The woman looked at Brett. “So this is going to be your wife?”
“Gretchen, meet Estelle. She’s the matriarch of the Osborn Family.”
“Nice to meet you, Estelle.” I extended my hand, but the woman’s palms immediately cupped my stomach. I looked down at the woman’s hands planted against my belly.
What in the hell was she doing? I wanted to wiggle free, but the warning in Brett’s eyes, told me not to move.
“You’re marrying Brett?” she asked.
I nodded. It wouldn’t make for good family politics if I told them we just met three weeks ago and I didn’t know what I was signing up for. But it didn’t matter—according to his father’s contract, I agreed to marriage and to start a family with him.
“You’re planning on starting a family...right away? Aren’t you leaving again, Brett?” She was staring a hole through me although she was speaking to him.
Brett stepped forward. “Yes, Estelle. No need to worry. She is independent, and I always know she has the Jacksons and the Osborns to lean in when I’m gone.”
Estelle looked past me and into Brett’s eyes. “Tsk, tsk, Brett.”
She withdrew her wrinkled hands from my belly. I was relieved to have my personal space again. “I’ve seen men do a lot of things in my time, but I don’t think I’ve seen one leave his wife when she is with child.”
“I’m not,” I declared. Who was this looney toon? The woman was either high or drunk. Maybe both.
My hands instantly landed on the swell of my stomach, protectively. I felt the nausea rising in my throat. Oh, God. I was going to be sick. There was no way this lady knew what she was talking about.
Brett reached out to steady me “Hey, are you ok?”
My head spun. I nodded, but my eyes caught his. “There’s no way she thinks I’m pregnant.”
I knew it wasn’t medically possible. I had had ultrasounds and tests. My ovaries were basically frozen until I did hormone treatments, but as another wave of nausea rolled through me I knew there was a possibility I was wrong.
The way coffee smelled made me sick. My favorite lotion made me throw up. I was craving everything sweet in sight. My breasts had never felt more tender.
No, it wasn’t supposed to be medically possible.
“Estelle,” Brett barked. “What are you trying to stir up?”
The red head shrugged. “What can I say? She looks pregnant to me. Believe it or not. Go take a test yourselves. I guarantee you it’s going to say she’s pregnant.”
I reached for Brett, and his arm wrapped around my waist.
“Congratulations, Brett.” The old man slapped him on the back. “You didn’t waste any time. I think this settles things, doesn’t it Estelle?”
“Barnes, you know I won’t fight if there is another generation on the way. It’s no way for children to be brought up.”
I watched as the two shook hands. The others in the group began to file out of the meeting, each one stopping to congratulate us.
When the last one left. I looked at Brett dizzy with confusion.
“I’m not supposed to be able to get pregnant,” I whispered.
“I know.” He pulled me against his chest, his arms circling me.
“She’s crazy, isn’t she?”
He sighed. “There’s only one way to find out. I think you need to take a test.”
I looked at him. “Are you serious?”
He whispered in my ear. “I told you, you were going to have my baby.”