Read Online Mother Load by K.G. MacGregor - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: K.G. MacGregor
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sight.
“Must have coffee.” Anna stumbled into the kitchen and caught her crying. “Baby, what’s wrong?”
The floodgates opened and Lily found herself bawling onto Anna’s shoulder. More hormones. In the last couple of weeks her anger had abated only to be replaced by uncontrollable sadness, or even just silly crying over laundry commercials. “Just wishing Mom was here.”
Anna shushed her gently and drew her into an embrace. They stood that way for several minutes until the sobs subsided.
Then as quickly as she had rushed into Anna’s arms, she stepped away and fanned herself with both hands. “All done. You wanted coffee?”
“I’ll get it.”
“What are you doing up so early? The way you two were sleeping, I figured I had time to go up Mount Baldy and back.”
“Andy was drooling on my shoulder.”
“At least he didn’t pee on you this time.” In fact, Andy hadn’t wet the bed for several months.
“So what happened last night? Did he have a bad dream?” Anna helped herself to a cup of coffee and topped off Lily’s mug.
“Something like that. Jonah told him there were mean old ladies that lived under his bed, so naturally the first person Andy thought of was his teacher.”
“Mrs. Dooley? Why is my nephew so ornery? Never mind, I’m sure he gets it from his mother. It was probably a good thing Kim and I didn’t meet until I was fourteen. Otherwise she would’ve ruined Santa and the Easter bunny.”
“Instead she tormented you for twenty years by talking about sex.”
Anna chuckled. “At least she knows all about the in vitro procedures so we won’t have to endure the questions about how we did it. But she’ll go nuts wanting to know who our sperm donor was.”
Since Andy’s father was of Mexican heritage, they had chosen a Latino man, a graduate student in the sciences who played competitive sports. They liked the idea that their children might appear to be siblings.
Anna picked up the greeting card. “Karen Haney?”
Karen was Lily’s birth mother, a woman she had despised until only recently. When the judge granted her and Anna’s petition to adopt Andy—officially ending Karen’s participation in his life—he had requested the parties work something out informally with each other. “School pictures,” she said matter-of-factly. That was all the discussion of Karen Haney she wanted. “Only three more days and we’ll have our first pictures of the baby. Hard to believe it’s eleven weeks already.”
“When did she say we’d know if it’s Ruby or Ralph?”
“Not till sixteen weeks. That’s almost Christmas. But Beth said we should be safe to start telling people we’re pregnant the week after Thanksgiving. I can’t wait to see the looks on their faces, especially your father’s.” George would be especially excited if their baby turned out to be Anna’s, though Lily had her doubts despite what Beth had said about the possibilities. From the moment she had learned she was pregnant, she hadn’t been able to shake the feeling that she was carrying a child of her own blood. As much as that thrilled her, it also made her sad it wasn’t Anna’s.
“How do you think Andy will react?”
“Considering he practically worships Jonah, I think he’ll be thrilled. Being a big brother gives them one more thing in common.” Lily filled their mugs again. “When do you think we should tell him?”
“Not until the last minute. Keep in mind that he told me everything I was getting for my birthday as soon as you two got back from the mall. There’s no way he’ll be able to keep this a secret.”
Lily dissolved into a fit of laughter, just as she did each time she recalled Andy’s exuberant shouts about what was in the bag as she tried to sneak into the house with Anna’s birthday gifts. It was understandable, though, since in his years in foster care he’d had little exposure to the concept of surprising someone. “You’re right. We should tell him about
“Must have coffee.” Anna stumbled into the kitchen and caught her crying. “Baby, what’s wrong?”
The floodgates opened and Lily found herself bawling onto Anna’s shoulder. More hormones. In the last couple of weeks her anger had abated only to be replaced by uncontrollable sadness, or even just silly crying over laundry commercials. “Just wishing Mom was here.”
Anna shushed her gently and drew her into an embrace. They stood that way for several minutes until the sobs subsided.
Then as quickly as she had rushed into Anna’s arms, she stepped away and fanned herself with both hands. “All done. You wanted coffee?”
“I’ll get it.”
“What are you doing up so early? The way you two were sleeping, I figured I had time to go up Mount Baldy and back.”
“Andy was drooling on my shoulder.”
“At least he didn’t pee on you this time.” In fact, Andy hadn’t wet the bed for several months.
“So what happened last night? Did he have a bad dream?” Anna helped herself to a cup of coffee and topped off Lily’s mug.
“Something like that. Jonah told him there were mean old ladies that lived under his bed, so naturally the first person Andy thought of was his teacher.”
“Mrs. Dooley? Why is my nephew so ornery? Never mind, I’m sure he gets it from his mother. It was probably a good thing Kim and I didn’t meet until I was fourteen. Otherwise she would’ve ruined Santa and the Easter bunny.”
“Instead she tormented you for twenty years by talking about sex.”
Anna chuckled. “At least she knows all about the in vitro procedures so we won’t have to endure the questions about how we did it. But she’ll go nuts wanting to know who our sperm donor was.”
Since Andy’s father was of Mexican heritage, they had chosen a Latino man, a graduate student in the sciences who played competitive sports. They liked the idea that their children might appear to be siblings.
Anna picked up the greeting card. “Karen Haney?”
Karen was Lily’s birth mother, a woman she had despised until only recently. When the judge granted her and Anna’s petition to adopt Andy—officially ending Karen’s participation in his life—he had requested the parties work something out informally with each other. “School pictures,” she said matter-of-factly. That was all the discussion of Karen Haney she wanted. “Only three more days and we’ll have our first pictures of the baby. Hard to believe it’s eleven weeks already.”
“When did she say we’d know if it’s Ruby or Ralph?”
“Not till sixteen weeks. That’s almost Christmas. But Beth said we should be safe to start telling people we’re pregnant the week after Thanksgiving. I can’t wait to see the looks on their faces, especially your father’s.” George would be especially excited if their baby turned out to be Anna’s, though Lily had her doubts despite what Beth had said about the possibilities. From the moment she had learned she was pregnant, she hadn’t been able to shake the feeling that she was carrying a child of her own blood. As much as that thrilled her, it also made her sad it wasn’t Anna’s.
“How do you think Andy will react?”
“Considering he practically worships Jonah, I think he’ll be thrilled. Being a big brother gives them one more thing in common.” Lily filled their mugs again. “When do you think we should tell him?”
“Not until the last minute. Keep in mind that he told me everything I was getting for my birthday as soon as you two got back from the mall. There’s no way he’ll be able to keep this a secret.”
Lily dissolved into a fit of laughter, just as she did each time she recalled Andy’s exuberant shouts about what was in the bag as she tried to sneak into the house with Anna’s birthday gifts. It was understandable, though, since in his years in foster care he’d had little exposure to the concept of surprising someone. “You’re right. We should tell him about
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