Page 4 of Daddy's Accidental Babies

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SAVANNAH

By the time I made it through traffic and climbed the steps to our condo, I could already hear the chaos bleeding through the door. Something crashed, followed by Cal’s shout and Leo’s high-pitched giggle.

I opened the door to find Thea mid-chase, skidding barefoot across the hardwood as she tried to catch Leo, who was bolting around the kitchen island with a wooden spoon clutched in both hands like a sword. Cal sat on the counter, flinging handfuls of cereal at our golden retriever, who was entirely too thrilled by this new game.

“Reinforcements have arrived,” I called, stepping inside and closing the door. I turned the lock, shutting out the rest of the world, and let out a long sigh before letting myself grin.

For all its chaos, this mess of a house was mine. The smell of peanut butter, the cereal on the floor, the wild noise—it meant I was home.

Thea threw a hand in the air without stopping. “Thank God. Your offspring are trying to kill me.”

“Only a mild case of attempted murder,” I murmured, setting my bag on the hook and walking straight into the fray.

Leo yelped when I scooped him off the floor, still squirming and breathless. Cal nearly toppled the cereal box in his attempt to get to me. I tucked one boy under each arm and spun until we were all laughing, breathless, and tangled. Their identical faces stared up at me as they giggled, but I could see the differences and some of them made my heart pinch, because they looked too much like their dad.

For a moment, this was all that existed. Their small arms around my neck. Thea’s laughter. The smell of peanut butter and floor cleaner. This was my real life.

Thea pulled the cereal away from Cal and handed him a banana instead. “Okay, monsters, bath in twenty. You,” she pointed at me, “need wine and full disclosure. How was day one?” She walked to the kitchen and set the cereal down, then grabbed the broom and started sweeping while Finley chased the bits of cereal around like a vacuum hound.

I managed a half smile and deposited the boys on the couch. “Fine.”

“Fine?” She echoed it like an accusation. “That’s the best you’ve got? I dealt with two pint-sized tornadoes, and you won’t even give me a scrap of gossip?”

I opened the fridge and saw there was nothing chilled. With a sigh, I grabbed the bottle from the wine rack above the counter and a glass from the cupboard and poured it warm. “It was a lot.”

“Define a lot.” Thea paused her sweeping to glance at the boys, who were engrossed in a commercial for a toy Nerf gun. Cal had a cheekful of banana and wide eyes, and I swore Leo was going to try to climb into the TV.

“It was him.” The words dropped out before I could soften them. Thea went still. She didn’t need me to explain. I sank against the counter and slurped the wine a bit faster than I should have, given I hadn’t eaten yet. Traffic was a nightmare,and the boys were already having their before-bed snack. I hated that this job meant missing things in their lives.

Her voice was a whisper. “Dominic?”

I nodded and she sank onto a barstool like her legs gave out. “No. No way. He’s in New York. Or Hong Kong. Or wherever billionaires go to disappear.”

“He’s the lead investor. Knight Holdings is acquiring majority shares.” I kept my voice low, because while the boys were young, they weren’t stupid, and I didn’t want them repeating anything in front of my father.

Her eyes widened. “He saw you?” She planted her elbows on the counter behind her and the broom handle slapped to the ground, startling Finley, who raced off. The boys chased after him, and I knew somewhere I’d find a banana peel they would pretend to play Mario Kart with later.

“Yes”

“Did he talk to you?”

“Yes.”

“Does he know?”

“No. God, no. He can’t.” My blood ran cold for a second as I refilled my glass and massaged my temple. “Christ, no…” I let the words trail out as I walked to the barstool beside her and kicked a stuffed animal out of my way. I sat down as she murmured her distaste for my news.

“Sav … My God …”

I took another drink, slower this time. The wine tasted like it had been poured from an old boot, but I knew once I had a few glasses in me, I wouldn’t care. Thank God for a friend who understood my stress and would help me get my kids in bed before I was too tipsy.

“He called me in for a post-meeting debrief. Nothing dramatic. It was all merger related.”

“But…” she prompted, and I grumbled and whined.

“But you know. God, you know…” Thea was the only one who truly knew because I’d told her everything. Even the part where my heart was hopelessly hung up on a guy I had a one-night stand with. It wasn’t the truest sense of the words given that he was my father’s best friend, but true enough to tear my heart out when he went to Zurich and I found out the shocking news that I was pregnant, alone, and would never be able to tell him.

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