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I pulled up in front of the house in Beverly Hills. Mia had given the go-ahead to put in an offer on the place the week before, and after a little haggling with the owners, we’d finally agreed on a price. A little piece of information I’d been holding on to for the next day, but my little firecracker looked as if she needed the good news.
When I turned off the vehicle, Mia seemed to pull herself from her inner musings. Frowning, she glanced up at the house. The place was big enough for us, the baby, and as many more as she wanted to add to our family. With the pool in the backyard and the many, many sets of stairs, the place was going to be a royal bitch to babyproof, but I’d find someone to come in and get it done before our little one arrived.
“I thought we were going back to Malibu,” she mumbled, sounding tired. But then she seemed to realize exactly where I’d brought her, and her green eyes grew huge. “Beast?”
I turned to face her, leaning my back against the driver’s door. “Welcome home, firecracker.”
Instead of the happiness coming back to her eyes as I’d hoped, they filled with tears. “R-really? Th-they finally accepted the o-offer?”
“Baby, don’t cry,” I pleaded, cupping her face so I could wipe away her tears with my thumbs. “Don’t you want this place? I-I can find us a different house. It might take a little more time, but I’ll find us a home before the baby gets here. Just…” I swallowed hard when she only began to sob. “J-just tell me what you want, Mia. Whatever you want, name it, and I’ll make it happen. All I care about is your happiness.”
She released a choked laugh, tears dripping from her cheeks, chin, and the tip of her nose. “You are my happiness, Beast. Just you. Nothing else matters.”
“But you’re crying like your heart is broken.” With a groan, I pressed my forehead to hers. “I don’t have any PTSD from deployment, but baby, I sure as fuck get twitchy when you cry. It reminds me of—”
Tipping her head back, she gave me a trembling, understanding smile when I broke off. “There’s no need for that, Barrick. I’ve forgiven you for the secrets you kept, and I’m not going to hold the past against you.” Sniffling, she glanced over my shoulder at the huge house. “Today has been…rough. I didn’t want to meet with Dad earlier, but then I was so glad I did. I’ve been aching to tell you all about it. We watched that little presentation over and over again, and each time unlocked something inside me. My dad cried so much, it’s a wonder we didn’t flood the classroom.”
“I was nervous about the meeting,” I confessed. “But your mom appeared to know it would go well.”
“Yeah, she seems to know the outcome of things before anyone else. Maybe she’s psychic.”
I snorted a laugh. “It wouldn’t surprise me if she were.”
“Same.” She climbed over the console and cuddled into my lap. “Dinner was great…until it wasn’t.”
Stroking my fingers through her hair, I promised, “You won’t have to deal with her shit again. Even if she comes to you on her hands and knees and apologizes, if you don’t want to forgive her, then you don’t have to. She made her choices, and now she has to live with the consequences.”
“I’m sorry,” Mia whispered.
“What the fuck are you sorry for?” I demanded.
“She’s your mom. If it weren’t for me, you two might have a better relationship.”
“The way things are between us isn’t your fault, baby. That’s all on her.” I grimaced. “Okay, maybe it’s a little on me too. But it’s mostly her and Seller. They were so obsessed with each other that they pushed me out of their lives a long time ago. All I’ve gotten from her since my dad died are scraps. It wasn’t until I met your family that I understood what it was like to have two amazing parents who loved and supported their kids.”
“At least we know what to do and what not to do,” she murmured, sounding sleepy. She did that a lot. The baby drained her, and she napped often. There were times she’d nodded off without even realizing it. After the emotional events of the day, I wasn’t surprised she was so tired.
Tucking her head under my chin, I rubbed my hand up and down her arm, enjoying her falling asleep in my arms. “Yeah, firecracker,” I whispered so as not to wake her, enjoying the moment alone with her before the chaos of our wedding began. “Now we know.”
Chapter 8
Mia
Gentle fingers combing soothingly through my hair had me snuggling deeper into my pillow. I didn’t need to open my eyes to know Momma was lying beside me in bed. I could feel her aura, the power mixed with the love that always emitted from her whenever she was near my brother and me.
Her tender strokes across my scalp only made me want to hit the pause button and enjoy the moment a little longer, but reality began to set in. I was getting married. That morning, I woke up as Mia Armstrong, but by the time I fell asleep again that night, I would be Mia Barrick.
Excitement began to thrum through my veins, and I rolled onto my back, peeking through my lashes at my mom. “How did I get here?” The last thing I remembered was sitting in Barrick’s lap in front of the house that was going to be our new home.
Momma’s smile was a little sad as she stared down at me. “Barrick brought you back as promised. You were knocked out. Didn’t even wake up when I changed you out of your clothes into your pajamas.”
Hearing the quaver in her voice, I snapped my eyes open fully, and I saw the tears. They were just below the surface, her reins on them strong, but at a guess, I doubted even she was powerful enough to keep them at bay for much longer. I threw my arms around her and rolled her onto her back, using her as a pillow like I used to as a kid.
Laughing, she squeezed me back, but I still heard the shuddery little breath she exhaled. “You know this doesn’t change anything, right?” I told her as I buried my face in her neck. “Things won’t be any different from when I was in college. Only I’ll be in the same state. We’ll see each other so much more often. And then there’s the baby to plan for. We’re going to be so busy, you’re going to get sick of having to deal with me every day.”
“Never,” she whispered, kissing the top of my head.
I tightened my arms around her. We were both very slender women, but Momma was considerably shorter than me. Our height difference didn’t matter while we were lying down. She cradled me against her, and I was the one who had difficulty fighting tears as she hummed the lullaby Dad had written for me all those years ago. It was a little off-key and raspy—exactly as she’d done whenever she’d tried to hum the song—but it was perfect.
