TOBY.
"Where have you been?" My mother asked the moment I rejoined the table.
"Outside, there was a business call I had to take," I lied.
"Relax a little or you'll turn out to be just like your father, always working. Now that you're here, we can go cut the cake." Everyone agreed with her so Ruby and I rose to our feet, cut the cake and took a bunch of pictures. The first set of pictures were just the three of us, Ruby and I with Jeremy in my arms before the rest of the family joined us.
I wanted to leave right after but Ruby wanted to eat cake and my mother remembered I had missed dinner so I sat down and ate. I couldn't remember a single flavour that was present in the meal I ate. My mind was too occupied to enjoy the food I ate. What the hell could Yasmin want from me? A woman scorned should be feared and Yasmin was a woman scorned. She might want to avenge her baby seeing that Ruby has hers in her arms. Thinking about what she might be planning had me sweating.
We greeted a whole bunch of people and responded to their congratulatory messages one last time before they let us go.
"Are you okay?" Ruby asked on the elevator ride up.
"Of course, I'm okay. Why wouldn't I be okay?"
"Are you sure because you look kind of sweaty? You might be running a fever, maybe we should just get you checked out so you don't give the little one anything," she said, collecting Jeremy from me as we stepped into the house. I breathed a sigh of relief at her words, I thought she was on to me.
"No need to worry, I'm as fit as a horse."
"Okay."
A good night's sleep had pushed the whole Yasmin situation to the back of my mind. I went to the kitchen and made my morning coffee before stepping into the living room.
"Good morning," I greeted Ruby who had Jeremy sleeping across her lap.
"Good morning," she said, then took a deep breath, "coffee," she sighed.
"You should be asleep right now."
"I know, the whole sleep while the baby sleeps rule is very logical but at the same time so damn hard to follow."
"It's your addiction to daytime television that's talking," I said pointing to the LED Tv with my coffee mug.
"I can't have coffee or alcohol so let me have at least one of my addictions." The talk show host said the name Yasmin Blake and that caught both our attention. Ruby increased the volume on the show and patted Jeremy soothingly on the back when he squirmed in his sleep.
"You heard me right America, Yasmin Blake is back and she is right here in the studio with us." The host of the show said. The live audience went wild as Yasmin trotted out wearing skinny jeans and a leather jacket with some pumps.
"Girl, you look stunning."
"Thank you," Yasmin gushed.
"Yasmin Blake is always so freaking stylish, isn't she?" The host threw the question at the crowd and they answered with a resounding yes.
"You see, Yasmin, everyone agrees with me that you look fire. How did you decide on today's outfit?"
"I knew I wanted to wear these jeans because I look great in them so I just built the whole outfit around them."
"Wow! It's working for you. Now to the question on everybody's mind, where have you been all these months?"
"I've been on a little island in the middle of nowhere."
"Must have been quaint."
"It was actually, there's barely any signal."
"Doesn't sound like your style. Are the rumours true?"
"Which one?" Yasmin giggled.
"There are lots of rumours, aren't there? Some people are saying you left because you had a terminal illness, mental health issues, or issues with addiction while some of your die-hard fans are insisting there is a big role you've been preparing for. Are any of these rumours true?"
"No," Ruby said with a firm shake of her head.
"Then what have you been up to?"
"I had a baby," she announced.
I held my breath at her announcement, she couldn't be serious.
"This is a joke right?" The reporter took the question right out of my mouth.
"No joke, I'm a mother to a beautiful baby boy now." I was in disbelief that I was a father of not just one little boy but two boys now.
"Wow, congratulations. Why all the secrecy?"
"I just wanted such a special time in my life to be private plus all the rest I got before and after the birth was a bonus."
"Childbirth looks good on you."
"Thank you."
"If I may ask, who is the father?" My heart almost beat out of my chest on hearing that question. If she mentioned my name I'd be dead. I glanced at Ruby and she was looking at me suspiciously.
"I'm not ready to disclose that information just yet but I'll give you the scoop when the time is right."
"Your statement just makes me all the more curious, give us a little clue. Were you guys dating, or was it just a one-time thing? Was it planned or not?"
"Let's just say my baby's father and I have been friends for quite some time now and having a baby together was no accident."
"Hmmm… it's becoming quite popular now for friends to have babies together."
"When you want to take a big step like having a baby, you want to do it with someone you trust so that's what I did."
"When do we get to meet the little guy?"
"You get to meet him right now, I brought a picture with me." It took a moment before they connected her phone and the picture displayed on the screen.
He looked like a little like Jeremy, they were not alike so much but they shared similarities, or maybe all babies just look alike sometimes.
"He is so cute," the host cooed..
"Duh? Look at me, I'm the mum, he has to be cute."
"Facts! How many weeks is he."
"He will be five weeks old tomorrow."
My children were a week apart, they were like twins but with different mothers. What a mess.
" How was your journey to motherhood,
What was the experience like?"
"Pregnancy was great but labour was a different story. I've never been in so much pain in my entire life. The experience just gives you a whole new respect for mothers, women are amazing and we don't say it enough."
"That's true so what's the baby's name?"
"His name is Toby Daniels Blake."