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“Hello.”
“These are my parents, Armand and Fatima Zerkesian.”
“It’s very nice to meet you,” I said politely, shaking their hands.
“Please pardon me if I don’t shake,” Aunt Meg said. “We don’t need me falling over.”
“Over course, of course. Let’s go inside.” Fatima let us walk in ahead of her, and I tried not to be overwhelmed by the massive foyer. A chandelier hung above us that was bigger than our living room in Minneapolis, and the floors were what looked like expensive hardwood.
“And this is Jeremy,” Zeke said once he’d closed the door behind us.
“Oh, my goodness.” Fatima’s eyes filled with tears as she touched his bare foot, taking care not to startle him. “Hello, little one. I’m your Grandma Fatima.” She turned to me. “What can he call me?”
“Anything except Mom or Auntie Meg,” I said, smiling.
She smiled back before turning to him. “Can you say Grandma? Probably not yet.” She held out her arms, and Jeremy frowned. He turned, burying his head in Zeke’s shoulder.
“Not yet,” Armand said, lightly ruffling Jeremy’s hair. “He’ll get used to us.”
“Please, let’s sit.” Fatima ushered us into a brightly lit sunroom that overlooked a beautiful pool and deck area. There was a table set for six by a set of sliding glass doors. “I made lunch. I hope you’re hungry.”
“Starving,” Aunt Meg said, sitting in a chair at the table.
“I’ll have Lois bring everything in. I thought we’d eat in here.”
“Lois is my housekeeper,” Zeke whispered to me, as if he was anticipating the question.
“Thank you,” I whispered back with a smile.
“Go on and sit,” he said. “I’ll keep Jeremy on my lap so you can relax some.”
But Jeremy wasn’t having it. He wiggled and fussed, eventually all but launching himself in my direction. He was normally even-tempered and easy-going with change, but I figured between the early morning, the flight, and now a whole new place, he was out of sorts.
“It’s okay, Mommy’s here.” I got up and bounced him as I walked.
“Let’s take him upstairs,” Zeke said. “I’ll show you what I have set up for him, and we can change it if you don’t like it.”
“Okay.” I followed him, hoping Jeremy would settle down after a nap.
“So this is my room.” Zeke opened a set of double doors and my jaw fell open once again. His room was massive, with sliding glass doors that led out to a balcony, a gorgeous three-sided gas fireplace, and a bed set on a platform that was three steps up from the rest of the bedroom.
“Seriously?” I demanded, bursting out laughing.
He grinned too. “Yeah, kinda. I’m a big guy. I need space. And comfort. And I work hard when I’m on the road. I deserve to relax in style.”
“You do. But this is…” I bit my lip.
“Over the top? Fine. And we’ll see how over-the-top you think it is when I fuck you on that bed.”
“You do realize that in a few months he’s going to start imitating sounds and saying things like Mama and Dada, so there will be no more cursing in front of him?”
“Yeah, yeah.” He walked around the fireplace to what was a sitting room. “I considered setting up a nursery in here but decided against it. You and I need quiet time at night too. So I had it set up here.” He walked to the far end of the room and through a door I hadn’t noticed at first. It led into a bathroom, but as we walked through it, we came out in what was now Jeremy’s nursery.
And it was beautiful.
The crib was made of carved oak, and the room was done in soft shades of yellow, green, and purple. There was a rocking chair by the window, and a changing table and dresser on one wall.
“This is awesome,” I whispered, looking around. Someone had lined the wall above the crib with a string of tiny twinkling lights, and I spotted a state-of-the-art video monitor on the dresser. “How did you manage it so quickly?”
