tell Gregory was trying not to laugh.
“Maybe your mother would like to have a look at the basement.”
“Yes, come on Mom… you’ll love it down there.”
She finally moved but as we were leaving the room she said, “I’ll be seeing more of you now that my daughter is lady of the manor, I’m sure.”
Gregory did chuckle then as he said, “I’ll look forward to it ma’am.”
CHAPTER SIX
VICTORIA
Mom and I were upstairs in the master suite when the baby monitor in my pocket signaled that my handsome little man was awake. She was going on about the gold fixtures and the sound of her grandson didn’t even faze her.
“The baby’s awake,” I told her.
“Oh… yay!” She was so transparent. I headed to the nursery and was mildly surprised when she followed me. When we got to the nursery, before she even looked at her grandson she said, “My goodness look at this, it’s like he’s royalty.”
My head was beginning to pound. The cure for it however was quickly in my arms. I kissed my sweet boy on his fat little cheek and said, “Hello there handsome. You have a visitor.” I tried to hand him to my mother and she actually took a step back. “You don’t want to hold him?”
“Oh, I’d love to… but this is a new blouse, I’d hate to get spit-up on it, you know?”
I rolled my eyes. She leaned in and looked at him and said, “He doesn’t look like you, but he is handsome. I’ve seen publicity photos of his father, he has good genes.”
“Yes he does. He looks a lot like Alex.”
The baby forgotten that quickly, she looked at me and said, “So, what about Alex? Has he proposed?”
“He’s not legally divorced yet, mother.”
“But you are sleeping in that big room with him, right?”
“Mom, I need to feed my son. If you’re truly only here because you think that me being with Alex will benefit you financially I’ll solve that mystery for you right now. What is Alex’s is Alex’s. I’m not with him in any way shape or form to benefit financially or otherwise in any materialistic way. I care very much for Alex and being with him is all about that and Michael.”
She narrowed her eyes at me and said, “I really don’t know what has gotten into you. Becoming a mother has made you hateful and spiteful.”
“Because I won’t agree to share money that’s not mine with you?”
“If you marry him it will be yours,” she said, proving what I already knew; she did expect to benefit.
“I’d like for you to leave now, Mother, and please don’t come back unless you’re invited.” She opened her mouth to say something and I took out my breast and put it in my son’s mouth. She made a face that told me she was repulsed by the natural sight of a mother feeding her child and in a huff, she turned on her heel and left. I looked down at Michael and said, “Wow, if I had known it would be that easy, I would have fed you an hour ago.”
***
By the time Liz arrived, the last of the staff was leaving, Michael was down for the night and Cook had set out one of the most amazing looking meals that I have ever seen.
“Wow, look at all of this,” Liz said, looking around as we sat. I asked Cook to put us in the kitchen. I knew how Liz felt about the mansion and I was hoping it would be more comfortable for her than the formal dining room.
“Yeah, Cook goes all out. He’s really something…” I suddenly had an idea.
“What’s that look?” she said. “What are you up to?”
“I was just thinking I should introduce you and Cook. I think you would really like him and him you. He really is an amazing man. I had never really thought about him as a “man” though until today. You can thank my mother for that.”
She laughed. “You never thought of him as a man? Should I worry about that?”
“No,” I said, laughing. “That didn’t come out right. It’s
Israel Finkelstein, Neil Asher Silberman