I kept walking.
“Francesca.”
Still walking.
“Doc!”
I turned. Jason stood behind me, his expression one of concern. “So your mom’s here. It’s no big deal.”
I barked out a laugh, though it emerged a touch hysterical. “This might be a lot of things, but ‘no big deal’ is not one of them. I don’t know how she heard. Vi and Dad wouldn’t have said anything.” Maybe Cat? I doubted it. “She’s going to have … an opinion.”
He scoffed. “Everyone has an opinion, just like everyone’s got an ass?—”
“Yes, I know the phrase. I just don’t want anything to overshadow Theo’s big night. And I already came in here and stole his glory. What was I thinking?”
He pulled me close and curled his hands around my thickening waist. “You haven’t stolen anything. Everyone loves hearing baby news, and your mom is going to have to get with the program, like the rest of ’em. Come on, Doc, let’s deal.”
I’ll say it again: some lucky woman …
I let him hold my hand. I figured no one would assume we were a couple, just proud parents to be. I got plenty of curious looks from the Chicago Rebels WAGs I didn’t know very well. For them, I was ready with my scales up, but my mother? She still had the capacity to find my soft underbelly and bury the spear of criticism.
On spotting us, Rosie rushed forward to intercept. “This is kind of weird, but I think your mom is looking for … a husband?”
Oh, that made more sense. Cat had told me that things had rapidly deteriorated between my mother and Xavier over the last few months. A retirement party for a veteran hockey star would bring out all sorts of athletes and legends, providing a fertile hunting ground for a woman on the make.
Rosie’s gaze dropped to my hand, currently grasped by Jason’s, then up again to my face with a superior grin.
“I see.”
“See what?”
Rosie hummed. “Doesn’t matter. I already saw it.”
I peered up at Jason. “Not sure this is helping.”
“I think it is.”
Secretly, I thought so, too, especially as I spied my mother beelining toward me. At almost sixty, Kendra St. James Cassidy Delahunt was still trying her best to defeat the ravages of time, but they were clearly nipping at her heels.
“Franky! You’re not going to believe what I just heard.” She grasped my arms and pulled me into a hug. “Someone said you were pregnant! I said, my Franky, the girl who would rather watch slimy creatures do it than carry a child—oh, hello.” My mom blinked up at Jason, her mouth agape. “You’re Jason Isner.”
“Sure am. You must be the lovely Kendra. I’ve heard so much about you.”
The lovely Kendra giggled and touched her chest above the leather bustier that struggled to maintain her over-tanned flesh.
“You have? Who from?” She turned wide eyes on me. “My daughter?”
Jason chose that moment to circle my waist and pull me in close.
“Who else? So I’m guessing this is a surprise to you, but I figure you’re a veteran now. Grandma all over again!”
“But Franky, is this true?” She leaned in. “I thought you looked a little heavier than usual. But then I haven’t seen you since, what, last Christmas?”
“Thanksgiving, two years ago, Mom. We met at Cat’s place in New York after she announced her pregnancy.”
Mom did not like to be reminded of further evidence of her mortality.
“Right. And now they cry so much, but so did Caitriona. So sensitive. Not like you, my tough-as-nails girl. And now, a mom!” Flabbergasted, she raised her gaze to Jason. “How did this even happen?”
