It’s late afternoon when Edward and I get back to the apartment and we remember our almost forgotten Thanksgiving dinner plans.
‘We can cancel,’ he says, a sliver of hope in his voice. And he’s right in a sense, because just the idea of meeting everyone in a few hours sends adrenaline coursing through my already depleted body. But I know that now we are becoming a family in our own right, there is even more reason to meet his.
‘I have to meet them at some point, Ed. If we do introductions now it won’t be such a bombshell when we tell them about the pregnancy. I’ll be in the second trimester soon and we can tell them then. That gives them three weeks from now to get their heads around the idea of me before we land a baby on them too. It’s probably best to get the ball rolling as soon as possible, right?’
Edward weighs my words. ‘Put like that, yeah. But I don’t want you feeling pressured by any of this. Dr Leyman said you should avoid anything too stressful, until we get through the first trimester. We’ll go tonight but if it gets too much you need to tell me straight away. If anything concerns you, you tell me. Right?’
His tone has a seriousness that makes my stomach flip. He’s not messing around; all joking aside, his family are going to be hard work. I think of Matilda – her smile, her ebullient warmth, and then the fact that she completely screwed me into a non-consensual Thanksgiving. I’ll be walking into a whole nest of Matildas tonight. A building full of people I might not even realize are manipulating me until well after the fact.
‘Who’s going to be there, again?’ I ask.
His eyebrows raise. ‘The usual crowd, I’m guessing. Mom. Dad. Matilda. My brothers and their partners.’ His younger brothers Oliver and Stuart. ‘Then there’s Nancy, my dad’s general counsel…’
‘Wait, wait, wait. Your dad’s general what?’
Edward smirks. ‘General counsel. Nancy, she’s head of legal at ThruComm Holbeck.’ He takes in my incredulous face. ‘She’s been around a while. He trusts her.’
‘I see. And his legal counsel comes to family functions. Okay, good to know. I hadn’t realized we were living in Wolf Hall. Please continue. Anyone else?’
‘Nunu will be there too, I’m guessing, with the kids.’
‘Don’t understand any part of that sentence.’
He laughs. ‘The family nanny, Nunu. She’ll be there, but at the kids’ table.’
‘Family nanny. Nunu. Right,’ I say, making a mental note to remember these names. ‘Wait, the kids have a separate table?’
‘Trust me, you’ll want to be at the children’s table too once you’ve experienced the adult one.’
‘Okay,’ I smirk. ‘There’s a lot to unpack there. I’m going to want to hear a lot more about this whole family nanny/Nunu situation later – you never said you had one growing up. But put a pin in that… Who else might be there tonight?’
‘Marty Fullman’s usually there. COO of ThruComm. And his dog, Grog.’
‘Oh, for God’s sake.’
‘So, twelve adults, four kids, and a dog. Plus the staff, but I’m not counting them.’ I feel my eyebrows shoot up before he adds, ‘You know what I mean – it’s house staff, maids, kitchen staff, a chef…’
‘Right. So, basically, I’m meeting everyone. But your brother’s partners will be there, right? How did their first dinners go?’
Edward takes a moment before answering. ‘Varies, but it was sort of different for them.’
‘Different how?’
‘Well, because I’m the eldest. The firstborn.’