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"They're going to be fine, Vivian. Stop making it out to be more than what it is."

"How dare you think of this accident as nothing? They could have been killed!" Here comes my mother's dramatics. Hollywood is missing one fine actress.

"Seriously!" Brad seems exhausted, he's short fused and that's saying a lot because he's usually so laid back. "If I knew you would pull your witch hat out, I wouldn’t have told you in the first place. You’re acting as if Laney caused the accident. You need to stop!”

“How dare you, Brad! I am their grandmother. I would expect that you, out of the two of you, would see how important I am to them.”

I can’t help but roll my eyes. Hasn’t she caught on by now that Brad can’t stand her? “You mean how you showed me how important I was to you my entire childhood? Sometimes I wonder if you even carried me for nine months.” I say.

“Oh, I can promise you, my dear, that I did, in fact, carry you for nine months. My body grew to a monstrous size, and things were pushed into places that they shouldn’t be able to go. I had to endure twenty hours of miserable labor in order to bring your self-absorbed, selfish-minded being into this world.”

“Enough!” Nathan’s voice was both harsh and threatening. “Now is not the time to attack anyone, especially for such ridiculous things.” My mother stands there staring in shock, completely speechless.

“Sorry about that, man.” Brad tries to break the tension. Michael takes this moment to stand and come up to me. “I’m Brad Richards, Laney’s husband.” Brad reaches out his hand towards Nathan. Nathan shakes his hand.

“Ex-husband.” I pipe up causing Brad to look at me.

“Right, sorry, ex-husband.”

“I’m Michael, Laney’s boyfriend.” He also puts his hand out towards Nathan. Nathan looks down at his hand then back up towards his face. He doesn't try to shake Michael’s hand.

“Ex-boyfriend,” I clarify.

“Laney, come on," Michael turns to me. "What you saw wasn’t what it looked like. It was a misunderstanding.”

Nathan moves to stand between us. “From what Laney's told me, it was exactly what it looked like. Maybe it's been a while since I've had an actual girlfriend, but I still don't think cheating is normal. I believe your actions give Laney every right to call you her ex-boyfriend.” Nathan finishes and just stares at Michael. He doesn't have a comeback. He slowly moves back out of the line of fire.

“Laney.” My mom interrupts, her eyes going from me to Nathan.

“Mom, please, not now.”

“Not now, then when, Laney? Who is he to even speak to anyone that way, let alone me? How dare he raise his voice to me? I'm your mother.”

“And I’m her husband.” Nathan says confidently. I hear a gasp that I know comes from my mother. I also see Brad’s head fall, and hear him say, ‘Jesus’.

“Please, no. This is not how I wanted this to go.” I say trying to remove my hand from Nathan’s grip.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to do that.” Nathan’s hand squeezes my hand, telling me he’s here, by my side.

“Laney,” Michael speaks up.

“Not now, Michael.” I say.

“Laney, married?” My mother’s shock is evident. “You're married?" She throws her head back and laughs. "My God, when are you going to grow up?" Her eyes lock on mine. "From the moment you've reach adulthood you've been out from under my roof and since then you've made one bad choice after another. Laney, seriously? You have two girls that are going to grow up and mirror everything you show them. You hop from one man to the next—"

I interrupt her. "From one man to the next? Are you kidding me right now? From one man to the next. I've only been with three men in my life, Mom, and they're all in this room. How many men have you been with since Daddy died? Or should I ask how many have you been with period, because I'm sure you weren't faithful to him."

"If I ever." She puts her hand to her chest acting like my words offend her. "You marry a man you don’t even know and you're standing there on your pedestal looking down on me, how dare you. You had better not allow him anywhere near my grandchildren. Brad and I will make sure you will never be able to harm them.”

“Vivian, stop.” Brad interjects.

“That is enough." Nathan growls from beside me.“I’ve already warned you once, mother or not, you will not speak to my wife that way.” Nathan turns from her not giving her another moment of his time and walks up to Brad.

“I’m Nathan Whitmore. It’s nice to meet you, Brad.” They shake hands again.

“Nathan Whitmore?” This coming from my mother. “You mean Nathan Riley-Whitmore? From the Whitmore's? The Whitmore's of New York?”

Nathan nods.