Dinner with the family could only have been described as absolutely chaotic, especially with my friends there. So many better and organised outcomes could've resulted from the news but no, everyone just decided to make all the bad mistakes during that hour. Needless to say, I regret everything.
Come to think of it, walking through the door of my old house almost tearing up in front of everyone at the sight of our dog, DJ, should've been an obvious sign this trip back home wasn't going to go as smooth as I had hoped. I went to my room and cried silently after seeing DJ. As if that wasn't already a bad start, I left the picture of my ultrasound back at my dorm so, I had no proof whatsoever to my parents, that I was, indeed, pregnant. Thankfully, Ryder kept his copy in his wallet — which by the way, made me feel all sorts of unexplainable emotions.
6pm rolled around and most of the friends and family were already here. Keyword; most. Ryder's motorbike was apparently faulty and he almost got into an accident. He didn't explain the details but he showed up to dinner looking all bruised and battered. By then, I was already panicking because Ryder had been late — which is something I should already have been used to — but he texted me, telling me he'll come over earlier than the rest to help calm my nerves. His excuse was that stressing out was bad for the baby.
Either way, everyone was seated on the dinner table not long after — Kyle was starving and moody — as the waiters started to bring in the food. My friends and family chatted amongst each other as they ate, while my nerves were going haywire, trying to find the perfect time to announce the news as Ryder held my hand throughout this nerve racking experience.
Dessert time rolled around and as my dad mentioned my lack of participation in the conversation, I was already to tired to even function that I didn't even comprehend the words that rolled out of my tongue and echoed throughout the house.
"Pregnancy makes you act all sorts of ways."
The entire table went dead silent, and the only thing that made me realise what I had just said or done, was the slight squeeze I felt on my hand. There was no turning back, now, the cat was out of the bag, I couldn't alter time but I could confront this. Confront your problems not run away from it.
"I was wondering when you were going to announce it. Honestly, if you still hadn't said anything by the end of the dinner, I had this slideshow —" Kyle was cut off abruptly by an astounded dad.
"Lili, you're joking, right? That was a joke — how are you—" His eyes travel towards Ryder then stopped in realisation; that's when it all went wrong.
He stood up in shock, his chair falling behind him and accidentally knocking off one of the maids who was carrying a tray of fancy ice cream, that had splattered all over the expensive carpet. Dad panicked even more and apologised, mixing up his words as he stammered.
"Shit — my apologies. Oh, Ella, your carpet is pregnant— I mean, damaged. Your carpet— God, why is no one else reacting to this!" He exclaimed exasperatedly.
The chorus of 'we know' echoing on the dinner table filled me with so much shock, especially that mom and Mrs. Ryder had also found out. Mr. Ryder looked the most confused I've ever seen him. He had a frown on his face, one of confusion instead of anger — thank God.
"Mom! I told you not to tell anyone!" Kyle whisper-yelled to mom who guiltily shrugged in return.
What made everything worse, honestly, was when Ryder was taking out the ultrasound picture but a condom popped out along with it, causing a loud silence in the room, once again. Except this time, even I was silent and had no idea what to say. Ryder tried to play it off by fake coughing and grabbing the condom, stuffing it in his wallet as he tried to revert everyone's attention to the ultrasound picture.
By the end of the dinner, I couldn't even be bothered to stay and chat with everyone else in the living room. I excused myself to my room to rest, telling them the truth that I was exhausted. Dad seemed to want to talk to me about this more further but he stopped himself, for some reason. He seemed satisfied enough and he wasn't upset at least, he was just in shock. He was a little upset at Ryder, though.
As I crawled into bed, my body and mind begging for some sleep, I just couldn't keep my eyes shut. I couldn't fall asleep — great. So, I laid there in the dark, staring at the ceiling, hoping my body will finally give in and get the rest it needs.
The next morning, I was warmer than the night before, which was odd, considering most of my mornings were quite cold. There was a thick blanket over me that I don't remember getting, and Ryder was sleeping next to me, except he wasn't under a blanket or in proper sleeping attire, and he was holding one of the books I was reading; The Book Thief. It looked like he accidentally fell asleep while reading and looking out for me while I slept.
Ryder looked so peaceful as he snored lightly, some of his curls falling to his nose. His hair was getting quite long, and while some thought he needed a haircut, I quite liked his long hair. He looked like Ben Barnes, or Tom Hiddleston as Loki. He must've been very stressed out from last night's event, and it shocked me a bit that he didn't go out for a smoke, or at least I was hoping the lack of a nicotine smell from him was a reliable source.
Quietly sliding out of bed, I gently placed the blanket over him, and tiptoed to the bathroom as quietly as I could as to not wake him up. I cleaned out my eyes, to make sure there was no guck or any of that sort on my face, then, brushed my teeth, not wanting bad breath of I decide to give Ryder a morning kiss. Unlikely though, as he's not my boyfriend, he's my baby daddy.
"Good morning," I said, as Ryder sat up, rubbing his eyes to rid them of sleepiness and then yawning with a fist in front of his mouth.
"Morning," he said, his voice rough and raspy so that it made my tummy do backflips. "Shit, did I fall asleep last night?"
I nodded in reply, tying my hair up and clipping it with a claw clip.
He stood up, stretching so that his shirt rode up to expose his toned abdomen and V line that disappeared under his jeans. I pulled my eyes away from him, reluctantly, then did the bed to distract myself from having dirty thoughts about the man standing in front of me.
"Can we . . . talk about last night?" Ryder asked hesitantly, helping me with the bed as well.
"You mean the disastrous night we just had? Yeah, why don't we?" I said, a little sarcastically.
"I didn't know that condom was in there . . . and I didn't know my mom knew either. Your dad didn't kill me though, so that was nice. I mean, it was a good thing Kyle made sure to put away anything sharp away from him before—"
An unintentional chuckle left my mouth before I realised it, stopping abruptly as Ryder stared at me in confusion like a lost puppy.
"Sorry, it's just that . . . you're rambling. It's adorable," I said amusedly, fluffing the pillows then turning to Ryder.
He scoffed. "Right but it's so you to describe me with the word adorable. No one calls me adorable," he said, seemingly offended.
"I do," I grinned, leaving him behind as I walked out of my room.
"Hey, you don't like it if I call you . . . nerdy," he said thinking he would offend me.
"A hot nerd at that," I said as he rolled his eyes.
"Careful, don't want our kid soaking up all that bad energy," Kyle said, appearing out of nowhere, surprising both Ryder and I. "It's bad enough that the two of you aren't together, and now you're fighting?" Kyle gave us a disappointed dad looked as he walked away, leaving both of us equally confused.
We glanced at each other awkwardly, then I cleared my throat, thinking it would break the awkward silence but it only made it worse. We were both thinking the same thing; what would happen to us now that we have a baby on the way? I had no idea and I didn't think he did either. He was seeing someone else and I don't think I'm ready to be in a relationship right now.
The awkward silence was unfortunately disturbed by my dad, who looked serious, like real business serious. He cleared his throat then he spoke, his voice more demanding and serious, "Ryder," he acknowledged, "may we speak in private?"
Ryder glanced at me, his eyes almost reflecting a hint of fear then, subtly gulping.
"Yes, sir," he said, following my dad to his study.
. . . . .
A/n: Surprise!!! After reading and seeing a lot of messages of people asking me to finish this story, I thought to myself why not try. So, hopefully, I'll be done with this story by the end of the year.
Though, don't expect frequent updates. I cant tell exactly when I can update, just know that I'm trying my best.
Love youssss❤️❤️❤️