Who: Kyle Valenti & Isobel Evans What: Important conversation Where: Isobel's place When: Saturday Warnings: references to failed pregnancy Status: complete g-doc
Though it had been a few days since Kyle had told her everything concerning Michael being jailed and Alex’s marriage to Sean, the blond was still fuming. She couldn’t believe that neither of them had told her anything until after the entire situation happened. Part of her could expect Michael to keep his issues a secret. That was Michael. He dealt with things in unhealthy, self-destructive ways. But for Kyle to not tell her? That was different and it bothered Isobel a lot. She thought they had a stronger, more open relationship than that, but obviously it wasn’t the case.
And yet, it was difficult because Isobel knew Kyle did feel bad about not telling her. She also knew that he had kept Alex’s wedding a secret because they wanted him to. It barely softened the blow, but it was something she could understand. Still, it was going to take her a while to move past this and a lot of talking with Rosa.
However, at the moment, there was something much more pressing she was dealing with. Isobel was constantly hungry. It was strange and it reminded her eerily of pregnancy symptoms. Yes, that worried her, especially since the two of them had just met their future daughter two months prior. She’d already devoured a good amount of chocolate by the time she made the choice to answer Kyle’s text and allow him to come over.
The blond pushed the box of chocolate away and sat back on the couch. Could this month get any worse?
Getting Isobel’s text was both a relief and a cause of anxiety for Kyle. He knew that he’d been taking a huge risk by not warning her about Alex’s impending marriage, knowing the effect it would have on Michael. And he knew that not calling her when Michael got arrested was also a calculated risk. They’d barely spoken since everything came out and he hoped that he hadn’t irrevocably damaged their relationship.
Kyle decided not to show up empty handed, so when he knocked on Isobel’s door, he was carrying a bouquet of flowers and a small teddy bear wearing a t-shirt that said “I’m Beary Sorry”. He rocked back on his heels as he anxiously waited for his girlfriend to answer the door.
Hearing the knock, Isobel pushed herself up from the couch and walked over. Before opening the door, she took a much needed deep breath. She wanted to forgive Kyle so they could move on and work on finding a home for themselves and River, but she also knew what he’d done wasn’t easy to forgive. But Isobel wasn’t about to throw in the towel on what they had over Alex’s marriage and Michael, in essence, having a tantrum over it.
She opened the door and, despite herself, the sight of Kyle’s shirt, along with the flowers and bear, got to Isobel just a little. It was cute and, more importantly, it showed he was making an effort. He knew he messed up.
“Nice shirt,” she greeted, stepping aside to let him in and closing the door behind him. “It shows the appropriate amount of remorse needed to remedy this situation.” The blond accepted the flowers and went to the small kitchen to put them in some water.
“Do you want anything? Water? Alcohol? Chocolate?” Isobel asked, filling up the vase and placing the flowers inside. They were beautiful and again, Isobel could appreciate the gesture.
“Coffee?” he asked. “And a kiss, if that’s not too much to ask.”
Kyle was taking it as a good sign that she’d actually invited him over and seemed amenable to his apologies. Even though he’d outgrown most of his douchebag tendencies, occasionally some bits of the way he was in high school still emerged and he regretted not telling Isobel immediately about Alex and Sean so she could prepare for the inevitable outburst from Michael.
He’d done his time well so far and Isobel walked over, closing the space between them, and pressed a kiss to his lips. Okay, so she missed kissing him, but as tempting as it was to continue, Isobel kept the gesture short and sweet. He wasn’t at the point where deepened kisses and the potential makeup sex was on the table yet.
“Better?” She did give him a playful smile before she headed for the kitchen and started brewing some coffee. Keriugs were amazing, amazing machines. Before it finished brewing though, Isobel was suddenly starving again, but she’d practically eaten half a box of chocolate before Kyle showed up. Frowning, Isobel did her best to ignore the gnawing feeling in her stomach and opted for a bottle of water instead.
“You know, you would have scored major points if you were wearing the shirt and not the bear,” Isobel pointed out as she unscrewed the top of the water and took a sip.
The brief kiss was another good sign and Kyle would take it. He returned her smile and followed her to the kitchen, watching as she started brewing the coffee for him and grabbed herself a bottle of water. He’d missed her and was determined that they needed to move in together sooner rather than later.
He laughed at her quip about the shirt. “Sadly, I don’t think they make it in my size,” he said. “But maybe I’ll invest in having one custom made for next time I screw up.” Because there was no doubt that he would do so again, despite his best efforts not to. He was only human.
“How’ve you been?” he asked. “I’m really sorry that I made things more difficult for you.”
“I think that’s a good idea.” Isobel handed him his cup of coffee. Though, the shirt on the bear was still effective and Isobel did think it was a cute idea. Again, she was aware Kyle was trying to make it up to her.
“I get why you did what you did. I just don’t like it. Just like I don’t like Michael not confining in me or coming to me for help. I’m closer to forgiving you, but it’s just going to take time. It’s the same with Michael by the way. I’m still not pleased with him either.” Yes, she knew he was grappling with a lot because Alex was married to Sean now and no one told him or Eliot about it. But the fact he didn’t at least let her know something bothered Isobel.
