27. Hazel
Chapter 27
Hazel
“ D uchess, you look perfect!” Roman said as I fussed with my hair for the tenth time in front of the mirror.
I pushed a curl behind my ear. “It’s not quite right!”
Roman appeared behind me, placing his hands on my shoulders and kissing the top of my head. “My parents are going to love you. They would love you, no matter what. You’re stressing yourself out for no reason, and it’s not good for the baby.”
“I am not stressing myself out for no good reason. I am stressing myself out for a very good reason. I want to make a good impression on your parents!” I cried as I pushed him away.
We’d woken up early, before the sun was even up, thanks to Cormac, who had the patience of a five-year-old when it came to Christmas. He came bounding into our various rooms, screaming at the top of his lungs that it was Christmas morning, and it was time for presents.
We all sat around the tree and exchanged gifts while in a sleepy haze. The guys drank coffee as they woke up, whereas I was stuck with chamomile tea.
Between all the guys, I had been thoroughly spoiled. I was now the owner of a brand-new latest model Kindle, several gift cards to buy books for said Kindle, vouchers to my favorite ice cream store, new nesting materials, and even some really cute T-shirts that were mother themed—my favorite was the little cartoon iced bun that had bun in the oven in bright, colorful lettering.
There wasn’t much time to enjoy the morning or one another before we had to make our way toward the Kingswood estate.
You heard that right. Roman didn’t refer to his home as a house ; he referred to it as an estate . I knew his family was well off, but that was a new level of pretentious. Even for me.
Making the effort, I had curled my hair and put on a new red tartan dress I bought just for the occasion. I even put on a little bit of makeup. As I got ready, I doubted every decision I was making. What if I didn’t look good enough? Roman’s mother had sounded so amazing on the phone that I wanted desperately for her to like me.
“Give me five minutes! I’ll quickly redo my hair!” I declared, turning on my heel to dash back into my room.
“Not so fast, sweetness,” Cormac said, grabbing me around the waist, halting me in my tracks. “We’re already running late, and you wouldn’t want to be rude by showing up late to someone else’s house now, would you?”
I turned to him with a horrified look on my face. “You are unusually cruel,” I said, pouting at him.
“Will you get in the car?”
Instead of replying, I simply swiped my small clutch off the counter and stormed toward the front door, passing a smirking Seb in the hallway.
“What are you grinning at, Sebastian Coombs?” I hissed as I passed him.
“Nothing, Hazelnut. I’m just rather impressed by how quickly the guys figured you out,” he said, raising his hand and fist bumping Cormac as he followed me.
Resisting the urge to throw something at them, I stomped out to the SUV, where Phillip was waiting in the driver’s seat.
“You’re looking pissed. Dare I ask which one of my pack mates managed to make you look that angry?”
“All of them,” I grumbled, crossing my arms and glaring straight ahead.
Phillip nodded. “Let’s go get you some company that isn’t these idiots, then.”
We made our way up the drive, and I realized just why Roman referred to his home as an estate. It was gigantic .
“How many buildings do you need on one property?” I asked, gaping as I peered out the passenger window.
“We’ve got the main house, the guest house, the staff house, and several other buildings, like the horse stables and the pool house. Oh, there’s also the house they put next to the tennis court.” Roman shrugged in a matter-of-fact way as he spoke.
This was the life my child was going to be born into. My hand absentmindedly drifted to my stomach. I was a stranger in this world and terrified I wouldn’t fit in.
“He wasn’t raised with a silver spoon, sweetness, he was raised with a diamond spoon. It’s honestly a miracle he turned out as decently as he did.” Cormac laughed. He was crammed into the back with Seb and Roman. We were going to take two cars, but the guys, in their ever-competitive nature, had decided that they wanted to see if they could squish into the SUV clown-car style, so everyone could stay close to me.
Had I been feeling a bit more generous, I would have offered to sit in the back, because I was considerably smaller than those three, but I was feeling a bit petty, so I decided to keep my space in the front seat.
I straightened my dress as I slid out of the front seat. Phillip had parked right in front of the house, which was a mammoth. Part of me wanted to ask how many rooms there were, but I thought better of it.
“Roman!” The front door opened, and a woman came barreling out, heading straight toward Roman and pulling him into a hug. Her hair was a deep auburn color and was pulled back in a sleek bun at the nape of her neck.
