Page 59 of The Wedding Planner's Manny
“He'spregnant,yes. With ababy.” I could tell my grandma all about how times had changed and we weren't animals who killed our rival's children before stealing their mate... but it would have been moot.
“And the baby isn't yours?”
“That's correct.”
My grandma shook her head, as if she couldn't believe what she was hearing. “And you want to raise this bastard child? It's a disgrace.”
“It's not a disgrace, it's ababy,” I reiterated. “It'sRhys'baby, which means it's probably going to be super cute too.”
“It's another alpha's baby. That other alpha should take care of it. You have your own children to feed.”
I clenched my teeth. I loved my grandmother, and for the most part, I respected her old-fashioned upbringing and beliefs, but she was about to drive me up a wall here. “You don't have to worry about my children being fed, and you know why? Because Rhys takes care of them. He's taking care of them right now. He's finally gotten Nathan to eaten vegetables. He's gotten Caleb to come out of his shell.
He's fantastic for my children.”
“Of course he's good for your children. He's an omega. He was literally born to take care of children.
You're letting him fulfill his purpose in life by employing him as your manny. You don't have to domorefor him.”
I dragged my hand down my face to keep from screaming at my grandmother. “Omegas aren't mindless child-rearing drones, Grandma, and you know it. I'm not doing Rhys a favor by employing him, and I'm not doing him a favor by dating him. Ilikehim. I want to be with him. I want to take care of his children the same way he takes care of mine.”
Was that so hard to understand?
“If you say so...” my grandmother muttered, looking aside as if she was as done with this conversation as I was.
“I actually came here to talk to you about Caleb's birthday,” I informed her.
“Oh, yes, little Caleb's birthday.” She brightened. “Does he need underwear?”
“He does not need underwear,” I said pointedly. “But I'm sure he'd be delighted if you came. We're having a party the Saturday after his birthday.”
“I see.” Grandma nodded to herself. “Will his mother be there?”
I raised an eyebrow at her. Maybe I should ask Rhys to give her some of his marbles, because she'd obviously lost hers. “I haven't heard from Laura,” I said drily. “I'd appreciate it if you didn't bring her up around the children.” I wanted Caleb to have a nice day in spite of his mother's absence.
“I'll try to remember that,” she promised.
“Thank you.”
Once that conversation was over, I kissed her on the cheek, told her goodbye, and headed home. It had been a long day. I'd spent the morning, scouting out a potential venue for a wedding in the mountains a new client insisted on and after that, I'd met Cynthia to discuss some business dealings, as well as hear her out on how wide the rumors surrounding me and Rhys were flying. She told me it wasn't wise to date my manny. I agreed with her, but I also told her how little I cared anymore. It was just as I'd told my grandmother; I wanted to be with Rhys, and that was all there was to it.
After a day like today, coming home to him made everything better.
He and the kids were just done with dinner when I came in, but he'd saved me some of the homemade mac & cheese Caleb had demanded.
“I'm sorry we ate without you,” he said as he nuked a plate for me.
“It's fine. I didn't tell you when I'd be home. I really didn't know how long everything was going to take me. And you don’t need to heat up my dinner for me, you know? You shouldn’t be on your feet all day.”
“Don't worry about it.” Rhys waved me off. “I like to stay busy and the baby is fine.” He got the plate out of the microwave when it beeped and set it on the table in front of me. “Dig in. I hope you like it.”
“It smells good,” I said, inhaling the cheesy fragrance coming off the steaming plate. It smelled just like how my mom used to make it when she was having a good day.
“I'm glad. I'll go check on Caleb, but then, uh... I think I need to talk to you in private after he's in bed.”
“Yeah?” I looked up from my plate. “Anything I need to worry about?”
“I can't tell yet,” Rhys said, leaving me to wonder what the hell that meant as he walked out of the kitchen. I looked down to find my dog standing by my chair, looking up at me with big puppy dog eyes. “Do you know what he's on about?” I asked him. Michel only continued staring at me as if trying to hypnotize me into sharing my food with him. “It's too hot for you,” I told him. He didn't seem to agree, and I shook my head at him before I dug into my mac & cheese, deciding not to worry about Rhys before I knew what was going on, I finished up my meal—which wasdelicious—and then tossed Michel some treats before heading up the stairs to catch the last few paragraphs of a bedtime story Rhys was reading my youngest.
