Page 80 of Pucking the Enemy

I don’t know what I was expecting. A sneer? Indifference? Certainly not a gigantic smile. After all, I was the random omega her son had knocked up.

“Oh my, you must be Hazel! Look at you! You are just darling.” She didn’t even give me a chance to reply before pulling me into a bone-crushing embrace. She smelled overwhelmingly of cinnamon and sweet spices. It was a comforting scent.

“Ma, you’re squishing her.” Roman shook his head, not even trying to fight his grin.

“Notice how she didn’t even hug us?” Cormac laughed.

The woman, who was clearly Roman’s mother, took a step back and kept her hands on my forearms, looking the guys over with a smile. “I’ve hugged you a great many times, Cormac. You can wait a few minutes while I say hello to this beauty.”

Caroline Kingswood exuded class and elegance. She didn’t have a single hair out of place, and her red silk blouse was perfectly pressed.

“Hello, it’s nice to meet you,” I said, doing my best to not stutter.

“It’s lovely to meet you! There’s so much I want to talk to you about. Come, let’s get you inside.” Looping her arm with mine, she led me inside.

The house was beautiful, though I only got a glance of most of it before I was led toward a large dining room that was decorated with garlands of holly—there was even a fireplace in the dining room, with flames crackling away.

She turned to face Seb. “Oh, my! Where are my manners? You must be Sebastian! Phillip’s told me all about you.” She pulled a startled-looking Seb in for a hug. He turned to us in a panic, unsure of the situation he found himself in. Phillip merely laughed silently and shrugged at him.

“You really should call your mother more, Roman.” Phillip laughed.

“You should!” Caroline agreed, still hugging Seb and checking him over.

“I-it’s nice to meet you, too,” Seb stammered.

“You have the most beautiful hair!” she complimented, smiling up at him. “Well, welcome to the family! Sit! You guys must be starving,” Caroline insisted. “Gerald?” she called toward the door, where a second later, a tall, older version of Roman with gray hair appeared.

“Food is on its way,” he said. “What would everyone like to drink?”

The guys got various drinks, and Phillip got his Diet Coke to feed his addiction, so I requested the same as I sat down.

Caroline sat opposite me, beaming. “So, Hazel, while we wait for the first course, please tell us more about yourself!”

By the time we piled back into the car, we were all overstuffed on delicious food, and the trunk was laden with gifts. I’d been lovingly grilled on every detail of my life and heard innumerable stories about baby Roman.

Roman hadn’t been kidding when he said his mother would be buying all the baby items. We now had everything from a car seat to a crib—though the crib wasn’t going to be delivered for a week or two, as Caroline had specially ordered it from France.

His mother had been wonderful, something that had shocked me deeply. Weren’t society mothers supposed to be catty and out for themselves?

Caroline Kingswood was nothing like that. She had asked me questions about my life and seemed genuinely interested. I hadn’t expected her to be so friendly or nice, but it had been a pleasant surprise for sure.

Was that what a mother’s love was meant to be?

I didn’t know, considering my mother was an ass who cared more about her Botox schedule than her child.

But I needed to learn. Fast. In a few months, I was going to be a mother myself.

“I’m so full,” I groaned, gently rubbing my stomach.

“Same,” Phillip moaned. “Caroline always gives us so much food, and we’re powerless to say no every time. You’re looking like you’re six months pregnant, instead of four, at the minute.” He laughed.

“That’s all the stuffing,” I told him. I had intended to stop after two helpings, but there was something addictive about it.

“She’s going to be asking us to come to dinner once a week once the baby is here.” Roman groaned from the back seat, also in a food induced slump.

“She won’t.” Phillip shook his head. “Knowing Caroline, she’ll prepare all the food and bring it to our house to feed Hazel. She won’t allow you out of bed post-partum.”

“I can’t be confined to a bed. I’ll have a new baby to look after.”

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