Double Trouble by Erosa Knowles

closed his eyes in defeat. In his rush to get back at his dad, he forgot his mother and Denise were similar in personality. “Mum… please let me and Donald handle this. We need to meet our boys on our own and talk to them. I appreciate your offer to help, but…we need to do this, to make amends.”
    There was silence on the other end of the phone, and then, “I give you two days to work on things, not because I don’t understand. I do. But what you are forgetting is this. The only reason your son rejected you is because his grandfather rejected his mother. That has to be addressed and you are not the one to make amends for that. You understand? I must make sure Belinda and my grandsons understand we accept them in our family.”
    Blaine met Donald’s glare as he nodded. “I understand Mum. Can I call you and let you know how things are going?” He watched Donald throw up his arms as he lay back on the sofa.
    “You can, but I will be arriving in Michigan tomorrow. I miss my granddaughters and want to see them again. Denise and I were talking about me visiting the end of the month, but I have an urge to see my precious princesses now.”
    He closed his eyes, unable to call her out on her blatant meddling. “I didn’t call you so you could fix this, Mum. We're capable of doing that on our own. I wish you would leave this alone for now.”
    “I am not coming to fix anything, Blaine. But I will not be leaving until I meet my grandsons. I expect you and Donald to make that happen. I owe them all an apology and I will do that. I don’t require your permission for that or anything else.”
    He cringed at the stubbornness in her tone. “Thank you, Mum.” There was nothing more to be said, he had overplayed his hand and now he would pay for it.
    “You are welcome, son. Does Donald still want his da to call him later?”
    “No…no, it’s okay. We wanted to know why he did what he did, but right now it doesn’t matter.” He met Donald’s hard gaze and acknowledged his anger at the turn of events.
    “Oh, I plan to ask him that in a few minutes. I am on my way to the pub to get him. Sean O’Connor will explain himself to me this night.”
    Blaine perked up. Something had gone right. His father would feel his mother’s wrath and that made things a lot better. “Drive safe Mum. I will talk with you soon.” He disconnected with a smile.
    “What are you smiling about? Mum’s coming, she’s worse than Denise.” Donald snorted.
    “Mum’s driving to the pub to pick him up.”
    Donald’s brow rose with a smile. “Yes!” He pumped his fist in the air. “I wish I could be there to see that sight. I don’t like mum being involved, but I am glad da will feel some discomfort behind his actions.”
    “Think she’ll tear into him at the pub or wait til they reach the house?” Blaine asked as he watched a vision of the fallout in his mind. No doubt his brother was envisioning the confrontation as well.
    “Depends on how he responds to seeing her in the pub and how mad she is at missing all these years of the boys' lives,” Donald said thoughtfully. “We have sons…one of them wants nothing to do with us. I hope Abe is more understanding,” he added.
    Blaine took exception to what he considered criticism of Adam. “All things considered, I thought he handled the matter well. I’m not sure how understanding I would be if I was laid up in a hospital bed in pain and two strangers claimed to be my dad.”
    Donald glanced at him and then nodded. “You’re right. I keep hearing Adam’s words and forget about the circumstances he spoke under. At least Lindy doesn’t seem to hate us, it couldn’t have been easy for her. One child is expensive; two had to all but break her budget.”
    Blaine nodded. “Yeah, but she seemed okay, even when she told us to take a cab back home since she had to put Adam in her car. It'll be interesting to see what we can work out when we meet for lunch tomorrow. I hope she brings the