“With you? How can that be? This is all that woman’s fault, not yours,” Mom spat out.
“She’s upset because I didn’t tell her when Sienna first contacted me.”
“When did you tell her you may have sons?”
“I—didn’t. There were reporters at the rink when she was leaving. They took care of that for me, apparently,” I huffed, turning my head to watch the cars pass by.
There was a long silence before she spoke again, “Beauregard, why would you not share this with Geneviève the second you found out?”
I let out a sigh and shook my head. “I wanted to spare her the worry, Mom. We weren’t sure how long the DNA tests would take. And the women have a big game this weekend they needed to prepare for.”
“Have I taught you nothing? Thirty-five years old and you have no idea how to communicate with a woman you love? Beauregard,” she said my name the same way she always did whenever I was in trouble, “no wonder Geneviève is cross with you. I hope you apologized for being a daft man?”
“I—” I said, then with everything that had happened today, I couldn’t specifically remember apologizing. Shit. “I don’t think I did. But, Mom, she wouldn’t even listen to a word I said. All I wanted her to do was sit down with me so I could explain.”
“Uh huh, and now you’ve hurt her feelings twice as bad. You need to find a way to apologize.”
“I will. If Sienna hadn’t held a press conference, I—”
“Beau, I’m no fan of that woman. Believe me. But do not blame your choices on her actions. You had days to tell Geneviève what was going on.”
I leaned back in my seat and closed my eyes. “I know. I’ll make it right with her, I promise.”
“No one likes to be lied to, Beau. And lying by omission is almost worse. That is not how you build a successful relationship.”
Another minute of silence went by before she said anything further, “When can I meet the boys? I need to see them in person.”
I smiled to myself. “I’ve contacted a lawyer so we can get everything set up. I’m not sure how long it’ll take to arrange custody and all that.”
Christ, who thought I’d ever be discussing parental rights with a lawyer?
“What are they like?”
The smile on my face widened. “They’re cute, sweet kids. Didn’t shut up the entire time I was there.”
Mom laughed and it eased something inside of me a little. “Just like their father. I remember one time Lucien tried to stick a sock in your mouth.”
That made me chuckle. “It was more than once.” And that was the truth. But I wasn’t complaining. Lucien taught me how to fight—not that he ever let me forget it. He’d told me many times he was responsible for what a good fighter I was on the ice.
That was also the truth.
“What do they like? Are they into sports?” Her voice had changed into grandmother mode now, and I was able to finally take in a deep breath.
“They play soccer. Quite poorly.”
Mom laughed out loud, making me laugh as well.
“They both begged me to teach them how to skate.”
“I bet they did.”
“Mom?”
“Yes, Beau?”
“When they hugged me? I thought my heart was going to burst,” I said as my voice trembled. Feeling their tiny arms around my neck had brought tears to my eyes then. Just remembering how it had felt to have them close to me, my eyes filled up again.
“Oh, my son. That is the most wonderful feeling in the world. And it never stops. No matter how old your children get.”