Marriage (Red, White &) Blues (Unexpectedly Married #2)

Chapter 27

Chapter Twenty-Seven

W e landed in Vermont right as a cold snap hit. We got these in Michigan, too. A cold snap was when Mother Nature woke up to an already very cold day and decided, ‘ There’s not enough frostbite in this state .’ “Maybe we could winter it out back on the island?” I asked, hope coating my words for a brief moment before the icy frost got to them.

“Glory, sweetheart, this is our home—frozen as it is. Why do we live here, again?” he asked, and for a moment I thought, Yes! We’re wintering on the island. But that thought only lasted a moment when he said, “Oh, that’s right, you’d be miserable without regular visits to Michigan. Do you want to take a twenty-hour flight with an infant every time you have a hankering for American Coney Island?”

Well, that was a good point.

“Plus,” he went on, “our child needs the best care I can provide.” That lost him a point.

“Uh—I object. Dr. Cruz is a fabulous doctor. She’d been taking very good care of me.”

“You’re right. That was terrible of me to assume that just because you lived on an island, you weren’t getting the best care. But, Glory, this is our home. Maisie and Dee miss you. If we moved, then we’d have to lay them off.”

“I don’t want to do that.”

“I know you don’t. Neither do I. They’re more family than my family. And what about your mother and Carl? We could fly them out to see their new grandbaby, but how long could they stay? They both have jobs.”

“You don’t have to be so sensible,” I reminded him while rubbing my hands vigorously over my arms, and we were still inside the heated private terminal—as in the terminal for private plane passengers, not his own private terminal. A girl could get used to this life, especially when it meant we got to bring our fur kiddos with us. Gah! Tears in my eyes again!? Yes, I loved my husband. Yes, I loved that he’d thought to bring Georgie Boy and Princess Miranda with him. But the pregnancy hormones had to settle. I was so over crying at the drop of a hat.

Blake simply pressed a sweet kiss to my tear-dampened cheek. A man in a suit rolled our luggage to us, he had a stylish woolen cape draped over his arm. My husband helped me into it. The fabric covered my exposed arms and torso, down to my thighs and gave plenty of room for my growing belly. Okay, so he thought of everything.

He stood behind me, rubbing my belly absentmindedly while we waited for the car to bring us home. The driver popped the trunk and jumped out of the front to load the bags for us. Blake held open the back door for me and I slid in first. The car had heated leather seats and I sighed all the sighs as the warmth sank in down to my somewhat-less-frosty-thanks-to-my-cape bones. Before we left, the driver walked Georgie Boy, letting him sniff and do his business. Georgie used puppy pads on the flight, but every dog knew the outdoors was better peeing grounds. Miranda still had her travel litterbox.

Maisie stood in the doorway with her hands clasped in front of her, crying not from pregnancy hormones. She knew the reason I’d left. She knew about the baby. And I was quite certain she understood why he brought me home.

Per Blake’s directions, she’d been getting the guest room across from our bedroom cleared out and hired a painter in that time. The walls needed a fresh coat of white to give a clean base for the nursery. Blake knew exactly what he wanted the nursery to look like. We lay in bed one night in our room on the island, just talking about how our lives had changed so drastically from those people who met on the Seine.

“I know I’ve told you this,” Blake said, staring up at the ceiling. “But the first time I saw you, I knew I had to meet you—nothing beyond that. I had no idea what the world had in store for us.”

“When you said you were leaving to head up to that festival, my heart stopped. How could I let you go? Now less than a year later, we’re married, a baby on the way… It’s like, whose life am I living?”

He laughed softly. “Gloria Parker’s. Do you realize how lucky this little one is to have you for a mom? Intelligence, kindness—not to mention you’re smoking hot. Our kid won’t have a chance to be anything but beautiful.”

