I give her one last lingering kiss before I begrudgingly leave the warmth and softness of her arms for what I know is going to be a long day.
Nick
Isend Cat a quicktext before I leave the office to meet my parents.
Nick: I can’t wait to see you.Sorry I haven’t gotten a chance to speak to you today, love you.
Cat: Aww :-) it's okay.I was keeping myself busy putting the rest of my things away.I’m going out to eat with Ava, Chloe, and Isabelle.I might tell them.
Nick: Do whatever feels right to you.If you’re okay with letting them know about the baby and us, then I’m okay with it.
Cat: Sure you are, until you decide to strip me bare to the bone :-/
Nick: :-)) I LOVE YOU!
Cat: :-)) See you later.
The faster I get this over with, the faster I can get home to Cat.
“I’m sure you’re wondering why I asked both of you to meet me here.I have important news to share with you, and I would rather do it once so I don’t have to repeat myself.”
“Well, what is it, son?This is a lot of drama.”
My mother glares.“Be patient.Your son obviously has something important to tell us.Why else would he want both of us in the same room together?”She gives him a cool look and continues.“I know how much you must have hated leaving the office early, but you’re already here.”
My father pours himself a drink from the table and sits on the opposite end of the couch from my mother.He unbuttons his jacket and takes a sip of brandy from his glass.
“I have a date.She’s young and impatient.”He looks at my mother when he says the word young and rolls his eyes up and down her body, leering at her.
Oh God, I have to hurry this along.He’ll probably try to proposition her to sleep with him before he leaves for his date.I sigh.That’s my dad.No shame in his game.
My mother crosses her legs at the ankles and looks at me with a dry expression before turning her attention back to her ex-husband.“Aren’t they all young and impatient to get their hands on an old man’s money?I see nothing’s changed.”
I run my hand across my forehead and shake my head at my mother.These two will never change.They like to push each other’s buttons.I used to be bothered by it when I was younger.But as I’ve gotten older, I’ve concluded it’s something they enjoy.It helps them relate to each other somehow.
David Alexander is distinguished, with a little gray at his temples, and he looks stronger and more built at fifty-seven than most men in their twenties.My mother doesn’t look her age and is still very beautiful, but can be a free spirit at times.She and I traveled all over the world when I was a child, until my father put a stop to it and told her she better put my ass in a real school.
He’s watching my mother over the rim of his glass.He leans back in the couch with a smirk, both arms on the back of the couch, swirling the brandy around his glass as if he still owns the place.
“Nick, you’ve been dodging my calls for weeks.It’s nice to know you’re alive and well.I thought I was going to have to send out a search and rescue party for you.”
“Mom, I have not been dodging you.I have returned all your calls.”And I have.I’ve been busier than usual with Cat moving in.
She shakes her head at me and smiles.“Yes, through your secretary.I like talking to Karen, but I would rather my only child return my calls so I can hear his beautiful voice, then I can tell if he’s really doing as good as he says he is.”
This is the smile she gave me when I was little, telling me she’s being patient but whatever I did was not acceptable.
In his deep authoritative voice, my father says, “Allison, let the boy get on with what he has to say.”He taps his watch indicating he has to go.
“Yes, be quick about it, dear, your father’s nineteen-year-old is waiting.”
I run my hand through my hair and sit up.I’m going to get this over with before the arguing starts.
My mother rolls her eyes and cuts my father a look.“You should have gotten her a nanny to keep her company.”
“Allison, jealousy doesn’t become you.I have it on good authority it turns you into a dried-up old abstinent sea hag who can’t enjoy the baser instincts and needs in life.”
Shit.She’s going to rip him a new one, then all hell is going to break loose in here.
