Chapter Twelve

Cole sat on the front step of the whitewashed guest house, surrounded by the competing scents of a mixture of flowers. He got out his phone to spend his time replying to emails while he waited for Tess and his mother to return from shopping. The emails were banked up, months' worth. He'd only just returned to work since his accident when he found out about Tess and the baby, and things were starting to get on top of him. Not that he would admit it to Tess. The last thing he wanted was her worrying about him and the business. Besides, he deserved some time off but answering a few thousand emails couldn't hurt.

Before he realized it, he'd gotten lost in his business, it always had a knack for drawing him in until he forgot time and place. An hour passed by in the blink of an eye and he was only disturbed when the sound of women's laughter pricked up his ears. He closed his phone and shoved it back into his pocket. Standing up, he squinted into the sun and saw the silhouettes of two women walking across the lawn towards him. They were either 8ft wide or they were each carrying copious amounts of shopping.

He dashed over to greet them.

"Tess you're pregnant, you shouldn't be lifting heavy things." Cole scolded and pulled the bags from her hands. Looking at his mother, her cheeks red with exhaustion but her eyes crinkled with laughter he couldn't help but smile. "And you, well, you're old, give me your stuff as well." He teased and yanked the packages from her.

"Oh, this is nothing." His mother said. "You should see the delivery van."

Cole laughed, he wouldn't put it past her. His mother had many skills. She was actually a really great cook, a shrewd businesswoman, even though she really only dabbled now and again, and a marvelous mother. But her one skill that would leave all others in her dust was her ability to shop. "I wouldn't put it past her." He winked at Tess.

Tess' cheeks burned and she stared at her toes. "You shouldn't look." She glanced up briefly and pointed towards a white van, pulling up outside the door of the guesthouse.

"Are you kidding me? Mother!"

"It's not every day you become a grandmother for the first time. So I did a bit of spoiling." She threw Tess a conspiring wink, who smiled shyly back and looked back to the ground.

They met the delivery van driver at the door. His mother fell immediately into supervisor mode and set out orders of where to put everything. Cole took the opportunity to pull Tess aside.

"Hey, you alright? You feel okay?" He asked her.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just..." She let her voice trail off.

"Just what?"

"I feel terrible about all this stuff. Don't get me wrong, I had an amazing time with your mother. She's so fun."

"You find my mother fun?" He asked. "Her? That woman there." He pointed to his mother as she rushed around screeching at the delivery men.

Tess stifled a giggle. "Yes, her, and you're terrible, Cole."

"Well, what's your issue?" He asked, turning back to her.

"She shouldn't have spent so much money. I had a little. Enough."

He shushed her with his hand. "Pft...don't pay her any mind. Shopping's her 'thing' but she's run out of things to buy. Believe me, this was for her not you."

"It's just... your father, I don't want him to think— "

"Who cares what he thinks?" He interrupted her. "Not me. And you shouldn't either."

"It's easy for you to say, he likes you."

Cole's eyebrows shot up. "Well, that's a matter of opinion."

Tess spun to face him, eyes wide with surprise and sees he was smiling.

They both laugh but are quickly interrupted by his mother.

"Cole, do you want me to get someone up here to put the crib together?"

He rolled his eyes. "No mother, I'm capable of doing it."

He stretched his arms above his head, arching his back, before rolling his sleeves up to his elbows.

"Maybe I should call a decorator in and have it painted, and maybe a monogram designed above the crib. Have you thought of names yet?"

Cole strolled over to his mother and slung his arm around her shoulder. "Mom, I know you're trying to help but our stay here is temporary. It's hardly worth painting walls and building tunnels."

"Wha...what? What tunnels?"

"It's just an expression, I'm saying, thank you for all this but it's plenty." Cole turned to Tess. "Did you manage to buy some new clothes?"

"Yes," She nodded, eyes twinkling. "We went to Target."

Cole froze for a second. Then looked from one woman to the other. "Wait, what? You went to Target?" He asked his mother.

Tilting her chin up to him she answered, "Yes, so? Do you have something to say?"

"Well it's hardly Saks Fifth Avenue, is it?"

His mother flushed a crimson red. "Stop it. I'll have you know they have some lovely things. And so affordable. Of course, I could never wear any of it, in case some of the neighbors see me and think we've gone broke. And the polyester would likely give my sensitive skin a rash. No, no I could never."

"But it's alright for Tess?" Cole pressed.

"No, I just meant..." She began.

"Mrs. Washington very generously offered to take me to Saks but I refused. $8,000 for a dress, would be enough to send me into labor. I talked her into Target." Tess defended her.