“You did contribute like fifty percent, honey. You graduated from Harvard with a degree in finance, not exactly a dunce. You have a big heart—I mean, you brought Georgie and Miranda to live with you. And I’ve been around handsome men—Ant and Pete are whoa . But you, husband, you made my heart stop beating momentarily. I thought, How could he be real? This man has to be a movie star .”

He laughed at that.

“Growing up with you will be a wonderland. I think the nursery should reflect that. What do you think?”

“Reflect that?” I asked.

Blake nodded, smiling, seemingly lost in a vision in his mind. “ Alice in Wonderland . How amazing would it be to have an Alice-themed nursery?”

And there’s your answer as to why we needed the white base coat.

Maisie stepped out of the way to welcome me inside while Blake carried our bags. She hugged me fiercely. “Don’t you ever leave us again,” she scolded. “We need you here. Blake needs you here.” Then she let me go to place a hand on my growing belly. Her eyes lit up even as they teared up again. “I can’t believe— a baby ! This house needs the laughter of children. We won’t let those Parkers anywhere near this little one.”

“But Maisie, we are Parkers,” I reminded her.

She swatted away my words. “The horrible ones.”

A laugh burst from Blake. “My sister doesn’t count, right?”

“No…” Maisie said thoughtfully. “Jupiter is lost, but she’s good.”

“I was lost once, too, Mais,” Blake said.

“Until you met Gloria. Maybe that’s what Jupiter needs.”

“ No ,” my husband said steadfastly. “Gloria is already taken. I’m not sharing with my sister.”

He… I shook my head. “My husband is an idiot. Don’t mind him.”

Just then, Dee popped out of the kitchen with a tray of pastries. “Blake! You brought our girl home!”

“Forever,” he replied.

“You have to be hungry,” she said to me. “I made all your favorites. Go upstairs and change into your comfies.” —I had to laugh at Dee using my word— “I’ll bring the pastries and some tea up to you. Dinner is cooking in the Crock-Pot. I can stay and bring it up to you.”

“No need, Dee,” Blake said. “I got it. Thank you so much.”

She smiled so big. Dee, like Maisie, loved my husband. And I loved Dee, too. I walked over to hug her. “Not getting out of this,” I said. She returned my hug one-armed.

“This house wasn’t the same without you.”

I felt the love, but I felt more jet lagged. This growing a human and twenty hours of travel wore me out. “I’m so glad to see you both, but this is where I take Dee’s advice. I need my bed.” Patting my leg, I signaled for Georgie and Miranda to follow me, but I stopped at the stairs pointing. “Why the chair lift?” I asked.

“I thought with the baby…”

This tired, why not? I plopped down onto the seat, gripping the controller to take me up. Talk about a life of luxury.

First thing first, I hit the shower. I loved this shower and apparently, this shower still loved me, caressing away the soreness in my back and neck with those beautiful, beautiful jets. Then I dressed in one of Blake’s soft, cotton T-shirts and climbed into bed.

Blake followed me in not long after. He stood in the doorway and the look on his face—“ What ?” I asked.

“Don’t ever leave me again, Glory. My heart couldn’t take it.”

“It was necessary.”

He nodded once but said, “I slept in the guest room.” Excuse me? This was the first I was hearing this.

“You slept in the guestroom?”

“I couldn’t do it. Be in this bed, our bed , without you in it.”

“Honey, it was your bed first.”

“It became yours the moment you walked into this house for the first time. Everything became yours. Everything .”

Georgie lifted his head from his spot on the sofa, a bark at Blake as is to say, “ Get in here, already. ”

“Here you go.” Dee slid the platter of baked goods onto the bedside table, followed by the teapot, two mugs, a bowl of lemon wedges and lastly, the honey. “Maisie and I are heading out to give you two some alone time.”

“Thank you, Dee… you’ve always made me feel so welcome here.”

Tucking the tray underneath her arm, she swatted my words away. “It’s your home. You’re supposed to feel welcome in your home.” But she and I both knew not everyone in Blake’s company felt that way. Robert and Adair would be none too pleased to have the mistake back in their state. I couldn’t let them take up my headspace tonight, though. I’d worry about them tomorrow.

