Chapter Twenty-Four
Tennyson
Finals. Not much more fun to be had than administering then grading finals. Especially when they were department-wide finals that made no sense and required far more work to grade than was necessary to evaluate the student’s progress.
Yet, there I sat, waiting for three students who could have an entire week to complete the final and still not finish it. Not showing up from midterms to finals had a way of making your skills and knowledge less than par. “Fifteen-minute warning,” I called out, and was given a groan by at least one of the students. Oh well. It wasn’t like I wanted to be there, either.
At least I had managed to grade half the finals while these three finished. I wanted nothing more than to get home to my love, strip him bare, kiss him from head to toe, and then knot him as he called out my name. But even when the students finished, I’d be denied that pleasure.
I had a meeting with my mother—the last thing I wanted at the end of a long day.
As the clock struck the end of the hour, I collected the final two exams, feeling bad for the student who walked out in tears. It sucked to not be prepared for something that important even if it were by their own bad choices.
I shoved the papers in my satchel and ever so slowly walked to my mother’s office. We’d not been on the best of terms after I turned down the job in Mapleville. She was pissed, having pulled some strings to get me said job, and I was pissed she did so without my knowledge. On that, we were not going to come to an agreement.
And then there was the whole baby thing. She went back and forth on the becoming-a-grandmother part of it. It would give her bragging rights, which she loved, but it also meant, in her words, that she was old. I could help her with none of that. I just wished she’d be nicer to Greer.
She did the fake nice with him, and it drove me nuts. He played right along with her, but I knew it had to hurt. Greer was not up to par in her mind because he was not educated enough and by enough, she meant going to school until he at least had his PhD, something Greer had no intention of doing.
He loved his business and ever since he’d hired some extra help and slowed down a bit, I did, too. He was going to have to expand to an off-site kitchen to make the ice cream if he was going to keep up with demand, but I had a lead for him, and he had the manpower, so in theory we could get that straightened out before our baby arrived.
Our baby.
I still couldn’t wrap my head around the awesomeness that was our little miracle. We spent so many nights, laying together, wrapped in each other’s arms, discussing baby names and nursery decor. We’d decided on a rainbow and clouds theme for the nursery. The name part was significantly more challenging. I almost expected us to name her after she was born and we caught a glimpse of her perfect little fingers and toes for the first time.
I reached my mother’s office, the door closed, exactly five minutes late. She knew I had finals and could hardly fault me for it. Except she would. Her expectations of me never fell within the realistic range.
I rapped on the door and heard her mumbling for me to enter, and I did.
“Hello, Mother.” I slapped on a smile, clicking the door closed behind me. “I had three students there until the last second. I apologize for my tardiness.”
She just stared, pointing to the chair. I sat down not at all looking forward to the words that were about to flow from her mouth.
“As you know, the professor you have been subbing for is slated to return next semester. You should probably consider yourself lucky her absence extended as long as it did.”
And while I appreciated the position, no I was not pleased that the circumstances of her leave continued. What kind of a person is happy for another’s ill-luck? My mother, apparently.
“I assumed so. I did apply for the adjunct position for the fall.” Even if going through all the bullshit again sounded like the least fun ever. Greer needed an alpha he could depend on in all ways, and the college was steady work, at least until the point of tenure reviews. Then all bets were off.
“You will not be eligible for it. Not after being denied tenure.” I wanted to scream bullshit because I’d scoured the handbook looking for any mention of that and came up blank. There was nothing specifically stating any such thing. But there was also nothing in there stating that giving fair grades to legacy kids was reason enough for denial of tenure, either.
“Then, I guess I better get my resume ready. Thank you for your advice.” Not that she’d given any other than the implied don’t waste your time. I pushed up on the arm of the chair only to be given the eye, the one my mother had perfected. I sat back down, not wanting to deal with her wrath on top of the bad news.
“There are a few summer classes available I could probably finagle you into.”
When would she learn that she was my mother and not my boss? Shit, she didn’t even work in my department. Sure, she had clout, but not to the extent she imagined.
“I will be taking the summer off for the baby, but thank you for thinking of me.” This time I didn’t bother to get up.
“That was the other thing I wanted to talk to you about. Are you sure this baby is even yours?”
She did not just say that. Except she totally did, and I was about to blow a gasket.
“Goodbye, Mother.” I stood up. “It is one thing for you to see me as not good enough. Lord knows, I have helped you with that assessment. But to treat Greer in such a way? He is the hardest working, most loving, smartest man I have ever met, and by some miracle he wants me. You will not talk about him like that again—ever.”
I walked out the door, not even waiting for her reply. If she wanted me in her life, she needed to openly accept Greer and our child, for they came first.
Always.