Promise Me

We’ll see you there.

Thank you Ronan.

I wasn’t sure what to think. What Mom might want. She hadn’t really spoken to me since we found that Skylar was pregnant. When your family is as tightknit as ours is being an outcast is not an easy thing to live with. It was weighing on me as much as how Skylar had gotten pregnant even though I accepted that and was looking forward to Luke. I was seeing my brothers on a regular basis but it wasn’t the same as not seeing Mom and Dad.

Rhett and Skylar’s sisters plus my cousin Sophia were planning a baby shower for Skylar. It was a surprise so they asked me to first of all get her there. Second of all, they asked me to not let her pick anything out for our nursery. She was getting irritated with me stalling her. “Maybe after we meet your Mom, we could go look at the baby store?”

“How about paint first,” I suggested.

“Ronan, I can’t pick a paint color until I pick out the baby’s crib set.”

‘What’s a crib set?” I asked scratching my head. I really needed to learn more about the baby things. The terminology was like a foreign language to me.

She sighed. “The blankets, sheets. The thing that will set the theme of the entire room.”

“Oh.” That made sense. The girls couldn’t fault me for that. “Okay, we’ll do that.” I better text them to be sure that was going to be all right.

I climbed out of the car and headed to her door to open it for her. I was texting her mother as I walked. “Are you all right?” She snapped at me.

“Yeah Sky, I’m fine. Why?”

“Who are you texting?”

“No one in particular. Just Fionn for one to be sure that he wasn’t expecting me after our birthing class.” I lied.

“Oh,” she replied.

I took her hand as we walked across the lot to the front door. I opened it and Sky walked beneath my arm. Delilah seated us and I couldn’t help checking her out. I forgot to tell Skylar about her so I could see her irritation at me checking out another woman. Dominick looked a lot like her.

She laid the menus in front of us leaning over as she did so I got a good close look at her face. She was tall and slender. I could see where Dominick got his height. Her hair was as black as his. Her eyes a pale blue, like his and Madeline’s. Nickolas’s eyes were different, more hazel-green. Maybe like his father’s eyes?

“I’m Delilah, I’ll take your order when you’re ready.”

“My mother is joining us. We’ll wait on her.”

“Oh, no problem. I’ll be back.” There were dark circles beneath her eyes otherwise she was very pretty. Her hair was slicked back in a ponytail. She wasn’t much older than me at thirty-two, just five years but she easily looked ten years older. Worn down from drug use and a hard life. She walked away but I stopped her.

“You’re Dominick LaBenito’s Mom?”

“I am.” She turned and looked at me. I knew she was wondering if he was in trouble.

“I’m Ronan Moore,” I said.

She slipped into the booth then. “He’s told me about you.”

Now that surprised me. “He has. What has he told you?”

“You’re his coach on the football team. He talks of nothing but you.”

“Delilah, we’re cousins. I haven’t told him that yet. I wanted to see you first. My grandfather met Nickolas and Maddie at the football games.” I didn’t know if she knew they had been to the farm and I wasn’t going to rat them out. “He was talking to Nickolas and discovered it.”

Her hand slapped against the table. “Wow, that’s insane. How?” She asked.

“My grandmother Betsy was your dad, Tebo’s first cousin.”

She teared up a bit. “You know my granddad Frank hated how his sister let her husband kick Betsy to the curb but she wasn’t strong enough to stand up to him. Mom always said that Granddad missed Betsy so much.

“My family is weird like that though, they won’t interfere. He never tried to see her even though he wanted to. He didn’t just to keep peace in the family.” She shook her head at me.