines. Maria was going to her first middle school dance and he'd somehow got wrangled into going shopping with her. Who knew it took twenty minutes to find a pairing of earrings to go with a dress?
As he watched the ball bounce back up before snatching it with his right hand, he caught sight of a flash of familiar strawberry blonde hair standing in front of the Sbarro across the way. He hadn't seen her in months, but that was no surprise since he'd been avoiding her like the plague. Part of him told him to go inside and check and see what was holding his sister up, but the side of him that was much too curious for his own good kept watching Beth. His mind traversed back to the last time he'd seen her in the mall. He certainly wouldn't turn down another dressing room hookup. It was as he was lost in memories of the last time she'd been in his arms that Beth turned around and knocked the wind out of him.
The Beth he saw across the way was pregnant. Very pregnant. Third trimester pregnant.
Rio silently muttered a curse. How had this happened?
Cursing himself for being an idiot, Rio knew how it had happened. But when? When had it happened?
That time in the department store dressing room? No. He'd used a condom. The night Marcus had died? He groaned. That had not been his best performance. He'd been in such a state of grief that he'd just wanted something to make him feel better, something to make him forget. He'd been selfish and he'd known Beth hadn't enjoyed it. That was part of the reason why he'd hooked up with her again after they'd split. He didn't want that time to taint her memories of him. He wanted their last time to be good. And judging from the bite mark on his shoulder and the scratches on his back he'd carried around for days after - it had been.
It really didn't matter when she'd gotten pregnant. All that mattered was that she was. Rio's mind raced. What should he do? He was just 18. He didn't know anything about raising a kid. But he'd have to learn and quick. Beth looked like she was about to pop.
He didn't even notice when his sister came out of the store with a small bag in her hand. He'd been too preoccupied with the bomb that had just dropped on him.
"Hey, want to get something to eat? I've still got thirty minutes before I meet up with Sylvia and her mom."
"Sure," Rio said, following his sister to the food court, his mind in a total whirlwind.
Taking a sip of his Coke, Rio chuckled silently at Beth's vain attempts to hide herself and go unnoticed. I see you, boo. Just you wait. You and I are going to have a long chat.
Refocusing on his sister, he listened to her animatedly babble about the camping trip the Science Club was going on next weekend.
"So which of those nerds do you want to be your boyfriend?" Rio teased.
Maria's brow furrowed and she shot him a disapproving look so similar to the ones his mom gave him. "Excuse me? You think I joined Science Club just to chase a boy? Um, no. Do you know how many Latina engineers there are?"
Feeling like a deer caught in the headlights, Rio laughed awkwardly and shook his head. "No."
"Not very many. I'm in Science Club not only because I think it's fun but because it'll look good on my college applications. I have big plans for my life Rio. I want to go to college and make money doing something I like. And yes, there's a boy, but I'm not going to let him sidetrack me from my goals."
Chewing his lower lip, Rio nodded silently. He felt guilty because he'd basically done just that to Beth. He'd sidetracked her. She had dreams of going to college, but here she was pregnant. He wondered what her plans were now and if she was still planning to go to MSU. She must have been so disappointed when she realized she was pregnant and that all her plans were essentially screwed up.
As he was silently berating himself for messing up the girl-he-loved's future, a little voice inside questioned why she hadn't told him. Why should he feel guilty when she hadn't even bothered to let him know he was going to be a dad? Why was he feeling bad for her having to go through this all alone when she'd never even given him the chance to help her out, to be there for her?
Anger slowly began to simmer inside of Rio.
After he dropped his sister off with her friend and her mom, Rio returned to the food court looking for Beth, but didn't find her there. Figuring she probably had to pee, he ended up waiting for her by the bathrooms. He had no clue what he was going to say but was determined to play it cool.
"What's up, ma?" He rasped when she walked out of the ladies' bathroom.
"Uh, hey Rio," Beth replied, giving him an awkward wave. "Wish I could stay and catch up, but I've got plans so I better get going."
Rio shot out a hand, blocking her from leaving. Shaking his head, he said, "Yeah, I don't think so. You and I are going to have a talk."
It was a nice day, not too hot or cold, so they made their way outside and sat on a bench next to the pond. Beth avoided eye contact, intently staring at the ducks instead of him. Rio found himself mesmerized by her round belly. His palms were itching to touch it, to get a feel of his baby. He wondered if she'd felt the baby kick or move yet.
