Page 30

Beth

M y car was filled with so many cookies.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to drive?” Cullen asked as we packed up. He was frowning at the car, his mind running a mile a minute.

I shook my head, unable to contain my grin. “Nope. I can do it, Grumpy Bear.”

“There’s so many cookies!” Joey declared as she stuck her head out of the window.

We were at Cullen’s restaurant, picking up an inhuman amount of cookies for the Thanksgiving festival at Joey’s school. We had considered baking them, but thanks to the little nugget I was growing, I was exhausted.

My fridge at home was full of healthy and nutritious meals from Cullen’s restaurant, even though, half the time, I ended up staying at the pack house. Jensen was constantly giving me little gift bags with prenatal vitamins for the baby and chocolate bars for me.

Gideon…he was a pain in my ass.

When I had logged on to the university portal to pay my next semester of tuition and fees, I found that they had mysteriously been paid. At first, I freaked out, thinking there was an error. Then Gideon had explained that he had simply gone ahead and paid for it.

Part of me wanted to scream and yell at him that he was overstepping, but at the same time, it was a huge help. The money that would have gone toward that semester could now be put toward getting supplies for the baby.

As I was quickly learning, babies were very expensive.

“Have fun, and be safe,” Cullen ordered as I climbed into the driver’s seat, both of us waving as we peeled out of the parking lot.

He avoided getting too close to me while we were with Joey because we hadn’t discussed what was happening with her yet—that would have to happen soon, but the adults all needed to be on the same page before then.

Our job was to set up the milk-and-cookies booth at this festival. A small elderly lady directed us to our assigned place when we arrived, and we immediately got to work.

The school was abuzz; it was all mothers and their children setting up various booths. Right away, I could see that Joey bringing any of her dads would have stuck out like a sore thumb. Still, we made the best of it.

“Can I put the streamers up?” Joey asked as I started stacking the boxes of cookies.

I nodded. “Go ahead. Put them on the sides of the booth, but be careful. If you need help, ask me! I’ll get the cookies in the display case. Then we can get the ice to keep the cartons of milk cold. How does that sound?”

“Thank you!” she squealed before diving into the box of decorations we had bought.

Even though exhaustion tugged at me, I couldn’t keep the grin off my face. These sorts of events were fun . Even though my own baby wouldn’t be doing them for a long time, I was honored Joey wanted me here.

I was determined to be the best surrogate mother possible for her.

We were putting the final touches on the store when a few mothers walked by. One of them seemed particularly interested in me. She had shoulder-length pin-straight blonde hair and was wearing a sweater that was pristine and clearly expensive.

“Are you here with Joey?” the woman asked. Even her voice was snobby.

“I am!” I smiled brightly.

Her smile never slipped as her eyebrows knitted together in confusion. “I’m sorry. I was under the impression that Joey didn’t have a mother.”

Thankfully, Joey was out of earshot, but I still glanced her way to double-check. This woman had a lot of gall to be so blunt in front of children. Thankfully, Joey was a few feet away, working on milk cartons, as I stood on a chair, pinning up the final few streamers that were too tall for her.

I kept my smile pleasant, even though I was feeling anything but. “Unfortunately, that is the case. That’s why I’m here to help out.”

The mother made a simpering expression that could almost be misconstrued as pity. “I’m so sorry. Joey mustn’t have told you. This event is intended for the mothers to help set up…” She trailed off like she was expecting me to apologize to her.

I was grinning so widely, my cheeks were starting to hurt, even though the anger was rising.

I was very familiar with this sort of mother—I had been subjected to several of them throughout my childhood.

Someone who thought their status on the parent-teacher board made them more important than everyone else.

They thought they were the best mothers in the world and were excited to show that at every opportunity, even if that meant tearing down a child.

“No, Joey told me. I assumed you weren’t the kind to exclude and bully a child because she had the misfortune of not having a mother.”

Her eyes widened, and she looked at her two friends, who were equally startled. Never in a million years would they have suspected me to call them out on their bullshit so spectacularly. People like her didn’t cope well with outright confrontation. They were far more passive-aggressive.

