by Lexi Wilson
“I’m honored, Daniel. What is it? Something to do with Sasha?”
I shook my head and grinned. “I need you to find your own replacement.” I watched her for a few seconds, waiting for a frown, but one never came. It shouldn’t have been a total surprise since I already mentioned it, but I wasn’t sure if she’d changed her mind after having a few days to think it over.
Morgan shot me a wry smile. “I was wondering when this would come up.”
I shrugged. “Assuming you want to quit. I would never force you to, but it seems like you’d be happier raising our kids than being my assistant.”
“Well, it’s hard to worry about working when your fiancé is a billionaire.”
I snorted. “There is that.”
“I’ve enjoyed working, but I think I’m going to also enjoy being able to focus on raising our kids.”
“If you get bored, we could always start a charitable foundation or something like that.”
Morgan laughed. “I think the kids will keep me busy for a few years at least.”
I winked. “Yeah. I imagine.”
Getting up, I walked toward her. Morgan blinked as I pulled into my arms for a hug. I held her there for several seconds before releasing her.
“That’s not the only thing that’s going to change,” I said. “I want to be there for our kids as well. I’m not going to quit, but I’ll be spending a lot less time working at the company. We’ll be a family, and I won’t be a dad my kids never see.”
Morgan smiled warmly. “That’s gre—”
Sasha’s cry cut through the air. We both shared a chuckle.
“You know, we’ll get used to not having to deal with this just about the time the next baby is born,” Morgan said.
“Oh well. We’ll both be veterans of the baby wars then. I’m not worried.”
“So you don’t think we’ll need a nanny?”
I made a face. “No more nannies. I’m sure if I hired a new one, she’d probably turn out to be a North Korean spy or something.”
We both laughed.
“Let’s get Sasha fed and changed and head home,” I said. “Well, head to our temporary home.”
“How long do you think it’ll take to complete the new house?”
“A few months.”
Morgan stepped out of my office and shrugged. “I guess it doesn’t really matter to me.”
“Why is that?”
“Because I think, right now, home to me is where the bed is.” She raised her eyebrows suggestively.
I laughed. “Then let’s go home. Sasha goes to bed early tonight!”
Epilogue
Morgan
It’s amazing how even a hyper-expensive hospital room still looks like a boring place filled with beeping machines. I mean my husband was billionaire and had flown in some of the best doctors in the country to help with me give birth to our daughter, but I couldn’t say that the hospital really looked all that different than the place I’d had my first baby.
In a way, that thought comforted me as another contraction struck.
I groaned. “Oh, this is not fun.”
Daniel, who sat on a stool beside my bed, nodded. “They say dilation’s going well, though.”
“That still doesn’t make this feel good.”
“You’re handling it well, Morgan. I’m sure I’d be crying like a baby if I had to do it.”
I snickered. “I saw a video on the internet a while back. They used these electrodes to make these two men experience what contraction pain felt like. They didn’t take it well.”
Daniel shrugged. “Sometimes it’s good to be a man.”
I snorted. “May God give you a kidney stone or two, so you know what it’s like to try and pass something very large through a very small hole.”
He paled and swallowed. “I think I’m switching a low-salt diet tomorrow.”
I laughed. Daniel had been such a perfect husband throughout the entire pregnancy. He’d made sure I had everything I needed when I needed it, all the best medical care, and the best quality food for whatever random cravings I’d experienced.
Despite what he’d told me when he proposed, we ended up getting married just a month after that. So he was only slightly less eager than Hunter.
The ceremony wasn’t that elaborate, except for the all the famous singers he’d brought in, and the ridiculously expensive food. It was actually a pretty small affair, though, with only about one hundred of our closest friends and family members.
My only real disappointment was that Sasha, being a baby, couldn’t be a ring bearer.
We honeymooned for a week in France, which was kind of a waste. The country was lovely, as were the sights, but we spent more time steaming up our sheets than we did actually seeing anything.
I snickered at the thought. Right after that, another painful contraction shot through me, and I gritted my teeth and leaned back on the hospital bed.
“Damn it,” I said. “Not fun.”
“Breathe, honey, breathe,” Daniel said. “They say it helps if you breathe.”
“I am breathing. If I wasn’t, I would have passed out already. At least then I wouldn’t be feeling this.” I hissed at the pain.
Despite my jokes, each contraction reached into my soul to yank out more fear. The shadow of years ago hung over the birth. I’d thought I’d crushed all that fear with Daniel’s help, but it’d flared right back up now that my new baby was coming.
“Promise me,” I said. “I want you to promise me. I know you’ve said it before, but I need to hear it, right here and right now.”
“Of course. I’ll do whatever you need.” Daniel reached out to take my hand in his. “Promise you what, Morgan? Just tell me.”
I took a deep breath and slowly exhaled. “Promise me that the baby will be okay.”
“Oh, is that all?” He snorted. “I don’t need to promise you that. I know it for a fact. If you’re worrying about that, well, just stop it.”
I admired his confidence, and it’d gotten me through a lot, but at that moment, I wasn’t exactly at my most rational.
