by Jaye Diane
“Fine,” Robyn said, a stony glare on her face. “Then I'll leave.”
But his mom and Marjorie didn't move out of the way.
“How long have you two been together?” Marjorie asked casually. Too casually.
“Mom, please,” Robyn said through clenched teeth, but didn't say anything else.
Angelica watched him closely before looking to Robyn again.
“Since July,” Devin supplied after several seconds of silence had gone by.
Marjorie yelped, startling Devin and his mother. Marjorie put her hand over her mouth and watched Robyn, not saying another word.
“Oh, god,” Robyn exclaimed, putting her hands over her eyes. “I need to get out of here.”
“No,” Marjorie said, recovering. “You and Devin need to talk. I think you have a lot to talk about.”
“Mom, you're taking his side?” Robyn asked, sounding hurt.
Devin felt a stab of guilt but ignored it. He was grateful that Marjorie was on his side for whatever reason.
“We're all on the same side,” Angelica said, taking a step toward Robyn and taking her hand.
Robyn pulled her hand away and crossed her arms over her middle.
Devin wished that he could pull her into his arms and kiss that frown off of her lips. In time, he promised himself.
“You know what you have to do, Robyn,” Marjorie said quietly. “It's not about me taking his side. It's about me wanting what's best...for you both.”
Devin felt a little puzzled about that statement but it wasn't important. He just wanted a chance to be alone with Robyn and have the conversation that they should have had that night.
“Fine,” Robyn said. “But I need to use the bathroom first.”
She stalked out of the room and he hoped that she came back. She wasn't the type to run away from a confrontation but at this point, he just didn't know what to expect.
“No wonder you've been moping around,” His mother said. “I didn't know you were in love with Robyn.”
“I don't mope,” He denied, but both mothers ignored him.
“She's been the same way,” Marjorie said, nodding. Then, a huge grin on her face, she walked over to Devin and kissed his forehead.
He raised his eyebrows in question but Angelica and Marjorie walked quickly from the room, leaving the door open. He got out of the bed and went to sit on the chair at the desk. Regardless of how his conversation with Robyn went, this was the day that his life would change for good.
Chapter Eight
After she'd used the bathroom and washed her hands, Robyn stood in the bathroom, wringing her hands and pacing. She was shaking like a leaf being tussled in the wind. She couldn't believe her own mother had basically thrown her under the bus. And now her mother knew that Devin was the father of the baby. She hadn't wanted anyone to know until she'd told him the news herself. Which she hadn't planned to do for awhile.
She could just see him proposing once he found out about the baby. And if she hadn't been good enough for him to be with before, she certainly wouldn't marry him now. She realized that's what was bothering her. He'd rejected her but she knew that this baby could basically buy her whatever kind of relationship she'd craved with Devin. And she was so tempted by it all. But she knew better. Neither of them would be happy in the end.
Sure, he'd come on to her and he said he wanted to talk to her. He was a man. It would have just been casual sex to him. They'd had great sex together. If he missed it anywhere near as much as she did, that explained why he was giving her so much attention now. She refused to indulge in sex or any other type of intimacy with Devin. He would not get another opportunity to break her heart. She was still putting the pieces back together from his last offense.
Deciding that she had to just get this over with, Robyn ended her inner pep talk and left the bathroom, walking at a leisurely pace back to the blue room. She took several deep breaths in an attempt to calm her nerves but she knew it was helpless.
Walking into the room, she closed the door behind her and locked it. Devin was sitting at the desk, leaning back in the swivel chair, his arms folded over his broad chest, looking comfortable in a T-shirt and sweatpants.
Robyn walked to the bed and sat down, remaining stiffly upright. She folded her hands and placed them on her lap and looked over to Devin.
“Let's get this over with, please,” She said, trying to infuse a dull tone to her voice but hearing an obvious edge instead.
He pushed the chair over to the bed and sat facing her. He tried to take one of her hands but she stubbornly kept them clasped on her lap.
“I'm sorry I hurt you, Robyn.” His confession surprised her.
“So why did you?” Robyn whispered, the cadence of her heart so loud in her own ears that she could scarcely hear her own voice.
“I was hurting, too,” He said, staring into her eyes.
“But everything was going great and you...” Robyn's voice trailed off. “How did I hurt you, Devin? I didn't do anything but try to be the best girlfriend I possibly could.”
The anger and hurt was so powerful that her voice began to quiver even more. How could he even suggest that he'd been hurt? She hadn't made a single transgression during their time together.
“Let's not play any games,” Devin said, and his voice was a little quieter and darker. “Let's lay it all on the table right now.”
She nodded her agreement. That's what she'd wanted from the beginning. From that night he'd come into her apartment and broken up with her.
“That's what I wanted all along,” She told him, her resentment obvious. “It's taken you almost two months to finally want to talk to me.”
“I was stupid,” He admitted. “I let my ego get the best of me. But I did try to call you after a few weeks and you didn't want anything to do with me.”
“Do you blame me?” She asked, clasping her hands even tighter.
“No. But I want to fix this, Robyn.”
