“Something like that.”
“You look gorgeous. You were always a beautiful girl, but now you’re simply stunning.”
“Thank you.” She smiled. “You look great as well.”
Mom walked toward her. “I can’t tell you how excited I am to meet my grandson. Thank you so much for allowing us to come over today to spend some time with him.”
“Of course.”
Surprising us both, Mom embraced her. At first, Sophie stiffened, staring at me with wide eyes and not knowing what to make of it.
My mother wasn’t a bad woman by any means, she was just selfish. At the end of the day, she was still the woman who’d given me life, and I loved her. She wasn’t as strong as she portrayed. My father was the love of her life, and she’d lost herself in him. I couldn’t imagine what she’d do if she didn’t have him.
He was her whole world.
Trying to calm Sophie’s anxiousness, I winked at her and smiled. She smiled in return. However, her gaze quickly went wide, and I didn’t have to wonder why.
I felt him.
Spinning around, I turned to face him. There he was, dressed in a black suit. I’d never seen him dressed like anything other than a businessman.
“Jax.” He nodded, extending his hand for me to shake.
I refused, losing respect for him a long time ago. He was lucky I’d let him come with my mom.
Seconds later, Ben came barreling into the living room.
“Hi!” he excitingly greeted. “I’m Benjamin Jax Colton.”
Hearing him say my last name instantly changed the tension between me and my father. Mom didn’t allow another moment to pass as she crouched to his level.
“Hi, Benjamin.” She adoringly smiled, looking at him with love in her eyes. “I’m your grandmother, but you can call me Meme.”
Ben didn’t falter, throwing his arms around her neck.
“Hi, Meme.”
My father was always a serious man. He didn’t have the same reaction to Ben, not that I thought he would. I couldn’t remember one time in my life when he’d hugged me or told me that he loved me or my mom.
He was a fucking bastard, and the longer he stood there staring at my son with such disdain, the further I wanted to lay his ass out for even trying me today.
Sophie’s mother shifted the mood, walking in next with a football in her hand.
“Benny! Look what I brought you.”
“Grammy!” Ben ran to her, thrilled to see her.
Right off the bat, I realized how close they were. The obvious comfort and ease between them, the way they looked at each other, they knew one another well. I made a mental note to ask Sophie how involved she had been with our son before I was around.
She made her way around the room, greeting everyone and saving me for last.
Nodding toward me, she expressed, “Hello, Jax.”
“Hello, Miss Carlisee. Nice to see you.”
It was all we said to each other.
Now that we were technically family, it was interesting to see everyone’s dynamic. Miss Carlisee and my mom got along great, they always had. She’d helped my mom run their estate for over a decade. My mom might have been a lot of things, but she treated her employees with grace and appreciation.