She shut up abruptly with the laughing, but she mumbled, “Yeah. She takes the cake, all right.”
Brent and Cole showed up right when dinner was being cleared out, apparently working late, to pick up the girls. It was an interesting scene when Nikki and Beth told them about the crazy pregnant lady and how they had to hide their cookies. That was a real special moment for me. They also told Cole and Brent all about the bruise Grigori had from him and Mommy wrestling—with Mommy being the victor. The girls talked so fast I could barely keep up, but Brent and Cole didn’t have any issues understanding, holding the girls in their arms and glancing at Grigori.
The looks were not exactly friendly.
Grigori just nodded to them, trying to be cordial in front of the girls. But it didn’t seem to help Brent and Cole. Behind the girls’ heads, their heated glares even turned on Ember before they left. I was a little surprised since I had heard from Daniil, who seemed to keep up on everyone, how they’d been regular tomcats out on the town since that first dinner here and the resulting argument.
Ember was quiet in the face of their fury, her eyebrows pinched. Only a few seconds after they left the room, she quickly stood. “I’ll be back in a second.” She jerked her head at Ruslan. “Come with me, please.”
Grigori’s eyebrows snapped together. He stayed where he was, watching her hurry out of the room. Pretty much like the rest of us. My parents, quiet like the rest of the table’s occupants, just watched.
We all heard Ember say loudly, “Brent. Cole. Hold up a second.” A pause, and she said, “Ruslan, could you take the girls outside?”
We all stared at the doorway, hearing the girls retreating footsteps, although Ruslan was damn silent. The front door opened and shut.
“Why are you mad at me?” Ember asked, her voice shaking. “I’ve apologized so many damn times for what happened when you left. So what did I do now?”
The coffee mug in Grigori’s hand shattered…and he didn’t even seem to notice the hot liquid spilling over his hand or the fact that he had cut himself.
Cole growled, “You think we didn’t see the look on your face today when everyone started talking about the triplets?”
“What?” she croaked.
“You want another baby, Ember. We aren’t blind,” Brent stated heatedly. “You think this is easy for us? You think we didn’t fucking dream of having more children with you? All that time we were alone, praying for the fucking day we could come back to add to our family?”
It sounded like Ember choked.
“And now we’re here. Our dreams are shattered. And when you have another child, it will be withhim. Not us!” Cole practically shouted.
There was a heartbeat of silence, and it sounded like Ember was crying softly, quietly saying, “He’s not ready for children.”
Grigori stilled completely.
Cole laughed coldly. “So you’ve already talked to him about it. I should have known.”
There was another silence, and Brent said quietly, “No. She hasn’t talked to him about it. She read him.”
“It doesn’t matter how I know,” Ember stated heatedly, her voice still hiccupping. “I won’t be having any more children, so you two can quit with the damn looks, all right?”
Silence. For some time.
And then, Ember asked, “What? Why are you looking at me that way?”
Cole cleared his throat and said, “You want more kids. We want our damn family back together. If he’s not going to give you what you want, we will.”
“What?” Ember asked, sounding stunned.
“Come back to us. Quit being scared and open your heart again. And we’ll give you what you want,” Brent said softly. “I know what it’s like to be frightened, Ember. But, we were good together once.” He paused, chuckling. “No, twice. We can be good together again. And we all want more children. You read him. If you say he doesn’t want children, then he doesn’t. We do.” He paused, his voice going even softer, a little wistful, “Christ. Another Beth or Nikki. I would love that.”
Grigori was damn near panting, and sweat was breaking out on his forehead, but he still wasn’t interrupting them. He sat there. Listening as if his life depended on it.
“I…I…” Ember stuttered.
“Sweetheart, you know we can be good together. I can see it in your eyes, even through all that scared,” Cole murmured quietly.
I wanted to smack Grigori as he sat there, and it looked like Daniil and most of the occupants at the table did, too.
His eyes closed, head still turned toward the door, and he started whispering so quietly, “Come on, kitten. Come on. Say it. Say it, kitten.”
