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"Chin up, she’s coming over here," Michael murmurs.
"Hello, Nathan. Michael." Mary leans in to allow me to air kiss her cheek.
"Mary. Thank you for coming."
Michael gives her a loose hug.
Then she turns to Crew, who has a smile plastered on his face. It also bothers him that Mary doesn’t take him seriously as a part of Danielle’s life. "Mary. Great to see you."
"I’m surprised to see you here," she tells him.
That makes me tense even more. I draw myself up straighter and I see Michael’s posture change from relaxed to alert. Crew’s smile grows strained.
"Why is that?" Crew asks. "Dani is having our baby."
Her brow furrows. "Oh, so you know who the baby belongs to? I just assumed it wasn’t yours since you and Dani aren’t married."
I don’t follow that logic at all. I’m pretty sure Mary knows Crew and Danielle are sleeping together, despite the wedding situation. But Mary doesn’t have much of a sense of humor and I also don’t want to get into a detailed discussion of my infertility and our group sex life with her, so I just keep my mouth shut. In fact, I clench my jaw tightly.
"The baby is ours," Crew says. He points to me and Michael. "All of ours."
"Well, that’s not really true, is it?" Mary says, rolling her eyes. "And you and Michael travel all the time. My daughter is going to be raising this baby alone half of the time. I really wish she would have waited to start a family."
"Nathan will be here with her when Michael and I are out of town. And we are all thrilled to be starting a family now," Crew says. "This baby is very welcome." There’s an uncharacteristic bite to his voice.
Mary doesn’t look convinced.
It makes me feel bad for Crew. I’ve done this too-–underestimated him, written him off as too young or immature, steamrolled over his wants. But he’s a grown man, and he’s made the decision to be all in on this family and I admire him for that. I’m also grateful for him. He adds something to our mix that we all need. He also makes my wife very, very happy. And he’s going to be a wonderful father.
Michael clears his throat. "When it comes to love and support and resources– time, energy, money and everything else–the baby has three fathers, Mary. Everyone needs to understand that."
Michael’s deep, calm voice, not surprisingly, seems to work. Mary’s frown relaxes.
Crew shoots him a grateful look and I feel the tension in my shoulders loosen.
Fuck, we are so lucky to have Hughes. Our family, with our unconventional arrangement as well as my and McNeill’s big personalities, needs him.
Mary swallows, then nods. "Well, I do appreciate that."
"Your grandchild will have so much love, and support, Mary," I promise her, making sure she can see my sincerity, along with my reminder that she’s going to be a grandma and she should be happy about that, dammit. I could launch into an entire monologue about how much I wish my grandfather could understand all of this and how much he would love this baby and that she should be grateful to be a part of this.
She meets my gaze directly, which I admire. "I just want Danielle to be happy."
"Mary." Crew waits until she looks back at him. "Danielle’s happiness is the most important thing to me in this entire world. And I understand that it might take you some time to truly believe that. But I’m not going anywhere. So that means that in five years, or ten years, or twenty years, however long it takes, you will understand how much your daughter and all of your grandchildren mean to me, and even if you never say it, I will know that you know. It will be impossible not to believe it."
Damn.
I lift a brow and meet Michael’s gaze.
He looks impressed, too. And doesn’t say another word. He just claps Crew on the shoulder. So I do the same.
I look at Mary.
She’s staring at Crew.
He simply holds her gaze. He doesn’t look angry or aggressive. He just looks like a man who has said his truth and is confident with whatever happens next.
Finally, Mary takes a deep breath. Then she says, "Okay."
