Free Restored (The Walsh Series Book 5) by Kate Canterbary Page A

or whatever you're talking about. Kids need to toughen up. They're not all special stars."
    "Plenty of kids are very special stars," Tiel said. "They just need people who can help them shine."
    "Nope, kids need more discipline. I got the belt, and look at me. I turned out fine," one of the husbands—Stavros-call-me-Stav—said. I couldn't keep track of who went together.
    "I think you're doing important work," one of the aunts, Daphne, said. "You just never know what will make a difference, and sometimes you have to try everything."
    Another cousin—I think that one was Irene—pointed at us, wagging her fork. "What about you? You're an architect, so you're building a house, right? You know, for when you're married? You better get to work on having kids soon." She aimed her fork at Tiel. "That clock is ticking, and you're not getting any younger. My neighbor's daughter-in-law waited until she was thirty-two, and ended up spending fifty grand on fertility treatments. They didn't even have a baby; they ended up divorced."
    I wanted to snatch every one of those words from the atmosphere and steal them far away from Tiel. She didn't need this woman loading her up with baby anxiety, not when I knew she was already loading it on herself.
    And yes, of course I knew she was stressed about trying to conceive. Few were those who recognized the perfectionism in her, as they were often distracted by her rambling and rainbow-inspired attire. But I knew there was no prodigy without a thick thread of perfection. Tiel was well-acquainted with hard work, but she was also accustomed to getting good at things quickly.
    We weren't getting good at getting her pregnant, not yet.
    "We have a house," I barked.
    "You live together now ?" Maybe-Irene asked.
    Tiel nodded, and I didn't miss her sharp intake of breath before she spoke. "Yes, we've been living together since the summer."
    "Someone get the rosary beads," Agapi muttered. "My mother's about to have a conniption fit."
    "Oh my saints," Mrs. Desai said. She closed her eyes and pressed a napkin to her lips. "How did this happen? Where did we go wrong with her, Vikram?"
    I knew Tiel's family leaned toward highly religious, but Tiel was a thirty-year-old woman, and a really fucking independent one at that. She didn't require her parents' approval for anything. I wanted to jump in, but Tiel's mother started shouting at her father in Greek. They went back and forth, gesturing wildly and slamming hands, glasses, and utensils like they were punctuation. Everyone else stared at their plates and snuck wide-eyed sidelong glances at each other.
    "Great, that's just great," Tiel said under her breath.
    Mrs. Desai pointed to Agapi. "Your sister didn't live with Antonio before they were married," she said. "Now, they might have spent a little more time together than I was comfortable with, but he respected your family enough to know better. Agapi didn't let men take advantage of her like you so clearly do. Why can't you find a decent man, Tiel? Someone like Antonio?"
    " Excuse me ," I started, but Tiel was already responding.
    "This has nothing to do with decency or respecting my family," Tiel said. "If that's your argument, you'll have it without me."
    I glanced at Tiel, more than a little shocked by the steel in her voice. I definitely expected some of her trademark stress-babble.
    "A man who respected your family would have asked your father's permission before" —she pointed to the hotly debated pink diamond— "before that happened. If you respected yourself, you'd want that, too."
    "I'm going to stop you right there," I said.
    Mrs. Desai turned an impatient eye on me. "You seem very…nice," she said. I was now certain that nice meant anything but that. "But we don't know the first thing about you. You're telling us our daughter is living with you but you couldn't be bothered to ask her father for her hand before proposing marriage. It's a tragedy. This all sounds like another one of Tiel's New York