Righteous anger filled me, and I wanted to say a lot more than I did. Joey was such a sweet girl. She deserved to be treated better than she was. Women like this mother infuriated me, and if I wasn’t in a school full of children, I might have been more inclined toward violence.

Even though I’d known I would be a part of Joey’s life even before my pregnancy, it was different now. I would give birth to her half sibling, and there was no way I would be a mother to her little brother or sister and leave Joey out in the cold. That was a level of cruelty I couldn’t even fathom.

Deep inside my gut, a feeling grew that was protective, possessive…and, dare I say, maternal?

“We would never!” she spluttered.

I glanced over to where Joey was putting all the milk cartons into the ice bucket, blissfully unaware of the conversation I was having.

“Of course, you wouldn’t.” I beamed, keeping that sickly-sweet expression on my face. A tall man with a bushy mustache passed us, and recognition dawned on me. “Principal Jeffs! Hi.” I smiled sweetly at him as I got down off my chair, wiping my hands on my jeans.

He turned to look at us, greeting us warmly. “Hello there…Sorry, my dear, you seem so familiar, but I can’t place your name.”

“Bethany Wells. We met last year when your fourth-grade class came to the ice rink.”

Realization dawned on his face and he smiled. “Of course. It’s so nice to see you again. Are you here with one of the children?”

The entire time he spoke to me, the snooty mother looked at us in surprise. She was seemingly baffled by the fact that I had already met the principal.

“I’m here with Joey Noble,” I explained.

“Ah, how wonderful. Are you close with her family?”

I nodded. “I am. I often look after her.”

“Well, I’m glad you could join us today. I’m sorry I can’t stay and talk. I must go and check on the other booths. But have a wonderful day, and if you have any issues, don’t hesitate to find me, Bethany.”

“I won’t. Thank you so much. It was lovely seeing you again.” I waved goodbye, the smile on my face making it ache.

I was going to need a facial massage after this because I was smiling far too much.

“I stacked all the milk cartons,” Joey said, sliding up to me.

Turning away from the mothers still lingering, I gazed down at Joey, “Good job! I think we are ready to sell some cookies.”

I didn’t even bother to turn back to look at the woman who had been criticizing us a moment earlier.

I had something more important to pay attention to.

A sweet, kindhearted little girl who deserved all the love in the world.

The Thanksgiving festival was a hit.

Joey and I were stuck behind the cookie stand for most of the day, but we had a blast. Every now and then, a wave of nausea would hit me, and it would take a moment of deep breathing to ease it, but I refused to let it hinder me when it came to being there with Joey.

Shortly after we’d finished setting up, the doors opened and members of the public started flooding in.

Naturally, the men of Pack Noble were some of the first through the door.

They didn’t hover, though. They came, grabbed a butter cookie each, and handed their cash to Joey so she could put it in the cash box before going and enjoying the rest of the festival.

I could see them glancing back constantly, a look of joy on their faces when they saw how ecstatic Joey was.

Kennedy even dropped by with Charlotte. The toddler was planted firmly on her hip, but upon seeing the cookies, she made several grabby motions for them.

“Joey, this is my friend Kennedy and her baby, Charlotte.”

“Hello, Joey! I’ve heard so many nice things about you from Bethany. She said you’re one of her best skaters.”

Joey beamed. “I am!” she agreed, nodding. “Did you come for cookies?”

“I did. She told me all about the festival, and I just had to come and see it. Can I have a whole box of cookies?”

Joey gathered the cookies excitedly, while Kennedy gave me a beaming look. “She’s so adorable,” she whispered.

I nodded, biting back a smile.

“I’ll call you later, okay?” I said once she had the box of cookies and Charlotte had her own personal cookie in hand.

Joey’s dads came back toward the end, heaping praise on their daughter and giving her hugs for the amazing job she had done.

When Cullen said good girl to me, I nearly melted into a puddle.