Page 78 of Mating of Convenience
“Awesome,” he said. “Thank you, Grandma. We appreciate it.”
“I did not bring a gift,” my biological grandma announced stiffly. “I gave you the gift of this marriage. I brought you two together.”
“And we are ever so grateful,” Nathan said. “But I’m sure we would have gotten back together one way or another. That’s how true love works, isn’t it?” He wrapped his arms around me from behind and kissed my neck. I kind of wanted to tease him about how cheesy he was being, but his words were making my grandma cringe and I loved him for that. Especially because I got the feeling that he knew exactly what he was doing.
“That’s very nice,” my grandma responded with a tight expression.
“True love is the greatest!” Mrs. Rosewood exclaimed. “I mean, you can totally get the plumbing working without it, butwithit…” She laughed as if she was letting us in on a secret. “Things get so much better, don’t they? Now,Mr.Rosewood, when he was alive… I could tell you stories…”
“Please don’t,” Nathan said. “You must be tired, Grandma, why don’t I take you back to your table and you can have some cake?”
“A very good idea,” the wicked witch said. “I should be getting back to my table too. Enjoy your night, you two.” She left, while Mrs. Rosewood didn’t seem inclined to turn her wheelchair around at all.
“I can’t leave before I’ve congratulated you on the baby!” she stated. “That would be rude of me, wouldn’t it?”
“Don’t worry, Grandma,” Nathan said. “We know you’re happy about the baby.”
I almost had to laugh at Nathan’s words and the dry tone of his delivery. Anyone who’d talked to Mrs. Rosewood for longer than five minutes knew that she wanted everyone to have babies.
“Are you having a baby shower?” she asked. “I could bring gifts.”
“You don’t have to,” Nathan said. “Really, Grandma, you need to save your money. All that yarn can’t be cheap.”
“That’s true. I’ve thought about selling some of the things I make, but I make them out of love, you know?”
“You can do it for the loveandsell what you make,” I inserted myself back into the conversation. “I love inking people, but that doesn’t mean I can’t charge for it.” Suddenly, I had a brilliant idea. What if I made some space in my studio when it opens…? “Grandma, do you think you could make some things I could put out for sale in my studio?”
“Are you being serious right now?” Nathan asked, staring at me before his poor grandmother even had a chance to respond.
“Of course I’m being serious. C’mon, Nathan. Think about it. It would be a novelty item! Something nobody else has! Isn’t that all the rage these days?”
Nathan studied me with his mouth agape. I had to admit, seeing him like that was part of the reason I wanted to sell his grandmother’s goodies. It was just too much fun to tease my mate a little. I pulled him closer to me so I could whisper into his ear. “Relax, turtle. If she’s busy making stuff for the store she won’t have any time to create more gifts for the family.”
My husband’s expression morphed into one of relief. “Oh, maybe Grandmashouldget to sell some of her things.”
“I’m glad you think so, darling,” Grandma said. “Now, I have more work to do here.” She let her gaze roam through the hall. “Who’s that sweet little omega sitting over there with his twins?”
Following Mrs. Rosewood’s gaze, I spotted Laurence, wiping his son’s mouth. I almost had to laugh; the little one looked as if he’d taken a dive nose-first into our wedding cake. Laurence scowled disapprovingly at his offspring while his other son laughed so hard he had to hold his belly and I had a good idea who’d instigated this whole mess. It was good to see his kids act like carefree little brats, though. It made them look like regular kids rather than kids plagued by the shadow of their abusive parent--who turned out not to be their parent after all.
Idly, I wondered if Laurence had shared that piece of information with them yet.
Then I remembered that Mrs. Rosewood was still waiting for a reply from me. “That’s Laurence. A single omega raising his twins all by himself and doing a hell of a job of it.” Laurence was going to rock this, I just knew. And if not--I would be around to kick his butt into gear.
“A single omega parent, how unfortunate,” Mrs. Rosewood mused. “Did his mate leave him because of that scar on his face?” She squinted.
“What? No. His scar is super badass.” At least that was what I thought.
“Laurence left his husband because his husband was an asshole,” Nathan informed his grandmother. “Sometimes divorce is the right call, Grandma.”
To my surprise, Mrs. Rosewood nodded gravely in response to her great-grandson. “Very true,” she said. “An omega should be loyal to their alpha, but an alpha also needs to value their omega. Keep that in mind, darling.”
“I will,” Nathan said.
Mrs. Rosewood nodded again and then looked back to Laurence who had given up on trying to lecture his sons and was filling their glasses with orange juice instead. “I wonder if I know any good alphas for that one,” she mused, rubbing her chin. “He shouldn’t have to raise those adorable twins on his own. That would be a waste.”
A waste? I wasn’t sure I was following what exactly was going through Mrs. Rosewood’s head, but one thing I got loud and clear: she wanted to set our Laurence up with someone.
Of course she did.
