Chapter 73: Keeping Secrets
Edrick “Edrick…” My mother dropped her tone of voice and leaned closer to me. She took my hand in hers and gave me a serious, knowing look that only a mother could have. “Is she pregnant?”
I frowned, hiding the fact that my heart had just started beating rapidly. “What?” I said, shaking my head. “What makes you think that?”
My mother folded her arms across her chest and narrowed her eyes. “Edrick, I’m your mother. You can’t lie to me.” There was a long silence after she spoke, but her eyes never wavered from mine. Even in her old age, she was still just as astute and level-headed as ever. I had never been able to lie to my mother, and she knew that. Finally, I caved.
“Yes,” I replied quietly. “She is pregnant.”
“I knew it,” my mother said. I could tell that she was hiding a bit of a smirk at her miniature victory, but at the same time, she was dead serious. “Is it yours?”
I didn’t answer right away. I felt a lump rise in my throat after being put on the spot. Sure, I was planning on telling my mother eventually, but now? Like this? It felt so out of the blue, and I had no time at all to prepare an explanation.
“It’s not—”
“You know, the way you act around Ella,” my mother interrupted, lowering her voice even more, “if you had another illegitimate child… It would only cause more problems for you, for the daughter you already have, and the baby. Not to mention the emotional toll it would take on that poor girl to feel like she birthed a baby that could never be truly loved by its father.”
I shook my head. “It’s not mine, mom,” I lied, this time taking care to hide my lie even though it pained me to hide something like this from my mother. “It’s someone else’s.”
My mother went silent for a moment. I could practically see the gears turning in her head; I knew that she didn’t believe me. “Darling, I already heard all about your visit to the hospital this morning,” she admitted. “You know, the couples that you let her ahead of are well known, after all, and they were very put out by the entire thing. But I digress, and it was well within your rights to do such a thing if you felt it necessary. If it wasn’t yours, though, why would you bother going to the doctor’s appointments with her? And why would you care so much as to go against our hospital’s policy like that?”
I started to panic again. “I only wanted to help her,” I lied once more. “She doesn’t have anyone else, and those human doctors…” What was I supposed to say? That I cared about my daughter’s nanny out of the kindness of my heart and didn’t want her visiting some shoddy doctor who wouldn’t give her and the baby in her belly the best care possible? My mother would never believe it; she had always been an intuitive woman, and even now, I knew that she didn’t believe me one bit.
But, much to my surprise, she didn’t question further. “Well then,” she said with a slight sigh, leaning back in her chair. “That’s very nice of you. I wish her all the best in her pregnancy.”
Just then, Selina emerged from the kitchen with tea. She set the tray down, then began to pour a cup for my mother.
“Oh, thank you, but that won’t be necessary,” my mother said, standing. “I only wanted to pop in for a few minutes. I should be going now.”
Selina seemed a bit surprised, as was I — but I obliged, honestly relieved to know that such a difficult conversation was over for now. At the same time, however, I couldn’t help but feel guilty for lying to my mother… And I couldn’t help but feel even more guilty when I saw Moana standing in the kitchen, watching me.
…
After my mother left, I retreated to my office for the remainder of the day. I spent the majority of my time there pacing back and forth in my study, wondering what to do. I would have to address this soon; eventually, my family would find out. I couldn’t hide it forever, and already I was on thin ice for blatantly lying to my mother’s face like that in a way that no son ever should. But what was I supposed to do? I was put on the spot, and I hadn’t prepared yet. While my mother was a perfectly reasonable and kind woman, I simply wasn’t ready for the consequences yet, and what if she told my father?
Unless she told my father already… But no, I told myself; if he knew, he would have certainly been here by now, berating me for hours. That was what he had done with Ella, and she was a purebred werewolf. I could only imagine his reaction when he found out that I was not only getting ready to bring another illegitimate child into the family, but a half-human one at that.
Finally, dinner time came and I decided to emerge from my office to join Ella and Moana. They were already sitting at the table when I arrived. Moana was tucking a napkin into the front of Ella’s shirt while Ella stared hungrily at the plate of steak and potatoes in front of her.
“Sorry I’m a little late,” I said, sitting down in my chair. “Work got ahead of me this afternoon.” Of course, I wasn’t going to divulge to Moana that I’d actually spent the afternoon doing nothing but pondering how to tell my mother about the baby, and I especially wasn’t going to tell her that in front of Ella.
Moana didn’t answer. I didn’t think much of it at first and began to cut my steak, but when the table remained silent whereas Moana would have normally begun to ask Ella questions about her day by now, I began to get suspicious. When I glanced up from my steak, I saw her glaring at me. She quickly looked away and popped a bite of glistening steak into her mouth, chewing slowly, but I saw the look she gave me. It was akin to the look she gave me in the kitchen when my mother left earlier that day.
I cleared my throat and took a sip of my wine.
“Delicious steak,” I said, just wanting to fill the awkward silence. “Another craving?”
“No.” Moana’s voice was sharp and quick, like a jab with a knife. “It’s just what Selina happened to prepare tonight.”
I swallowed, unable to ignore the fresh tone in Moana’s voice, but I figured that it was just the pregnancy hormones, or maybe she was tired. Regardless, I wouldn’t argue. After all, as the man in the baby supply store said, I shouldn’t argue with the mother of my child.
“Well,” I said, cutting another piece of meat, “I’m sure Selina knows what you like, and what’s good for the baby as well. I’m happy to see you eating such hearty meals.”
Suddenly, Moana dropped her fork and her knife on her plate with a clang and abruptly pushed her chair back. She tossed her balled-up napkin down on the table with a frown, causing even Ella to look up from her meal and give her a confused look.
“I’m actually not feeling well,” she said. “I’m going to lie down. Ella, come get me when you’re finished, alright?”
Ella nodded slowly. Moana cast me one last dirty glance before turning on her heel and walking briskly out of the room.
