Her voice trailed off and she exhaled as if she’d given up.
“Anything you could do to convince her would be great,” I said. “Drake saved Liam’s life and I think it would be wonderful for them to get to know each other. Even if Liam doesn’t learn about Drake being his father this year, at least try to persuade Maureen to let Drake see him. Invite Drake over for a visit if she’s concerned about him, and let Drake see how he’s doing. I saw Liam with his mother the other day and he’s grown so much.”
“He’s doing well,” Brenda said, a smile in her voice. “We’re so thankful that Drake did the transplant. You can’t imagine how shocked we were that Drake was the father, although I always thought how much he reminded me of Drake.”
“Liam does look a lot like Drake,” I said and smiled to myself. “I was able to get a photo of Liam for Drake and he cherishes that picture. It sits on his desk and I often catch him staring at it. I feel so helpless, like I know what the right thing to do is, but I can’t do it.”
“Let me see what I can do,” she said and I could hear determination in her voice. “I’ll try to arrange something. We’re having a Christmas Eve get together with family and I’d love if Drake could come over before. Maybe five o’clock? I know that Maureen is going to be out with some of her old girlfriends from the hospital in the afternoon so if Drake came by while she was out…”
I frowned. “Do you think that’s wise? Won’t it make Maureen mad if she finds out?”
Brenda sighed. “Yes, but if she won’t listen to reason, I’m willing to take that risk. Let me see how things go and I’ll call you back.”
I gave her my cell number and my email and we said goodbye. I moved from the floor to the sofa and sat there, looking out the window, wondering if I was going to regret contacting Maureen’s mother but something had to give. While I tidied up, putting the box away, I thought that Drake should be spending time with Liam now, while he was in Manhattan. Maureen had to grow up and do what was best for her son, not what was best for her.
Drake arrived home a little later and bent down to kiss me when he came into the living room.
“What have you been up to?” he asked, plopping down on the sofa beside me. “You have this look in your eyes.”
“What look?” I said, trying to look all innocent.
“That look,” he said with a laugh. “Is it the gift you got me for Christmas?”
I smiled and slipped my arms around his neck when he pulled me onto his lap.
“Something like that. It’s a gift I want to give you, but things might not work out. Best laid plans and all that…”
“You don’t have to give me a gift,” he said and kissed me. “You being my wife and the mother of my child is all I need for Christmas.”
He laid me down on the couch and kissed me once more, his kiss warm and loving. He pulled away and brushed hair off my f
orehead, smiling as his gaze travelled down over my face and down to my cleavage.
“How close to a feed are you?” he asked, and I knew why he was asking. If I was too close to a feed, my breasts would be filled with milk, which would leak out while we were having sex.
“I fed her before you went out, so it’s been over an hour.”
“Good,” he said and pulled down my sweater to bare one well-supported breast in a nursing bra. “I can nuzzle you without getting sprayed in the eye.”
“Oh, Drake,” I said and made a face, my cheeks hot. “That’s so… not sexy.”
“Don’t kid yourself,” he said and laughed. “There are grown men who would pay lots of money to be sprayed with milk during sex.”
We laughed together and I got over my reticence when he started to nuzzle my neck, one of his hands slipping down between my legs to stroke me over my yoga pants.
“Can I persuade you to let me fuck you before she wakes up?”
“Have you been a very good man this year?” I asked playfully.
“Very, very good,” he said and narrowed his eyes.
I closed my eyes and let him take me where he wanted me to go, and over the next hour, he proved that he was right.
He was a very, very good man.
The next day passed with no word from either Brenda or Maureen and I was beginning to give up hope that Brenda had any success with her very unreasonable and stubborn daughter.
Finally, Brenda sent me an email and I opened it with trepidation.