“When I saw you at Hot Taco you said you wanted to be friends. Now you say you want to fix this. There's nothing here to fix, Devin. I just don't want to be so upset and angry all the time. We need closure. That's the only reason I'm doing this.”
He sighed and rested his elbows on his knees as he leaned over, bringing his face closer to hers. His nearness almost unnerved her but she refused to cower. She raised her chin and continued staring at him.
“It was so obvious last night that there's still something between us. You can pretend it's not there if you want to but you won't be able to deny it for long.”
She opened her mouth to protest but he went on, “Anyway, let's move on...for now...”
“Yes,” She said, her voice brittle. “You were about to tell me how I hurt you and how our breakup was my fault.”
“Thanks for the sarcasm,” Devin said dryly.
She shrugged her shoulders. She couldn't afford to be nice after all she'd been through but she would try harder to be civil, despite the fact that she'd basically been bullied into having this conversation.
“In my entire life, I'd never been stood up,” Devin said, “And you did it to me twice in one week. With no explanations. I guess I shut down after that.”
“What?” Robyn exclaimed, so startled that she jumped to her feet. “I never stood you up. You stood me up.”
They stared at each other in silence for several seconds, in complete disbelief. After a few seconds of silence, Devin's expression changed until he had a hard edge to his jaw. He balled his hands into fists.
“That bitch,” Devin muttered under his breath as an obvious realization hit. “I can't believe her.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Casey did this,” Devin said through gritted teeth.
Robyn was as still as a statue, not knowing what to think, unable to even move.
“She told me you couldn't make it to dinner that night. She said you called the office to cancel.” He laughed bitterly. “And I didn't even que
stion her.”
Robyn remembered how she'd already been dressed and on her way to meet him when Casey had called to cancel their dinner date. It had been Casey not Devin.
“But why would she do that?” She felt stung, realizing what Casey had done. What he'd let Casey get away with.
“Because she's a crazy bitch,” Devin said bitterly. “She did it when we were supposed to have lunch, a few days later. You never showed up but she sure did, claiming that she was out for a walk and was passing by so she'd decided to come say hi to us. But she must have known you weren't there.”
“Yes,” Robyn said at last. “She called me to cancel dinner and lunch... Since she's your best friend, I believed her.”
Robyn felt a new sense of betrayal. She and Casey had never been very close but they'd always been friendly and courteous. Her brain struggled to take in all this information and implications. Casey had sabotaged their relationship because she wanted Devin for herself.
“I'm sorry, Robyn,” Devin said, coming to put his arms around her. “I never should have believed her. I should have asked you what was going on. I'm sorry.”
“At least its makes sense now,” Robyn whispered, enjoying the feel of his arms around her. But she stepped away, refusing to be weak again. With the relief that Devin hadn't set out to break her heart came the acceptance that he'd done it anyway.
He reached for her again but she walked across the room, her arms hugged tightly over her middle. She had to keep distance between them because it would be so easy to give in.
His arms dropped at his sides. He looked so sad that it took everything in her to stop herself from throwing herself at him and weeping.
“So you know I never meant to hurt you.”
“And I didn't mean to hurt you either.” Robyn turned away from him, biting her lip.
“So why do I feel like you're going to use it as an excuse not to be with me anyway?”
“I don't need an excuse,” Robyn said, whirling to face him. “We shouldn't be together. It doesn't matter that it was Casey that broke us up. If something so stupid could get between us, we shouldn't be together anyway. We wouldn't have made it for long anyway.”
“You know you don't believe that.” He quickly walked to her and took her by the shoulders. “I love you, Robyn.”
Her mouth dropped open and her already pounding heart seemed to beat even harder and faster inside her chest. She'd dreamed of hearing him say he loved her so many times but never this way.
“Stop it, Devin,” She whispered, her eyes filling with tears.
“I'm telling you the truth, dammit,” Devin said, shaking her a little. “I love you and I want to be with you. Don't shut me out.”
“This isn't right,” Robyn said, her voice thick with tears, trying not to give in to a full-on cry.
“It is right,” He said, putting his arms around her waist. “And I know you love me too.”
She snapped, yelling and crying at the same time. “If you know I love you how could you break up with me? Why wouldn't you talk to me? You just walked out on me as if I didn't mean anything to you. Why didn't you have faith in us? Faith in me?”
“I'm sorry, baby,” He whispered, his hazel eyes glazed over with tears. “I'd convinced myself that you didn't care about me. It was my stupid ass pride and I let it get in the way. I wish I could take it back but I can't. But I do love you, Robyn.”
“I can't do this, Devin,” She cried. “I can't be with you.”
“I made a mistake,” He said, keeping one arm around her and using his other hand to gently grasp her chin. He stared intently into her eyes. “You can't punish me forever for it.”
“I'm not trying to punish you at all.” All she wanted to do was protect herself.
“But that's what you're doing.”
“We don't belong together, Devin,” She said, closing her eyes so she wouldn't have to see his pain again. Several emotions warred within her. Love, happiness, relief, anger, fear. It all was overwhelming.
