“Of course we came.” Mom pulled me in for a tight hug. We weren’t touchy-feely in the Stone family, so it was a bit of a surprise. “How are you feeling? Are you still puking every morning? You should be escaping from that window within the next few weeks. Once I was past the fourth month, it was smooth sailing.” She pulled back and smiled. “Well, except for dealing with your father. He was a big baby about everything. You would’ve thought he was the one carrying the baby.”
“I—” Before I could decide what to say, two other figures appeared behind my incoming family. “Hey.” I let loose a nervous giggle. I thought I would have more time to prepare myself for their arrival. “How are you guys?”
I’d known Bill and Patty Carter for a very long time. Even though Rex and Zach were the ones who were friends, the Carters were always invited to holiday parties and even gifted comp tickets for big events for as long as I could remember. They were the calm and welcoming sort, which had me hoping they would take the news they were about to be grandparents well.
“We’re great.” Patty beamed at me as she walked into the suite. “Thank you so much for inviting us.”
Mom jerked her eyes to Bill and Patty, seemingly confused. “I didn’t realize you were coming too.”
“We were a bit surprised when we got the invitation,” Patty said. “We were too curious to turn it down, though.” Her smile was warm when it landed on me. “You look lovely, Ruby. You’re positively glowing.”
I cast a suspicious look toward Olivia, but her small, almost imperceptible headshake said that she hadn’t let the baby out of the diaper bag. Perhaps Patty was just being pleasant. “Thank you.” I moved to allow the door to shut behind them, but it didn’t close. Instead two more people appeared in the opening. Two people I wasn’t expecting.
“What the hell are you doing here?” I demanded of my father and his very pregnant mistress Claire. I hadn’t seen the woman in months. She’d been my father’s secretary—he never put a lot of effort into finding his bed partners—and she’d left the company not long after becoming pregnant. At the time, she likely thought my father would take care of everything and she didn’t need a job. When he’d lost his position and income, it had to have been a blow.
“I heard there was a family dinner,” Dad replied, tugging on the arms of his suit jacket. He didn’t smile in greeting. “Since I’m part of the family, I just assumed you were extending the invitation to me as well.”
“Well, you assumed wrong.” I moved to close the door in his face, but he extended a hand to stop me.
“Don’t be dramatic, Ruby,” he drawled. “I’m your father. We should start normalizing family events. I mean … that’s how other families work things during a divorce.” He cast Mom a superior look. “Cora. You look … old. I’m sure you remember Claire.”
Mom looked as if she was about to start chewing steel rods. “How could we possibly forget?” She tipped her head as she looked Claire up and down. “You look close to bursting. Are you worried that, given your background as a slut and Ryder’s background as a dog that you’re going to give birth to the antichrist himself?”
Claire seemed confused by the question. “It’s a girl. That’s what the ultrasound said.”
Mom rolled her eyes. “Utterly humorless, as expected.” She shook her head. “Does she even have three digits in her IQ, Ryder?”
“Who cares?” Ryder shot back. “She’s so hot she’s got three digits on the thermometer. That’s the only thing that matters.”
“Witty as always,” Mom drawled. Her eyes moved to me. “Are you rethinking a family dinner yet?”
“No.” I forced myself to remain calm, although it wasn’t easy. “I called everybody here for a reason.”
“You called Bill and Patty here for a reason?” Confusion etched across Mom’s features. “I don’t understand.”
I shot a pointed look toward Rex, who had remained in the kitchen, far away from prying eyes. “Would you like to chime in here?” I prodded him.
“Oh, I think you have everything under control,” he countered. “I mean … this is your place. You really should do the talking.”
The irritation I’d thought sated started chanting for blood. It didn’t help that Claire had flopped into my favorite chair and was eyeing the appetizers as if she hadn’t eaten in weeks. “Fine.” I steeled myself for what was to come. “Rex and I are having a baby.”
It wasn’t how I saw it going. I figured Rex would trip over his own tongue eight times before he got the information out. Then there would be a lot of “oh my god” and “how did this happen” exclamations. Dinner would’ve been uncomfortable, full of more questions than we were likely ready to answer, but by dessert everybody would have settled.
Now that my father was here, nobody was going to be settling. Dragging it out would’ve been cruel and unusual punishment for everybody concerned. It was best to just rip the bandage off. That was my way after all.
“Well, you could’ve been a little more subtle than that,” Rex hissed.
I merely shrugged. It was out. Now everybody was going to have to deal with it.
“Is that true?” Bill eyed his son with a great deal of disappointment. “Are you and Ruby having a baby?”
“No, we just thought it would be fun to gather both of our families together—add on Satan’s mistress for good measure—and throw everybody’s lives into turmoil,” Rex replied dryly.
“Nobody needs the sarcasm, Rex.” Patty’s expression was impossible to read. “Are you seriously going to be a father?”
Rex’s throat worked overtime as he nodded. “Yeah. Surprise!” He threw his hands into the air. “You’re going to be grandparents. Aren’t you excited?”
I had to hand it to him. That was probably the best way to go about things with his parents. They weren’t likely to dwell on it too long before accepting it.
