Page 10 of A Little Thankful

I’d just finished nursing about three weeks before I’d driven out. Once baby Autumn laid into me with her new budding teeth, I figured she needed rubber in that little mouth of hers instead of my sensitive nipples. And now that my breasts had shrunk back down to what they were before my breastfeeding adventure, I wondered if my mom would know I wasn’t nursing, but she didn’t seem to notice.

I didn’t want to share my withdrawal news with my mom because I knew she believed in nursing for as long as possible. Not that she ever nursed me, but that was beside the point. She’d changed her mind, which she did on just about everything she could no longer do, but insisted that everyone else should.

“Okay, so tea then,” she mumbled and went about preparing the electric kettle, and pulling out a fancy teapot and matching cups and saucers. In the meantime, I changed Autumn’s diaper, and placed three bottles of formula in the fridge for her, never mentioning the reality to my mom. I felt sure she thought they were my milk that I’d pumped for the trip.

“Who’s the father?” my dad wanted to know.

“I’ll get to that in a minute.”

“Does he know?”

“Not yet.”

“So, you intend to tell him?”

“Yes, while I’m here.”

“He’s from Cricket?”

I nodded, not wanting to get into the details.

“Are you going to tell us who he is?” my mother asked as she assembled the tea set on a tray.

“Not today.”

My mind whirled with scenarios. Telling them that the father was one of three men was like telling them that their only child was a porn star.

“Why?” my father asked, his voice curt now.

Still, I wondered if I should be blunt, and admit I didn’t know, or if I should lie once again? Hell, everything about this had been a lie, either of omission or simply straight up. Why stop now?

“She’ll tell us when she’s ready,” Mom told him, then turned to me. “Right, darling?”

“Right,” I told her, dodging that bullet.

And just like magic, the doorbell rang, giving me a momentary reprieve.

“I thought you said there was no more family coming,” I asked.

“There isn’t,” Mom said. “I have no idea who that could be, unless it’s the pies I ordered from Sweetie Pies. You know they make the best pumpkin pie in the entire world, and they’re your favorite. I wanted to have plenty on hand.”

“Thanks,” I told her, actually looking forward to a slice with that cup of tea. I figured it might take the edge off this conversation.

“Look who’s here,” Aunt Sylvia said as she walked back into the kitchen, a sly grin on her face. She was trailed by Hunter, who looked way too good up close. I’d forgotten how powerfully beautiful he was.

Was I just horny or had he gotten even better looking?

He gazed directly at me with those distinctive caramel eyes, and I wanted to swoon. The man caused a volcano to go off inside of me, and all I could think of was us… in bed… that night of incredibly hot sex when I came so many times, I’d lost count.

“I hope I’m not intruding on anything, but I just got off work, so I thought I’d swing by before I headed home. I saw you drive by and I um…”

His voice trailed off, and I knew there was no other reason he stopped by other than to talk to me in person. Shit, I didn’t think I’d have to tell him anything so soon.

Yet, there he stood, in my mother’s kitchen, looking like I’d broken his heart, and he needed me to put it back together again.

Even his deep voice sent my mind racing back to that moment when he… “Not at all. It’s nice to see you again, Hunter.”

My aunt’s eyes bore through me. My mother’s eyes did the same, and my dad’s eyes were laser focused on Hunter. I could only imagine what was going through his mind, and none of it was good.

---