Merry had calmed down enough that I was okay gently moving away from her and getting up to go over to my desk. Rosie happily took my spot, going back to licking and snuggling. I grabbed my phone off my desk and called my mom.
“I need you,” I said when she answered the phone.
“Quentin? Is everything all right?” she asked, sounding understandably worried.
“I just need to talk to you. Can you please come to my office?”
“Of course,” she said. “I’ll be there as fast as I can.”
I hung up the phone and turned back to Merry. She was looking at me with widened eyes.
“You called your mother?” she asked.
“Yes,” I said. “I can’t keep this to myself. I already told you I’m really bad with secrets.”
She chuckled, which made me feel better.
“Apparently,” she said. “How are you going to do it? She’s not the biggest fan of the two of us having anything to do with each other in that way.”
“I’ll figure it out when she gets here. Don’t worry,” I said. “This is my mother we’re talking about. I’ve had surprising conversations with her before.”
“One like this?” she asked.
“No,” I said, sitting back down and wrapping my arms around her again.
That was all I had the opportunity to say. My mother must have sprouted wings and flown, because she burst into the office door far faster than I would have thought she’d be able to get there. That was good to know.
“What’s going on?” she asked, coming into the office and staring at us.
Her eyes locked on where my arms were wrapped around Merry, and I could see her starting to get angry. She’d been clear with me about how she felt regarding the power dynamics of our relationship, and I shouldn’t have anything like that to do with one of my employees. I could tell she was about to say something, so I got ahead of her.
“We’re getting Rosie a baby,” I announced. Beside me, I saw Merry turn to look at me, her eyes even wider. I kept looking at Mom, wanting to make sure she understood what I was saying. “Merry’s pregnant.”
I waited for the reaction. In that moment, I was very aware it could have gone any direction, but it only took a few seconds for a huge grin to break across her face. My mother was all but glowing as she threw her arms open. Merry and I stood up and let her gather us up into a giant hug. She stepped back from that and then hugged each of us individually.
“I can’t believe it,” she said. “I’m just so happy. I’m going to be a grandma.” Then she looked over at Rosie. “I’m sorry, honey. You will always be my precious grandpuppy.”
This seemed to satisfy Rosie, and she jumped over to her bed, dropping down with a sigh as if to say she had done her duty for the day and was going to take a nap. She definitely deserved an extra handful of treats today.
“I know this might be weird or uncomfortable for some people,” I said, but Mom immediately shook her head.
“It doesn’t matter. It’s going to be fine. It’ll all work out. I promise. We will figure it out, and everything will be perfectly fine,” she said. “You leave telling your father and your brothers to me. Unless you want to make some sort of announcement.”
Merry shook her head. “No. It’s fine for you to tell them. Thank you. That actually takes a lot of stress off me.”
“Good. You don’t need any stress right now. What you need is rest and time together. You two take the rest of the day off,” she said.
“Aren’t I the one in charge of this company?” I asked.
“Not when I’m on grandma duty. You go home, and we’ll all get together tomorrow,” she said.
I watched with a lump in my throat as she gathered Merry in her arms again for another hug. She murmured something I couldn’t hear into Merry’s ear, and Merry smiled, hugging my mother closer. As they pulled apart, Mom looked down at Merry’s stomach, searching for any sign of the baby. Merry ran her hand over it.
“There’s not much to see yet,” she admitted.
“There will be soon enough,” Mom said, “and I can’t wait to see it.”
“Well, before that happens, I’d like to get her home,” I said. “We have a lot to talk about.”
Wrapping my arm around her shoulders, I guided Merry toward the door.
“Come on, Rosie,” she called, and the puppy happily fell into step with us.
I finally got her out to the car and brought her home like I’d wanted to all along. We got to the bedroom, and I gently removed her clothes down to her panties and bra. Stripping down to my boxers, I pulled back the blankets on the bed, and we slipped in. She sighed as she settled down in the crook of my arm. She seemed calm and happy now, and we fell into conversation. It was easy and stress-free. I leaned over and kissed her, just because I wanted to. We had time to figure everything out, and I knew we would. I loved her, and she was finally right where she belonged.