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“Nieces and nephews,” she corrected.

“Nothing I’ve seen about the process has changed my mind. If anything, after watching what Amber and Frannie had to go through, it confirmed my decision.”

“You can’t ‘see’ the bond between a mother and a child,” Mum said with a sharp shake of her head. “It’s a love like you’ve never experienced.”

So she kept on saying, but nothing about her love for me made that seem like a good thing. Being around her was like trying to swim in the open ocean during a tempest. Waves relentlessly lapping at my head, the undertow tugging at my feet as I fought to keep my head above water, my muscles quickly tiring.

“Then she won’t miss it if she never feels it.” Brock’s voice cut through the chatter in the entire cafe it felt. “It’s not selfish to never have a child, just to have one and resent it your whole life.”

For once Mum’s many rules worked in my favour. Me, she could argue with until she was blue in the face, but a man and a guest? Brock had her mouth shutting, even if it formed a thin line of discontent.

“Eat up,” Dad said, nodding to my plate. “Can’t abide wasting food.”

I shook my head and picked up my knife and fork, then went to work.

“Oh ho, that’s a beauty!” My parents followed us out to the carpark, Dad was in a good mood because Brock had paid for breakfast, but that was nothing compared to when he saw the car. “That’s an old HQ. I had one back in the day, not in mint condition like this though.”

“Restored it all myself,” Brock said, opening the driver’s seat door then popping the bonnet, but when we went over to take a look in the engine bay, Mum grabbed my arm.

“You need to invite Brock to be your date to the engagement party,” she told me in a low voice. “He seems good and solid. Just the kind of impression we want to make with Nadia’s family.”

Nadia, my brother’s fiancé, was lovely, but I didn’t realise her family was that intense about these things.

“We’ll see.”

She made a sound of irritation, then forged on.

“And you’ll need to ask for some time off on Tuesday afternoon.”

“What? No, I’m fully booked?—”

“Brock won’t mind.” Mum smiled up at me. “Nadia has very kindly invited us to come and look at wedding dresses with her and the women in her family.”

“Something I am completely unqualified to give an opinion on,” I said, “as you well know. Nadia’s hardly likely to miss me. We barely know each other.”

“And you’re about to become family. I can ask Brock for you?”

Her threat was obvious. Brock was unlikely to say no to a direct request from Mum.

“No…” I started trying to shift my schedule around in my head but pushed that to one side when I realised it wasn’t going to happen. “It’s fine. I’ll work something out, but only for an hour.”

“An hour? That’s barely time to try on one dress,” she spluttered.

“Then save the highlights for me when I get there,” I replied. “I won’t be able to take any more time off than that. You guys say you want me to have a secure income? Well, I have one, I just need to keep my damn job. Now, I’ve gotta go.”

“Well, give us a hug then.”

How did she do this? Turn from overbearing to sweet in seconds. I frowned as I moved into her arms, feeling her give me a squeeze. “This Brock must be looking after you right. You look almost pretty today.” She turned my face from one side to the other. “I think you’ve lost some weight.”

I lost fifty kilos very rapidly as I stepped back from her.

“I’ll see you later?—”

“Sunday afternoon,” she corrected. “Steve is hosting a barbecue over at his place. Everyone will be there, so I expect to see you then.”

Great.

I smiled tightly and then nodded, beating a hasty retreat back to Brock.