Chapter 32
thirty-two
GRAY
Gray’s biggest regret of her life to date—calling her mom while she was hysterically crying after leaving Ciar’s flat.
That single misstep would cost her. Her parents were likely planning World War III, and they would only have one target. Ciar Murphy.
She’d texted her mom as soon as she’d landed in Dublin and told her that she’d overreacted.
Gray: It was a surprise.
Gray: He never said he loved me anyway.
Gray: Once I tell my friends about the baby, I’ll figure out the Ciar thing.
Gray: No worries. Tell Dad I’m fine.
And her only hope.
Gray: Give me a few days, please.
Her mom’s only response.
Mom: We love you.
Evasion.
“Fuck,” Gray muttered as she tossed her suitcase and backpack on her bed. It was great to be home, but her parents weren’t the only shitstorm she was dealing with. One was waiting for her in the living room, making the binding of dread across her ribs tighten.
It was early evening by the time she’d disembarked and ordered an Uber to take her home. During the lift, she’d texted her friends to meet her. As she came out of her bathroom, she heard their conversation filtering through the house.
Reminding herself that it would be easier to tell her friends than it had been to tell her dad and brother, she took a deep breath and walked toward the voices.
As soon as they saw Gray, Bébhinn, Mags, and Blair jumped up and ran to her side.
“Missed you.” Mags hugged her tight.
Blair only gripped Gray’s hands and squeezed. They didn’t need words.
“It feels like you’ve been gone forever.” Bébhinn kissed her cheek.
Dagr, Jonathan, and Daniel were at the kitchen table looking way too much like triplets, much to her amusement. The only amusing thing about the day.
“You’ve been crying, Gray. Best tell us what the hell this is about, before I lose my shit,” Daniel said evenly.
Gray winced, thinking that it wasn’t that many months ago that he and his family were told surprising news that ripped his family apart. Her news wouldn’t change his family, but it would definitely shift their friend dynamic, and Gray hated that.
The girls sat in the empty chairs with Bébhinn perched on Dagr’s lap. All eyes were on Gray. No turning back now.
“I’m almost five months pregnant, and Ciar broke up with me because he had a baby with another woman. I went to his flat this morning and saw for myself. I know you know, Jonathan, but I didn’t know if anyone else did.”
In the silence, she said, “I learned about my baby last night and about Ciar’s only hours ago.”
“Holy shit!” Blair signed.
“What the hell? Oh my God! I knew things are topsy turvy, Gray, but a baby. How wonderful.” Bébhinn covered her mouth, clearly stunned.
“How in the hell did you just find out?” Mags, of course.
Daniel looked at Jonathan, anger painting his features. “Why didn’t you tell me? Why didn’t fucking Ciar tell me?”
“The girls staked out his place in London a few days ago and discovered he had a baby. Blair came to me for my opinion. They couldn’t decide whether to tell her immediately or wait until she was home,” Jonathan explained.
“I would have called Gray first and then flown to London to kick his ass,” Daniel replied furiously.
“Exactly, Dan. You would have railroaded the whole thing. We were trying to do what was best for Gray. I promised to tell Ciar when she got back, he planned on coming to see her and explain.”
“I don’t give a shit about Ciar right now,” Bébhinn growled, sliding off Dagr’s lap to come wrap her arms around Gray. “Our best friend is pregnant. We’re going to be aunties and uncles. My God, Gray, there’s barely time to decorate a baby’s room. I’ll get Mom and my aunts on it.”
Mags stood, lending her support. “You’re pregnant, Gray. Like, a few months from giving birth, pregnant. Jesus. Had you left it much longer, we would have had to have this conversation at the hospital while you were in labor.”
Blair laid her hand over Gray’s flat stomach before smiling and signing, “Tall bitches get all the luck.”
Gray burst out laughing and crying. The release of emotion was exactly what she needed. It’d been a hell of a day. “I have so many things to figure out. Where will I live? Will I stay in Dublin? If I know my father, he’s already sending a moving company to drag me back to Scotland.”
“Why can’t you stay here, Gray?” Mags asked. “We would all love to help with the baby. You’ll have like your own team of nannies.”
Blair asked, “Did you tell Ciar this morning?”
Gray could only shake her head, tears pricking her eyes again. Blair simply said, “I understand.”
Gray slid into one of the dining room chairs and faced the men. Daniel was still pissed, Jonathan was looking at her in sympathy, but Dagr looked like he had something to say.
“What is it?” Gray asked him, blotting her eyes with a tissue that Bébhinn placed in her hand.
He glanced at Bébhinn first before admitting, “Bébhinn doesn’t think I’m right, but…well, I know I’m new to this group, but I think it’s given me maybe a perspective that you all don’t have, as you’re so close.
“I’ve watched Ciar and how he is with Gray. He was fully committed. He bought them a house for fuck’s sake. That is not the action of an uncommitted man. I don’t think he had any idea about the baby until after Colorado.
“I think the man is an idiot when it comes to communicating. He’s more closed off to his feelings than anyone I know besides my father. I just, well, I think there is more to this story. At the risk of pissing Bébhinn off, I think you should at least let him explain his actions.
“All we’ve got is speculation, Gray. If nothing else, you can finally have the truth.
You are going to tell Ciar about your baby.
Eventually anyway. Talking to him is the only way to open up communication.
He’s the father of your child. He’s going to be in your life whether you like it or not. Make it on your terms.”
