“Thank you so much for taking such good care of Skye. And knocking some sense into Cole.”
“My pleasure,” Laney said, smiling nervously.
“Are you staying for dinner too?” Mom asked.
“No, the crowd’s too big. I think it’s too much excitement for Skye,” I explained.
“You’re right,” Mom said. “I didn’t think about that. I’m going to ask Rob what’s the best thing to do.”
Ever since Skye got pregnant, Mom’s been fussing about her, even more so after she was ordered to bed rest. Rob agreed that there was no way we could all have dinner in their bedroom, so only Mom and Mick would stay. Laney and I were the first to leave.
“I had so much fun,” Laney said as we walked to the station. Skye lived in a suburb, and the pace was so different from Manhattan. I wasn’t used to the quiet and watching people just leisurely stroll on the streets. I loved the energy of the inner city, the speed and frantic pace. “The girls are a trip. I mean, Isabelle told me that a few times, but still.”
“Thanks for offering to be with Skye during the birth.”
“Sure, no problem. I’m gonna talk about this with Dr. Johnson first thing when I see her. I already did my rotation in ob-gyn last year, but I really don’t think she’ll mind if I’m there.”
I put an arm around her shoulders, tucking her into me, kissing the side of her head. Her hair smelled like my shampoo. I couldn’t explain why, but I fucking loved that.
She startled when the alarm went off on her phone. Pulling out of my hug, she took it out of her bag. “Oh, I promised I’d FaceTime with my parents in two minutes.” She glanced up, tilting her head playfully. “Do you mind if I do it now? Do you want to join? They’d love to meet you.”
That was the exact moment I knew how special Laney was to me. In the past, that sentence would have sent me running for the hills. Now, I was looking forward to meeting them.
“Sure. Let’s just find somewhere comfortable to sit. Look, there’s a bench at the next corner.”
“Okay. You lead the way. I’m going to start the call.” She was smiling big as she brought the phone to her ear, explaining to her parents that she’d turn on the camera as soon as she was sitting down and that she had a surprise for them.
“Ready?” she whispered the second we sat down. I nodded, and she switched the phone from audio only to camera mode.
“Mom, Dad, this is Cole,” she exclaimed. Her mom instantly beamed, and her smile looked a bit like Laney’s. Her dad just nodded, his eyes wide.
“Good to meet you, Cole,” he said.
“Likewise,” I replied.
“Oh, we don’t want to interrupt you two,” her mom said.
“You’re not. We’ve been visiting his sister and were just going to the station,” Laney explained. “We’re heading back to the city.”
“Okay, okay,” her dad said. We spoke a few minutes only, and then her mom repeated that she didn’t want to interrupt anything.
“Hmm, that was weird,” Laney said after hanging up. “Usually they won’t stop talking. I think it really shocked them that you were on the call. Once they recover, they’ll have a million questions. But I think they like you.”
“How can you tell?”
“Just a gut feeling. Plus, Dad didn’t glare at you.”
I laughed, kissing her temple. Based on what she’d shared with me this morning, I suspected she hadn’t ever imagined she’d want to introduce another guy to her parents, and yet, here we were.
“I didn’t even get to exercise my charm on them.”
“Oh, trust me, that smile did a great job with Mom. I could tell by that starry look in her eyes.”
“I’ll take your word. Let’
s go to the station. We’ve missed the train, but the next one comes in fifteen minutes.”
“Okay.”