The next day, far too early for my liking—but you know, anytime during this century was far too early to deal with her—Adair showed up in a tizzy. She gasped when she saw me. Her eyes narrowed as they dropped to my baby bump.

Blake and I had been in enjoying our breakfast, relaxing in the living room.

“I heard this morning and I had to see for myself.” She heard this morning? Blake wouldn’t have—then it hit me. Jupiter . The instigator had to have told her mom. I loved her but wanted to throat punch her about now. “Whose is it?” Adair asked. “Oh—never mind. It doesn’t matter. Now we can be rid of you once and for all. I’ll have the lawyer send over a settlement agreement. Of course, you’ll not talk to anyone about our family. You will not contact Blake or anyone related to us or you’ll face serious legal consequences. It would be in your best interest not to argue.” Her words flowed in this weird stream of consciousness. I sipped on my decaf coffee not saying a word, simply smirking. Because Adair.

“Are you finished?” Blake asked his mother.

“You didn’t need to bring her here. We could’ve dealt with this elsewhere.”

“ Mother .” He sighed the word. “The baby is mine . We’re starting our family. I’m sure you’re aware of the process.”

“Please, Blake, do you have to be so crass?”

“Crass? We’re having a baby. It’s a beautiful thing. I’m over the moon by the way—thanks for asking.”

“I didn’t ask.”

“I’m aware. And I don’t remember you acting so affronted when Emily announced her pregnancies.”

“Yes, well…” Adair dropped her hand to her hip as she continued to glare at me and shake her head. “Emily is—oh, Blake , how could you? Didn’t your nanny teach you about condom usage? What did we pay her for?”

“You’re acting like I’m sixteen. I’m twenty-eight, Mother. I’m a married man with very lucrative job prospects and a massive trust fund. My wife and I are starting a family.”

The woman refused to listen. “I’ll get Candice. She’ll have to put together a statement from the family—this is such a mess.”

“ No ,” Blake snapped. His mother’s head jerked. “Candice does not step foot in my house ever again. We do not need a statement. No one will care about us having a baby unless you make them care. The election is over. Leave it alone.”

“Well, for God’s sake, at least make an appointment to get cut.”

“Cut?” he bit out. “As in a vasectomy? I don’t know that Glory and I are done having kids. We might want seven or eight more.”

Adair’s face turned positively green and it took every bit of my Midwestern constitution to not laugh at her pain, even if I wanted to agree with her—pushing out seven or eight babies? Bump that.

“There’s just no reasoning with you,” she said right before turning to walk out the door, slamming it shut. Well, I guess we wouldn’t be calling Adair to babysit.

Jupiter showed up at a reasonable time with an evil, evil smile just for me.

“I thought you were my friend,” I said, almost snickering.

“I am. But I’m also a bitch. “And oh my God, you should have heard Adair. Honestly, you have to pop out eight more at the least.” She hooted and snorted at the idea of Blake and me having eight or more kids. So not happening.

“Instead of putting it all on us,” Blake said, his irritation showing, “why don’t you push out a few of your own? There has to be someone you know Mother won’t approve of.”

My sister-in-law’s face sobered. “That’s not remotely funny,” she said. “Why would you say something so hurtful?”

“Which part?” he asked and I held in my laughter. “The babies or the someone Mother won’t approve of?”

“ Yes, ” she snapped back, flipping her hand in the air. “All of it. Babies .” She shuddered and I lost my fight, doubling over. I got that children weren’t for everyone, but she acted as if babies equated to genital herpes.

“Listen, I did you two a favor. Entertainment for me? Yes. But a favor nonetheless.” She turned to face Blake. “I expect my ‘ thank you ’ sparkling and in a Harry Winston box.”

Thankfully, we avoided having to deal with Robert or Brock.

