Chapter 25
Xylina
The sound of the doorbell going off and Princess’s barking caused me to jump up out of the blissful sleep I was in.
I was off today, so I was going to take advantage of sleeping in.
Whoever was at the front door was persistent, but they weren’t going to like the version of me they met once I opened the door.
Snatching the covers off, the air conditioned air hit my naked body instantly.
I wiped my eyes and looked around, remembering I wasn’t in my room.
Instead of walking across the house to grab my robe, I went into Yosiah’s closet and located one of his hoodies instead.
It swallowed my smaller frame but was comfy.
Sluggishly, I left the room and made my way to the front door. The noise grew louder the closer I got, causing my irritation to increase with each step.
“Princess, please stop barking!” I begged, feeling a headache forming. “Mommy’s going to get the door.”
Her head whipped in my direction and she trotted over to me with her tail wagging wildly.
Going to the small rectangle screen near the door, I pressed the button that displayed the front porch.
I expected to see a delivery person on the other side, but imagine my surprise seeing Mrs. Bedford instead.
She looked annoyed and was talking on the phone as she hit the doorbell again.
I didn’t have the audio on, so I wasn’t sure who she was talking to or what she was saying.
What the hell does this lady want?
My hand dragged down my face. This was the first time I had been able to sleep in and not have to worry about anything work related in days and here comes my monster-in-law ruining it. Part of me considered leaving her there, but it didn’t seem like she was going to give up.
Closing the camera, I unlocked the front door and yanked it open.
“She finally answered,” Mrs. Bedford said into her phone while giving me an unpleasant look. “No need to worry. I’ll take care of it.”
She hung the phone up then slid it into her purse. “It’s almost twelve in the afternoon. Don’t tell me you were still sleeping.”
“Mrs. Bedford, what are you doing here?” I asked, ignoring pleasantries. I was irritated and not in the mood to play nice.
She gave me a once over. “If you let me in, I’ll tell you.” My hand on the doorknob tightened, but I took a step back and allowed her in.
Mrs. Bedford walked in with her head high. Soon as she was inside, Princess approached her, sniffing her. She glanced down at Princess and furrowed her brows before giving me her attention again.
“My son informed me that you were off today, so I figured I’d swing by so we could talk.”
“Talk?” I repeated slowly, narrowing my eyes.
Mrs. Bedford adjusted her purse strap on her shoulder. “Yosiah made it clear that he plans on making your marriage work and if I want to be around my grandchild I need to get along with you.”
Her reasoning for being here surprised me.
I knew Yosiah had spoken to his mom since we’d revealed my pregnancy but I didn’t think he would make her form a truce with me.
We didn’t discuss the disagreement at his parents’ house once we left.
While I stood on if she continued to disrespect me there was no room in my child’s life for her, I wasn’t going to force the issue on Yosiah either.
He could deal with his mom without me or my baby.
“Now.” She paused and gave me a once over again. “I imagine you’re hungry and you need to feed my grandbaby. So get dressed and I’ll wait for you down here.”
Side eyeing her, I was still defensive about her motives for being here. If she came to argue and try and belittle me, she was in for a rude awakening. After accepting that my parents were pieces of shit, I wouldn’t allow anyone else’s to play with me, including my husband’s.
Mrs. Bedford pulled her phone out and glanced at the screen. “Hurry now. I have things to do later and I would like for us to talk sooner rather than later.”
My mouth turned upside down. “You are aware that you popped up on me while I was sleeping, right? You don’t get to rush me.”
She stared at me blankly. Seeing she wasn’t going to go away until I agreed to go with her, I huffed, rolled my eyes, and spun on my heels, stalking to the steps. “Come, Princess!” I called out, not looking back or waiting for her to follow.
Yosiah could have at least warned me that his mom was going to storm in making demands. I appreciated him being on my side, but I didn’t like being caught off guard like this.
First going into his room, I located my phone. Sitting on the bed, I unlocked it, ignoring all the notifications except Yosiah’s.
Hubby
My mom’s on her way over to talk to you. She agreed to play nice, so I need you to too. For our baby’s sake. Please try and make amends with her.
There were also two missed calls from him. I checked the time and saw he’d sent this an hour ago.
