I'm pregnant with my best friend's baby

Chapter 8: Finding Rydel Again

Riker's POV:
It's been two days since that day at the school when we found out that Rydel has quadruplets. We haven't told mom and dad yet though just because we don't want to get their hopes up. Let's see how long it will take us to found her again. We went to the school office that day and asked if we could have her address but they said it was school policy to not give out the students addresses but they did give me her phone number. We've tried calling her but she won't answer. Ryland has been trying to track her phone to her house with some kind of weird program on his laptop but so far he hasn't had any success. The rest of us are out looking around town for her everyday so that's what we're doing now. I'm walking around the different streets around town when I see a park. Aha. Park + playground = Rydel and the kids. I walk towards the park "Look mommy! I'm swinging really high!" I hear a boy say and I turn my head to see Rydel sitting on a park bench smiling at the two boys swinging and the two girls are sitting on the same park bench next to Rydel "Mommy, can you braid our hair?" One of the girls ask and Rydel smiles and nods "Sure, sweetie." She says. I take my phone out and text the boys that I found her then start walking towards the park bench. She must have heard me because she turns around and looks at me "R-Riker?" She stutters. The two girls look at me and smile "Hey, Riker." They say and I wave

Rydel's POV:
I can't believe they found me. AGAIN. "R-Riker?" I stutter "Hey, Riker." Carly and Maddie say. I told the kids who the boys were and they were excited that they're related to the famous R5, but I didn't tell them that Ellington is their father. I don't want them to be disappointed if Ratliff doesn't want to have anything to do with them. Riker looks at me with tenderness in his gaze and I feel tears in my eyes "Bubby." I say and run over and hug him. He buries his face in my shoulder and I feel him trembling "I love you, Rydel." He whispers in my ear and sits his chin on top of my head like he did when we were little which causes a lump to form in my throat "I love you too, Riker." I say against his chest. We stay like this until I hear a vehicle pull up and familiar voices talking "There she is." I hear Ross say and I step away from Riker and see the boys coming towards me "Mommy, can we hug them?" I hear Carly and Maddie ask and I look at them and smile "Of course." I say and the girls run over and hug Rocky and Ryland. Rocky is Maddie's favorite, Ratliff is Mason's favorite, Ryland is Carly's favorite and Ross is Carter's favorite. The boys run over from the swing set and stand next to me "Why are they here?" Carter asks "They wanted to find us so they can get to know you guys." I say and they grin "Can we go to your house to talk?" Riker asks and I sigh and nod "You guys go ahead and follow me there." I say. We all get in our vehicles and they follow us to my house. My house is a two story, three bedroom home built of tan bricks, light blue shutters, and a two car attached garage. I pull into the driveway and park and as soon as the engine is turned off, the kids run up to the door with the house key and the boys all climb out of their van. They follow us inside and the kids run upstairs to their rooms to play "We can sit in the living room if you want to. It'd probably be more comfortable." I say and they nod and follow me into the living room and I sit in the corner of my tan sectional as the boys sit around me "You have a nice house." Ross says and I smile "Thank you. I used to work for a big company as their manager for awhile." I say and Riker, who's sitting next to me, pats my leg "So tell us about the reason why you left?" He says and I look across the sectional at Ratliff and he smiles and I look at my brothers "I left because I got pregnant. I knew that mom and dad would be very disappointed in me. They practically drilled it into us that we should wait until we're married to get pregnant. I also knew that you guys would disapprove of me getting pregnant. Well that and you'd beat up the guy. After I found out I was pregnant, I ended up leaving that night. I just couldn't stay there any longer knowing that everything I said was a lie. Nine months later I had the kids, I remember thinking that I couldn't take care of them on my own, I was a single mother at twenty years old! I ended up finding this support group for single mothers at the church I'm going to now and they really helped me with the kids. Now I'm here. That's my story." I say and they all look at me with a mixture of sadness and admiration in their eyes "So who is the father? Does he know he has kids?" Ryland asks and I shake my head and drop my gaze to the carpet "Why not?" Rocky asks "Because I'm afraid that if I tell him he'll not want the kids. We have already been through enough without the kids being rejected by their father." I say and look up to see Ratliff standing in front of me "You look like you need a hug, Delly." He says and my stomach does a weird flip at the old nickname he used to call me. He opens his arms and I stand up and hug him tightly "I missed you, Ell." I whisper into his shoulder and he rubs my back. We stay like this until Rocky clears his throat and we pull away "So, can we meet our nieces and nephews?" Riker says and I smile "Of course. I am warning you guys though, they are very curious and will probably ask a lot of questions." I say and they laugh "It's okay." Ross says "Kids! Come down her please!" I yell and the boys all jump "Well, you definitely still have good lungs." Rocky says and I laugh as the kids run down the steps "What's wrong?" They ask

Ratliff's POV:
Wow. I never really looked at the kids before now. The two boys have short brown hair and brown eyes and the two girls have shoulder-length brown hair and brown eyes. Everybody turns towards me and I smile sheepishly at them "What'd you say? I wasn't listening." I say and Rydel laughs "I asked you if we could talk later. Privately." She says "Oooh! Rydel and Ratliff sitting in a tree-" She throws a couch pillow at Rocky and he chuckles. I look back at her to find her staring at me and she looks down but I see her cheeks are pink "Mom, why are you staring at Ratliff?" Mason says and she smiles at him "Because I haven't seen him in such a long time." She says "Rydel," Riker says seriously and she looks at him sitting beside her "I want to ask you a question but I don't know if it would be appropriate in front of children." He says and she nods and tells the kids to go play up in their rooms "Is something wrong, mom?" One of the little girls asks and Rydel laughs and shakes her head "No. I just wanted to talk to the boys alone. That's all." She says and the kids run up the stairs. Riker looks over at Rydel and she looks back at him "Who's the kids father, Rydel?" He asks and she look down at her lap

Rydel's POV:
"Who's the kids father, Rydel?" Riker asks me and I glance at him then look down at my lap "Ratliff." I whisper so low that even I didn't hear it "Who?" Riker says leaning closer and I look up into his eyes "Ellington Lee Ratliff." I say and the boys all look at me shocked "What?" They all chorus. Ellington comes over and drops to his knees in front of me with tears in his eyes "They're our kids?" He says and I nod and smile while tears run down my cheeks "Oh Delly." He whispers and pulls me up with him and he hugs me like we used to, with my head tucked in the crook of his neck with my arms around his neck while his arms are wrapped around my waist and his face is buried in my hair. Riker clears his throat and we pull away and look at each other "I missed you something terribly." He whispers and I smile and kiss his cheek but he turns his head so I end up kissing his lips