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“She didn’t punish your brother?”
Becca shook her head. “No, because in her eyes, he hadn’t done anything wrong. Rosanna killed Santa. I don’t think either of them has forgiven the other.”
“So for the most part, you are like the Switzerland of your family. You seem to be a pretty calming influence on everyone.”
Becca shrugged. “Somebody has to be. If not, either we’d not be speaking to each other, or we’d be living our life in constant turmoil.”
She grimaced.
“What’s wrong?”
“Actually, my mother and I are in a bit of a tiff right now.”
“What happened?”
Becca took a deep breath, staring off into the distance for a moment. “After you left Thursday, I told her she was out of line for pushing the issue of us getting married. I’m sorry she did that.”
Nick waved her off. “Don’t worry about it. I think she was just a little overzealous. No hard feelings on my part. So don’t let it put you in a bad place with your mother. Go back to being Switzerland.”
“We will get past it. I’ll just give her a little bit of space right now. Speaking of parents, when do you want to tell your father about the babies?”
He hadn’t even thought about it. Well, he’d thought about it, but he hadn’t come to any conclusion. They’d been on the go so much that he hadn’t had a chance to think much beyond Thanksgiving dinners and tree lightings and weddings.
“I don’t know, Becca.”
He hadn’t meant for the words to come out quite so sharp. But they had, and Becca was frowning.
“I’m sorry about that,” he said. “I haven’t seen my father in years. So there’s a little more to it than calling him up and telling him he’s going to be a grandfather.”
Becca nodded.
“What would you think of inviting him to come for Christmas? We could tell him about the babies together and in person.”
Nick took a long sip of his wine, weighing his words before he spoke. But all he could come up with was “I don’t know.”
She put a hand on his arm. “Remember what you said to me. It’s all in how you set the tone. And could you think of a better Christmas gift to give somebody than to tell him he’s going to be a grandfather?”
The guy hadn’t been a particularly great father. Nick wasn’t sure how his dad would react to being a grandfather. The stubborn old coot.
Becca must have mistaken his shrug for an I’ll think about it.
“If this is something you want to do, we need to book his airfare soon. It could be our Christmas present to him.”
Nick held up a hand. “Whoa, wait there. I don’t even know if he would come. I’m guessing he still works.” Nick shrugged again. “That’s how little I know about him.”
Becca was looking at him. She wasn’t exactly frowning, but her brows were knit, and those gorgeous full lips were pursed.
“I know you probably think that’s crazy,” he said. “But that’s just the way things are between him and me. I don’t like it. But he hasn’t seemed too bothered by it all these years, either.”
“Don’t you think now is as good a time as any to initiate a peace offering It’s Christmas, Nick.”
After all these years he’d never considered the logistics of being the one to extend the olive branch. Sure, there’d been times when he’d wondered what it would be like to see his old man again after all of these years, but that was usually where it stopped. He couldn’t envision himself reaching out to make the first move toward reconciliation. Not when there was a very high chance that his father would reject him all over again.
“Yeah. I don’t know about that, Becca. It’s really not as easy as simply setting the tone. It’s complicated.”
“Nick, what could have happened that was so horrible that you can’t put it behind you? What did he do to you?”
“It wasn’t what he did to me. Well, I mean, if you don’t count the way he abandoned my mother and me.”
Becca watched him expectantly, as if certain he would continue. But the truth was he didn’t know how to explain. He didn’t know where to start. He wanted to tell her to not push him. That he and his dad weren’t like her and her family. But he knew that would sting. It would hurt her, and it would only make him feel worse.
Still, he heard himself talking before he realized what he was doing.
