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“Indeed. This is my baby girl.” My mom poked my shoulder in case I’d forgotten our familial link. “So, you two girls are friends? Are you BFFs? It seems like you should be. Although you have a baby, don’t you, Sage? Along with that sexy husband.” She laughed and glanced at her own spouse. “Not as sexy as my Burke though.”
“I do have a baby and a sexy husband, and yes, Vee and I are friends.” Sage smiled so warmly at me that I felt guilty for my uncharitable thoughts.
They’d partially dissipated in her direction anyway, since they’d rerouted to my mother.
For fuck’s sake, this night was supposed to be for me and Murphy. Not to serve as an opportunity for my mom to recount everything Sage had that I did not.
My mom who hadn’t even bothered to make me her first stop in town when she was visiting.
Why would she?
Flashing a huge smile, my mother chose that moment to regale us all with how she’d met Burke in a tiki bar in some country, the name of which I’d missed.
She even felt it necessary to share how they’d “consummated” their love on the beach.
By then, Sage’s eyebrows were reaching for her elevated blond ponytail and the stymied waitress had come over twice to take our orders before hurriedly scurrying away when she was denied.
Murphy just kept sipping his ice water. His ears weren’t even red. I had to think he’d probably gone to his safe place inside his head.
For me, there were no safe places left.
It wasn’t a surprise when Sage apologized about needing to go because our friend was having a baby and she really, really, really had to visit her in the hospital. I’d known she was close friends with Kelsey, but not Rylee as much. Though to be honest, she probably would’ve said she needed to line up for a firing squad rather than hearing personal details from my mother.
Such as tidbits about her recent wax job, and how’d she gone totally bare for the very first time.
And it had changed her life.
Just as mine was changed from this dinner conversation and enduring it with poor Murphy sitting across from me.
God help us all.
Oh the bright side, once Sage left, my mom actually seemed to settle down and let Burke talk.
Make that talk a little. Not enough to say much more than his line of work and that he enjoyed a spirited round of golf.
Or perhaps she settled down due to a food coma from the huge order she made that Murphy insisted on paying for as a wedding gift.
God, he was so sweet, but I’d be making him cookies by the truckful for months to make up for his generosity. Our whole night had been shanghaied and now he was paying for the privilege.
At least dinner was delicious. I’d gone for a shrimp and rice dish, while Murphy and Burke had opted for steak. My mother ordered three wine spritzers and a fisherman’s platter big enough to sink the table.
At least she seemed more understanding after the third wine spritzer, so when she brought up that “joke” I’d told about how I met Murphy, her eyeballs didn’t pop out and roll around the floor as I nodded cheerfully.
“Yes. I put up a post on Facebook, looking for a man to inseminate me without a relationship.”
Burke coughed and my mother thumped him on the back. “Why would you want a baby though? Isn’t the whole point of a hookup hoping you won’t get pregnant?”
Murphy dabbed his mouth with his napkin, his expression saying all I needed to know.
Want me to handle this? I will.
I’d never had someone who had my back before. It made my chest feel too tight and the ache I’d carried in my throat since laying eyes on my mother vanish. I didn’t need him to defend me or my choices, but knowing he was there if I needed him made all the difference.
“I wasn’t looking for a hookup, Mother. If I wanted one of those, they’re easy enough to find. I want something more out of life.”
“By shackling yourself with a child so another man might not want to get chained down with you and your offspring?” She glanced at Murphy. “Is this just about a good time for y
ou, son? Because I can’t claim to understand how this benefits you.”
