“Yes, sir. They’re waiting for you in your mother’s favorite room.”
“Good.” Seeing that their ma watched her girls with teary eyes, I stepped over to her side. “You okay, Patricia?”
“Never better.” She patted my arm. “I think it’s time you called me ‘Ma.’ Don’t you?”
I shot her a sheepish smile. “You were just waiting for things to become official?”
“Of course. There’s power in a name, Stan.” She patted me again. “Thank you, son. For making my girl so happy.”
“Feel free to throw cabbages at me if there’s ever a day I don’t.”
“Marriage is a long road, Stan. It’s not all smiles and sunshine.” She tugged me into a soft hug. “But so long as there’slove, it gets you through those unexpected bumps along the way.”
“That means I get a free pass from the cabbages for the first couple of bumps?”
“Exactly.”
For the first time, I relaxed.
Then her eyes turned distant and fell to half-mast.
On an exhale, she whispered, “Twins.”
I jerked back. “Huh?”
My abrupt movement seemed to awaken her from whateverthathad been. Patricia blinked a couple times. “Stan?”
“Twins?” I croaked out.
A sly but amused smile creased her lips. “To start with, aye. Now, where’s your mother?”
“You know they’re here?”
She hummed.
“I-I thought it was time for a get-together.”
Patricia passed me her purse. “Hold this.”
Because my mind was still addled by the ‘to start with,’ I accepted the bulky purse and watched as she took off her jersey to reveal a very pleasant summer dress underneath it.
As she tucked the jersey away, she chastised, “In the future, warn me. I shouldn’t need to rely on the Sight for fashion advice, boy.”
“You’re among family now, Ma. It doesn’t matter.”
She pinched my cheek. “That smart tongue of yours will get you in trouble one day.”
“It already did,” Kitty declared, eavesdropping on our conversation.
Patricia dragged her into a hug. “So happy for you, darling.”
“Thanks, Ma. You’ll like Lauren. She raised too many kids as well. You’ll have that in common—the patience of two saints.”
Patricia cackled. “That’s me. Holy.”
“Holier than Clodagh down the street.”
“You got that right! Now, let’s meet these Valentinis.”
