Because You're Mine(7)

Alanna went into Sheila’s embrace and touched her lips to her mother-in-law’s cheek, scented with some kind of powder. Liam had gotten his sweet nature from his mother.

“When did you arrive?” Sheila asked as they separated and moved to sit.

“Just this afternoon. I came straightaway. The furniture is lovely, Sheila. I like it very much.”

Alanna knew the precise moment that Sheila realized she was pregnant. The sun piercing through the window highlighted the swell of her belly when she was two feet in front of the sofa. Her mates had seen her every day, so the change was harder to notice. Sheila hadn’t seen her in over a year.

Sheila gasped and rose. “Alanna, you’re expecting?”

Alanna smiled into Sheila’s joy-filled face. “I am. Just four months along. It’s a piece of Liam, Sheila. A boy.” Her eyes welled with tears when she said the words.

Thomas was standing by the drink table pouring a glass of Scotch. He whirled and the liquid splashed onto his hand. His gaze went from her face to her belly. “A child? Liam’s child?” His voice rose, and there was no mistaking the joy in it.

“Yes, Thomas. The little one will be making his appearance in August.”

“This is jolly news, Alanna. Jolly indeed.” He put down his drink and came to embrace her. “I’m so pleased.”

Sheila rose. “Can I get you something? Sit down, dear.”

Thomas set his drink on the sideboard. “Yes, yes, sit down and rest.”

She allowed Sheila to push her onto the sofa. Her helpless gaze found Ciara’s. Her mate had found a seat on an armchair out of the way. She rolled her eyes when their gazes locked.

“I’m fine, really,” Alanna said.

“Any sickness?” Sheila asked anxiously. “I remember when I was carrying Liam how I couldn’t look a blood pudding in the face.” She gave a delicate shudder.

“I had a few mornings of nausea, but it’s not been too bad,” she said.

Thomas frowned. “How long have you known you were pregnant?”

She’d known this moment was coming. “Just a few weeks. I didn’t pay attention to . . . to my monthlies.” Her face heated to be discussing such a thing with Thomas there. He was so proper. “It was only when I discovered my jeans not fitting that I began to wonder and counted back. Liam didn’t want to call and tell you that kind of good news over the phone. We’d planned to come to see you next month.”

“That’s good, that’s good,” Thomas said. “We have many plans to make. I’ll call the architect and have him start straightaway on redoing the west wing for you and the baby.”

“And I know just the pediatrician for you,” Sheila put in. “He’s the best in Dublin.” She was practically clapping her hands. “A baby,” she marveled. “I can’t take it all in.”

Alanna should have expected this. She must have been mad to have been gobsmacked by their plans. For just a moment she allowed herself to think of how wonderful it would be to let someone else worry about her life, but she gave a slow shake of her head. “I have a concert schedule to keep. I must go back to America after Liam’s funeral. Most of the upcoming concerts are sold out, and if we cancel now, this chance might never come again. I will come back when the tour is done.”

The lines on Thomas’s brow deepened. “But of course you’ll stop that music madness. It’s no life for a child. Being hauled from pillar to post on a bus. A child needs stability, a normal home. A chance to go to church.”

Alanna hadn’t thought beyond getting through her grief while fulfilling her contracts and having the baby. “We’re on the cusp of making a name for ourselves.” She shook her head. “Our manager thinks we will be bigger than Celtic Woman someday. I have a responsibility to my mates to see it through. And not only that, it’s my dream and Liam’s too. I can’t throw it all away when it’s nearly in my hands.”

“I forbid it!” Thomas thundered. “You cannot subject my grandchild to such lowlifes.”

“I’m sorry if I sound disrespectful, Thomas. I don’t mean it in that manner. But I’m nearly thirty years old. I’ll make the decisions for my own child. I am his mother.”

The burn of tears was in her eyes. She hadn’t wanted it to go this way. In her imagination, she’d dreamed Thomas would promise to throw his influence behind bookings here in Ireland. He would offer her the little gardener’s cottage at the back of the estate for when they were off the road. Such a foolish daydream.

Sheila gasped and Thomas said nothing for a long moment. Alanna prayed he saw the futility of his orders. They might yet have a decent relationship. When she saw his brows gather again, she knew he wasn’t giving up so easily.

“Then you leave me no choice,” he said heavily. “I wouldn’t want to take the child from you, but I will if I have to. As the mother, you should be the first to recognize that.”

Alanna rose and grabbed her purse. “You can’t take my baby from me.” The Irish law was very clear about who should be raising a child.

“I can do most anything I want,” Thomas said. “All I have to do is make a phone call and report you as unfit. I can have your visa revoked, and you’ll have no choice but to come back to Ireland.”