Page 60 of Expecting an Argument
…well, with Olivia, I was too busy thinking about what I felt so I wouldn’t actually have to feel it.
At some point, I had stopped putting aside my annoyance with Olivia for the sake of the twins and just…enjoyed being around her. I slept better near her. Her argumentative ass kept me mentally sharp. Even though I wouldn’t confess to it under prolonged torture, her little murder shows were damn entertaining.
But any time I started breathing easy around her, a steely voice in the back of my mind reminded me of the cold, hard facts of our situation.
She never wanted to be with me.
She was only in my house because of the babies.
She’s leaving me as soon as they are born.
Though I tried to convince myself our situation was only temporary, the logical parts of my brain wouldn’t accept it. No matter what could happen, we were Annie and Brady’s parents forever. Olivia and I would see each other every holiday. We would sit next to each other at our children’s graduations and weddings. The rest of our lifetimes were tied together with twin ribbons, but Olivia acted as if she were about to be dragged by her neck beside me for all eternity.
As I paced the upstairs hallways, mentally sorting the facts and my feelings into orderly little boxes to file away, my phone buzzed with an alert that someone was outside. Before I could check the camera, the doorbell rang.
Puzzled, I headed down the stairs. Titus ran across the foyer and beat me to the front door. I gave him a little scratch behind the ear and ordered him to sit before I opened the door.
A huge delivery truck was parked out front and two men were unloading dozens of large cardboard boxes onto the front steps. Had Olivia been shopping again?
One of the men slid a stack of boxes off a dolly onto the concrete and I read the address label of the top box—they were all addressed to Cheryl Fontaine.
I furrowed my brows and pulled out my phone to call Mom. She picked up after a few rings, but the faded sounds of laughter and Celtic music hit my ears first.
“I’m in the city for the St. Paddy’s parade,” Mom answered quickly. “Make it zippy before I have to order more green beer.”
I gestured toward the growing stacks of boxes. “Mom, what the hell did you buy? The front lawn looks like a warehouse!”
“You sent me the baby registry, so I got it all,” she said casually.
“Mom, that registry was supposed to be for everyone coming to the baby shower!”
Mom’s lips smacked like she had just pulled them off a glasspint. “And? You need that stuff don’t you?”
I wasn’t exactly sure what all Olivia had put on the registry, but I couldn’t imagine that her prudent ass would want anything unnecessary.
“Thank you, but—” I looked over my shoulder into the foyer to make sure Olivia wasn’t listening. “She didn’t want all of that here. She’s going to set up a nursery back at her apartment once she recovers from delivery.”
“Well, that’s stupid,” Mom said bluntly. “Especially since I’ve already been setting up the nursery at the manor.”
I instantly turned on my heels and headed up the stairs. “Youwhat?”
“Damn, son, I don’t think I’m drunk enough to be slurring my speech,” she replied. “You heard me—I took down the crap from the fake baby and started prepping for the real babies. Olivia left some decor ideas on her registry and I got inspired.”
The questions racing through my mind stalled from the panic of Mom getting inspired with house decor again. I quickly walked down the upstairs hallway to the old nursery and opened the door. To my pleasant surprise, all I could find inside was the Fontaine family rocking chair and newly-installed striped wallpaper the color of silver mist.
I hadn’t even smelled any wallpaper glue. Mom must have used special low-fume adhesive for Olivia’s sake, but how did I not know that she was in the house renovating?
“Wh-when did you do this?” I asked. “How did you get into the manor without anyone knowing?”
“You’re always messing around in the gym or on the phone with your finance guy whenever I come in. Your kids are going to get into all sorts of trouble if you don’t learn to pay attention!”
I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose. “Noted. I’ll deal with this, you have fun at the parade. Please don’t get arrested.”
“The law isn’t fast enough to catch me, unlike some,” sheteased. “Love you!”
After she hung up, I went downstairs and gave the delivery guys a fistful of bills so they would take the cardboard clutter up to the nursery and off my front steps.
I rubbed the back of my neck as I went to check on Olivia. I wasn’t sure how she was going to take the fact that the twins’ nursery was being set up here, or that my mother took it upon herself to buy the whole registry list, or even that she had been in the house.
