his mother, ready to say goodbye.
“Can you help me take the rubbish out before you go?” she asked before he could get a word out. She had that look in her eye again. The one that said she had something to say to him.
“Sure.” No point trying to put off the inevitable. His mother was as ruthless as the KGB when she wanted something.
“Won’t be a second,” he said to Charlie.
He collected the bulging bag from beneath the sink and made his way outside. His mother followed him, carrying a token juice container to justify their joint excursion. Rhys dumped the garbage in the bin and turned to face his mother.
“What’s up?”
“Why does anything need to be up?” she asked.
“Mum. Please. Subtlety was never your thing. Play to your strengths.” He watched as she tried to decide whether to pretend to be offended or to simply cut to the chase and start the inquisition.
“Charlie’s waiting,” he prompted her.
She gave him an exasperated look. “You know, I can’t wait till this baby of yours is old enough for you to understand how I feel right now.”
“My child will never have sex,” Rhys said. “I’ve already decided that. So he or she will never be in this situation.”
His mother’s smile was nothing short of patronizing. “Of course not. He or she will be perfectly polite and obedient, too, of course.”
“Naturally.”
“She’s not what I imagined, you know.”
The smile faded from Rhys’s lips. Finally, they’d come to the point.
“When I heard how you met, I had a picture in my head. A cliché, I guess. Big hair, short skirt, platform heels, too much makeup—”
“Thanks, Mum.” As a comment on his taste in women, it wasn’t very flattering.
“But she’s nothing like that, is she? I can see now why you believed her when she said the baby was yours.”
“She’s not a liar.”
“No. She isn’t.”
His mother fixed him with a determined look. “You should know that I’m going to ask for her number and I’m going to stay in contact. Not just because I want to be a part of this baby’s life. She hasn’t got any family, and she might have questions and I want to let her know that we’re here for her if she needs us.”
Rhys frowned. “It’s a nice idea. But she’s a very private person, Mum.”
“I want her to know she’s not alone.”
“She already knows that. She’s got me.”
His mother patted his arm. “Not in the way that I had your father. I know you’re doing your best, but it’s not the same as knowing that you’ve got someone by your side who loves you and is as excited about the baby and what happens next as you are.”
He stared at her, wanting to deny her words while, at the same time, knowing she was right.
“Charlie will be wondering what’s taking so long.”
He entered the house, heading to the bathroom to wash his hands. The kitchen was empty when he returned, but he could hear voices in the adjoining room. Charlie, his sisters and sisters-in-law. He collected his coat and went to join them.
He arrived in time to watch his mother press a scrap of paper with her number on it into Charlie’s hand, which, of course, necessitated that Charlie offer up her own. He swooped in before the other women of his family could get the same idea.
“Time for us to hit the road. I’ve got an early meeting tomorrow,” he said.
Charlie focused on his mother. “Thank you for a lovely meal. And I’m sorry about the, uh, sickness. The lasagna really did look beautiful.”
“It was our pleasure, Charlie,” his mother said.
“Thank you for our lovely presents,” Kim said.
Charlie lifted a hand in an awkward wave, but his mother stepped close and gave her a warm hug.
“It was lovely meeting you. I hope we see you again soon.”
Charlie blinked rapidly a few times as she drew back from his mother’s embrace. A few more farewells, and then they were on the porch, the door closed behind them.
Charlie was quiet as they made their way to his car. He waited until they were both buckled in and the engine running before speaking.
“Well. We survived. Mostly intact, too.”
“You have a nice family.”
“I have a loud, overbearing, opinionated, rude family. But it’s nice of you to say so.”
She smiled faintly but didn’t say anything else. He thought about what his mother had said about Charlie feeling alone. It was almost impossible for him to put himself in her shoes. Frankly, he was having