Chapter 51 Nate
NATE
“We’re here,” I shout as I shove open the front door and walk into my parents’ home.
“Peter, they’re here,” Mum calls, wrapping her arms around me before I make it over the threshold.
Her traditional Sunday roast dinner catches in my nose along with furniture polish and a floral air freshener she probably sprayed five minutes before we arrived.
“There’s my girl,” Mum says, holding Nora at the arms and kissing her cheek. “You look lovely. This dress is gorgeous.”
Nora’s cheeks glow, her flowered dress floating around her knees over her tights. “Hi, Margaret. I baked a cake.” Nora hands the cake tin to my mum.
Mum opens the tin lid, her eyes wide. “Oh lovely. I’ll get out my mother’s cake stand for this.” She slides it onto the worktop, then her smile falters for a second. “Oh, you’re here, too,” she says to Evan. “Come in.”
“Mum, I told you Ev was coming.”
Ev gives one of his charming smiles, straightening his glasses. “Hi, Margaret.”
Dad leans around the living-room doorway, beer already in hand. “About time you showed up.” He lifts his beer. “We’re all starving.”
Mum rolls her eyes. “Dinner’s ready. Beers are in the fridge.”
“Can I have a beer?” Alfie, my nephew, says from the breakfast bar, eyes fixed on his Switch.
“In about another eight years, maybe,” his mum, Lucy, says, ruffling his hair.
“He’s getting so big,” Mum says. “The older he gets, the more he looks like his dad.”
“What you playing, kid?” I say as I pull a pack of beers from the fridge and hand Ev one.
“Fortnite,” he says without looking up.
Evan pops the cap off the bottle and nods at my sister-in-law, though technically she’s remarried since my brother passed away, but she’ll always have a space in our family. “Give us a go,” Ev says as he plops down next to Alfie.
“Not a chance.”
“You’re gonna have to get off that device soon because dinner’s ready,” Mum says.
Lucy laughs. “You’d have better luck asking the dog to do the washing up.”
Nora laughs along with her. “We don’t have a dog.”
“Exactly,” Lucy says.
“Five more minutes,” Alfie says with his tongue stuck on his lip in concentration. “I need to finish this game.”
Mum turns back towards the boy, brushing his hair from his face with unmistakable pride, as if the kid can do no wrong. Will she be like this with our kid, or will it always have to live in Alfie’s shadow like I do with my brother?
“How’s things, Luce?” I say as I stand behind Nora, my hand on her hip.
“Things are great.” She swivels on the stool at the breakfast bar, glass of wine in hand. “How about you?”
“All good. How’s John?” I take a sip of my beer, still finding it weird to ask about her new husband, but I’m glad she’s happy again.
“He’s good. He’s working tonight.”
Mum reappears, carefully placing Nora’s cake on an overly fancy stand, like it belongs on display in a cake shop. “Nora, do you want a glass of wine with dinner?” Mum busies around the kitchen.
Nora lifts on her toes and whispers, “Shall we tell them now?” She bites her lip, curling her fingers around my arm.
Mum pauses, her mouth parting. “You have news?”
I can’t stop the smile from spreading across my face. I wrap my arm around Nora and place a hand on Evan’s shoulder as I stand behind him at the breakfast bar. “We’re having a baby.”
Mum squeals, her hand flying out as she rounds the counter and wraps Nora in a hug. “Congratulations. I thought there was a reason for that beautiful cake.”
I keep my hand on Ev’s shoulder, but say nothing more. We agreed with Lucy and Alfie here, it’s not the right time to tell the full truth about how we came to be pregnant.
Mum kisses my cheek. “I’d almost given up hope.”
“So had we.” I squeeze Evan again, needing him to know he’s as much a part of this as we are, despite him wanting to stay silent.
“I want all the details. How many weeks? When’s it due? Have you picked any names?” Mum’s practically hyperventilating with excitement.
“Congrats, son.” Dad gives me a bear hug and pats me on the back, then wraps his arms around Nora. “I can’t tell you how happy you’ve made us. This is the best news we’ve had in years.” He kisses her forehead.
Her beautiful face beams with all the love and praise, and now Lucy is hugging her, swaying side to side as she squeezes her tight. “About time, right?”
Nora laughs through unshed tears. “Definitely, about time.”
“Come through to the dining room,” Mum says brightly. “Peter, grab those potatoes.” She shoves a warm dish of vegetables in my hand, her eyes sparkling under the kitchen lights.
Evan grabs the gravy boat and follows Dad into the dining room. Mum’s gone all out today with her special plates and cutlery. The sliced roast pork in the middle of the table like a centrepiece.
“Margaret, you didn’t need to go to so much trouble.” Nora places the stuffing balls on the table.
