“Dad, all I’m worried about right now is a healthy baby. And that’s all complicated. Really complicated.”
“You should have something that’s yours,” his father said firmly.
“I do,” Jamie said. “I will. And it’s still complicated. I have spent so much time with lawyers lately. We need to be as protected as we can; we know that.”
“Then you bring the baby up here and baptize it.”
“You want to run interference with Father Donovan on that? Because I sure don’t.” Jamie couldn’t even imagine how that conversation would go.
“You come up here, with your partners, and make proper introductions to the rest of your family,” his father said. “It’ll be good for Aoife, to meet them before her own wedding. Since I assume you’ll be bringing them.”
“Do you have any idea how much chaos that will make?” Jamie asked, even as he reeled a bit with relief. Not only was his father not yelling at him or hanging up on him, he was demanding Jamie stay a part of the family and welcoming Callum and Nerea into it too.
“Because there’s three of you or because you’re with a movie star?” his father asked.
“By the time the baby’s born, I’ll be a movie star too,” Jamie said.
His father gave a muffled laugh. Jamie could picture him shaking his head.
“Your mother is going to have a lot to say about this. And that’s before she has to worry about the notice in the church bulletin.”
Jamie grinned. Then he asked, “Is she going to be embarrassed?” That possibility was a lot less funny.
“What’s church for if not gossip?” his father admitted.
Jamie tried to imagine that, his mother enjoying the whispers and stares of her friends and neighbors as she carried her grandbaby to church. Now that he thought about it, his mum and Nerea might have a lot to talk about, and wouldn’t that be both strange and wonderful?
“I’ve told you before,” Hugh said into Jamie’s silence. “If you just walk with your head high, like you’ve done nothing wrong — because you haven’t — people won’t say a word. Not people who matter. No one, and no one’s family, is perfect. Who has the right to say anything to you?”
“I thought that was about me being bi, not about me being in a relationship with a married couple with a baby on the way,” Jamie blurted.
This time, his father laughed out loud. The rich, warm sound reminded Jamie of everything he loved about his family, home, and Dublin.
“One contributed to the other,” his father said. “And that’s life, Jamie-boy. Too many surprises — some of them good — and then wanting to spare the people you love pain. And if you think you know that already, there’s depths still coming. Once that baby’s born, you’ll do anything for it. You think you’re ferocious now.”
“And that’s a good thing?” Jamie asked. “For me to be even more all the ways I’ve always driven both you and Mum mad?”
“Of course it is,” Hugh said. “Your child happy and truly himself? No father can ask for more than that.”
“Well,” Jamie said as he thought about how he was going to relay this conversation to Callum and Nerea. He blinked eyes suddenly damp with tears. “I can definitely promise you I’m happy.”
Thank you for reading! If you enjoyed The Art of Three, you should try The Opposite of Drowning.
Sometimes, love is a natural disaster.
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At 27, Elizabeth Anne Abgral loves her job, her life, and maybe even her fiancé. But no one can have it all, and as long as she does everything her old-fashioned, high-society New England family expects of her, she'll probably be happy. Right?!
But when she meets a handsome – and mischievous – older man at her new job, that illusion shatters.
As she and Harry bicker their way through industry events around the world, Elizabeth finds herself tossing rationality – and her plans – to the wind.
But just because Harry has long wished his life were different, doesn’t mean he’s ready to risk his heart on a passion that frightens him... or a peculiar young woman with the uncanny ability to make cities flood every time they kiss.
Want more scorching sexual tension, and the drama of competitive ice skating? Try After the Gold.
Katie Nowacki has an Olympic gold medal in pairs figure skating, incendiary chemistry with her long-time skating partner Brendan Reid, and a tendency to have panic attacks which have left her pushing him away for years. As they retire from competition and cross America on an exhibition tour with their fellow athletes, it's time for Katie to figure out what she really wants and whether she's brave enough to accept it from the man who has always been by her side.
If you want more romance, magical realism, and mythology in a contemporary setting, try A Queen from the North.
Library Journal's Best Indie Ebook 2017
Lady Amelia Brockett, known to her family as Meels, is having the Worst. Christmas. Ever. Dumped by her boyfriend and rejected from graduate school, her parents deem her the failure of the family.
But when her older brother tries to cheer her with a trip to the races, a chance meeting with Arthur, the widowed, playboy Prince of Wales, offers Amelia the opportunity to change her life — and Britain's fortunes — forever.
If you're looking for high-heat Hollywood romance, complicated relationships and chosen families, try Starling.
Hollywood's newest star, 21-year-old J. Alex Cook never wanted to be famous, he just wanted to get out of Indiana. When he hooks up with Paul, a writer on a hit TV show, Alex is thrown into a web of relationships involving friends, lovers, and everything in between.
Forced to figure out what it means to live — and love — In the public eye, Alex's quest to find his own happily ever after will make you believe love is possible... even in Los Angeles.
Please be aware, this is a high-heat, high-angst romance and includes characters with a past history of self-harm.
This title was previously published by Torquere Press. This is a newly updated and revised edition.
Also by Erin McRae and Racheline Maltese
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Love in Los Angeles Series
Starling
Evergreen
Doves
Phoenix
Cardinal
Love in Los Angeles Box Set: Books 1-3
The Royal Roses Series
A Queen from the North
Love's Labours Series
Midsummer
Twelfth Night
Love's Labours Box Set: Books 1&2
Standalone Novels
The Art of Three
After the Gold
The Opposite of Drowning
Novellas and Short Stories
Alpha Bodyguard: A Forbidden Omega Story
The Anniversary Gift
Backstage Beginnings
The Hart and the Hound
Off-Kilter
The Omega's Reluctant Alpha
Room 1024
Sample and Hold
Second Chances
Snare
Paranormal Passions (Anthology)
The Art of Three Page 26