Keeping Secrets

Chapter Ten: Sergio's Family

José María and Paqui Ramos stared at Sergio in shock as their youngest son explained to them about his relationship of six years; of they weren’t happy that their twenty-five year old son had kept the fact he had a girlfriend from them, let alone that he had gotten her pregnant.

Paqui looked at him nervously, she could see how happy Sergio was when he talked about Megan and she hated to judge someone that she hadn’t met; she was curious about why Megan wasn’t here with him.

“Are you sure it’s yours?” Paqui asked carefully, she found it suspicious that Megan wasn’t with him, as he told them about this.

“Megan isn’t like the others, if I knew where she was…” Sergio said not being able to finish; he had tried everything, she hadn’t been home since they had told her father and her friends didn’t know where she was.

His parents looked at him confused, they could see that something was upsetting their son and they wondered what was going on.

“Her padre didn’t take the news well… no one’s seen her since,” Sergio said quietly making Paqui look at him worried; she knew what happened to women whose parents didn’t agree with their pregnancies.

Paqui didn’t want to worry her son, but she knew that she had to tell him; she could see that her son truly loved the woman and it was clear that it would kill him if something happened to her and his unborn child.

“Sweetheart… there is a chance he’s sent her to a home for unwed mothers,” Paqui said making the colour drain from Sergio’s face; everyone had heard the stories of what happened in those places.

Sergio felt sick at the thought of what could happen to Megan if she was there, he didn’t want to lose her or the baby; he wanted them home safe and he didn’t believe that Gerard would do something.

José María sighed as he watched Sergio sit down on unsteady feet, it was clear that Sergio had strong feelings for Megan; if Gerard had sent Megan to one of these home’s the chances of her coming back with the baby were next to none.

“I have to find her… I can’t leave her, I can’t abandon our unborn child,” Sergio said as his older brother walked in, he had been listening in from the kitchen with their sister and had been shocked by what he had heard.

René stared at his younger brother for a second, of course he had wanted to speak to him about his and Megan’s relationship; the press were having a field day but this was something else.

“You’re having a baby,” René said as Mirian walked in she stopped as she heard the words leave René’s mouth; they looked at each other knowing that this was serious.

Sergio nodded confirming what they had heard making Mirian smile excitedly as she hugged him excited to have someone else to spoil along with Daniella before she sensed the tension in the air.

“Megan’s padre won’t let me see her… and no one has seen or heard from her in three days,” Sergio said softly as he looked at his siblings, he wanted their opinion since he didn’t want to believe what his mother had said to him.

Mirian looked at her brother, it was obvious that this was hurting Sergio, there had to be something that they could do to fix this; she knew he’d be a wonderful father since he adored Daniella.

“Where could she be?” Mirian asked making René sigh, already knowing the answer and it wasn’t one that would make this situation better; everyone was going to have to pull together if Megan was in danger.

Mirian was excited about the idea of having a new niece or nephew and another woman in the family, she was sure that Megan was wonderful if she could put up with her baby brother; she had to be a saint to deal with Sergio.

“A home for unwed mothers,” René said making Mirian paled at his words feeling sick; she didn’t know what to think of Megan’s father if he had done that to his daughter.

The whole family sat in silence as they took in what could be happening to Megan right now; she had been missing nearly a week and it wasn’t going to be easy to track her down.

“I have to find her,” Sergio said making them look at him, he didn’t know where she would be but he had to find Megan and they weren’t going to be parted again when he found her.

Paqui sighed nodding at her son, she would do anything to help her children and now to protect her unborn grandchild; she would get along with Megan for Sergio’s sake if she had to.

“Where do we start?” Mirian asked knowing that they had a big task ahead of them, it wasn’t going to be easy and she hoped that they would have good news at the end of it.

Sergio looked at her gratefully before José María stood and moved to get the phone book, he had a couple of friends that might be able to help them start their search.

“We need to find out where he sent her first,” José María said making his wife nod, it was going to be tough and they would have to start work now to find her.

Sergio looked somewhat relieved that his family were being so supportive; he didn’t want to think how Megan felt about her own turning their backs on her.

“We’ll find her Sergio,” Paqui said trying to comfort her son, though it was obvious that he wasn’t going to rest until Megan and baby were safely back home with him.

Sergio nodded his head as his mobile started to ring, he frowned as he pulled it out of his pocket and realised that it was Marisol; he had a feeling that it was more bad news.

***

“Are you sure about this?” René said looking at his brother while Sergio unlocked the door to Megan’s apartment, he had been surprised when one of Megan’s friends had called to warn him that Gerard had asked her to pack all of Megan’s things for him.

Marisol hadn’t been able to find out where Megan was only that she had ‘gone to visit relatives’ and wouldn’t be back for a while.

“I’m not letting him win,” Sergio said smiling as Lou rushed towards him, he had been coming around to look after the dog while he waited for Megan to come him.

René nodded his head, Gerard wanted all of Megan’s things moved back into his house so that he could control Megan when she came home from wherever he had sent her.

“Okay… I’ll start in the kitchen,” René said as he watched Sergio fussing over the dog, he smiled knowing that his brother would never forgive himself if something happened to Megan.

Sergio nodded his head, Gerard would be coming to collect the packed items tomorrow so they had to get everything important out of the apartment that day.

Sergio took a deep breath as he looked towards Megan’s bedroom, he couldn’t believe that she was missing and that he didn’t know where she was; he hoped that she and the baby were okay.

Getting to his feet, Sergio moved to the bedroom to start packing; they didn’t have a lot of time and he wanted to make sure that he had everything important to Megan packed away and safely in his house.

René looked back at his brother as he quickly started to empty everything into the boxes that they had brought; he would do anything for his younger brother and he hoped that it all worked out for him and Megan.