41. Ada
The day my parents showed up was a day filled with anxiety for me. If I’d doubted how far outside of the bounds of employee and boss I was operating with the guys, my parents moving in surely captured that I was so far out of bounds that I was on the other side of the world. My parents moving into the Carrington Mansion was insane. The knowledge that it was insane just made me more nervous. Everything was on the cusp of change and I wasn’t sure I was ready.
The guys were working when my parents arrived, so I set out on showing my parents around with the knowledge that I wouldn’t have to introduce them to the guys yet. Every part of the mansion excited my parents and they weren’t shy or quiet about their enthusiasm. I, on the other hand, was feeling reserved for the first time in my stay at the estate. Reserved, or resigned. I wasn’t sure.
After walking into half a dozen bathrooms that weren’t attached to bedrooms, Dad nodded and clapped his hands once. “Well, the verdict is in. Having money is amazing and we should’ve had more of it.”
“Sorry, Ken. It just wasn’t in our cards.” Mom bent over and ran her hands over the floor. “That’s real stone, isn’t it?”
“I don’t know, Mom.” I’d answered a dozen questions just like that one already and my nerves just kept getting worse. Finally, I turned to my mom and dad and admitted to myself why I was so nervous. Then I admitted it to them. “I need to talk to you guys about something.”
Mom screamed. “You’re pregnant!”
“No!” I shushed her and pulled them both into the library with me. Even the rows and rows of books didn’t distract Mom from freaking out that I could be pregnant. “Mom, I’m not pregnant. I’m not.”
She crossed her arms over her chest and frowned. “Then why’d you get me all excited like that?”
“Mandy, let her talk.”
I shoved my curls off of my forehead as a wave of heat washed over me. Sweat instantly beaded along my upper lip. “So, this is a little weird, maybe. I have to tell you both, though, because I feel like I’m going to have a heart attack if I don’t.”
“Oh, my god, Ada. If you’re not pregnant, nothing you say is going to garner that big of a reaction.” Mom eyed my stomach. “You’re sure you’re not pregnant?”
“Mom! I’m just bloated. Thanks a lot.”
“Alright. Both of you, settle down.” Dad put his hand on my shoulder and squeezed. “Just tell us, honey.”
“I slept with all three of my bosses.” I blurted it out and then turned away from them. “I know, I know! That’s crazy, right? It was so bad of me. It just happened, though.”
“Were you safe?”
I spun back around to face my mom. “Mom! Don’t ask me that. This isn’t a question and answer type of situation.”
“So you could be pregnant!” Mom jumped up and down and clapped her hands. “That’s amazing!”
Dad grinned at me when he saw my shocked expression. “What? We really want a grandbaby. And honestly, Ada, we don’t care who you sleep with. You know that. If you want to marry all three of them, we wouldn’t care. We just really want a grandbaby.”
I scoffed. “This is ridiculous.”
“Would you prefer we be upset about the loss of our adult daughter’s innocence? We all know that train departed a long time ago, honey.” Dad shrugged. “We’re simple folks, kid. As long as you’re happy, we’re happy.”
“As long as I’m happy and pop out a baby, you mean.”
“Yep.” He laughed and pulled Mom into his chest. Wrapping his arms around her, he rested his chin on her shoulder. “Are you still sleeping with them?”
I knew my entire body was blood red. I was too close to my parents, that much was obvious. “No. I stopped. I don’t want to hurt anyone and I don’t know if I could choose one of them. I… I like them each.”
“This is so cute. You were never this excited about Camden. Or the boyfriend before him. Or the one before him.” Mom cupped my face in her hands and beamed at me. “I am so proud of you, honey.”
I scowled at her and backed out of her reach. “This is messed up. You’re proud of me for sleeping around.”
“I’m proud of you for not letting what happened with Camden waste your time. And maybe I’m a little bit proud of you for sleeping around. You need to explore and figure out what you want while you’re still young.” Mom waved away my horrified expression. “Anyway. I have loads to tell you about your ex, by the way.”