I was about to reply to him when a call from him came through instead.
“Hubby,” I answered, standing and walking toward his door to head to my room.
“You’re finally up. Is my mom still there?”
I rolled my eyes. “Yes, apparently she won’t leave until we talk. Thanks for the short warning by the way.”
He muttered, “one second”, then could be heard speaking to someone in the background before returning to the call.
“Look, you know how important my mom is to me, but I also have to take your feelings into consideration and make them a priority. I don’t want the two of you on the outs and I want her to be a part of our kid’s life; so I need the two of you to make up.
I’m not saying become mother and daughter, but get along for mine and the baby’s sake at least. As a first-time parent, it’ll be good to have someone experienced to talk to, too, right? ”
I agreed with him but I didn’t voice it out loud. I’d dealt with too many off the wall comments from his mom over the years. I held back a lot because I wanted to get on his good side and I knew being combative with his mom would do the opposite.
“Xylina,” Yosiah called out as I stepped into my bathroom to get myself together.
“Yes, hubby?” I stared into my large mirror over the sink, and turned the vanity lights on.
“Did you hear what I said?”
“Yes I did.”
I grabbed my toothbrush and turned the water on. “And do you agree to give her a chance to apologize and make things right?”
“I agree to hear her out.”
A low chuckle left his mouth. I listened to someone speaking in the background, but couldn’t make out what they were saying.
“I have to go, but look, just go out to eat, get a free meal out of it, and hear Moms out. She’s a little blunt but it comes from a good place.
She cares about those she loves and sometimes goes overboard.
I already told her not to be stressing you out and be on any bullshit when she got there, okay?
So for me, go out with her with an open mind. ”
Sighing, I dropped my shoulders forward and closed my eyes. “Okay. For you, I’ll hear her out. But Yosiah, the moment she starts being disrespectful, I’m done. I’ve dealt with it for too long and I’m not doing it anymore.”
“That’s fair. But I assure you, you won’t have any issues. Now I have a meeting with my lawyers I’m walking into. Enjoy lunch and I’ll see you when I get home.”
“Okay, see you later. Love you.”
Silence passed between us and it took a second for me to realize what I had just confessed. My eyes shot open and I quickly hung the phone up and thrust it on my countertop. My heart hammered inside me and my pulse raced through my veins as my stomach swished with nerves.
Love you?
What the hell was I thinking? The words had been lingering on my mind for a while now, but this was the first time I’d actually spoken them out loud.
I didn’t even think we were in the place to be saying it, and maybe it was too soon, but I couldn’t help that my feelings for Yosiah were growing stronger each day.
Fuck.
I shook my head. I didn’t want to do anything that would cause me and Yosiah to go back into muddy waters.
I was sure he didn’t love me yet and I didn’t want to force anything on him anymore.
I was now allowing things to develop between us at his pace instead of trying to force and rush them like I had been doing since meeting him.
My phone vibrated on the countertop but I ignored it and silenced it instead. I wasn’t ready to face what I’d confessed just yet. Instead I was going to prepare myself to have my first one-on-one with my monster-in-law and hoped everything went as well as Yosiah assured me it would.
After taking my time to get ready and coming downstairs to unfortunately see my monster-in-law was still downstairs waiting for me, I sucked it up and left with her.
We ended up coming to a brunch spot not too far from my house that was only open until two, meaning our time would be limited, since it was now a little after twelve.
There was an awkward silence at the table while we waited for our food to come. I sipped my strawberry lemonade as I scanned the crowded patio. The brunch rush was kicking in and we were lucky to get here when we did.
Zoya clearing her throat caused me to whip my eyes in her direction. We stared at each other for a short moment before she broke the silence between us.
“Well now that we’re here, I guess it’s time we clear the air between us,” she started while I slowly nodded in agreement.
Zoya sat up straighter, giving me that same intense stare her son had.
“I can admit that I could have handled receiving your pregnancy news better than I did. I know the relationship between you and my son has been rocky from the beginning and it was from my understanding that the two of you weren’t planning on having kids.
So learning you were expecting caught me off guard. ”
“What I don’t understand is why me and my husband having a child would make you so upset?”