She only embraced him for a second before stepping back, turning to look at me. Her smile grew even wider somehow , and she beamed at me.
I don’t know what I was expecting. A sneer? Indifference? Certainly not a gigantic smile. After all, I was the random omega her son had knocked up.
“Oh my, you must be Hazel! Look at you! You are just darling.” She didn’t even give me a chance to reply before pulling me into a bone-crushing embrace. She smelled overwhelmingly of cinnamon and sweet spices. It was a comforting scent.
“Ma, you’re squishing her.” Roman shook his head, not even trying to fight his grin.
“Notice how she didn’t even hug us?” Cormac laughed.
The woman, who was clearly Roman’s mother, took a step back and kept her hands on my forearms, looking the guys over with a smile. “I’ve hugged you a great many times, Cormac. You can wait a few minutes while I say hello to this beauty.”
Caroline Kingswood exuded class and elegance. She didn’t have a single hair out of place, and her red silk blouse was perfectly pressed.
“Hello, it’s nice to meet you,” I said, doing my best to not stutter.
“It’s lovely to meet you! There’s so much I want to talk to you about. Come, let’s get you inside.” Looping her arm with mine, she led me inside.
The house was beautiful, though I only got a glance of most of it before I was led toward a large dining room that was decorated with garlands of holly—there was even a fireplace in the dining room, with flames crackling away.
She turned to face Seb. “Oh, my! Where are my manners? You must be Sebastian! Phillip’s told me all about you.” She pulled a startled-looking Seb in for a hug. He turned to us in a panic, unsure of the situation he found himself in. Phillip merely laughed silently and shrugged at him.
“You really should call your mother more, Roman.” Phillip laughed.
“You should!” Caroline agreed, still hugging Seb and checking him over.
“I-it’s nice to meet you, too,” Seb stammered.
“You have the most beautiful hair!” she complimented, smiling up at him. “Well, welcome to the family! Sit! You guys must be starving,” Caroline insisted. “Gerald?” she called toward the door, where a second later, a tall, older version of Roman with gray hair appeared.
“Food is on its way,” he said. “What would everyone like to drink?”
The guys got various drinks, and Phillip got his Diet Coke to feed his addiction, so I requested the same as I sat down.
Caroline sat opposite me, beaming. “So, Hazel, while we wait for the first course, please tell us more about yourself!”
By the time we piled back into the car, we were all overstuffed on delicious food, and the trunk was laden with gifts. I’d been lovingly grilled on every detail of my life and heard innumerable stories about baby Roman.
Roman hadn’t been kidding when he said his mother would be buying all the baby items. We now had everything from a car seat to a crib—though the crib wasn’t going to be delivered for a week or two, as Caroline had specially ordered it from France.
His mother had been wonderful, something that had shocked me deeply. Weren’t society mothers supposed to be catty and out for themselves?
Caroline Kingswood was nothing like that. She had asked me questions about my life and seemed genuinely interested. I hadn’t expected her to be so friendly or nice, but it had been a pleasant surprise for sure.
Was that what a mother’s love was meant to be?
I didn’t know, considering my mother was an ass who cared more about her Botox schedule than her child.
But I needed to learn. Fast. In a few months, I was going to be a mother myself.
“I’m so full,” I groaned, gently rubbing my stomach.
“Same,” Phillip moaned. “Caroline always gives us so much food, and we’re powerless to say no every time. You’re looking like you’re six months pregnant, instead of four, at the minute.” He laughed.
“That’s all the stuffing,” I told him. I had intended to stop after two helpings, but there was something addictive about it.
“She’s going to be asking us to come to dinner once a week once the baby is here.” Roman groaned from the back seat, also in a food induced slump.
“She won’t.” Phillip shook his head. “Knowing Caroline, she’ll prepare all the food and bring it to our house to feed Hazel. She won’t allow you out of bed post-partum.”
“I can’t be confined to a bed. I’ll have a new baby to look after.”
“That’s why you have us, sweetness,” Cormac said.
I turned to look at all my guys in the car. We hadn’t exactly laid our cards on the table, but as every day passed, I realized they were all in it for the long haul.
Like it or not, I had a family now.
And I liked it. A lot.