Triplets Make Five

I gathered the ultrasound pictures and shoved them into my pocket. I wasn’t sure why I felt the need to cover this up, but I did. It was a blow to me and it was a blow to Delilah, and the last thing we needed were people spotting this moment and circulating it around the community. I tried to gather my thoughts as Delilah continued to silently cry to herself. I had no idea how to fix this. I had no idea what to say to make this better.

So, I said the only thing I could.

I told her the truth.

“Delilah, you don’t have to look at me, but I need you to listen. Okay? I’m not going anywhere.”

That got her to lift her head to me. And quite quickly, which made me a little sick. She was sitting here thinking I was going to leave her. Pregnant with my child. With my children.

Holy shit, we were having triplets.

“So just…let me process. Now that I have your attention. You’re pregnant,” I said.

“You’re staying?” she asked.

I leaned forward onto my forearms, closing a bit of distance between the two of us as my eyes hooked onto hers.

“You are carrying my children, Delilah. And I want to be there for them. All of them. No matter how many of them there are,” I said.

There was a relief that flooded her face. It brightened my heart and relaxed my shoulders a bit. There was a small grin that crossed her cheeks as the waiter sat a cool pitcher of juice in front of her, and I could see she was anxious to try it.

“Freshly-squeezed mango passion fruit juice, courtesy of the chef. Whatever changes need to be made to the menu can be done. Just let me know,” the waiter said.

“Thank you. We aren’t ready to order yet. Could you give us, maybe, twenty minutes? However long we take, I promise I will compensate you on your tip accordingly,” I said.

“Take your time. I’ll circle back around in twenty minutes,” he said.

I turned my attention back to Delilah, who had already poured herself a glass of the juice. She was drinking it down quickly, draining the slender glass and pouring herself another one. I watched her carefully. How her movements were choppier from her nausea. So many things were flying through my head. About how this would affect her work and what people would say. How this would affect my station at the company and how this would look to the investors. This could be very bad or very good depending on how we wanted to spin it, and that was when her previous words dawned on me.

“You want to make this platonic?” I asked.

Her eyes fluttered up to mine as she drank down her second glass of juice.

“Why do you want this to be platonic?” I asked.

“Because we have no idea how this is going to look to the office,” Delilah said. “I’m well aware that people thought I was sleeping with Mr. Hathaway. And nothing was happening between us. But if this comes to light--if people knew I slept with the new boss who had only been here a week--it’ll make my life a nightmare.”

“It would also look bad to the investors,” I said.

“Exactly. I mean, I don’t know how long I can conceal a pregnancy with triplets, but I’ll do what I can. All I know is I can’t jeopardize my job, Mr. Walk-”

“Can you at least call me ‘Preston’ when we’re out of the office?” I asked. “It makes it sound less ‘I fucked my secretary’ and more ‘accidental’.”

I saw her wince at my words and I sighed.

“All I meant was-”

“I knew what you meant. Look, I just can’t risk losing my job. Health insurance is important, now more than ever. I’ve got some money saved up, but not enough to cover feeding three mouths once this all comes to… fruition,” she said.

“I’m here to help you in any way. If you need money, all you have to do is ask,” I said.

“We can’t do anything to bring suspicion to ourselves, Preston. The more we get into this, the harder it’s going to be to conceal. If you’re doting on me during work, or if we’re passing money around, or if you’re checking in on me…people are going to catch on. This has to be platonic. Not publicly platonic for the sake of a facade. Actually platonic.”

“Delilah, I’m going to worry about you. I’m going to wonder how you’re doing. I’m going to want to ask you these things,” I said.

“Then you can ask me within the confines of being my boss. Look, I don’t know how this is going to work and there’s a lot we’ll have to figure out while we’re traveling this…road. But all I know is if word gets out that I’m pregnant with your children, I’m finished at my job. And most likely, it could jeopardize you, too.”

It made me sick to think about, but I knew she was right. I most certainly wasn’t going to allow her to go without the money she needed, but there were ways to get around that. I wasn’t going to be handing her envelopes full of money. I could easily set up a personal account for her, dump money into it, and just send her a card.