The Fixed Trilogy: Found in You(52)

Pretending I wasn’t there was one way to handle me, I supposed.

“Mira,” she exclaimed, peering over Celia who sat between her and Mirabelle. “Only four more months until the newest Pierce is introduced to the world. You must be so excited!”

Mira’s hands flew instinctively to her belly. “I am!” She frowned. “But when you say four more months, I want to puke a little.”

Sophia cleared her throat with disapproval. God, correcting a full-grown woman’s language was beyond ridiculous. I wanted to puke a little myself.

Mira was used to Sophia though. “Sorry, not great dinner conversation. I wish it were sooner, that’s all. I’m anxious to have her in the world instead of sitting on my bladder.”

“It will be here soon enough. Trust me.” Unlike his wife, Adam sounded happy that he still had months to prepare.

Warren shook his head, triggered by Adam speaking. He elbowed his wife. “That’s not right, Madge. Mira’s not a Pierce anymore. It will be baby Sitkin.”

Mira’s eyes went straight to her mother. “Or Sitkin-Pierce, if we decide to hyphenate.” The look on Mira’s face said this was a conversation she’d had before. Mirabelle had kept the name Pierce for business endeavors, but the hyphenating was new. I’d bet my entire bank account that it was an attempt to please Sophia.

But nothing pleased Sophia. “It’s not the same. Sitkin-Pierce is not Pierce.” She sighed dramatically. “So the bloodline continues, but not the name.”

It was funny how concerned the woman was with a name that she’d only earned through a loveless marriage. It showed how materialistic she was, how tied she was to appearances. It was the Pierce name that held weight in the world. Any deviation lost the power that the Pierce Industry carried. In her eyes, anyway.

Adam sat forward as if about to go to battle. “Mira’s not the only Pierce offspring. Chandler could have children.”

And Hudson, I thought to myself.

“Then it will be the name but not the bloodline,” Jack said nonchalantly.

My hand flew to my mouth, stifling a gasp. There were rumors that Chandler wasn’t Jack’s child, but I didn’t know it was something the Pierce family discussed openly.

“What?” Chandler looked up from his lap where he’d been trying to hide that he was texting or whatever it was he was doing on his phone.

“Nothing,” Mira called down the table. “Go back to whatever you were doing.”

So maybe it was common knowledge to everyone but Chandler.

Sophia took another swallow of her drink—her third of the evening. “Hudson and Celia’s baby could have been both.”

I tensed. Hudson and Celia’s fictitious baby caused a fair amount of contention in the family. It had happened years ago, yet the weight of it had been so heavy that it refused to disappear. Why Celia didn’t own up and explain the baby wasn’t Hudson’s was beyond me. It pissed me off that she let him continue to save her from humiliation no matter what it cost him. I couldn’t help but throw her a glare.

Celia missed my scowl as her own eyes darted toward Hudson. Or maybe Jack. They were sitting next to each other and it was difficult to tell, but Hudson made more sense.

Jack dropped his fork to his plate, the noise clattering loudly in the quiet restaurant. “Not this again, Sophia. Really? Goddammit, I won’t listen to this.” He wiped his mouth and threw his napkin over his half-eaten food. Then he stood. “Thank you everyone, I wish I could say it has been a lovely evening, but, well, I’ll leave it at that. I’ll take care of the bill on my way out. The rest of you stay and enjoy. Order dessert. As for my wife, I’m not going to invite her to rot in hell as I probably should because I think she already lives there. At least hell is where anyone who spends time with her feels like they’ve been sent.”

He deserved a standing ovation. But he simply got open-mouthed stares as he walked away from the table.

Sophia was the first to speak. “What a drama queen.” She took a bite of her chicken. “I was merely pointing out that we had a chance at a Pierce grandchild and now it’s gone.”

“Talk about drama queen…” Though his head was bowed, Adam said it loud enough that the whole table heard it.

Sophia glared at her son-in-law, but it was Hudson who drew the attention of the table. “I could have a child with Alayna.”

I nearly choked on the bite of food in my mouth. Sure, I’d been thinking that Hudson could have a kid, but it hadn’t for a moment crossed my mind he would have one with me.

Okay, maybe it had crossed my mind for a moment. But a small one. Certainly it wasn’t a thought I’d ever share out loud.

But when Hudson had said it, had said it out loud like that to everyone, a strange warmth spread through my chest. It wasn’t the low, deep burn of desire, but something different. Something related to the love that I felt for the man, mixed with a dash of hope.

I wanted to share that feeling with him, let him know what it did to me that he’d said it, and I tried to catch his eye. But he was focused on the plate in front of him, taking another bite of his crepes as if talking about having children—children with me—was every day and unremarkable.

Maybe he didn’t mean anything by it. I felt the bubble of warmth dissipate as I recognized the possibility that he merely meant it as a line to rile his mother up. In which case, it worked.