“I saw Aric yesterday with Sirius on his lap—I swear the cat is almost bigger than he is. Aric was petting him and singing a lullaby,” Audrey said. “And Sirius was eating it up. Despite what he’s been through, your boy has a gentle heart.”

Guilt swept through Kit. It was her fault he’d been through so much. “You know, when I married Obadiah, he kept pushing Aric away, and I was furious with him. Then he moved us to the compound—and I was so relieved that Aric was in the children’s barracks and escaped most of his abuse.”

“Asshole men,” Audrey said under her breath.

“Listen to you.” Kit laughed. “You’ve been around the Hermitage guys too long.”

“Mako’s sons are foul-mouthed creatures,” Audrey agreed, then leaned forward, trying to see. “You know, if Aric didn’t have his hair covered, he’d be a lot easier to spot.”

“My little blond. I love his hair.” Kit smiled. “He got my face, but his coloring is his father’s.”

“Your first husband?” Audrey flushed. “Sorry. Frankie mentioned Obadiah was your second husband.”

Everyone was curious; of course, they were. And it wasn’t like her past needed to be a secret. Kit didn’t mind sharing. “When I got pregnant with Aric, I wasn’t married. I was just having fun. As it happens, condom effectiveness isn’t one hundred percent.”

Audrey snickered. “I did research for a women’s group presentation—so I know the stats. Ninety-eight percent only if you’re perfect. Effectively, it’s more like eighty-five percent.”

“Exactly. Now, I’d have told Aric’s father about him, but he was in New York for only a few days, and I never even learned his last name.” Kit blew out a breath. “I regret that, because I can’t tell Aric anything about his birth father.”

“You could do a DNA test to locate familial connections. When he gets older, he might get cranky about the whole no father around thing, but he’ll manage.” Audrey wrinkled her nose. “My mother went for artificial insemination, and I don’t know anything about my sperm donor. Well, aside from Mother saying he was brilliant.”

Kit’s mouth dropped open. “Um. Did you get…cranky?”

“As a teenager, I expressed my negative views about it. Or I tried. She was unconcerned about my opinions, so that was a failure.” The sadness in Audrey’s expression was fleeting. Her lips tipped up. “So was Frankie around when Aric was little?”

“We were roommates, and she was my birthing coach.” Kit rolled her eyes. “You should have heard her swearing when she thought the obstetrician should have been more helpful. Thankfully, no one understood the names she was calling him.”

“I can imagine.” Audrey pulled out her phone and displayed an Italian/English translator. “I’ve looked a lot of those swear-words up. The ones they’ll list.”