"What nonsense is that? I'm your mother. You're raising a kid alone right now—if I don't look after you, who will?"
"We're family. Don't talk like that. It makes us sound like strangers."
Vivian smiled softly.
"Actually, I could hire a postpartum nanny too. There are plenty of affordable ones now."
Mom pretended to be annoyed.
"My granddaughter, taken care of by some stranger? You want me to lose sleep?"
The next second, all three of them stopped laughing.
Their gazes landed on my face at the same time.
"Alex? Why are you here?"
"Alex? If you were coming, why didn't you say anything?"
"Listen, your dad will explain. It's not what you think. Your mom, she—"
Panic flashed across both my parents' faces.
Only Vivian had something else in her eyes—calculation, and smug satisfaction. Like she'd expected this all along.
I cut them off with a mocking smile.
"The apartment I helped Vivian find—can't I stop by?"
"You were saying the baby would be left with a nanny. I wasn't comfortable with that, so I figured—raising one kid, raising two, what's the difference? Thought I'd come check in."
"Didn't realize I'd be interrupting."
Dad's explanation died in his throat.