Read Online Restored (The Walsh Series Book 5) by Kate Canterbary - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Kate Canterbary
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each other and spoke with New Jersey accents thick enough to resemble a foreign tongue. One plucked the basket from my hold, another took Tiel by the hand and pulled her into the living room, and another deposited an infant in my arms.
Despite having an urgent desire to start a family with Tiel, I couldn't remember the last time I'd held a baby. It was like having a soft-yet-solid sack of wiggling sugar in my arms, and that sack of sugar had no problem curling her chubby fingers around my linen pocket square and tugging it free.
"Do you have a name?" I asked. She responded by rapping her socked feet on my arm.
"That's Angelina," Vikram said from behind me. "She's Demitria's youngest. She'll be six months next week." He gestured to the women surrounding Tiel, but I couldn't tell them apart.
"Hi, Angelina," I said. "You're a cutie."
Her face broke into a wide smile, and her legs never ceased kicking. She chomped on my pocket square, and something inside me stirred. I didn't even know this kid and I was melting for her.
"You're just a precious little package, aren't you, Angelina?" I asked her. She giggled around the pocket square, her bright eyes twinkling.
Behind me, Tiel's parents were carrying on a conversation in what I could only assume was Greek. The words were hushed but the tone was tense.
"Oh, no. She'll ruin that," Mrs. Desai said. She stepped closer and gestured toward Angelina and the pocket square she was slobbering all over.
I shook my head, unconcerned. "I don't mind," I said. "She can keep it."
Mrs. Desai—she hadn't invited me to call her Ilonna yet—loosened the cloth from the baby's hold. After scraping her gaze over my blue Helmut Lang suit, she frowned. "Tiel's never mentioned you before this…announcement. Have you been seeing each other long?"
There wasn't a right answer here. If I admitted we'd been together for more than a year, Tiel was getting hammered for withholding information. If I shaved some time off that figure, Tiel was getting hammered for being impetuous.
"Long enough to know she's the only one for me," I said.
I found myself rocking from side to side, and patting the baby's diapered bottom. I couldn't stop looking at this giggly, drooly, tiny human, and it felt…natural.
For the second time this afternoon, Mrs. Desai forced an uncomfortable smile and said, "That's so…nice." She reached for Angelina. "I'll take her now."
Without an infant to dominate my attention, I was suddenly aware of the noise around me. The women who dragged Tiel into the living room were talking, all at once.
"Your mother said you were engaged, but I didn't believe her."
"I thought you were moving home to help your sister with the baby."
"You're engaged ? Since when?"
"Someone get a corkscrew. I'm drinkin' this wine, it looks fancy."
"Oh my God, let me see your ring!"
"Is that him? You're engaged to him ? He's a piece of somethin' nice."
"Your mother said you're teaching kindergarten but also waitressing to make ends meet. Does your fiancé approve of that? When I got engaged, Stav insisted that I stay home."
"That's just like Pretty Woman ! I love that movie so much."
" Pretty Woman was a hooker. Waitressing is horrendous, but it's not hooking unless you're waitressing in a sex club."
"Hold up. Did you meet him at a sex club? I read a book about a sex club, I swear to you, I thought it was going to be all smut but they fell in love and I cried. It was an ugly, ugly cry. I couldn't help it."
"Why is it pink? It's not supposed to be pink. Real diamonds are not pink. I know my four Cs."
"I don't know how you do it. I couldn't get married at your age. I wouldn't even want to be pregnant at your age."
"If Costas gave me a pink diamond, I'd hand it back and say, try again, sir."
"Are you on prenatal vitamins? Do it, your hair and nails will thank me. And it's good for the baby, too."
"You're gonna need hair extensions. This is not bride hair."
"He looks like a lawyer. Are you a lawyer? A
Despite having an urgent desire to start a family with Tiel, I couldn't remember the last time I'd held a baby. It was like having a soft-yet-solid sack of wiggling sugar in my arms, and that sack of sugar had no problem curling her chubby fingers around my linen pocket square and tugging it free.
"Do you have a name?" I asked. She responded by rapping her socked feet on my arm.
"That's Angelina," Vikram said from behind me. "She's Demitria's youngest. She'll be six months next week." He gestured to the women surrounding Tiel, but I couldn't tell them apart.
"Hi, Angelina," I said. "You're a cutie."
Her face broke into a wide smile, and her legs never ceased kicking. She chomped on my pocket square, and something inside me stirred. I didn't even know this kid and I was melting for her.
"You're just a precious little package, aren't you, Angelina?" I asked her. She giggled around the pocket square, her bright eyes twinkling.
Behind me, Tiel's parents were carrying on a conversation in what I could only assume was Greek. The words were hushed but the tone was tense.
"Oh, no. She'll ruin that," Mrs. Desai said. She stepped closer and gestured toward Angelina and the pocket square she was slobbering all over.
I shook my head, unconcerned. "I don't mind," I said. "She can keep it."
Mrs. Desai—she hadn't invited me to call her Ilonna yet—loosened the cloth from the baby's hold. After scraping her gaze over my blue Helmut Lang suit, she frowned. "Tiel's never mentioned you before this…announcement. Have you been seeing each other long?"
There wasn't a right answer here. If I admitted we'd been together for more than a year, Tiel was getting hammered for withholding information. If I shaved some time off that figure, Tiel was getting hammered for being impetuous.
"Long enough to know she's the only one for me," I said.
I found myself rocking from side to side, and patting the baby's diapered bottom. I couldn't stop looking at this giggly, drooly, tiny human, and it felt…natural.
For the second time this afternoon, Mrs. Desai forced an uncomfortable smile and said, "That's so…nice." She reached for Angelina. "I'll take her now."
Without an infant to dominate my attention, I was suddenly aware of the noise around me. The women who dragged Tiel into the living room were talking, all at once.
"Your mother said you were engaged, but I didn't believe her."
"I thought you were moving home to help your sister with the baby."
"You're engaged ? Since when?"
"Someone get a corkscrew. I'm drinkin' this wine, it looks fancy."
"Oh my God, let me see your ring!"
"Is that him? You're engaged to him ? He's a piece of somethin' nice."
"Your mother said you're teaching kindergarten but also waitressing to make ends meet. Does your fiancé approve of that? When I got engaged, Stav insisted that I stay home."
"That's just like Pretty Woman ! I love that movie so much."
" Pretty Woman was a hooker. Waitressing is horrendous, but it's not hooking unless you're waitressing in a sex club."
"Hold up. Did you meet him at a sex club? I read a book about a sex club, I swear to you, I thought it was going to be all smut but they fell in love and I cried. It was an ugly, ugly cry. I couldn't help it."
"Why is it pink? It's not supposed to be pink. Real diamonds are not pink. I know my four Cs."
"I don't know how you do it. I couldn't get married at your age. I wouldn't even want to be pregnant at your age."
"If Costas gave me a pink diamond, I'd hand it back and say, try again, sir."
"Are you on prenatal vitamins? Do it, your hair and nails will thank me. And it's good for the baby, too."
"You're gonna need hair extensions. This is not bride hair."
"He looks like a lawyer. Are you a lawyer? A
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