“How can you be so sure?” I said. “They were sure before.”
“No, some regular hacks called doctors were sure before. This time, I’ve paid for some of the best doctors in the country along with the most advanced genetic testing and analysis available. This isn’t just some test they give everybody, but experimental tests for things they don’t even check for.” He nodded to himself, clear satisfaction on his face. “This baby has been tested for every possible problem that medical science understands, and hell, a few that they probably don’t. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with our baby. The doctor will be here again in a few minutes, but he made it clear everything’s going great.” I squeezed her hand again. “So, yes, I promise the baby will be okay, but I don’t need to because we’ve already proven the baby will be okay.”
I nodded slowly, some of my fear starting to ebb. I knew everything he’d said, but I guess I just needed to hear him say it again and with such confidence. I’d even taken the raw genetic data and tried to crosscheck it using programs on the internet. Everything told me the same thing—that our baby was going to be okay.
It was odd to think about.
Hunter and Jacy stepped into the room. They both had heavy bags under their eyes. They’d been on a trip to Mexico when I went into labor, so they’d hopped on the first plane back to Seattle. I felt kind of bad about it, but then again, I also didn’t like the idea of our baby being born without our two closest friends here to celebrate it with us.
“Are we allowed in again?” Jacy said. “They made us leave before.” She stuck her bottom lip out, pouting like a little girl.
I couldn’t help but laugh, and then I wondered if she was doing it on purpose.
“Oh, that was just about privacy during a test,” Daniel said. He gestured for them to come in farther. “You’re fine. Things are progressing well, but we still have time yet. This see
ms like it’s going to be more like one of those twelve-hour deliveries, rather than the ‘show up at the hospital and plop the kid out’ kind of things.”
I batted at his arm. “Don’t describe the miracle of birth that way.”
Daniel shrugged. “Just being honest.”
Hunter yawned. “I should have brought some coffee. I feel like I’m going to fall down any second, then wake up and find out I missed the baby.”
“They have some in the waiting room,” Daniel said. “Why don’t you get a cup or two of that?”
Hunter made a face. “That’s not coffee. That’s some sort of sewer water they are pretending is coffee.”
We laughed, and the humor distracted me a little from the pain of my latest contraction.
“Ugh,” I said. “Why does it have to hurt so much?”
Jacy winced. “I think I’ll just stick to playing with your kids for a while. Parts of pregnancy seem fun, but then you get to this part at the end, and I just don’t know. I’m a wimp. A little pain goes a long way with me.”
I tilted my head. We’d not talked much about Jacy’s long-term plans. The conversation never seemed to come up, but now that she mentioned it, I was burning with curiosity.
“You two aren’t going to have kids?” I asked.
Jacy shrugged. “Not saying that.”
Hunter shook his head. “Yeah, we will, probably in a couple of years. There’s just a lot of ‘us time’ we want for now.”
Daniel smirked. “Then you’ll feel the pain of the sleepless nights.”
Hunter grinned. “Yours are so close together, once they grow up a little, they are going to team up on you two something fierce.”
“I still won’t give you much pity when you come crying to me about how tired you are.”
I laughed.
“Maybe I’ll just hire a nanny or two,” Hunter said and winked.
Jacy rolled her eyes. “Only if it’s some crotchety old woman. Don’t think you’re getting some hot French nanny.”
“You’re all the hotness I need, baby,” Hunter said and waggled his eyebrows.
Somehow the sight was both simultaneously nauseating and endearing. Hunter and Jacy’s relationship was different than my relationship with Daniel, but it was clear they loved each other just as much as we did.
The pleasant thought was blasted out of my head by other contraction.
I sucked in again. “Oh, this is really annoying. Hurry up and get out, you lazy baby. You’ve had nine months of free rent in there.”
Six hours later, I held my new daughter in my arms—Daisy Jacy Brown. I’d actually suggested the first name, and Daniel liked the idea. It was like his sister had another chance at life, through our daughter.
He was the one who actually suggested the middle name. Since Jacy was Daisy’s godmother, it only made sense.
As it turned out, all of my fears were unfounded. Our daughter was born perfectly healthy in every way. Perfect Apgar and perfect on every other test they had available.
I exhaled slowly. “I finally—don’t feel afraid. After so many years, I only feel happiness with nothing coloring it in the background.”
Daniel kissed us both on the forehead. “You see, you worried for nothing. I’m your husband now, and I’ll always protect you and both of our girls.”
“I love you,” I said. “So much that my heart feels like it’s going to burst.”
“I love you, too.”
I just stared into Daniel’s eyes trying to figure out how I’d gotten so lucky. First, I’d been hired by the man, and then I’d decided to kiss him, something that should have gotten me fired, but instead opened the door a crack and led to him being interested in me.
Even then, after all of that, I’d pushed him more than once, and he always came back to me. I felt blessed to have such a great man who could see past my problems and love me for who I am. Now, we were married and were blessed with two perfect daughters.
Hunter and Jacy entered the room, and my best friend squealed at the sight of the baby and clapped her hands.