Two days after that fiasco, Blake and I were in his office on the computer, choosing furniture for the nursery. He received a call from Murielle, the woman who’d outed Raymond Hill’s camp with setting me up. He put her on speaker.

“ Gloria ,” she said in her Dolly Parton drawl. “I’d like to come see you. I have some unsettling news that I think you should know about right away.”

“Can you tell us now?”

“This isn’t the kind of news you give over the phone. If you don’t wish to see me, I’ll send my?—”

Blake cut her off. “Are you in Vermont?”

“I am. I drove here just for this.”

As I listened to them it hit me, Murielle was his inside man—or, wo man. She’d been upset about Raymond Hill before, but this—people ended up in garbage dumps for this. What in the ever-loving hey-hey? You put your life on the line for me, that made us family. Without a second thought I said, “Come to the house. We’re having spare ribs.”

“You’re inviting me for dinner?” she asked, evidently confused.

Oh, but what if she ate vegan or vegetarian? “How rude of me. Do you even eat meat?”

“Girl… I’m from Mississippi. Meat is the four food groups.”

I rolled my lips to keep from laughing.

“Then yes,” Blake cut in, not bothering to hide his. “My wife makes a mean smoked spare rib. Any sides you’d like to see?”

“You get I’m from the South?” she asked.

“So, mac and cheese, black-eyed peas, and cornbread?” I asked.

“That’ll work,” she replied.

“Greens?” I asked.

“How many years you spend in the South?” she asked me.

“None. I’m from Detroit. They call it ‘soul food’ there.”

“Indeed!” Murielle shouted. “What can I bring? And don’t you dare say nothing . No good Southern girl shows up emptyhanded.”

“Dessert?” Blake asked.

“Great! Lemon ice box and black bottom pie it is. What time?”

“The ribs have been in the smoker all morning. How about 7:30? That too late? I want to give you time to find?—”

“Find? Bless your heart. I’m in one of those extended stay hotels—I got me a full kitchen. That’s perfect. I’ll see you at 7:30.”

She still had our address from sending over those papers regarding Raymond Hill.

“You invited her over for dinner,” Blake said.

“It seemed like the thing to do. She’d helped us once already, and now, she clearly has something else to share. Don’t you think that deserves a nice meal?”

“It does.” He shook his head. “You figured it out, didn’t you?”

“It took me a second, but yeah, I did.”

“She usually sends me updates through email. This is the first she’s asked to come to the house.”

“We might be free of this soon.”

“Or you could get hurt again.”

I pressed my cheek to his arm, hugging him. “I won’t get hurt. You won’t let me.”

“No. Never again.”

About a quarter after seven, Maisie opened the door to Murielle standing with a pie plate in each hand. Georgie Boy lifted his head from where he lay on his doggy bed to get a look, barked his ‘ hello ’ and went back to lounging. Princess Miranda joined us from the kitchen, hopping up onto the arm of the sofa where she perched herself, carefully assessing the newcomer. All I could think was, How did she ring the doorbell ?

She looked past Maisie to me and because she’d clearly read my mind, said, “Elbow.”

In that minute, I knew she and I would be friends. The real kind. Especially when she looked back at Maisie to introduce herself. “I’m Murielle Colgate.”

“It’s nice to meet you,” Maisie replied. “I’m Maisie, the Parkers’ housekeeper.”

“Bzzz,” I shouted, and they both looked at me, Murielle laughing, Maisie, confused. “You said you’re our housekeeper.”

“I a?—”

I cut her off, saying to Murielle, “Because she works here, Maisie tends to forget she’s family.” I didn’t give a flying flip if she kept our home for us. Her place here went so far beyond that.

“Is your husband around?” Murielle asked. “I think I should?—”

“Nope.” I cut her off again. A bad habit. Fine. But we had good food and I wanted us to enjoy it. “He’s out back at the smoker. We’re eating first. Then news that’ll piss us off.”

“Sugar, I think we’re gonna be friends.” Murielle winked at me, handing off the pies to Maisie.

I thought so too.