It had been almost two weeks since the day of the big reveal, and Gray was still dodging the question of whether or not she would or could reach out to Ciar. Dagr was right. There was no ‘if’ she would, but “when.”
The fact that he had so coldly cut her out of his life and hid a baby of all things wasn’t something a woman would or could get over quickly.
Her parents had agreed to give her a few weeks to let everything sink in before her dad tried to bulldoze his way in. Her mom had found an obstetrician's name, and Gray had an appointment at the end of the week.
If the pregnancy test was accurate, she should be all of five months along. Her lower stomach had a slight swell, only noticeable to her, she was sure, but Gray was thrilled. The baby had been a shock, but after almost two weeks of knowing, she’d become ridiculously excited.
As long as she didn’t think about the father.
Christmas was around the corner, which meant she’d been studying for final exams like a crazy person. They all had. She was kind of sad that it would be the last classes she had on campus.
Daniel and Jonathan had come by last week to explain what Gray’s dad had asked their fathers, Bran and Patrick, to do. Gray was far from shocked. They explained that Trinity would allow her to finish out her degree online and through virtual meetings with the professors.
It was a relief. School from home would allow her to focus on getting ready to have a baby. There were a million things she would need and a room to decorate. Somewhere.
When she’d called her dad to bark at him for going behind her back with Bran and Patrick, he’d remained silent. Clearly, he wasn’t going to apologize.
When he was done listening to Gray rant, he followed with, “Your mom and I want you to move home.”
That shut her up. “I’m not ready to make a big decision like that, Dad.”
“You don’t have very many months left to make it, sweetheart. I only want you and the baby safe.”
Her dad’s heartfelt plea pulled at Gray’s heart. Still… “I know. I promise to figure myself out sooner than later. Okay?”
“So, should I cancel the movers?”
“Dad,” she growled.
That was five days ago. Gray was living in fear of what his second battle would look like. Daniel’s mother, Raven, was taking her to look at a gorgeous loft flat that a friend of hers was putting up for lease in January.
Her friends really wanted her to stay at the townhouse. There was an extra bedroom for the baby as Bébhinn had moved out two months prior. Gray struggled with wanting to stay where she was comfortable and not wanting to put her friends on nanny duty.
Blair barged in from the door that led to the back garden. For such a tiny woman, she could make a clatter. She caught her friend’s eye, signing that Blair was covered in her work. Blair only grinned and swiped her fingers across her cheek, covering herself in even more soil and debris.
“Are you ready for your INCC internship? I hear Dagr’s father is a handful.” Ulf Griffiths, Dagr’s dad, was heading up a new nature and hiking preserve in Wales for the Initiative for Nature Conservation Cymru, and Blair had scored the coveted internship.
“Two months,” Blair grinned. “I can’t wait. They’re doing their conservation process all wrong. I can’t wait to bitch slap them into the twenty-first century. I have so many plans, I can hardly sleep.
“From March on, I’ll be in Wales until graduation. This project will be the groundwork for my thesis over the next two years.”
“The fact that you’re graduating uni a year early and already have your thesis squared away for your master’s disgusts me. Such an overachieving bitch,” Gray teased.
Blair fanned her cheeks like she was overwhelmed with the compliment. “Never fear. I put in vacation days for the birth of baby MacGregor.”
“Since I’ll be finishing my last year’s school projects online, I hope to have a couple of months to still pick up some jobs for O’Connor’s before I need to buckle down and figure out what my new circumstances look like.” Gray smiled, patting her stomach.
“A word of warning,” Blair started, “the Byrne sisters are planning a three-pronged invasion into your life.”
Gray felt her eyes widen. “What does that mean?”
“Bébhinn would have warned you by now, but our friend can’t seem to take the time away from riding Dagr and working, so I’ll do it for her.
“I believe stage one is a party to announce the pregnancy, which means you’d better have spoken to Ciar before that, because his dad will hear about it.”
Gray felt her stomach clench. Every time she felt like she was getting a handle on her new situation, Ciar’s shadow swooped in to ruin it.
“The second stage is a baby shower, of course. The last stage of the Byrne BabyPalooza is finding the perfect home for you and decorating it. I don’t think the last stage will pan out because your parents are fighting hard for you to move home, and your mom is threatening her own war with the Byrnes if they try. ”
Gray dropped her head in her hands. Blair touched her head so she would look up and Blair could speak to her.
“I was teasing about Bébhinn, well, kind of. They do have a ton of sex, but she did tell me that she planned on pushing pause on her mom and aunts’ plans until you decide what you want.” She emphasized “you” by bopping Gray’s nose.
“Oh, thank God.” Gray felt her body relax again.
“I’m not joking about Ciar, though. You know it’s time. He’s a complete dick, but if what you said about how he handled his baby is true, he’ll probably be a good father if nothing else.”
Gray had nothing to say to that, only, “Why Imogen, Blair? Why?” Ciar had hurt her in so many ways, but to name his child after Gray was brutal.
Blair shrugged, blowing out a breath of her own frustration over his behavior. “I don’t know. Hopefully, that is one of many things you’ll find out. Nothing that man has done after Colorado makes any sense.”
“He’s never missed Christmas at Murphy’s Pub, and I know he’ll want to make an appearance or two at Gray Eyes.” At least Gray didn’t wince at yet another reference to herself. His pub…his daughter.
“I will ask for a moment of his time over the holiday.”