“What did Ella tell you?”
“Nothing, nothing,” Mum says, dramatically. “Just that you had some interesting questions.”
“I was just checking in with my sister, you’re all blowing this out of proportion.”
She says nothing but I can feel her probing stare through the camera. Whenever Ella, Tara and I would get in trouble as kids, she used to just stare at us until we couldn’t take it anymore and confessed whatever we’d done. She’s still got it thirty years later.
“Okay, but you can’t freak out.”
“Freak out?” Mum freaks. “What are you talking about? Are you sick? Oh my god, you’re sick. You need to quit yourjob and come fly home right now. We’ll get you in with Dr Hansa immediately and he’ll be able to help.”
“Mum, I don’t think my old pediatrician will want to see me.”
“He’ll know other doctors. My friend Kim’s daughter is a doctor, she could help. I’ll message her right now.”
I bite back an exasperated laugh. “Mum, please don’t start messaging people.”
“She’ll reply, it’s not a problem. What are your symptoms?”
She moves the camera away from her face so I can only see the top of her head and her lightly graying hair as she types on the phone.
“Mum, please,” I say. “Can you hold the phone up? Let me tell you what I need to tell you.”
“Okay, okay,” she grumbles, pulling the phone back to her face.
She looks just like my older sister Tara, with the same nose and mouth. We all got Dad’s eyes though, and Mum always says she loves seeing him in us.
I take a deep breath. “Well, I met someone.” This is probably the easier way to break the news.Gently.
Mum squeals. “You did! Oh Jackie this is great, who is she? Where’s she from? America? Are you long distance?”
“No she’s here, in London.”
“An English girl! How did you meet?”
“You remember Danny? The guy whose wedding I went to a few months back?”
“Oh yes, the one with that song about autumn leaves. We listened to that at book club and I told all the girls about it. I told them that you’re friends and they all say to let you know to let him know that the song is lovely but he needs to stop using so many metaphors. It’s too many Jackie.”
“I’m sure he’ll love that,” I tug at my beard with a chuckle. “Well, this girl, Rosie, she’s best friends with his wife. She was the Maid of Honor.”
“You’ve been together since then? Is it serious? When can I meet her?”
“Well,” I say, “we’re still figuring things out but Mum…” I take a breath. “Rosie’s ah—she’s pregnant.”
Silence.
I think the screen is frozen for a second as my mothers jaw dropped face stares back at me. Then in a flurry of motion the phone is dropped and I hear a tinny screech through the speaker.
It’s impossible to tell if it’s a happy screech or an ‘I’m going to fly twenty-three hours and murder my son’ screech.
I rub my eyes as I wait for the noise to stop.
Suddenly the phone is back in her hand and her blurry face is back on screen. “Oh my God, Jackson. A baby! When is she due? When can I come visit? When can you come here? Where will you raise the baby? Are you moving to London? I was okay with LA but London is a new one. What about your house in America?”
I don’t want to tell her that I’ve already set plans in motion to make a move. Eric’s hooked me up with a real estate agent and I’ve got my team in LA sorting out my lease. I was already itching to make moves before this happened, so I’m taking it as a sign.
“Mum, Mum,” I say, cutting off her barrage of questions but unable to stop my grin. “Please enough with the questions. I will figure it out. All you need to know now is that there is a baby coming.”
