Page 53 of Secret Baby for Dr. Billionaire

“Hey,” I greeted. I wanted to kiss her, but I didn’t because Billy Anne was watching, and I wanted to tell her before I did anything. Otherwise, the drive to the restaurant would be nothing but Twenty Questions by Billy Anne.

“Hi.” I grabbed her bag and waited for what she’d do now that Billy Anne was here. “Hey, Billy Anne.”

“Daddy said you’re going to tell me a juicy secret.” She went there. I shook my head to contain my amusement. She was becoming a lot blunter, and I knew I needed to tell her that it was okay to speak her mind as long she wasn’t rude.

“Did he?” Chloe glared at me, and I gave her a smile. I probably shouldn’t have said it was juicy. This was serious, after all, and it shouldn’t be treated like gossip. But the look on Chloe’s face made me chuckle.

“Yep.” This was a sight I’d always wanted to see—all of them together. I knew Chloe wasn’t Billy Anne’s mother, but at the back of my mind, I knew that she’d make a good role model for her and that my fourth-grader would be fond of her, too.

“There’s a car seat for her at the back,” I instructed Chloe, and she nodded, rounding the car so she could reach Sofi’s car seat on the other side of Billy Anne.

“What’s her name?” Billy Anne watched intensely as Chloe buckled in her daughter, and she beamed at the child beside her. Chloe loved the fact that Billy Anne was talking so much to her. I was proud of Billy Anne, too, and even happier with the fact that she was comfortable with Chloe. At least there would only be a few adjustments for her to make.

“Sofi.”

“Daddy, when will I get a baby?” I was taken aback by her question. Chloe even paused a little. She was hiding her laugh as she looked up at me before shrugging, waiting for my answer.

“When you’re a hundred, at least.”

“That’s as old as grandma.”

“You calling your grandma old? I’m telling on you.”

***

“Do you remember when I told you that every family is different?” Our order had arrived five minutes ago, and Billy Anne did not wait for permission to devour her shrimp pasta. She was making a happy dance as she chewed on it, and I couldn’t help but enjoy the sight.

Chloe got Sofi steamed vegetables and prayed that her stomach wouldn’t get upset later at night. I remembered that Sofi didn’t eat solid food before bed and would settle for a bottle instead. Her mother thought that it would be good to try one more time.

I ordered the same chicken alfredo as Chloe, and I could tell she was waiting for me to break the news.

“Yeah. Like my friend Percy, who has two dads and one mommy. And like Uncle Ralph, who has an older daughter from his first wife.”

I was surprised at the words that were coming out of my daughter’s mouth. I knew that kids her age were curious, but I was afraid that mine might be an eavesdropper. With the amount of information her tiny brain could absorb, she was dangerous.

“Who told you all of this?”

“Aunt Maggie,” she answered nonchalantly, stabbing a piece of shrimp with her fork.

“Yes. Like Uncle Ralph.”

“Is that the juicy secret you wanted to tell me? I already know that.”

“First of all, you need to stop gossiping with Aunt Maggie. Second, no, that’s not what I wanted to tell you.”

Would I be able to handle this little tornado when she was a teenager? Jesus. She was only nine, and she had left me speechless so many times tonight.

“Your dad and I got together a while back,” Chloe said. I was thankful that she was here to be a buffer between us because I didn’t know that I could handle all of Billy Anne’s questions on my own.

“And we had Sofi.”

“What does that mean?” asked Billy Anne.

“It means that Sofi’s my daughter, too.”

“Really?”

“It means that Sofi’s your sister.”

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