“It’s small, but it is there,” Charlotte insisted.
“See!” Easton exclaimed, pursing his lips.
“Maybe Eliza only said that because she was jealous and wanted to keep you from going home with Leah?” Charlotte ventured.
“I mean, maybe.” Easton shrugged. He seemed delighted that he’d caused such mayhem.
I, however, was still reeling.
We stayed for another half hour while Noah, Damien, and Easton cleaned the kitchen. Will was in the living room with Aria and Ronan, watching The Mighty Ducks while Charlotte, Gloria, and I sat at the table and talked more about the pregnancy and other, safer topics. I could tell they both felt a little guilty for all the love elixir talk.
Once the kitchen was cleaned, Damien and Charlotte got the girls ready to head home, and Easton skipped out shortly after, claiming he had a hot date. Noah and I were the last to leave, and as he was getting my coat, Gloria put her arms around me in a hug.
“Thanks for dinner, Gloria. It was delicious,” I told her, hugging her back. I thought I’d feel more awkward about it, but Gloria was the kind of person who was just good at hugs. I could see where Noah got it from.
“Thank you,” she said sincerely, her voice ladened with emotion. She pulled back and smiled at me. “I was beginning to worry my son would never let love in.”
“We’ve only started dating recently,” I murmured, feeling my face heat with embarrassment.
Gloria smiled kindly. “I can tell that this is the real deal between you two. Pregnancy is going to fast track everything, because you only have so much time before the baby arrives.”
“Don’t scare her, Ma.” Noah frowned, overhearing the last bit.
“Oh! I hope I didn’t,” Gloria fretted.
“It’s okay. I mean, this whole pregnancy thing is scary in itself,” I joked, shrugging my shoulders.
“Everyone feels that way, even when they’re super prepared for the idea of it. Pregnancy, and parenting in general, can be scary. You’re responsible for a whole other being, but you’ll be okay,” Gloria assured me. “You’ve got us!”
Her words were a calm balm to my anxieties, something I’d wished my own mother would have said to me, instead of chastising me for not being married.
Noah
* * *
It was nearly nine thirty when we finally got back to my place after dinner with my parents. Nellie seemed quiet on the drive, and I could tell she was stuck in her head about things. I parked the truck beside her car and turned it off, letting the silence sit between us for a moment.
“That went well,” I said as I glanced at her, needing to see where her thoughts were.
“It did,” she agreed, looking at me. She gave a hesitant smile when she caught my eye.
“Do you feel better about things?”
“Sort of?” Nellie shrugged. “I mean, I still can’t believe this is all happening. The pregnancy. Us. It’s just—it’s a lot.”
“A lot in a bad way?” I asked, trying to keep the worry out of my voice.
“No! Not at all!” Nellie exclaimed. “I never let myself imagine life like this. That I’d be in a relationship and expecting a baby,” she added.
“Yeah. I mean, I get that. I do. If someone had told me this time last year that I’d meet someone I wanted those things with, I would have laughed in their face,” I said, sending her a rueful grin. “I didn’t think I was even capable of monogamy.”
“How do you know you are now?” Nellie asked.
“I’ve been monogamous since the night I spent with you. Drunk as we both were, something told me this is what I’ve been waiting for,” I told her, reaching across the cab of the truck to take her hand in mine. “Of course, I didn’t know that’s what was going on at first. I attributed my dry spell to being busy with the resort, not a lack of interest because no one was you.”
“Something changed that night,” Nellie admitted. “I tried to fight it. Which, you know, led to a bad decision. But that bad decision only made the fact that I felt something different with you even more pronounced.”
I nodded, understanding what she was saying. “I get it.”
