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Despite feeling steady, Brecken and Roo flank me on either side and escort me back to the kitchen. “Are you still on birth control?” Brecken asks. “If you want to come off it just tell us. Or stop taking it. We won’t mind.”
“Brecken, I can’t talk about this right now.” He looks dejected, his eyes sharpening. “Tomorrow, okay?”
I have more urgent things to discuss today.
“Whenever you’re ready.”
I smile up at him. “Thanks.”
“What do we give someone who’s fainted?” Luca asks his mom.
“Water and food,” Rachel answers, everyone bustling around me as they load a plate with delicious food. “Take a seat, Winter. We’ll get you all set up,” she continues. I’m pleased for her no-nonsense tone of voice. I just wish Brecken would stop staring at me, worried I’ll tumble off my chair.
“I’m good,” I assure him.
His eyes scour my face. “You sure? That was quite a scare.”
“Yeah,” I agree, smiling softly as I scan the room for Balthazar. There are bigger, scarier things I’m dealing with right now.
Just then, he arrives from the living room. His eyes immediately find mine. Unable to see through walls, I’m guessing he’s just spoken to Dale, the gravity of the situation etched into the normally endearing smile lines around his eyes.
Doted on by a dozen people, I eat my breakfast brunch. Clearly fine, the atmosphere returns to one that’s easy and celebratory. And thanks to Louis and Tricia Gates, there’s a hugeWinter’s Dreamfor dessert, twenty-nine candles lined up neatly around the four edges of the cake for me to blow out.
For two hours, I bide my time. All the while, I continue to feel like I’ve been shredded into a million pieces. I meet Balthasar’s eyes so many times I lose count, both of us aware a conversation is imminent. Secure in that knowledge, I try and relax, enjoying the camaraderie and the effortless conversation.
“You’re quiet,” Luca murmurs to his father. Despite the din everyone’s making with multiple voices overlapping, I tune into their conversation. “You’re retiring soon. You’re meant to be wearing a perma-grin.”
Balthazar looks my way, his expression hesitant yet undaunted. “There’s one, very important thing to take care of before I can relax.”
“Laurent wants to explore a Wolfford relaxation and spa retreat. The mental health and well-being aspect of our offering gives us the edge. There’s nothing to worry about.”
“It’s not Laurent.”
“Sienna then? She’ll hang around hoping you’re going to break, but you’re not, are you?”
“No. But blood or not, I raised her as my own. I won’t abandon her.”
Determined to get to the bottom of his father’s problem, Luca demands, “So, what is it? Chateau B Gateaux is running to plan, and so is the Vail site. Everything else is under control or will be.”
Suddenly, Luca notices the simmering tension between his father and me. “What’s going on?” He looks between us both, his words caught on to by Brecken, then Roo. Everyone else around the table slowly stops talking as awareness of something else going on takes hold.
“Time to go everyone,” Brecken booms, standing to his full height and looking deadly serious. “Thanks for stopping by and celebrating with us.”
Catching on, I smile. “Thank yousomuch for your beautiful gifts, and for sharing your morning with me. It’s been the best start to my birthday.”
One by one, I hug our guests goodbye. Sofia and Connor are the last to go. She pulls me along with her to the front door, not wanting me to stray from her side. “We’re all desperate to be grandmothers and grandfathers, so don’t go putting your career on hold for too long,” she teases, though it’s impossible to not hear her genuine plea.
“Give me a year. Two. I want to see the Vail build complete and the gateaux restaurants rolled out to at least eight sites.”
“I’ll hold you to that. Twelve months, and then I’m expecting an announcement.”
“Mom,” Brecken huffs. “Leave her alone.”
Eyeing him with love, she says earnestly, “You all need to talk about this. It needs careful planning.”
An imposing woman like her son, Sofia is hard to dissuade when she sets her sights on something. “We will,” I assure her, even though I’ve no idea how to broach the idea of babies with Luca, Roo, and Brecken. It’s not a topic that’s ever come up.
And I’m mildly disappointed that the family is already pressuring us with this next, career-halting step. If I was in a better frame of mind, I’d note that I’ll probably want to give each man I love a child of his own, assuming they each want to be a biological father to our combined, merged family in whatever shape it takes. As a minimum, I will be a mother to three children. Getting on with it when I turn thirty is probably for the best.
