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When Brady reaches for the bottle, Liam sets it out of reach. “A little too soon for that, my lad.”
“Can’t blame him for trying,” Luke says, and they exchange a smirk.
Liam and Luke don’t say much, but when they do it’s usually to each other and involves a bit of good-natured ribbing. I love it and get another rush of happiness that Brady will grow up with men in his life who value family.
When I finish, I make Brady a bottle and sit at the table with him while Liam eats and the conversation continues.
After everyone is done eating, we move to the family room, and again I’m happy that things don’t feel rushed.
Mrs. Callahan stops near the coffee table and frowns. “These edges are no good.” She touches the corner. “Once he starts running, he’s going to ram his forehead right into this and it’ll be off to the emergency room.”
I pull Brady closer to me, frowning. She’s right that the corners are fairly sharp.
Liam grabs the table and hoists it up. “Yeah, I was thinking the same last night.” Liam’s muscles bulge as he carries the table out of the room.
This is another thing that’s shocking. When I want to move furniture, it’s a whole process of arranging for help. An instantly bare floor is crazy.
When Liam returns, he glances around. “I mentioned there would be kids, but I let the designer pick everything out.”
“That explains a lot,” I say.
There’s laughter from Liam’s mom and brother.
Liam rests his hands on his head. “You don’t like the furniture?”
I lean forward to set Brady on the floor since he’s reaching toward it. “The house is beautiful, but it’s also really impersonal. There’s not a mark on anything. It barely looks lived in. No family photos or memorabilia. It’s like a showroom.”
Liam shrugs. “I don’t collect things.”
“Except money,” his mother says with a snort. “Don’t worry, Olivia. Take it from me, he’s the best kind of husband to have when you’re starting out. It means you can do whatever you want, and he won’t complain because he won’t even notice.”
Liam sits on the arm of the couch with his arms crossed. “Dad didn’t care, but what about the new guy? Aiden says he repainted three of the rooms, and one is pink. Says it looks like shit.”
“None of your business. Or Aiden’s,” Mari says tartly.
“Good luck telling A that.”
She rolls her eyes. “He needs to get a little girlfriend of his own. And why are you swearing in front of your baby? You should’ve seen the way Olivia winced when you did.”
Liam glances over at me and then at Brady, who is crawling across the floor. Liam stands again, so he can intercept the baby if he heads toward the open door.
“He hears everything you say, believe me,” Mari adds. “And you’ll only have yourself to blame when he swears at the worst possible time, like when you’re in church. That’s what Luke did as a toddler at cousin Fiona’s first communion. I could’ve killed your dad.” She shakes her head. “I heard about it for months from the relatives.”
Brady crawls to Liam and grabs his pants leg to pull himself up.
“Look at that,” Mari says, smiling broadly.
“Yeah, won’t be long before he’s running.” Liam picks him up and takes him over to Marianne. “Go see Grandma, lad. Get used to her. She wants to babysit you.”
This time Brady goes right to her without a fuss.
“Yes, my love. Come to grandmum.” She smiles at the baby and then looks at Liam. “I need to show him to everyone I know, so you need to get on with getting married already.” She cocks her head in my direction without looking at me. “Why don’t you do it at her church in Maine? Just immediate family.”
My heart pounds. I haven’t even agreed to marry him and his mom is already planning the wedding. I expect Liam to tell her to slow down, but he doesn’t.
Instead he says, “Ma, people are gonna know he came first. Besides, it’s not the 1800s. As long as we get married, the timing doesn’t matter.”
“Well, but it’s not as nice. And people won’t necessarily know. Since that bad business two years ago and with what Killian’s been getting up to, I don’t talk about you boys much. I stick to my own news and the neighborhood’s.”
