When Nate woke up the next morning, the first thing he felt was pure joy. It shone through him as if his heart had become a little sun, pumping golden light through his veins instead of blood. Because he woke up in Hannah’s bed, with her arm slung over his chest and the soft sound of her snores in his ears. Hannah snored. He was ridiculously pleased about this fact.
And then he was suddenly, instantly horrified. Because he’d just woken up, which meant he’d been asleep. Long enough to feel better than half-dead, even. Which was too fucking long, judging by the soft glow filtering through Hannah’s open window—and the distant sound of his early bird children, nattering away somewhere in the house.
Nate barely resisted the urge to bolt upright. Instead, he slid Hannah’s arm gently off him, eased out of bed, and padded quietly out of the room.
A quick check proved that the kids were indeed up, their beds rumpled and abandoned. So, apparently, was his mother. Fan-fucking-tastic. Nate threw on some clothes that may or may not have matched and hurried downstairs. He found them all in the kitchen, the kids eating porridge and his mother standing by the kettle.
“Daddy!” Josh grinned. “Grandma made a love heart with my jam!”
“She didn’t make a love heart with my jam,” Beth sniffed, “because that’s for babies.”
“I don’t know where she’s getting these strange ideas,” Shirley said mildly.
“She has this friend at school,” Nate murmured. “Lily.” Lily had very strong opinions about what was and was not babyish, and Beth seemed to take those opinions quite seriously. But Hannah said the whole thing would blow over.
He kissed his daughter’s head, and then his son’s, before meeting his mother’s eye. “Morning, Ma. How are you?”
“Very well, thank you, darling. Coffee?”
“No thanks.”
She arched a brow. “Cutting down?”
“Trying. Thanks for feeding the kids. I overslept.”
“Where?” she asked.
“Sorry?”
Her voice softened even as her eyes narrowed. “Where did you oversleep, Nathaniel? Because it wasn’t in your room.”
Ah. He ran a hand through his hair. “Right. Well, this doesn’t usually happen. Ever, actually. It never happens.” He cast a wary look over at the kids, who appeared to be discussing the merits of raspberry jam versus marmalade, before continuing. “But I fell asleep with Hannah. Because we are together. Which I was going to tell you, at some point.” He cleared his throat. “And she’s not going to work for me anymore. As soon as we find someone else. You know, because we’re together.” Did he already say that? He’d already said that.
There was a slight pause, before, much to Nate’s relief, his mother smiled. “Well,” she said, patting his cheek. “I did think you liked her a little too much. But as long as you’re not taking advantage of the poor girl.”
He sighed. “It’s kind of disturbing, how everyone seems to think I would.”
“Life is full of surprises, darling, and most of them are unpleasant. But I’m glad you aren’t one of those.” She looked thoughtful. “And I do rather like that girl, you know. Both of those Kabbah girls. They’re a credit to their mother. Oh, does Patience know? She’s in my bookclub.”
“Not yet, no.”
Shirley laughed. “I see. Well, I suppose I’ll just have to keep my mouth shut.” Then the humour in her eyes faded and she raised a hand to touch the cord around his neck. Beneath his T-shirt, Nate’s wedding ring hung warm against his chest. “I am pleased,” she said gently, “that you feel so strongly about someone. Strongly enough to take risks.”
“So am I,” he murmured. He didn’t explain that he was in love, or warn his mother that he’d be proposing to Hannah as soon as he was convinced she’d say yes. He didn’t need to. Shirley would see for herself, soon enough.
Everyone would.
When Hannah told her mother that she was, in fact, dating the man she’d been working for over the last few months, Patience’s response was short. Resplendent on the cushioned throne that was her favourite armchair, her attention torn quite fully from Deal or No Deal, she stared at her eldest daughter for three long seconds.
And then she said, “You will bring him to dinner.”
So, a week later, Hannah brought him to dinner.
Not so long ago, the Kabbah dining table had been half-empty every Sunday. On the day Hannah dragged Nate to her mother’s house, leaving the kids under Zach’s questionable care, the table