Page 696 of Hell Hath No Fury
“I think I’ll join them.” Foster rose to stand.
“Nah, I’m going in.” His dad lowered his glass of iced tea and stood in his swim shorts and T-shirt. “Need a reprieve from this heat.”
Relaxing as his father climbed down the ladder into their pool, Foster watched as G played with her grandfather and Ember looked on, grinning as her stepdaughter splashed her grandpa.
“Cannonball, cannonball!” G demanded.
“Well, I’m going to get out of the way for that.” Ember laughed, swimming toward the ladder.
“No, no,” Edward called to her before he turned to G. “I can’t throw you around the pool when your mom is in with us. Not safe for the baby.”
“Okay.” G pouted but let it go.
“No, really, I’m thirsty, anyway,” Ember said and climbed out.
Foster’s eyes zeroed in on her belly. She’d taken to wearing tankinis during her pregnancy, not because of the bump, but because she thought her breasts were obscene.
He wasn’t complaining.
About anything.
Two months after they’d started dating again, he proposed, she said yes, and then a few weeks later, she moved into the house with him and G. Her sisters put their family house up for sale, and a new family moved in. The Bonets seemed surprisingly at peace with it.
As for him and Ember, they married in winter, a small ceremony, just family and a few friends, and much to Foster’s relief, his parents attended.
For five months after the rehearsal dinner, they didn’t speak. He missed his parents, but not enough to give up Ember. Thankfully, his mom convinced his father to stop being a stubborn ass. Edward missed his son and his granddaughter. And once he gave Ember a chance, Foster knew Edward came to respect and care for her too. So much so, he’d stopped making excuses for Carolyn. Carolyn, who no longer called to speak with Georgie. She’d halted her calls around three months after she left for Paris. The next thing Foster knew, he heard from her lawyers. She granted him sole custody.
She wasn’t cut out to be a mom, she’d said.
G asked for her less and less every day until one day, she called Ember “Mom.”
Ten minutes later, he’d found Ember crying in their bedroom. Part joy, part rage at Carolyn.
When Edward heard G call Ember “Mom” for the first time, he’d gone cold and quiet. Foster had worried he’d make an issue out of it.
However, on his next visit, he started referring to Ember as G’s mom, too, proving that people can change for the better no matter what their age.
“Let me get you water,” his mom said to Ember, standing from her lounger.
“I can get it.”
“No, you sit here under this umbrella. You shouldn’t catch too much sun.”
Realizing she was right, Ember agreed and took his mom’s place under the shaded lounger. Unable to resist, Foster got up and nudged her over so he could lie beside her on it. Then he rested his hand on her stomach.
“How’s our little guy?”
“Kicking while I was swimming.” She grinned. “I think he likes it.”
Foster kissed her nose. Feeling how warm she was, he frowned. “I think you should stay out of the sun for the rest of the day.”
Instead of stubbornly arguing with him like she usually did, Ember snuggled into his chest. “Okay. This is nice, anyhow.”
He nodded, holding her close, his hand on her belly, watching G squeal with delight as his father threw her into the air, the water splashing up over the sides as she dropped back into the pool. He knew his dad would tire quickly but would push through as long as Georgie wanted him to.
“I’m so happy,” Ember whispered against his throat.
An ache flared across Foster’s chest. He held her tighter. “That’s all I ever want to hear.”
A minute later, his mom returned with a tray of drinks, calling to her husband to watch his back.
It was a fairly ordinary domestic scene.
Yet to Foster, it was a beautiful goddamn miracle.
* * *