“It’s nothing.” Mum takes off her apron and waves a hand. “It’s not often you and Nate come for dinner. And when Nate called and said he was coming over last week, I had a feeling. Call it mother’s intuition.”
We settle around the table. Mum says grace, then there’s clinking cutlery as we load up our plates and everyone talks with the buzz of our news. Even Alfie has put his device away.
“So,” Mum says while passing the potatoes, “have you got any names yet?”
Nora glances at me. “We haven’t thought about it.”
I scoop up some carrots. “I thought we were calling it Pip.”
Nora laughs and swats my thigh. “We may as well call it Apple.”
“Don’t give Nate any ideas,” Ev says from the other side of Nora. “Didn’t his favourite singer name his kid Apple?”
Alfie laughs. “Is Apple a boys name or a girls?”
“Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we had a baby girl?” Mum claps her hands, bouncing in her chair.
I shrug. “I don’t care what the sex is, Mum. We’ve waited so long for this it really doesn’t matter.”
Her eyes shine. “Yes, we have. Only God will decide what he blesses you with.”
I nod, mostly to appease Mum. Church works for her.
It helped her survive losing my brother.
For that, I’ll always be grateful. But faith?
Mine’s a quiet spiritual connection. No sermons.
No religious rules made by men. Just the quiet thank you I send up to the heavens every day for Nora, the baby, and for Ev.
I reach under the table and find his hand already on Nora’s thigh.
My fingers brush his. I tilt my head his way, a small smile tugging at my mouth.
Mum and Dad will never understand this bond between the three of us, and I pity them for it.
Nora waves her fork towards Mum. “We thought we might keep the gender a surprise and wait until the baby’s born.”
Lucy’s face drops. “That means we won’t get a gender reveal party.”
Nora shrugs. “I don’t mind. Like Nate says, it’s not important as long as it arrives safely.”
“And sleeps occasionally,” Ev says with a huff of a laugh.
“Unlikely,” Lucy says. “They’re tiny terrorists.” She points her thumb to Alfie next to her. “This one hijacked my bed until he was about four.”
“It was a tough time. He wanted his mama,” Mum says.
“He still does.” Lucy pulls Alfie in for a hug, and he shrugs her off, his cheeks redenning. A scowl just like my brother’s.
“You should think about the gender reveal. It might be good to know if it’s a boy or girl. That way we can start buying things,” Mum says.
“You know your mother’s going to buy the whole baby store.” Dad chuckles, cutting into his meat.
“What about you, Evan?” Lucy points her wine at him from across the table. “You seeing anyone?”
Ev pauses, his fork midway to his mouth. “Not right now.”
“I have a friend who’s just got divorced.” Lucy sips her wine with a smile behind her glass. “I could set you up.”
“So many people getting divorced. Whatever happened to til death do us part?” Mum shakes her head. “It’s always the children who suffer.”
“Maybe the kids suffer more when their parents are in a loveless marriage,” I say, but it falls on deaf ears. Mum’s set in her ways and you can’t tell her otherwise.
“Well, my friend doesn’t have kids.” Lucy places her wine back on the table. “How about it, Evan?”
Ev shakes his head. “I’m not interested.”
In the corner of my eye, Nora slides her hand under the table, and I know she’s touching him, reassuring him. If he were sitting next to me, I’d be doing the same thing.
Mum’s eyes follow my gaze. Lines wrinkle her brow.
The corner of Ev’s lips twitch as he glances at Nora with heart eyes. And I know Mum caught it too, but she doesn’t let on, just clears her throat like thunder in the distance before the storm rolls in.
After dinner, Nora helps Mum clear up. Ev takes the plates from her and tells her to sit down. Dad and Alfie disappear into the living room to watch the football, and Lucy loads the dishwasher.
I tuck Mum’s dining chairs under the table as she wipes the veneered surface. We’ve all finished eating, but Mum’s still chewing on something she hasn’t said yet.
With just the two of us in the room, I grip the back of the chair. “Just say what you want to say, Mother.”
She pauses mid wipe. “I don’t like how Evan keeps touching Nora’s stomach, Nate. I saw the looks they gave each other over dinner.”
I let out a breath. “Mum. It’s fine.”
“It’s not right.” She straightens her spine. “Do you think?” She shakes her head. “Doesn’t matter.”
“Mum, it’s not what you think.”
“Well, if they’re not having an affair, then what is it?”
“Sit down, Mum.”
She pulls out a chair at the table.
I sit opposite and clasp my hands together. “I can’t have children, Mum. The tests showed I’ve got something called azoospermia. Basically…” I scrub a hand over my face and close my eyes as I take a deep breath. “…I don’t produce viable sperm.”
Mum’s face pales.
I take hold of her hand. “But it’s all good because Evan donated his.”
She pulls her hand from under mine. “Are you saying my grandbaby isn’t mine at all?”