“Yes, we do,” He said, and then his mouth was on hers. His firm, warm mouth pressed against hers and she told herself briefly to pull away before all thought swirled from her head. Her arms curled around his neck and she pulled him closer, hungrily opening her mouth to his. He was the one to break the kiss and Robyn clung to him, momentarily disoriented.
“You see how well we go together, Robyn. Stop denying this.”
She tried to get herself together. “In the grand scheme of things, sex is not that important.”
“Baby, we have a lot more going for us than just sex.” He bent and nibbled on her bottom lip and Robyn fought to keep her composure. Her emotions and her hormones were completely out of control and she struggled to get a grip.
Devin nibbled along her jawline, making his way to her ear before gently taking her lobe into his mouth. She leaned against him, her knees trembling, her eyes almost closed as desire coursed through her. He hummed in the back of his throat and took her mouth again.
She stood up on tip toe and pressed her body against his, wanting to be as close to him as possible. She could feel his erection pressing against her and her body began to feel hot. Devin pulled back, his eyes gleaming with desire. Robyn felt bereft without him and tried to come to her senses. Slowly she began to pull back.
He silently watched her, his face unreadable. At least he wasn't gloating, she thought, going to the bed and sinking down onto it. She stared at the floor, her heart still galloping in her chest.
“I'm going to let you think about this,” Devin said. “I could easily have you right now. With our whole family downstairs. But I want more than sex from you. And I'm not going to take advantage of you. I just want to be with you.”
He started from the room and Robyn couldn't bring herself to say anything. He was right. He could have had her then and there. She went up in flames as soon as he touched her. But that still didn't mean that they should be together. Her mind knew it but how did she get hear heart and her body to understand?
Devin unlocked the door and opened it, turning to look at her again. He smiled a small sad smile before saying, “Just think about it... Seriously think about it.”
Robyn looked back at the floor, her erratic breathing slowly returning to normal.
“I guess I'll see you at dinner.” He walked out.
The baby! She still had to tell him about the baby! Robyn jumped up from the bed again, rushing to the hallway. She couldn't let him go downstairs and find out about the baby from her mother, or whoever her mother may have told. They probably all thought he knew about the baby already.
“Devin!” Robyn called, so nervous that she couldn't even stand still. She was surprised that neither of their mothers or even Grace was lurking in the hallway.
He was already at the end of the hall but he turned around, looking so hopeful that her heart felt like it broke all over again. Was he going to be happy or mad or upset when he found out? Was he going to blame her?
She stuttered every word. “There's something else I need to talk to you about.”
The curious look on his face turned to concern. He quickly walked back to her and she went into the room.
She closed the door and turned towards him, her hands joined behind her back. Her palms were sweaty and she was holding her breath. She was a bundle of nerves and she tried to tell herself that everything would be okay but she couldn't believe it.
Forcing herself to breathe she thought of how to broach the subject. What was the best way to break the news?
“What is it?” He asked, walking towards her and stopping just short of them touching.
“I... I'm not sure how to say this,” She whispered, looking into his eyes for a second before losing her nerve and looking away.
“Are you sick, Robyn?” He asked.
“N-no,” She replied and his relief was very obvious. She was screwing this up. Better to just spit it out. Just get it over with.
“What's going on?” He asked, f
rowning and looking very worried. “You know you can tell me anything.”
She nodded jerkily, swallowing several times. Just say it. The longer you wait, the worse it will be.
“Robyn, tell me what's wrong.” Devin touched her cheek and a pang of sadness ran through her.
“I...” She stood up straight and took a deep breath before blurting out, “I'm pregnant.”
He felt as if he'd been punched in the stomach. He stumbled back, his mouth falling open. Of everything he'd expected her to say, that had never even entered his mind. Pregnant! Robyn was pregnant! He was going to be a father!
“A baby,” He said, the shock wearing off and joy quickly working it's way through him. He'd always wanted to be a father. Although he hadn't seen it happening anytime soon, he was almost weak with happiness.
Robyn stared at him nervously, biting her lip. She looked so vulnerable that he rushed to assure her.
“I can't believe this,” He said, gathering her close and hugging her. “I'm so happy. I can't believe it, Robyn.”
She sniffled and he realized that she was crying. He felt like a bastard, imagining her going through the pregnancy alone. He was swamped by a need to protect her. Her and his child. The realization that he was going to be a father was staggering.
“It's okay, baby,” He whispered, kissing her cheek. “I'm sorry I haven't been there for you. But I'm here now and I promise you won't have to do this by yourself.”
She nodded slowly, wiping her wet, flushed cheeks. But she didn't speak and still regarded him with a doubtful look on her face. He didn't blame her. She'd been through a lot. Casey's conniving ways had broken them up. And he couldn't even imagine how scared she'd been hearing the news that she was pregnant.
“How long have you known?” He asked, walking her to the bed so she could sit down. He sat in the chair again, facing her.
“About a month now.” Robyn replied, staring down at the floor. “The day after Thanksgiving.”
“Why didn't you tell me?” He couldn't keep the emotion from his voice. He wished she'd told him as soon as she'd found out. It upset him that she'd kept it a secret for so long.
