Evolved

26. Secrets to be Kept

The next morning, I was greeted with breakfast in bed. Cadence really outdid himself. He brought pancakes, eggs, bacon, waffles, a muffin, and coffee. I smiled and thanked him before I dug in. I avoided the coffee though. He looked at me curiously.

"What's wrong? You love coffee," he asked curiously. I was in the middle of taking a bite of bacon.

"Oh, I can't have coffee," I slipped. I stopped chewing and looked at him with wide eyes. I did not mean to make that slip. He looked at me curiously again. He looked highly suspicious, but I doubted he'd put two and two together right away on vague hints.

"Why not?" he asked slowly. I kept my face emotionless and shrugged.

"I just wanted to cut back on caffeine. It'll stunt my growth," I smiled wryly. He smiled and leaned over to kiss me. A wave of nausea hit me, but I tried to keep it down. I turned my head at the last second and concentrated on keeping it down. Cadence looked at me curiously.

"Are you okay?" he asked. I nodded and avoided his eyes. He already made his opinion on a baby very clear. I wasn't going to tell him yet, but the way things were going, he might find out before I had the chance to tell him. I had to get his attention off of me. I smiled and move the tray to the side.

"Let's go say hi to everybody. I want to go see the twins," I distracted him. He gave me one more questioning glance before he smiled and nodded. I went to the bathroom while he went to put the tray back in the kitchen. My delicious breakfast wasn't as good coming out as it was going in. I finished quickly before Cadence got back. I brushed my teeth and sat down as he came back up. I tried to give him a carefree grin, but I knew it was probably looking more like a tight smile. He sat next to me and gave me a look that clearly said 'talk'. I sighed and looked at my hands in my lap.

"Were you serious when you said we couldn't have a family right now? Did you mean that?" I asked quietly. I brought my eyes back up to his. He nodded.

"I don't think... we would be ready for a family right now Elle," he answered truthfully. I sighed and gave him a fake smile.

"Okay," I lied. He smiled and kissed me gently. He pulled back and looked at me curiously again.

"Why all the questions about this, Elle?" he asked questioningly. I smiled and pecked him quickly as I stood.

"Just curious.... Thinking further than just now," I answered as cheerfully as I could and turned my face away from him. "Let's go." I said jumping out the window and quickly ran to Ian's with Cadence trailing me. We walked in and greeted everyone. The twins immediately ran up to me and hugged my legs. Tessa smiled at me and hugged me tightly. Cadence was behind me talking to Damon. I frowned and mouthed 'I have to talk to you'. She glanced at Cadence and nodded discreetly.

"Oh Ellie, I want to go for a run. Come with me?" she asked, taking my hint. I nodded and waited as she got on my back. "We'll be back." She called over her shoulder. I zoomed us out and stopped when we were a good distance away from the house, I stopped and set her down. She looked at me worried.

"What's wrong?" she said instantly. I frowned and looked at her.

"I'm pregnant," I blurted out quietly. She smiled before she quickly frowned.

"Why do you look so worried?" she asked confused. I sighed and explained our conversations yesterday and today. She looked at me sympathetically. "Oh, he is kind of right, Ellie." She said timidly. I grunted and ran my fingers through my hair and then down my face.

"Nothing is going to go wrong," I repeated. She sighed and looked at me sympathetically and placed a hand on my shoulder.

"It'll work out though Ellie. When are you going to tell him?" she asked. I sighed and put a hand on my stomach. Closing my eyes, I leaned back against the tree.

"I'm going to hold it off as long as I can," I sighed. She ran her fingers through her hair and breathed deeply.

"You have to tell him," she said being the voice of reason. I shook my head. I don't care how stubborn I was being; I wasn't going to tell him.

"Not today," I answered stubbornly. She sighed as I motioned her to get on my back. I looked back at her before I took off. "You have to promise not to tell him Tess." I said sternly. Sighing, she nodded. I knew she would want to tell him, but she wouldn't. Tessa was the kind of person who would keep your secret; even if it was wrong. I darted back to Ian's house and set her down before we walked in. Cadence watched me carefully.

"You okay Elle?" he asked. I slapped on a smile and nodded.

"Everything's perfect; couldn't be better," I lied. I skipped over to him and wrapped my arms around him before I pulled him close to me and kissed him deeply. Breathlessly, I pulled away. He finally smiled and kissed my nose.

"Okay, if you say so," he finally gave in. I hating lying to him, but he made his stand on the subject very clear. I played with the twins all afternoon. I took care of them, fed them, took them into the restroom when I needed to, rocked them to sleep and everything. Knowing I was pregnant was bringing out the mommy in me. I smiled down gently at Roman's sweet, peaceful, sleeping face. I yawned and stood carefully. I went upstairs and carefully placed him in his bed next to his sister. My eyes watered at the thought of children of my own. These stupid hormones had my emotions all over the place. I sniffled and wiped a tear away as I watched them sleep. I felt comforting arms go around me and a head rest lightly on my shoulder.

"You okay, Elle?" Cadence asked. I sniffled again and wiped another tear as I nodded. He turned me so I was facing him and placed a comforting kiss on my forehead. "Why do I have the feeling that you're keeping something from me?" He muttered against my head. I tensed slightly before I sighed and wrapped my arms around him. I hugged him tight to me and placed a soft kiss on his jaw. When my emotions seemed a little more controlled, he pulled back and looked at me.

"Why were you crying?" he asked sympathetically. I blushed and looked down. I couldn't think of any other excuse other than 'I'm having a baby and you won't like that', so I kept my mouth shut. I shrugged and walked out of the room. He followed suit after me and gently held my elbow to get me to look at him. I sighed; finally thinking of something.

"I was thinking about what you said earlier and I agreed. My life is a mess," I lied again. "Children just... wouldn't be right for us right now." I said. I wanted to add 'until eleven months from now', but I left that off. He smiled sadly and slowly nodded. Sighing, I grabbed his hand and brought him downstairs. Tessa looked at me hopefully.

"Nottoday," I repeated just loud enough for her to hear. Cadence looked at mecuriously, but I just shot him a smile and kissed him. When Cadence's back wasturned, I mouthed 'don't tell Damon either'. She exasperated a sigh and rolledher eyes. I only smiled. After Cadence spent some time talking with Ian andDamon, we left. Back at my house, I quickly got ready for bed and slipped underthe covers. I tried avoiding any conversation that might've led to aconversation about a family. He just didn't get it yet. I wanted a child; I didn't care how unpredictable my life would be.  I got a cramp in my stomach but I kept fromdoubling over. I clenched my teeth and closed my eyes tightly. Cadence slid inbeside me and wrapped his arms around me. I leaned my back against his chestand tried to relax. Hiding this from him was going to be harder than I thought.