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“I love coffee.” I sniffed. “I really love coffee.”
He chuckled. “It’s ok, babe. I’ve got some caffeine headed your way.” He placed the steaming mug in front of me.
I wiped the tears from the corners of my eyes and held the mug. The tea didn’t smell putrid like the coffee did. The lemon actually smelled amazing. I stopped crying after a few sips.
“I guess the baby solved the coffee problem.” I wrinkled my nose.
“I guess so.” He leaned back in his chair. “We have two hours before we’re supposed to leave. I told your mom last night we’d stop by on the way to the airport.”
My jaw dropped. “We can’t do that.”
“Why not?”
“They are going to know.”
He shook his head. “No way. Evie, you aren’t showing yet. Unless you’re telling me I married into a family of fortune tellers, she isn’t going to know.”
“It doesn’t matter. She’ll figure it out. I need to call her and tell her I came down with a cold or something.” I paused. “Shit. If I do that she’ll try to bring Italian wedding soup over. I’m not ready to tell anyone. I want to see a doctor first. I want to make sure everything is ok.”
“It is ok. And you and the baby are fine. It’s not the end of the world if your mother figures it out.”
It wasn’t that I didn’t want to share the joy with her. I did. I heard what she said to Sylvia Hartwell last night. My mom loved her grandchildren with all her heart. She would be ecstatic to know I was finally going to have a baby. But she had been through so much. She had survived a grueling cancer battle. I wasn’t going to put any stress on her that wasn’t necessary. Until I knew for sure this pregnancy was going to stick, I couldn’t tell her. I’d spare her any pain I could, especially for the sake of her health.
“Frannie figured it out before I did,” I explained. “She’s the reason I took the test Friday. I’m telling you. Those two will know. And if Frannie knows she’ll tell the cousins, then Aunt Sophia, and next thing you know we’re in the Newton Hills weekly Gazette.”
“Ok. Ok. I get it. The Rossi grapevine is basically one big social media announcement without our endorsement.”
“Exactly.”
“Drive-by?” he suggested.
I laughed. “That won’t work.”
“Video call?”
“Good idea, but no.”
He huffed. “I don’t know what to tell you, babe. I don’t do goodbyes at the Hartwell House. I just leave.”
I looked at Jeremy. I didn’t want that to be his normal anymore. No more running. This team did things together. I wanted to be able to come back to Newton Hills as a family. Our baby was going to know its grandparents, cousins, aunts, and uncles. We weren’t going to slink out of town like outlaws.
“All right. Then I’ll have to just take the risk.” I didn’t like it. “We get in. Hug. Get out.”
Jeremy laughed. “Are you planning a bank heist or telling your parents goodbye?”
I narrowed my eyes. “This is serious. No dilly-dallying.”
“Oh now I can’t dilly-dally? Fuck.”
I giggled. “I’m only trying to protect my mom. And us. I realize there are a lot of legal parts in the air right now. How are you going to tell your mother?”
The grin fell from his lips. “She can find out when she gets the counter-suit.”
“Jer, come on. It’s her grandchild. People change with babies. Maybe this baby could bring you two together.”
He shook his head. “No.” He emptied the rest of his coffee in the sink and rinsed it out. “I said what I needed to say to her last night. She doesn’t deserve any more than that.”
He climbed the stairs to the bedroom.
