AllFreeNovel
Share Us
No. Matter. What.
Chapter 28
Erica
I was miserable. I had told Brett about the pregnancy, and it had gone well, so I had expected to feel better about everything, but my mom had lost her shit. If my mom wasn’t on my side, no matter how well things went for me, I would be down about it. Even though my mom and I often clashed and sometimes I felt like she was still treating me like a child, we had grown up as a team. We were all we had, and we had made it work through the good times and the bad. To think that through my hard times my mom wouldn’t be there to lean on, and through the good times she wouldn’t be there to celebrate, was heartbreaking.
We hadn’t talked the whole weekend. Since I had hung up on her, I should probably have been the one to phone back, but I hadn’t had what it took. And she hadn’t called me either.
By the end of the day on Monday, I felt so down I wanted to crawl back in bed. Brett called me into the office as I was leaving.
“Come over for dinner tonight,” he said.
I shook my head. “I don’t think I’m up for that. I’m just going to get in bed and sleep the night away.”
“Please, I’ll send you a car.”
I hesitated but finally agreed. I couldn’t push Brett away all the time because I was struggling. He was going to be there for me, which was what I wanted.
At home I showered and changed into jeans and a blouse, wearing flat shoes so I was comfortable. The car Brett sent for me arrived at seven, and I let the driver whisk me away to Brett’s apartment.
When I arrived, I signed in and rode the elevator to the penthouse. Brett opened the front door for me and pulled me against him. He kissed me.
“I’m so glad you came,” he said, his arms still around me. “Tonight is going to be a good night.”
I didn’t know if it would be, but I didn’t tell him that. Brett was trying very hard. The least I could do was play along even if I didn’t feel like it.
“Come in, the food is just about ready.” Brett gestured for me to walk into the apartment first. When I walked in, the dining room was beautifully made up. To my shock, my mom came out of the kitchen with oven mitts and a casserole.
“Oh, hello, honey,” she said and put the casserole down on the table.
“What are you doing here, Mom?” She was the last person I had expected to see in Brett’s apartment. She hated Brett as far as I knew, and we hadn’t ended on a good note at all the last time we had spoken.
I looked at Brett who came into the room behind me. He was grinning. Whatever was going on, he was obviously behind it.
“I would like for this to be a weekly thing,” Brett said. “I think it would be good if we could see one another once a week and catch up, keeping all of us in the loop with what’s happening. We’re all in this together.”
My mom came to me and hugged me, and I had to focus not to burst into tears. I looked at Brett over my mom’s shoulder, and he was smiling gently at me. He had done all of this. I didn’t know how he had gotten through to my mom. She hated men in general, and I was sure that after everything that had happened between us, she would have despised Brett even more. But here she was, in his apartment, and she didn’t look upset or antagonistic about it in the least.
We sat down together. Brett was at the head of the table, and my mom and I sat opposite each other. We dished up for ourselves and started eating. The dinner went well, and I loved the idea that we would all eat together once a week so that we could get along. It was a great idea.
As we ate and talked, I was surprised to hear that my mom was supportive of our relationship and the pregnancy. She wanted to know how I was feeling and what symptoms I was experiencing.
“Did you give any thought to how you’ll handle work once the babies are here?” she asked.
I shook my head. “Right now, I’m taking it one day at a time. I don’t even know if it will be twins yet. Until then, I’m just trying to keep my head above water.”
“It’s understandable,” my mom said. “But if you need something, call me, okay? And after the birth I’d love to help out and babysit.”
“Really?” I asked. My mom was acting so differently than I had expected.
