Second Chance

Chapter 13

Few days after everything had calmed down, Richard called for a family meeting.

“What do you think dad wants to talk about?” Ryan asked Ryder as they both walked down the stairs. Ryder shrugged and said nothing. They were all seated waiting for someone to break the silence that had descended.

“So…” Alexis said raising her brows. Ryder couldn’t help but notice that their parents were nervous.

“Is something wrong?” Alex asked
“I’m pregnant” Alice said. The children were speechless.
“What?” Ryder managed to spit out but it came out harsh scaring both parents.

Alice’s jaw dropped. She wasn’t expecting that kind of reaction from them. It was like time froze. Not able to withstand their reactions, she fled to her room with Richard hot on her trail.

“Mom is pregnant” Alex whispered unbelievably. Like as if a light bulb suddenly went off in their head, they snapped out of their shock and quickly went to their parents’ room.

“Mom, what’s wrong” Alexis asked with a frown as soon as she entered the room and saw her mom crying. The others surrounded them.

“Do you guys not want any other siblings? Although this wasn’t planned we were hoping you guys would be open to the idea of another sibling. I promise you we were going to wait longer and ask your permission but this was unexpected” Richard said in one breath harshly, the pain and frustration evident in his voice.

“It’s not like that” Ryder said hurriedly and looked at his siblings for confirmation. They nodded agreeing to what he said.

“The shock got to us. It wasn’t a news we were expecting any time soon” Ryder said.

“Yes, Ry is right” Alexis said.
“We’re sorry our reaction made you think otherwise” Ryan said. Richard sighed heavily in relief.

“Are you all saying you don’t mind another sibling?” Alice asked hopefully and they all nodded. She sighed in relief and relaxed.

“Thank God” she muttered as they wrapped her in a hug.

Fred had come to school one day with a bruise on his forehead. He didn’t want his friends to know what happened, he decided to skip school and stay at home but that was until he realized he would be home with his father.

He decided to go to school and lie if anyone asked him about it. Ryan was the first to notice and he asked about it instantly.

“I ran into a wall” Fred lied not meeting Ryan’s gaze. Ryan didn’t believe him as he also noticed the subtle limp in Fred’s steps and the wince whenever he made a sudden movement but he decided not to say anything to him yet.

During lunch break, Alexis noticed his limp and was curious.

“What happened to you? You’re walking funny” Alexis pointed out and Fred froze. He couldn’t come up with an excuse quick enough.

“Did those guys beat you up?” Ryder asked. Fred quickly shook his head in the negative.

“Of course not. They haven’t approached me in a very long time” Fred said.

“Then who was it?” Ryan asked softly.
“I slipped and hurt my ankle” Fred said and that seemed to solve the problem for a few seconds.

“But you said you ran into a wall” Ryan pointed out and everyone looked at Fred. Fred nodded.

“I slipped and then I ran into a wall” he replied.
Alex couldn’t help the chuckle that escaped his lips.

“You’re a very bad liar” Alex said and the others agreed.

“If someone is bullying you, you don’t need to cover up for them. Just give their name and I'll deal with them” Ryder assured and Fred shook his head.

“You can’t deal with this one” Fred muttered but everyone at the table heard.

“So someone is indeed bullying you” Alexis said and Fred groaned.

“No. I mean you can’t deal with this because no one is bullying me” Fred said. No one believed him but they decided to let the matter rest.

On their way to class, Ryan stopped Fred.

“Will you tell me who the person is when you’re ready?” Ryan asked. Fred could hear the concern in his voice and agreed. “Yeah. I’ll tell you later. Just not now” Fred said.

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