Herself? Part of Isobel wondered if she should mention the constant craving for sweets she was having. It was strange, especially since Isobel was more of a booze girl than a chocolate hound. She hadn’t taken a test, but…
No way. It just-No way.
“Um, well, I’ve been craving a lot of sweets lately. It’s weird because we both know I’m not all about the chocolate.”
Kyle completely understood why she wasn’t happy with him and knew that he’d botched this one. If he was going to make this relationship work, he’d have to do better next time. Well, hopefully there wouldn’t be a next time with this particular situation. Isobel and Max had been cleaning up after Michael’s meltdowns for a long time and with Max not here, it all fell on her shoulders.
Sipping his coffee, he listened to her talk about craving sweets without immediately absorbing the implications of the words. When they finally struck him, he nearly choked on his coffee. “Oh. Um… okay,” he said, having no idea how to react to the idea that she might be pregnant.
He set the coffee mug down in an effort to keep her from seeing how his hands were shaking. “Did you take a test?”
Isobel might not have caught that his hands were shaking, but nearly choking on his coffee was impossible to miss. Honestly? Isobel was just as scared. The last time she was pregnant, it had been with Noah’s child and she’d injected herself with Liz’s concoction to kill it. The last thing she wanted was to have that creep’s child even if for all intents and purposes the baby was innocent. She wasn’t ready to be a mom then and at the moment? Well, she still wasn’t ready for it. She didn’t want to think about going through with an ‘abortion’ again.
“No, I just thought maybe it was stress eating? I mean I hoped it was stress eating…” Isobel took a seat on the couch and nervously played with one of her letter rings on her finger. “I guess I was scared to know? I mean we both know what happened last time…”
Yes, he remembered her last pregnancy and how it ended. It was surprisingly one of the few times he hadn’t been the one to provide medical care to one of the aliens though, so he hadn’t actually been there.
Kyle followed her to the sofa, sitting down and wrapping his arms around her. “It’s okay to be scared,” he said softly. “But I promise whatever happens, it won’t be like last time.” For one thing, he wasn’t an evil sadistic bastard. If she was pregnant and decided against carrying to term, he would be by her side and ensure she had excellent health care.
“We should find out for sure though,” he added, keeping his tone gentle and light so as not to pressure her. “So that we have enough time to decide what to do.”
Despite how angry she’d been at Kyle, when he put his arms around her, Isobel leaned against him. Everything had been so crazy lately and Isobel desperately wished Max was here to help her. Without him, she had to try and help Michael herself. She felt like she wasn’t doing enough for him, especially after the Alex marriage thing. At least with Max by her side, she had someone else to lean on when it came to Michael. Someone Michael would listen to as well as herself. On top of that, she might be pregnant and that frightened her more than facing Jones again.
“I know. I know it’ll be different. I just-I just am sacred Kyle.” Isobel never admitted to being scared, not if she could help it, but with Kyle, it was different. She knew he didn’t take it as a sign of weakness.
Gripping his hand, she looked up at him. “But I know you’re right. We should figure it out now so if I am, we have time to decide things.”
“I know,” he said, holding her close in an effort to soothe her fears. “And the timing is not great, but I love you and you don’t have to go through this alone.” They hadn’t talked about kids, not even when their daughter from home showed up a while back. Hell, they hadn’t even managed to move in together yet. Of course, thanks to the dome, he still had a very expensive engagement ring tucked away.
Kyle let out a slow breath and buried his face against her hair. He wasn’t ready to be a father, wasn’t even entirely sure that was something he wanted, but if Isobel was pregnant and wanted to go through with it, he would support that decision without hesitation. Whatever happened would be her choice and he wouldn’t put any pressure on her either way.
No, she didn’t have to go through it alone this time. Isobel nodded against his shoulder. No, kids were not something she thought about even when their future daughter arrived. She thought they had time, but perhaps they didn’t have as much as they thought. All the more reason to get the test and find out for sure. They needed to have time to plan.
Isobel wrapped her arms around Kyle and hugged him tightly. She knew he was just as scared as she was, but he was trying to be calm to keep her calm too. To be her rock in the midst of this wild ocean. She pulled back and pressed a kiss to his lips briefly.
“Let’s go get the test. No matter what the result, I can face it because I have you. No matter what we’ll figure it out. I love you, Kyle,”
Hell yes Kyle was scared. This wasn’t exactly the way he wanted to mend things between them after his monumental fuck up. “We can go to the clinic and I can do it there,” he said. “It’ll be more accurate.” The home tests were surprisingly accurate, but as a doctor, he would prefer to rely on cold hard science.
And whatever the outcome, this was even more motivation for them to move in together sooner rather than later.
“Alright. I’ll grab my coat and we can go.” The blond reluctantly untangled herself from his arms and went to put her shoes on. She tugged on her coat and took a deep breath. She could do this. They could do this.
“Okay, let’s go.” Isobel took Kyle’s hand. “Let’s face this together.”