She held up the spatula and motioned him in. “After you, baby boy.”
Nick walked into the kitchen and smiled at the array of bowls sitting on the center island. Gray had a fondness for red velvet cake, but Nick was a chocolate man. He could make a mean chocolate pound cake and his mother knew it. He pulled an apron from the drawer in the island and grabbed butter, eggs, and milk from the refrigerator.
His mother sat quietly while he mixed his dry ingredients. Finally, he broke the silence saying, “So, I guess you were surprised to find out about Beth and the babies.”
She laughed quietly and said, “Well, your father was shocked as hell, but me, not so much. I knew something was going on with you, Nicky. I always know when something is different with you or your brother.”
Flashing a smile, he asked, “How do you do that? We never could get anything past you. I always thought you had about ten sets of eyes that were constantly swiveling.”
“Oh, honey, a mother just knows. You and your brother are creatures of habit, and when that changes, it’s a pretty big tip-off that something new is happening. With Gray, every time he went to Danvers in Myrtle Beach, he came home glowing. Within a few days, he was trying to find reasons to go back again. His moods were all over the place. I knew he was in love. I was just waiting to see who the woman was. As different as they are, Suzy is his true north.
“The first tip-off with you was the break in your dating pattern. You have always loved the ladies and they have always loved you,” she said fondly. “Ever since the merger with Danvers, you continued to travel between Myrtle Beach and Charleston frequently because of the, um . . . connections that you have here. When you stopped coming home, I knew there was a woman involved. Of course, that sex dial confirmed it.”
Surprised, Nick jerked his head.
“Oh, please, Nicky. I wasn’t born yesterday. Pick some better excuse than butt dialing me while you were working out. If there was a gym around with moaning like I heard on that phone, I’d be a lifetime member!”
“Oh, God. Mom, please don’t go there.”
“What? I’d take your father too.”
“If possible, that picture is even worse.” Nick groaned.
“All right, As I was saying, I knew you were involved with a woman and I figured it must be different if you were staying in one place. She is different for you, isn’t she?”
“Well, sure, Mom; she is going to be the mother of my children.”
“That’s not what I mean, Nicky, and you know it.”
Suddenly defensive, he kept his head down as he poured his cake batter into the pan. “It’s not the same as my brother, so don’t even go there. I care about Beth, but we aren’t a great love story like Suzy and Gray.”
“Ah, my sweet, dense boy. I see you are in the second stage of grief.”
“What are you talking about?”
With a sympathetic smile, she said, “The three stages of grief are: shock, denial, and acceptance. You need to get past your denial stage and move on to acceptance.”
“Mom, I have no idea what you’re talking about. Do I need to check the dessert wine?”
“Nicky, you are grieving over your old life. It’s a big change to go from being a confirmed bachelor to having babies. You have to be reeling from the shock.”
The spoon in his hand clattered to the floor as, stunned, he looked at his usually rational mother. “I’m not in love with Beth and I’m not in some stage of grief. I fully accept our relationship and that we are going to be parents. I think I’m doing pretty well at accepting the change. Why would you think that I love her? You’ve barely even been around us together. I don’t ‘do’ love—you know that. I don’t love her, I don’t!”
His mother continued to sit there, giving him a pitying expression. Why was everyone so sure that he felt something that he didn’t? I guess if you get a girl pregnant, everyone wants to believe that you fall instantly in love and together you ride off into the sunset. Hell, now his own mom was on the deluded train as well.
“I’m not going to push you, Nicky, but I know I’m right. The next time you’re with Beth, just think about how you would feel if she moved on with her life—without you.”
“I don’t think that’s likely to happen, Mom—we are having a family together.”
“No, Nick. She’s having your children. That doesn’t automatically make you a family. Beth could move on, marry someone else, and you could become a weekend father. How would you feel about another man raising your children full-time while you took a part-time role?”