“And breathe.” Tasha got to her feet to address Philip. “Lizzie is not pregnant, so crisis averted, it's Danielle.”
“Tash! It was a secret,” cried a horrified Lizzie.
“Lizzie, I will speak to your dad tonight and Philip would never have believed he was mistaken without an explanation, so he needed to know before he ran downstairs and spilled his incorrect information to your dad. I’m going to put Connor to bed and we'll talk again in the morning.” Tasha suddenly felt very, very tired and weighed down with problems, her own and now Lizzie's, well, Danielle's.
****
After a quick shower, Tasha was climbing into bed and wondered what else could crop up; Dan, Lizzie, Danielle, and most recently added to the list, Philip, Philip and Juan. She’d been sitting poolside with him drinking beer, just one bottle for her when he suddenly blurted out that Juan's family were trying to convince him that he wasn't gay, couldn't be and that it was time for him to settle down and get married. To a girl, one of their choosing, a second cousin twice removed or something. Poor Philip was beside himself knowing how much his parent's approval meant to Juan and seemed seriously concerned that he may give in to their demands.
Tasha had reassured him how much Juan loved him, but could offer no guarantees that family pressure wouldn't win out. Jim had been to check on Philip before following Tasha into their room and had just emerged from the bathroom looking concerned.
“This is not the evening I'd planned for us, baby,” he said as he slid into bed next to her.
“That's okay. I guess this is one of the pleasures of having children,” she replied as he pulled her closer against him.
“Mmm, I guess it is.” His reply was flat, giving nothing away. He dropped a kiss to her nose and allowed his fingers to run up and down her arm. “Has Juan said anything to you about him and Philip? I know you're close and I wouldn't normally ask you to break a confidence but I’m worried—he’s my son.” His earlier flat tone had been replaced with one of concern for Philip and an apology for asking Tasha to break her confidence, if there was one to Juan.
“I know. I’m worried too,” she told him and if she knew anything about Juan’s plans she would have shared them with her husband. She hated seeing him concerned and he rarely showed this side of himself unless it involved her or the children. “Nope. He’s said about his parents disapproving and how they're always trying to fix him up with eligible women. They seem focused on babies and anormalfuture, but nothing about this cousin or whatever she is.”
“Maybe I should speak to him when he gets back,” Jim started making Tasha smile up at him.
“What? Like, what his intentions are?” Giggled Tasha even though she knew her husband was deadly serious.
“Yes, something like that and I wasn't joking.” He frowned.
“I know, that's what made it funnier,” giggled Tasha again.
“I think somebody needs to stop laughing at me or there will be tears before bedtime, honey,” Jim teased, although he was serious about that too, but good serious now, control freak serious rather than worried and pre-occupied dad serious.
“Do your worst, James,” she taunted in return, making him grin down at her devilishly.
“Maybe later. What's the story with Lizzie?”
“I'm supposed to be the one that can smell a rat, but you put me to shame.”
“Spill, baby.”
“Danielle is pregnant and hasn't told her mom.” Tasha’s reply was blunt and concise but she had no intention of keeping these details from Jim. She knew he would be shocked, she’d been shocked, but once Lizzie had told her and involved her, she was always going to tell Jim everything. “Lizzie was hoping she could tell her here, with me and her to offer support.” She grimaced at the thought of sharing a room with Deanna never mind being part of this messy situation.
“Shit! She's a kid—seventeen. Lizzie isn't planning on following suit, is she? If she is she needs to forget it or Dylan will be missing some vital parts of his anatomy,” said Jim menacingly which made Tasha laugh again.
“Stop laughing at me, Natasha,” he warned quite seriously.
“Sorry.” She managed to bite back another laugh. “Lizzie has no desire to be a parent for a very long time, but I don't know that this has anything to do with me. It's not as though Deanna and I are friends, is it?”
“No, but if Danielle has confided in Lizzie and she feels your presence would help...” his voice trailed off, allowing Tasha to take this in and decide what she was going to do, knowing Jim had no issue with her helping if that’s what she wanted to do.
“Really, you think I should do this? Me and Deanna, here, with the girls to break it to her that her kid's knocked up?”
“Why not? Unless you don't want to, which is fine, but if you and Lizzie want to, I have no objection. But you should only do it if you want to. If you don’t then that is absolutely your call and Lizzie will have to accept that and respect it.”
“I'll think about it,” Tasha agreed. “Can we go to sleep now? I'm knackered, must be the fresh air from my ride earlier.”
“Or the trip to the hay loft, for my ride earlier, oh, and that horse you were riding. I'm not sure he isn't a little too strong and opinionated for you.”
Tasha softened into his touch and grip that was lying them both down in preparation for sleep.
“That hay got everywhere,” Tasha said with a wide expression.