Daisy’s head jerked to the side.
“Sorry,” Jacy said.
I kissed Daisy’s forehead. “It’s okay, just let’s not scare the newborn baby, okay?”
“Oh, that’s just too adorable,” Jacy said. “She’s like a little doll. And I didn’t have to see her with all the goo all over her.”
I rolled my eyes. “She was beautiful from the moment she was born, goo included.”
“I’m just saying I prefer my babies non-gooey.”
“Duly noted.”
Hunter and Daniel exchanged a glance than laughed. Jacy and I joined in.
My heart felt so light, so free. I honestly couldn’t think of any time I’d ever felt this way.
I looked around and smiled warmly. For years, I’d been swallowed up in darkness and pain, too afraid to live freely and move on. Now, I had two wonderful daughters, a perfect husband, and great friends.
My family was complete, and I was surrounded by love.
My tears fell unchecked.
“You okay?” Daniel said, a concerned look on his face.
“I’m better than okay. I don’t think I’ve ever been happier my entire life.”
The Boss Daddy
Chapter 1
“Then you understand why I can’t give you this position. I’m sorry.” I bit my tongue. I had to be both patient and professional, but all I wanted to do was start yelling. This was the ninth person in less than three hours, and I wasn’t any closer to having a new secretary than I had been when I started the interviews that morning.
“I’ll do my best to make it work. Really, I will,” the woman pleaded. I looked at her, fighting the growing irritation I felt in the back of my mind. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to give her a chance; it was the experience screaming in my ear that no, she really wouldn’t work out. She might insist her heart was in the right place, but I needed someone who had their head in the right place.
And, she did not.
“I’m sure you would, but again, you have to understand my position here. This is a demanding environment, and I’m busy with my own work most of the time. I need someone who knows what to do and how to do it, and I need them to be reliable enough to be here whether I am or not.” I rose from my chair and walked over to the side of the desk then leaned against it.
I put my hands in my suit pockets and looked down at her, not buying the distraught look on her face. In my line of work, I had seen more sobbing women looking for a job than I could count. They all had their sad stories about how life had cheated them, and they were all looking for an easy way to make money.
The job description sounded easy enough. All I was looking for was a secretary for my publishing business. She’d deal with all the common secretary tasks, which I had no doubt this woman in front of me could do. No, it wasn’t the job itself that stopped me from going further with any of these applicants.
It was me.
“Please, just give me a chance!” she tried one more time, but I shook my head.
“I have an entire lobby of applicants out there, Miss Marlow, and all of them want the job as badly as you do. I can tell you right now this isn’t going to work out, so let’s not bother with wasting each other’s time.” I motioned with my hand, indicating she needed to go, and she made a show of gathering her things.
“Good luck to you out there,” I said cheerfully as she walked past me. I wasn’t surprised she merely gave me a look as she pushed her way out the door, and I took a deep breath. I’d gotten a glimpse out into the waiting room as the door closed behind the woman, and my heart sank.
I was right about it being full of eager applicants, and I wasn’t sure I had the energy to get through all of them. If I wasn’t in such desperate need of a new secretary, I would tell them all that I was no longer hiring and to go home – but that wasn’t an option.
The fact of the matter was that I needed help more than I wa
nted to admit. My sick daughter needed me more than this job, but I needed the money. Even with the millions I had in the bank and investments, cancer was a bitch, and it was eating away at my little girl.
I would take her to every treatment known to man until we found a cure. I didn’t care what it cost or how long it took.
But that process was expensive, and to fund it, I needed help.
I paced back and forth in my office. My hands were in my pockets, and on my third trip across the room, I stopped and rubbed my eyes with my thumb and index finger. The migraine I felt slowly but surely creeping up on me threatened to take over at any second, and I hoped I’d make it through the rest of the morning without losing my shit on anyone.
After taking a few minutes to breathe, I walked back over to the door and poked my head out into the crowded room. “Next!”
I didn’t wait to see who was coming. Instead, I walked back to my desk and sat down, placing my elbows on the table and folding my hands. I didn’t care how intimidating I looked when the next applicant walked in. If she wanted the job, she was going to have to understand from the beginning what she was getting herself in to.
I wasn’t going to go easy on anyone. I knew what I needed for this job to succeed, and I was going to require that from whoever it was I hired. I heard the clipping sound of high heels approaching the door, and within a few seconds, a tall, beautiful young woman appeared. She was slender with creamy white skin, bright blue eyes, and honey-blonde hair.
Unlike most of the young women her age, her locks didn’t flow in beach waves around her shoulders, but instead, they were cut short against the side of her slim, angular features. For a brief moment, I thought she ought to be applying as a model rather than a secretary; I quickly made up my mind she wasn’t what I was looking for.
Her bubblegum-pink suit clung to her womanly figure as she walked confidently across the room and extended her hand to me.
“Mr. Miller! It’s good to meet you. How are you doing?” She gave a warm smile as she spoke, and I grasped her hand. I was surprised at her firm grip, but I refused to think about her as even a remote possibility for the position.
