Page 25 of Fated Secret Baby

I growl, pulling her close while she lets out a little giggle. My lips find the bare skin of her neck, and before long, we’re beyond words.

Finally, Calista has to leave. I give her a long, lingering kiss in the doorway. She smiles. “Dinner tomorrow?”

“I’d love to.”

“I want to tell you about my daughter,” she says softly. “That… it’s important.”

My heart swells. “Sounds like a plan.”

“Good. Okay. Bye,” she murmurs.

I duck down and give her another kiss before she turns and walks to Amara’s truck. I watch her go, waiting for the dust to settle from her departure before I sigh.

If we’re moving forward together, there’s something I have to do.

It’s time to deal with my mother.

When I pull up to my mom’s house, I can already tell that this isn’t going to be easy. Usually, she has the curtains open, and the lights on, even in the daytime.

Now, however, the curtains are closed. The porch light is off. When I get out, I can tell that she’s absolutely blasting the saddest music she has.

Great.

The door, as always, is open. “Mother?” I call out, looking for her.

There’s no response, but I can tell the music is coming from the living room.

I walk inside. My mom is sitting on the couch in her bathrobe. Her hair is up in curlers, and she’s holding a cup of tea that looks like it hasn’t been sipped once. It’s also clearly not hot, as there’s no steam coming off of it.

I sigh.

“Mom,” I say gently, turning down the stereo. “This is a little much.”

“I don’t think anything is a little much when my only son decides to abandon me,” she says in a dull voice.

I shut my eyes and take a steadying breath. “I didn’t abandon you. You burst into my house, and you were rude to my guest?—”

“Guest!” she shrieks. The tea goes flying, and I find out that it is, indeed, cold. “She can’t be a guest! She broke your heart!”

“That was a long time ago. She overheard us talking and thought I was agreeing with you, and she was hurt and left.”

My mother’s eyes widen. “Well, she should have talked to you about it before she just up and left!”

“She should have,” I say slowly. “She apologized for that. Like I said, it was a long time ago.”

“I don’t believe that for a second. If she did it once, she would do it again. What would keep her from just walking out on you the next time she’s mad?” my mother asks, her eyes burning.

Ah. This is not about Calista, then.

“I’m going to ask her to be my mate,” I say. “Calista isn’t going to walk out on me again.” It’s better to just rip this band aid off.

The moment I say the m-word, my mom’s eyes go narrow and mean. “She can’t be your mate!” she hisses.

“You don’t get to decide that. I’m the one who chooses a mate.”

“I have given you a perfectly suitable list of females to mate. Any one of them is nice, pretty, and I approve of.”

“My mate isn’t something you need to approve.”

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