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Hattie shook her head. “That won’t do.” She plucked the baby out of my arms. “No son of mine is going to allow his mate to struggle while he’s away. I don’t know why the damned idiot didn’t call me,” she muttered.
“I’ll take care of the kitchen!” Edie said, breezing into the room, rolling up her sleeves.
“No! I—” I rushed forward to stop them, but Hattie silenced me with a look. “Summer, we are your family now. You’re clearly exhausted and overwhelmed. We’ll take care of things while you shower and take a nap.”
“I can handle—”
“I’m sure you can handle it. That doesn’t mean you should. It’s clear from the bags under your eyes that you could do with a rest. Seeing as our boys aren’t here, this is even better,” she said, smiling down at Milo, who was now just whimpering softly as he rested his head on her shoulder.
“Oh my god…You…He’s…”
“Sometimes it’s just luck, honey. Go on, now. We got this.”
“I…” My eyes prickled, the burn of unshed tears lingering. “Umm, okay…”
“And once you’ve had some sleep, you can tell us how you met our boys.” Edie smiled brightly. “Unless you want to take a seat and tell us first? Oh, and we should call Gabbie, Hattie.”
“Remind me.”
She asked the question so innocently, and I had to act like my stomach wasn’t falling through my butt.
“I-I’ll just go shower. I’m sorry about the mess.” I looked around, and Milo seemed okay enough in Hattie’s arms, still fussy but not screaming. “Umm…yeah.”
“Go on.” Edie shooed me toward the stairs. “You deserve a break.”
All I could do was nod, and then I was walking up the stairs, waiting to hear the sound of Milo crying.
As soon as the door to my room was closed and I was inside my room, I grabbed my cell phone, looking up Marshall’s number to call him.
“Hey,” he answered gruffly after only one ring.
“Your mother and Emmett’s mother showed up at the house. They heard you have a mate.”
“Oh fuck,” he groaned. “Are you okay?”
“They kidnapped my grumpy baby and are forcing me to go take a shower and a nap. They started cleaning the kitchen. I didn’t think anyone was coming. The house is in no way ready for guests,” I hissed.
“Those women have minds of their own. Where are you now?”
“Hiding in the bedroom because I’m pretty sure if I don’t come down either freshly showered or having slept, they’re going to yell at me.” I shook my head, still thrown for a loop by the surprise visit.
A chuckle rang out over the line. “I’ll be back in thirty minutes. Go shower.”
“What do I tell them? Marshall, I felt like such an idiot when they asked me how we met. I had to dodge the question.”
“I’ll explain it to them. If they’re bullying you into showering, you better do it.”
“I didn’t think I would be getting bossed around by a pack of mothers today! They mentioned calling Gabbie?”
“Ah. Noah’s mother.”
“There’s more!?” I hissed.
“Only three mothers. Tobias was raised with me, so Hattie got a two-for-one deal with sons.”
I sagged on the bed, my shoulders drooping. “I’m sorry I’m pulling you away from work.”
“It’s not your fault the mothers smelled blood and decided to descend like wolves. You’re safe, don’t you worry. They’ll give you back your child. I will warn you, they have all been waiting for the day they can be grandmas.”
