Lyssa blinked at her mother, beyond stunned, but trying to come up to speed. “Are you saying you were already pregnant when you married Dad?”
Her mother nodded. “Although it wasn’t quite that clear cut.” She sipped her tea as if she needed something to do. “As soon as I found out I was going to have a baby, I left your father.”
“You left Dad?” Lyssa felt her world turn completely upside down. Her parents were the perfect couple. She couldn’t imagine a world in which they would ever break up—not then, not now, not ever.
“I wanted him to have the life he’d dreamed of,” her mother explained. “I wanted him to have the chance to go to college and forge a better path. I didn’t want to saddle him with a child he hadn’t planned on. I intended to keep Daniel, no matter what, and letting your dad go his own way felt like the best choice for everyone.” She gave a small smile. “Or so I thought at the time.”
Lyssa tried not to gape at her mother, although she wasn’t succeeding in the slightest. It was the oddest thing, suddenly seeing her parents as people with a history so different than she could ever have imagined.
“But in the end, you did marry him.”
Her mother’s eyes filled with lightness and love. “Your father wouldn’t let me go, no matter now noble I thought I was being in setting him free. And he wanted the baby, too, just as much as I did. We chose that special path instead of the one we’d planned.” Her smile widened, a sunbeam on her face. “Neither of us has ever regretted our decision to be together and start a family on an accelerated schedule.” Her mom put her hand, still warm from the mug, over Lyssa’s. “So you see, I would never judge you for loving someone and having a child with him, even if it wasn’t intended.”
Lyssa blinked back tears. “But what if I’m judging myself?” she asked very softly.
Her mother’s arms came around her. “All of us make mistakes, honey. We’re all beautiful and flawed at the same time. But deep down in our bones, we always know what the best thing is, the right decision to make. You’re a smart, loving, caring, loyal woman. You’ve worked hard, and you have a bright future ahead of you. I promise you, this baby will only make your life brighter.” But her mom frowned. “I know you’re upset with your brothers for babying you, for not seeing you as an adult and always thinking they have to protect you. But it was your father—and especially me—” She put a hand to her chest. “—who started it.” Before Lyssa could protest, Susan said, “When you were a little girl, I always told them, ‘Take care of your little sister. She’s your responsibility too.’ You were so sweet and so young, and all we wanted was to keep you safe and well. But I see now that we never stopped trying to protect you, even when you were so clearly capable of taking care of yourself. And that was both wrong and unfair to you. I hope you can forgive all of us.” A sheen of tears misted her mother’s eyes. “I hope you can forgive me.”
“Mom,” Lyssa protested. “There’s nothing to forgive.”
“We both know there is,” Susan said softly. “What I really came to say, honey, is that I’m so proud of you. You’ve grown into exactly the kind of woman I always knew you would be. You’re going to be a wonderful mother. And Cal is going to be a wonderful father. Whatever you decide about your relationship and your future, your father and I support you one hundred percent.”
Lyssa threw her arms around her mother for a long, tight, heartfelt hug. “Thank you for sharing your story, Mom. I love you.”
“I love you too, honey.”
Her heart felt full to the brim, and she absolutely had to share. “Would you like to see the sonogram?”
Her mother gasped, hands to her chest, eyes shiny with tears and love and hope. “More than anything.”
Lyssa pulled out her phone. “I was planning to show it to everybody after we told you all about the baby. But then…” Pushing away the painful memories of how wrong everything had gone at the housewarming-party-that-wasn’t, she handed the phone to her mother, who held it reverently in her palm, touching a finger to the tiny form.
Tears streamed down Susan’s face. “Oh my. He or she is already so beautiful.” She sniffed, dabbing at her eyes. “I can’t wait to hold the baby in my arms.”
“Me too.” Lyssa grabbed a box of tissues off the counter.
After wiping her eyes and blowing her nose, Susan asked, “How have you been feeling? Give me all the details.”
“You won’t believe it, but I don’t feel sick at all. My mind is so sharp, and I feel energized instead of tired.”
Susan’s smile was as wide as her love. “You’re exactly like me. I never felt any morning sickness. Although I did occasionally have what your dad called ‘foggy baby brain’ and I forgot things.”
They chatted awhile longer, comparing notes, and right before her mother left, she said, “Everything is going to work out, honey. I know it will.”
As she kissed her mom good-bye and closed the door, Lyssa wished she could be as sure. Especially since Cal hadn’t texted or called or even emailed to say good night. She hadn’t heard a single ping. She even checked her phone just in case she’d missed the sound. Nothing.
He loved her. She knew he did. She felt it in his touch, in his kiss, heard it in his voice, in his words. So what the heck was going on? Okay, she knew it had to do with his past. But she thought they’d talked that through.
Men. They were so damned complicated. Cal more than most.
