Chapter 30

I was fairly certain that Diana was on the verge of passing out.

And to be completely honest, I wasn’t feeling that much further behind her. The second James had made the harsh announcement of my pregnancy, I felt myself sway and roll back on the heels of my feet. A nauseating fog filled my head, causing me to feel light-headed and slightly disoriented.

Thank God, James kept a sturdy hold on me, otherwise I would have very likely found myself on the floor.

But unlike me, Diana visually paled and was left to rely on the help of her two daughters. Each one grabbed her from the side and tried to keep her steady.

I cleared my throat and fought to work through the haze in my mind. “Mrs. Derek, would you care to sit down for a moment and rest?” I offered.

Diana shook herself from her overwhelming emotions—a, a talent that I clearly lacked. Her features grew tense as she took a step forward and stared between James and me.

“I refuse to stay here for another moment,” she announced. “I’m going home, where I intend to speak to your father about this matter.”

“Be my guest,” James said tightly. “He and I haven’t spoken to one another in months. Retirement seems to be agreeing with him, and I cannot imagine that someone like him could be bothered with such trivial things like this.”

The corners of her eyes twitched with bitter annoyance. She quickly turned on her heels and called for her daughters to follow.

“Actually, Mother, Lana and I are going to stay back for a bit,” one of them said coolly.

Lana nodded her head while looking over James and me. “I agree with Kristen. I think we ought to know who our new sister-in-law is.”

I hadn’t detected a tone of malice in their voices, but I was still a bit hesitant, nonetheless.

Without another word, Diana left the house with the doors slamming shut behind her. The harsh sound caused me to jolt with discomfort.

“It’s alright, Mia,” James said quietly.

I felt him rub small circles into my back. I wished it was enough to erase the horrible feelings that were gradually eating away at me. What a freaking catastrophe!

That was not how I imagined our first introductions as a married couple to go with his family.

“No, it’s not,” I said back. I let out a long sigh and tried to pull myself back but James wouldn’t have it. “I don’t want to come in between you and your family like this.”

Oddly enough, Lana and Kristen must have picked up my uneasiness and slowly approached us. They both wore similar looks of reassurance and spoke lightly.

“James is right, Mia,” Kristen said.

Lana nodded her head. “There’s always a chance that our mother will come around to the idea of you and James being together.”

The two sisters giggled with one another. “Once she realizes that father won’t care, she’ll soon find something else to distract herself with.”

I raised my brows in surprise. Did their father really not care about who James ended up with?

...

Later that day, the four of us were seated in the dining room where a well-prepared dinner had been served. I’d taken the opportunity to really get a chance to learn more about James’ sisters. According to what I’d been told, Lana and Kristen were sent off to boarding school when they were younger. It explained why I never really saw much of them as we grew up.

What truly surprised me was learning about all the types of activities their parents made them get involved in.

Each Derek offspring could play some type of instrument, speak numerous languages, and are highly educated in the world of business and communications.

“It seems like a lot was expected from you all,” I said.

“It was certainly difficult, trying to have a personal life of our own, that’s for sure,” Lana commented.

I found the muscles around my heart were straining and aching with sympathy. Although I was often bullied for my appearance and awkwardness, I at least had a childhood that was my own.

“So, what about you, Mia?”

“Yeah, aside from putting up with our impossible brother all day, what is it that you do?”

My face flushed, having been placed in the spotlight. “Well, I do work a bit with James at the office. I mainly make sure that all the incoming documents are properly in order and signed on time. But, when I’m not at work, I really enjoy baking.”

It was obvious that this piece of news surprised even James. He sat back straight in his chair and stared at me with dubious shock. That look gave me a buzz of excitement.

“Actually, before your mother showed up, I’d just finished preparing a special dessert for James,” I announced. “And it should be just about ready by now.”

The corner of his mouth curled upward into a touching smile that led a wave of warmth to spread through me. I excused myself from the table to go take out the ice cream cake from the freezer. However, something was terribly wrong.

When I went to open the freezer, I came to find that my circular metal pan which held my cake was nowhere to be found. My heart slammed against my rib cage.

“What the hell?” I discovered that someone had moved my cake from the freezer to the refrigerator. Had it been by accident or did someone move it with the curl intention of ruining it?

‘Oh, what the hell did it matter?’ I asked myself. The cake was ruined regardless.

“Oh dear,” Lily said from beside me. “If you ask me, I’d say that this has one of my Monica’s girls written all over it.”

“What am I going to do?” I asked her. “It’s ruined.”

“Mia?” James’ deep voice called from the doorway. “What’s wrong?”

The corner of my eyes flooded with tears, not wanting him to see the absolute mess that had transpired.

“It’s completely ruined. Someone moved it into the fridge when it was supposed to be in the freezer this whole time. I’m so sorry, James.”

James grabbed a spoon and tried it. My heart rate grew more erratic by the second.

“Mia, please take a breath and calm down. It’s absolutely delicious,” he stated.

Lily and I wore a look of total shock as we both picked up a spook and scooped into the melted mixture. “Oh my God, he’s right,” I said.

“I usually am,” he said with sarcasm.

We let out a series of giggles and laughs. Unconsciously, I ended up wrapping my arms around James and hugged him close.