Chapter 45

**ELENA**

When I walk through the door of Theo's house, I'm greeted by his mother. Not the person I expected to see tonight, especially after my conversation with her son. She's wearing loose black pants with a white T-shirt, as she's always dressed up in a skirt or trouser suit.

"I heard your car..." She starts and is visibly disturbed.

"Mary, are you all right?" I ask her, posing as I take off my shoes.

"I'm sorry, I didn't want to be all alone and Theo told me you'd all be here tonight. I hope you don't mind."

"Not at all. You know the door's always open for you." I tell him with a small smile. "I'm going to make myself a cup of tea, would you like one?"

She nods and follows me into the kitchen. She is who is usually very loquacious and is silent and off. Once I've put the water on to boil, I turn to face her. She doesn't look at me, she has her head resting on her right hand and is staring off into the distance with a blank stare.

The kettle whistles and I pour the boiling water into the two mugs. When I sit down on the stool opposite her, I ask her again.

"Mary, what's wrong? Do you want to talk about it?"

Her eyes look up at me and I see the emotions swirling inside her.

"It's nothing serious. I shouldn't even be here bothering you with this. I should let you relax... you've got so much stress already. It's not good in your condition." She stifles a small laugh at my raised eyebrows. "My son didn't tell me, I guessed that on my own. And Caroline suspects it too, for the record." She adds with a small smile. "I'm so happy for you." She sighs. "It's just that I've been thinking a lot about my Franck lately. Talking about him and thinking back... it... I think about him so much and I'm reminded of how lonely I am."

I run my hand across the counter to take her hand in his.

"You're not alone. We're here. I know it's not the same, but if you're feeling down and need company, you can come to us anytime." I offer her a small smile. "Believe me, I know all too well what it's like to live with missing someone." I feel the tears welling up. "I think about my parents a lot, too. With our 'investigation' into the murder and the pregnancy." I wipe away the tears that are starting to roll down my cheeks with my free hand. "My child will never have the chance to know my parents and I wish I could have shared all this with them."

"Oh, goddess. I'm so sorry. I came for me... my poor darling." She gets up and walks around to hug me.

We stay in each other's arms for a while, both sobbing. Since I found out I was pregnant, I've been thinking a lot about my parents, especially my mother. Things could have been totally different if they were still here. They would have made amazing grandparents.

**CALEB**

Theo told us about his conversation with Elena, and we decided to end our working day early enough to enjoy our beloved companion. We stopped on the way so that we could buy groceries to prepare a nice dinner at home.

The three of us are in Theo's car when we arrive on the way home.

"Fuck, man. There's your mom's car next to Elena's." Finn tells him before pinching the bridge of his nose.

"I should have known, she asked me if we were at my place or Elena's tonight."

"Sorry, I know she's your mom, but I hope she doesn't linger. I was looking forward to a foursome again." Finn tells her.

Even though it feels weird to admit it, I was looking forward to it too. Honestly, when it's the four of us it's different and something is exciting about sharing Elena. But I love it when it's just the two of us when it's just the two of us. As if we were a normal couple.

We get into the car with the shopping bags and when we go into the kitchen, Elena is sitting on a stool and Mary is next to her, holding him, and they're both crying. Has something happened?

We put the bags on the counter and Theo is the first to approach her.

"What's wrong?" He asks frowning.

"We were just a little emotional that's all," Elena replies with a small smile.

"Well, I'll leave you to it..." Mary begins, backing away.

"No, stay and have dinner with us." Our mate suggests, taking her hand.

They look at each other and Mary nods. Something clearly happened before we arrived but I don't know what.

After dinner, Mary didn't linger long and went home. It wasn't the evening we'd prepared for, but we still had a great time together.

As soon as Theo's mother left, we told Elena to go upstairs and rest while we tidied up. Her nausea and vomiting make her very tired and we want to make this period as easy for her as possible.

Unfortunately for us, when we enter the room, she's already asleep, her hair strewn across the pillow.

"Goodbye to the foursome. Thank you, Mary." Says Finn before undressing.

"Fucking Finn, my mother's name is banned from our fucking room." Theo retorts.

"Our bedroom?" Finn asks him as if he's going to cry. "Gosh, that's fucking sweet."

I glare at both of them to shut their mouths so they don't wake Elena.