I looked up and saw all three of the Carrington brothers joining us in the library. I felt my worlds colliding and cringed. “I thought you guys were working?”
Joe shot me a look before extending his hand to my parents. “It’s really nice to meet you, Mr. and Mrs. Walton. Joseph Carrington. And these are my brothers, Collin and Judson.”
My mom looked at me and gave me a wide-eyed grin while also giving me a thumbs up that everyone saw. “Wow. You boys are quite the pack, aren’t you? Oh, and call me Mandy.”
Dad took his turn shaking their hands and clapping them on the arm like he was their football coach. “And call me Ken. None of that Mr. and Mrs. stuff. Especially when you’ve already gotten so acquainted with my daughter.”
I choked on my spit as I tried to cough loudly to cover up Dad’s statement. Of course, it was too little, too late. Dad patted me on the back and then pressed his hand to my cheeks.
“You’re burning up, honey. Are you sick?”
I grimaced. “I wish.”
Collin cleared his throat. “We would love to show you to your rooms. We can help carry your bags.”
Mom tucked her hand into the crook of his elbow and walked with him. “Oh, my goodness. That is just so sweet. We have a lot more than just our stuff in the car. I was just telling Ada that we have gossip about her ex. We picked up her stuff from his apartment a while back and we brought it for her.”
Dad wrapped his arm around my shoulders and gave me a tight hug before hurrying to catch up with Mom and Collin. “And there’s one bag you should let me get. I’m not saying it’s a bag of sex toys, but I’m not not saying that, either.”
I was rooted in place. I covered my face with my hands and let out a weak groan. What had I done?
“Did your dad just hint that he knows we’ve fucked you, Ada?” Joe whispered the words next to my ear. He’d moved closer without me noticing and I nearly jumped out of my skin.
“I don’t want to talk about it. I don’t want to talk about any of this. I’m-” The sound of heavy feet running through the hallway was alarming enough that I shut up and rushed towards the library doors to see what was happening.
“Watch out everyone! Kitten is on a warpath!” Dad’s warning came a second too late.
The biggest dog I’d ever seen spotted me at the same time I spotted him. He tried to stop but his feet skidded on the slippery floors and he took my legs out from under me. I went down hard and rolled over onto my back just to have the dog lay down on top of me to lick my face. I turned away but then it got my ear. I groaned and grunted as I tried to get away from its tongue but it was useless.
“Oh! He likes you, Ada.” Dad sounded amused. “Our daughter and our dog son getting along so well. I couldn’t be more proud. Kitten, get off your sister.”
Kitten wasn’t motivated to move. His elbow was firmly planted in my boob and he was happy enough that he laid his head on top of mine and let out a big sigh. I’d forgotten about the dog. Maybe that was where I’d gone wrong. I could’ve hidden behind Joe if I’d remembered.
“Off, Kitten.” Joe’s deep voice was commanding enough that I wanted to sit up and do what he said. It seemed to work on Kitten as well as it did on me. As soon as the giant dog was off me, Joe took my hand and pulled me back to my feet. He looked me over with his upper lip slightly curled. “You stink.”
“Oh, that’s Kitten. He has a breath thing. We have bones for that.” Dad grabbed the hilariously small leash he had my dog brother on and sighed. “As soon as your mom opened the back door, he came bounding out. He’s not a huge fan of the car. Or maybe it was your mom’s driving that he didn’t like.”
“You just had him in the car? You can’t just leave a dog in the car, Dad! It’s hot outside.” I knelt in front of Kitten, previous transgressions forgotten. “Oh, buddy. Are you okay?”
“We left the air running, Ada. We’re not monsters.”
“You know, she peed the bed until she was five and it was always a mess. She’d trail pee through the house on her way to our room to tell us about it.” Mom’s voice carried through to where we were standing.
I sighed, defeated. “Monsters.”