“It’s fine,” I told him, accidentally overlapping with the start of his explanation. “Sorry, say again?”
“Well…I know I said it wouldn’t come up, but my mom’s been on my case about meeting you.”
I frowned. “Why?”
“Because she’s my mother, and she asks a lot of questions. And, uh…” He hesitated. “I panicked and told her you’d come to a family thing this weekend.”
I groaned. “Luca. You’vegotto stop panic-lying.”
“I know, but?—”
“And I’d have to get a babysitter, and?—”
“Oh, I already told her about Daphne,” he piped up. “I was thinking you could bring her along too.”
I froze. “What?”
“I told my mom that you have a kid. From a…previous relationship.” His voice was softer now. “And she said you should bring your daughter. She wants to meet both of you, and there’ll be lots of kids around for Daphne to play with. But if you’d rather not bring her, that’s also okay, I’d understand.”
Something caught in my throat.
It wasn’t just that he’d told his mom—I could have done that myself if it ever came down to it. I wasn’t ashamed of being a young single mother. It was how he’d thought of it himself, considering Daphne in his plans because he knew she was part of my life.
Warmth spread through my chest, and before I could stop myself, I rushed out, “I think it’s good thatyou’rethe one I accidentally married.”
Luca was quiet for a second. Then, almost shyly, “Yeah?”
“Yeah. Because that’s so thoughtful, you’ve almost earned husband status.”
I could practically hear his smirk. “Glad to hear it.”
I smiled, shaking my head. “I’ll see if I can get the weekend off.”
“Sounds good, wife.”
I hung up, turning to head back toward the dining room—only to find Mom standing behind me in the hallway, her eyes wide. She’d clearly been on her way to the bathroom just past where I’d chosen to stand, not intending to eavesdrop.
“What was that about being married?” she asked softly.
Shit.
“Can we talk in the kitchen?” I asked, and my stunned mother nodded, following me there.
I didn’t bother with trying to play it off; my mom was always supportive, always there for me in even the most dire of circumstances. Instead, I began with a disclaimer: “Okay, there is something else going on with me. Something new, I mean. It’s not as serious as it sounds, so I didn’t want to freak you out.”
I launched into the bare-bones version of the story for her. How the reckless, younger version of me that she still sometimes expected me to be had gotten drunk-married in Vegas. How I only found out recently because the guys—and her eyes did widen when I saidguys, clarifying that there were three of them—because they’d sought me out to get an annulment. I even confessed that I’d lied to her years ago about Daphne’s father being some guy from the college I’d been attending when I got pregnant. By the time I finished, my mom looked almost sick.
“I’m…not sure which of them it is,” I admitted to my mom, feeling my face turn red. “But one of them is Daphne’s father. I’m, uh, getting paternity tests done.”
“Oh, honey,” Mom said, her face full of sympathy and concern. “That must be overwhelming for you.”
“It has been,” I answered, almost surprised by her response. “Um, but one of them works in the music industry. So…he’s trying to help me out. Hence the open mic.”
“Well, they sound like nice young men, at least,” Mom surprised me by saying. I blinked at her, and she met my eyes, serious and full of love. “Allie, when have I ever judged you?”
Those words made me want to cry. I felt the familiar pull of tears in my throat, but I shoved them back. “I…you haven’t. I just…it’s a pretty wild situation.”
“I was young once too,” my mom waved my concerns off. “I had my own fair share of wild nights in college. Maybe not three men all together wild, but—” She stopped, looked into the distance. Her face turned pink. “Well, no, there was that one frat party?—”
