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“Well, haven’t you left the baby alone long enough?” Bryan asks with another one of his famous awkward chuckles.
I hate how Sarah is nodding in agreement.
“These are the best years and you’re spending them at school, and, I assume, at work.”
I grab Rachel’s hand under the table, giving it a gentle squeeze. “Maria is never alone. She’s being—”
“I mean, childcare must be expensive.”
“W-we don’t pay childcare,” Rachel says while glancing at the bros, sitting and playing with Maria. God, I wish I could be with them rather than talking with stupid Bryan and Sarah. “Hunter, Lucas, and Alex help out.”
Bryan frowns, his brows pinching together. “Really? You have grown men, not even in your family, watching your baby.”
“We are a family,” I say angrily. “Hunter, Alex, and Lucas are very good with Maria. I mean, they’re watching her now.”
Bryan chuckles and raises his hands. “You don’t have to get defensive. I’m sure they are great with the baby but—”
“Maria,” Rachel blurts out.
Bryan is shaking his head, looking confused as if Rachel just gave him a two page math equation to solve. “What?”
“Her name is Maria. Not the baby. You can call her by her name.”
Bryan looks between us while Sarah sighs.
“Rachel,” Sarah starts, “why are you being so sensitive? Bryan is only worried about you.”
“Well, you can remind Bryan that he is not my father,” Rachel says angrily while rising. I pop up when she tosses her napkin on the table. “And that I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself.” With that, Rachel rushes toward the door, throws it open and disappears.
“Well, I never,” Sarah mumbles angrily.
“I—” I look around the room, not knowing what to say. “I’ll go check on her. Be back soon.”
I rush out the door, feeling giddy that I no longer have to be in that stuffy room with those stuffy people. Apparently, Rachel is a fast runner when she wants to be, because I find her in the elevator, the doors sliding close. I stuff my arm between them to keep them open, and then find myself sliding in next to her, already out of breath.
“So, that was amazing,” I say while the elevator moves.
Rachel groans, placing her face in her hands. “That was terrible.”
“Honestly, what did we expect?” I take her into my arms. She fits next to me perfectly. Her forehead presses into my shoulder while my arms wrap around her waist. “I think that went pretty well, considering your mother.”
“She hates Maria,” Rachel sobs.
I stroke her hair and nuzzle her gently. “I don’t think she hates her. Your mother doesn’t know Maria.”
“Bryan doesn’t know her name,” Rachel wails. “He knows about me not graduating, but he doesn’t know Maria’s name. What’s with that?” Rachel pushes away from me, and I watch her wipe her tears away. Her mascara is already smearing under her eyes. “I’m not perfect. I doubt Mom could be with me 24/7 when I was a baby. And I have a great support system.”
“You do,” I say as the elevator bell dings.
As soon as the doors open, Rachel is stomping into the hallway. She’s like a tornado that will never be stopped. And I love it. I love her ups and downs. I love her crazy family and her outbursts. I want to spend the rest of my life with this woman.
“I don’t care what my mother wants,” Rachel calls out to me while I run to catch up, “I’m not going back to that stupid dinner.” She slams her keycard down onto the door’s handle. The light flicks green and she shoves her shoulder against the door and storms inside our large hotel room. “She’ll be lucky if I even go to the wedding tomorrow!”
“You have to go to the wedding,” I say while following her inside.
Rachel plops herself on the edge of the bed, her arms crossing as she scowls up at me. “No, I don’t. Not after that bullshit.”
“Yes, it was shitty,” I say while kneeling in front of her, “but you will regret it if you don’t.”
