Page 34 of Eternal Pieces
I feel oddly nauseous seeing her in my house, making herself at home.
“How did you get in?” I ask, stepping further into the room.
“You really need to tidy up in here. Your cupboards are such a mess, I can’t find anything.”
“Mom. What are you doing here?” I raise my voice, and she finally looks at me.
“I still have the keys from Reginald. So it’s true then?” She raises a brow and purses her lips disapprovingly as she stares at my stomach. “I ignored your engagement because I had hoped it would fizzle out and just be some disgusting fling. Your brothers, Violet, really? It’s my fault, the divorce probably came as a shock to you, and now you’re acting out.”
I have to sit down and grip the edge of the table so I don’t do something I regret.
“What I have with Max and Maddox isn’t disgusting. Plenty of people have more than one partner. And it’s not like we’re actually related anymore.”
She curls her lip as she finishes making the tea. “I should have kept a closer eye on you. Vi, sweetie, you were always such a good girl. All you did was read and study. I was worried about it for a while, you having no friends and all that. But that was better thanthis.”
Taking a deep breath, I try to calm myself down. Not that it does much good.
“Mom, why exactly are you here? You can’t just let yourself into my life like this.”
She makes an offended noise and keeps her eyes on the mugs as she stirs the tea. The spoon clinking against the side grates on my nerves. “I thought you wanted to see me.”
“I do…but Mom, you’ve ignored pretty much all my messages.”
“I’ve been busy and I’m here now, aren’t I? What sort of grandmother would I be if I wasn’t here for the little ones? I may not approve of how they got here, but I’ll obviously still be here for them.”
That doesn’t bring me comfort like it should. Her words still sting after all this time, but I think she’s trying to make an effort.
“I appreciate that.”
She pushes one of the mugs my way, and I warm my hands on it. My stomach is too unsettled to drink anything right now.
“If you did change your mind on it all, I could help you out. I know a clinic in town that?—”
“Are you seriously offering to help me get an abortion?”
“I’m just trying to help.”
I steady my breathing and hold the mug firmer in my hands until the heat prickles my skin.
“Thank you for wanting to help, but we are very happy, and I am keeping these babies.”
We return to the tense silence I’ve always been used to with her.
“How long are you planning on sticking around for this time?” I ask as politely as I can, but she hears the way my words are loaded.
“I have a hotel room booked uptown. I still have plenty of money from the divorce, so I can stay for as long as you need me. Or I could move in here?”
“No!” I snap a little too fiercely. “It’s pretty cramped living with two guys, I’m sure you’d hate it. A hotel room soundsmuch nicer. You get room service and don’t have to worry about making your own bed.”
“I suppose you’re right.”
She catches me up on the past few months as she drinks her tea, and mine goes cold. After her winter cruise across the Mediterranean with some guy called Ross, she flew back to Greece to stay with another guy she met there during the trip. According to her, he was moving too quickly for her liking, so she came back to America and stayed with an old friend in Chicago. Until she got my call and immediately dropped everything to come see me. I’m not sure what her definition of immediately is, since I left that message two months ago.
“I’m graduating soon,” I tell her. “It would be nice if you could be there for the ceremony.” I’m hoping that if I see her in a public space, she might not be so hard on me. Plus, the guys and Reginald will be there as a buffer. A very awkward buffer.
“I’ll do my best. But is there much point in it?”
“What do you mean?” I frown.