And she was suddenly so exhausted, she collapsed in her bed without even washing her face.
She was awakened by the ding of an incoming text, and her heart leaped as she thought it might be Cal. She grabbed her phone.
But it was Kelsey.
She swallowed her disappointment. He was still acting like a lone wolf. What on earth would it take for him to realize it didn’t have to be that way anymore? They were meant to be together, no matter how difficult her brothers might try to make it.
She read Kelsey’s short message.
We’re coming to take you out for brunch. After what happened yesterday, we need some woman power and bonding. You have fifteen minutes to get ready.
Good Lord, it was morning. She hadn’t woken even once.
After jumping out of bed and taking the world’s quickest shower, then throwing on a stretchy wrap dress, Lyssa heard the honk of Ari’s minivan out front. It did her heart so much good to see the whole assembly of Maverick ladies, including Chi, as she squished into the backseat.
Next to her, Kelsey said, “We invited your mom too, but she said she’d talked to you yesterday, and she thought you needed the younger generation’s perspective.”
“Not that your mom doesn’t always have great advice,” Harper said.
Harper didn’t know how right she was. Lyssa had a whole new vision of her mother after yesterday’s revelation. She’d been in almost exactly Lyssa’s position. Except for the brothers.
“She sure lit into Daniel yesterday,” Tasha told her.
“She lit into all of them,” Charlie confirmed.
“And every single one of them deserved it,” Ari agreed as she drove down the steep hill. “We’ve got a reservation at that fancy tearoom on Union Square. We’re going to eat tiny sandwiches and cakes until we pop.” And she beamed.
Rosie leaned forward to see around Kelsey. “Gideon apologizes for not stepping in sooner, but we were all so stunned by how quickly it went down and spiraled out of control.”
“I appreciate what he did,” Lyssa said. “Are the boys okay?”
Rosie nodded. “We had to explain to them that fighting wasn’t the way to resolve an argument. But they’re fine.”
Ari found space in the underground parking, and ten minutes later, they were seated around the table with pots of tea already steaming.
“Let’s get the deluxe,” Tasha said. “Daniel can pay the bill for all the trouble he caused.”
Harper added, “Will deserves to pay part of it, too, for the things he said to Cal.”
“They all do,” Ari added.
“At least he jumped in the water to pull them apart,” Paige said. “Evan just wrapped himself around me as if he thought I’d be injured in the flinging of limbs and fists.”
“He was right to watch out for you,” Ari said. “Those guys were crazy. Who knows what would’ve happened if one of us had gotten in the middle of it?” Her eyes were wide, her tone harsh.
“I appreciate that Sebastian jumped in,” Charlie said. “But I’m still angry with him for the way he lashed out at Cal afterward.”
“Suffice it to say,” Kelsey said, “all of the men are in the doghouse right now. Even Tony. I can’t believe he got into it too.”
Chi coughed dramatically. “I agree they shouldn’t have done it, but you have to admit that was one hell of a fight. Cal might be ten years older, but he sure as heck held his own.”
Her words seemed to ease all the tension, and suddenly they were laughing. It felt so good to laugh. As though her worries, her fears, her anger were finally lifting away.
“How is Cal?” Tasha asked. “He looked pretty bad.”
“No worse than Daniel,” Ari proclaimed.
“He deserved it,” Tasha huffed. “But Cal was defending you.” She held Lyssa’s gaze. “He really cares about you.”
Lyssa felt speechless and more than a little teary-eyed at the support of such wonderful, amazing women. “Thank you,” she said, her lip trembling.
“Oh, Lyssa.” Kelsey wrapped her arm around Lyssa’s shoulders. “It’s going to be okay. You and Cal will figure it out, and the boys will get over it, and we’ll all be one big, happy family again. Very soon. We’re all here for you.”
“I’m not crying about my brothers or Cal or how we’re going to resolve everything that’s gone so wrong.” Her voice was shaky. “It’s that I’m so glad I have all of you as my family and my friends and my soul sisters. You’re the absolute best.”
And just like the soul sisters they were, they didn’t push her about her plans with Cal. They didn’t bombard her with opinions on what she should do. They simply ate sandwiches and cake and took a few precious moments to relax together.
When they were stuffed to the gills, Lyssa asked, “Do you want to see the sonogram?” She dug in her purse for her phone, and everyone wooted with joy.
“I’m so glad we’re pregnant at the same time,” Paige said, her eyes shining.
Lyssa reached across the table to hold tight to Paige’s hand. “Me too.” Then she laughed, feeling a sudden joy. “Anyone else who wants to join us in this baby-making thing is absolutely welcome.”
Ari winked, Rosie smiled…and was that a sparkle in Harper’s eyes?
They were a club, they were family, they were Mavericks. They supported each other, and they’d support her no matter what happened with Cal.
Their love gave her the strength to know exactly what she had to do.