Cole stared at the women and caught the conspiratorial smile that passed between them and shook his head. "Good Lord, they've ganged up on me." He muttered under his breath.

His mother picked her handbag up off the closest armchair and held it daintily between three fingers and her thumb. "If you children are alright here; I'm going to head back to the main house. I need a cup of coffee or I might not make it to dinner."

Tess shuffled over to her and wrapped her in a bear hug, while Cole looked on, with his mouth hung open. "Thank you for today. I really appreciate it." Tess said.

They pulled back from the embrace and his mother rubbed Tess's back. "My pleasure, dear. Do you think you might make it to the house for dinner tonight?"

Cole jumped in, "Just get a couple of plates sent over here for us, thank you, mother. We're going to be busy putting all this together." He motioned around the now cluttered sitting room.

"Oh, alright. I might have an early night then. If you need anything, don't be frightened to call."

"Thanks again for today," Tess called to Mrs. Washington's retreating back. "It was fun."

"It was fun." Mrs. Washington agreed as she practically skipped out the door.

Tess picked up a mobile, still in the box and turned it over in her hands, before ripping it open and pulling out a collection of stuffed animals. A sheep, a lion, a duck and another creature that may have been a dinosaur or possibly a giraffe.

She threaded the string through the little loops and secured each one with a tab of Velcro to the animals, one at a time.

Cole watched her silently. She'd changed. Become softer somehow. Undeniably the wild streak was still there but it was overshadowed by a maternal glow. It made her all the more desirable. Not just physically but as a potential life partner. Not that there was a chance of that, but it didn't stop him from dreaming.

"Can you pass me that bag of craft supplies please?" She spoke suddenly.

Glancing around Cole saw a brown paper bag with a picture of a paintbrush stamped on the front, on the sofa. He picked it up and held it out to her.

"This it?" He asked.

"Thanks." She mumbled and took it from his hand and immediately rummaged through it. Pulling out some multi-color fluff she began snipping away at it with a pair of scissors.

"What are you doing?" he eventually asked, when it wasn't becoming obvious from watching. "What is that furry stuff?"

"They're Mohawks." She looked up from running a line of glue on the back of one of the pieces and smiled.

"Sorry, what?"

She pushed the fluff down on top of the duck's head and pressed down, holding it until the glue set. "See? I want all the animals to have Mohawks."

He couldn't hold back a smile. "Of course, you do."

"I want his room to have a rock star theme. Or possibly a carnival or something exciting and adrenaline-inducing."

He shook his head at her. "Why not set a cotton candy machine up in the corner?"

"I love that idea." She squealed in excitement.

"Okay, calm down, I was kidding. We do want him to sleep sometimes. How about a nice calm blue or gray?"

The deadpan look on her face told him, she wasn't a fan of his suggestions.

"Cole, rock stars don't do powder blue, rock stars need color and something wild. And our son will not be gray. Our son will be vibrant and lively and will never, ever, be gray." She said and continued to stick miniature, colored hair on the poor unsuspecting sheep. "Did you have much hair when you were born?" She asked. Moving on from the previous topic.

"I have no idea. Why?"

"Well, I had lots. It stuck up all over the place. If our baby has hair like that, we could have GG cut it into some sort of style."

He sighed and ran his hand through his hair. "I think we should just let him concentrate on being a baby for a while eh?"

She glared at him for a bit, he pretended not to notice and busied himself, with reading the instructions for the crib.

"The tools are in the box." She hinted.

He raised an eyebrow at her, got up and left the room. She struggled to her feet and followed him down the hall to one of the two smaller bedrooms.

"What do you think? This one?"

She poked her head in the door and looked around. "I think the sun will hit it in the morning so I agree it's the best choice, but it's only temporary remember." She reminded him and he was surprised by how much the reminder hurt.

Subconsciously he'd been hoping if he never mentioned leaving, she never would. It was ridiculous of course, there was just so much left unspoken between them, yet when the conversations got serious, things became uncomfortable. When they ignored the elephants in the room things ran smoothly. So it was best to just go with the flow and let Tess lead the way. Maybe he was more like his father than he'd realized.

"Cole, did you hear me? Don't forget it's temporary. The baby and I won't be staying here forever."

"How could I forget?" He brushed past her and hurried back to the sitting room. Picking up the box that housed the crib, he hoisted it over his shoulder with no effort at all and carried it back to the temporary nursery.

"You can have dinner and go to bed if you like. I might be here a while." He said when he noticed she made no attempt to move.

Crossing her arms across her chest, she said, "No thanks I'm alright here."

God, she's infuriating.