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“I’m sorry,” she says again. “My mouth runs away with me a bit.”
“I don’t mind. I just feel stupid. I don’t know anything about… anything! I’m completely clueless, and a bit… shocked.”
“Your midwife will go through everything with you and give you tips,” she says gently, “but I hope we’re going to be best friends, so you can ask me anything. Saxon always says he’s never seen me get embarrassed.”
My throat tightens at the thought that I have a friend, someone else who might be able to navigate me through this difficult situation. “Thank you.”
We both have a bite of our wraps. I eat mine slowly, savoring each mouthful, as I think about what she’s told me. “You said that your accident affected Saxon a lot over the years. Are you referring to the way the guys are interested in prosthetics?”
“Partly. It’s definitely why they got into it. Right from when they were teenagers they were determined to improve the prostheses that were available. But I didn’t just mean that.” She looks down at Eddie, adjusts his position, then has another bite of her wrap. “It affected Saxon more deeply than the others. He got very angry after Christian’s death. Neal and Mae took all the boys to counseling, but I think Saxon needed it most. Maybe it made him think about his own mortality, I don’t know, but he started taking lots of risks, and doing extreme sports, that kind of thing.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, he still does, although he doesn’t have as much time now. You know he likes motorbikes?”
I remember the two shining machines in his garage. “Yes.”
“He used to go motorcycle racing. I think now he just takes the bikes out in his spare time, but it used to be terrifying watching him go a million miles an hour around the track. He’s been bungee jumping and skydiving, and he loves skiing and snowboarding.”
“Shit!”
“Yeah, he’s pretty good. He competed for a while, but not so much lately. We all joke that he’s got nine lives, but I think he’s used up about five already. He’s broken about fifteen bones.”
“Jesus.”
“He’s had several bad accidents. One was with Titus—you know about him?”
“Yes, his other cousin?”
“Yeah, on his mum’s side. All the guys went camping in Kahurangi National Park. It grew foggy and they got lost. Saxon tried to jump across some gulley, fell, twisted his ankle, and got a concussion. Titus was a couple of years older and looked after them until they were found. It was pretty scary, by all accounts.”
“Wow.”
We both have a bite of our wraps.
“Anything else you want to know about him?” she asks.
“What was Renie like?”
She looks surprised. “His ex? I didn’t know her that well.”
“You weren’t good friends?”
She smiles. “Not like we’re going to be. He wasn’t with her long, a few months? I always got the feeling that moving in together wasn’t his idea. She thought she should be a higher priority than his work. He didn’t. That kind of sums up their relationship. You don’t have to worry about her.”
She turns Eddie around on her lap, hooks up her bra, then puts him to the other breast. “Saxon said you have another scan next week. He’s going to be in Auckland, so would you like me to go with you?”
“Oh. You’d do that?”
“Of course! I love baby stuff. Mat Clinton was my obstetrician. Your midwife is his wife, right?”
“I don’t know… I haven’t decided where I’ll be having the babies yet.”
“Mat’s clinic is great, I can highly recommend it. Where else do you have in mind?”
“I’m considering somewhere in the public system,” I say softly.
She licks her fingers, then studies me for a moment. “He said you were wary about accepting anything from him. The thing is… you know ours is a wealthy family, right?”