"You ever gonna tell me?" He asked.
"Tell you what?"
Rio snorted. So she was gonna play it like this?
"That you're having my baby."
Smiling, Beth shook her head. "I know this looks like that, but this is actually Jimmy's baby. We started dating in December."
"We screwed in December too," Rio said, playing along with her fantasy for the time being. "You let him go at you raw?"
Beth squirmed, clearly uncomfortable with his crudeness. "Don't talk like that. It's gross. The baby's Jimmy's. I can see how you might think that it's yours, but it's not. It's his."
This time Rio couldn't help himself. He laughed. Beth was such a liar.
Rankled, Beth replied, "I don't see how any of this is funny."
"I'm sorry, ma. So you having a boy or a girl?"
"What?" Beth asked, clearly confused.
"I'm just curious. Is it gonna be a boy or a girl?"
Beth tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. "They said it might be a girl, but since she was moving around a lot it was hard to know for sure. The sonograms are so fuzzy I don't even know how they can tell."
"A little girl, huh?" Rio swallowed not sure how to process that news.
"Yeah...well it's been good catching..." Beth began, trying again to slink her way out of the conversation.
Ignoring her obvious attempts to escape, Rio asked, "You and Jimmy getting married?"
Beth laughed. "What? No. We're much too young for that."
"So you're just gonna raise the baby by yourself?"
Beth's eyes dropped to her lap at this question. "Um, actually, we're giving the baby up for adoption."
She didn't want to keep his baby. The realization hit him square in the chest. Suddenly playing this cat and mouse game was no longer fun. Anger rose to mask the hurt he was feeling. She was just gonna give his baby away without even telling him? Like he meant so little to her he didn't even deserve to know?
"And he's cool with that?"
"Yeah, we're both starting college soon. There's not really room or time for a baby in our lives. It's better that she goes to a family that has the time and money to take care of her."
"Mmmhmm," Rio responded, not trusting himself to say anything. Feeling a red wave of rage wash over him.
"How are things with you?" Beth asked, trying to switch the focus off of herself.
"Other than being pissed that you're lying to me? Pretty good. Just got a new car and my own place."
"Rio, I'm not...I'm not lying to you," Beth replied, scooting ever so slightly away from him. "I know it's hard to take. I did move on pretty fast with Jimmy after we broke up, but this is his baby."
"Yeah, I don't think so. Jimmy ain't into girls."
"What?...Why...Why would you say something like that?" Beth stuttered.
"Because I saw him fighting with his boyfriend a few months ago."
"Well, that...that is news to me," Beth said.
Near to bursting with anger, Rio leapt to his feet and towered over her. "Stop lying to me, Elizabeth," he growled.
To his surprise, Beth immediately burst into tears and admitted, "Fine, you're right. This baby's yours."
Rio was a little shocked, because she usually didn't cave this easy. She could go toe to toe with him, but right now she seemed so...fragile.
"Why didn't you tell me?" He asked, softening his tone, not sure if he was prepared to hear the answer.
"At first, I just wasn't sure what I wanted to do. Also, I didn't think you'd want it."
Sitting back down, Rio rubbed his hand over his mouth. Now that she'd admitted the truth, he still had no clue what to do. "You really giving the baby up for adoption?"
Beth nodded, wiping at her tears with a Kleenex she'd found in her purse. "It seems the right thing to do, you know? Give her her best chance at life."
"You ever think about keeping her?" He asked, sliding his hand over her belly and letting it rest there.
Tears sprung from her eyes again. "I can't."
"Why not?"
"It's not...it's not practical."
"What if I was around to help?"
Beth shook her head and looking at him dead in the eyes. "Come on, Rio, be serious. You know it wouldn't work out. Besides I've already made up my mind about adoption. It's what's best for our baby."
"Really?" Rio replied, not fully believing that to be true.
"They actually need your signature to make the adoption official. If you want, you can help me pick out the family."
"Yeah, I'll think about it."
Rio desperately needed some time alone away from Beth to sort things out. He wasn't able to do his best thinking when his emotions were charged like this. He needed to be calm and collected as he figured out what his next steps would be. Elizabeth had another thing coming if she thought he was going to just butt out of his baby's life. He had rights too, didn't he?
Rio stood and helped Beth get to her feet.
"I'll be in touch," he said, before turning and walking away.