The Hot Daddy Box Set

by Lexi Wilson

  She was the one who had the final say in all this.

  “We’ve got to see what Stella has to say,” I said to my daughter. Stella laughed as she threw her arms around me.

  “I think you know what I’m going to say! This is a dream come true for me, and I am thrilled that you think I’m going to be able to take care of it myself.” She looked into my eyes, and I put my hands on her waist. Kellie ran back to the table and sat down, giving us the little privacy we had in the kitchen. I knew she was happy that Stella and I were back together again, but she already knew that adults needed to have some time to themselves.

  “I love you,” Stella said when the two of us were alone. I felt my heart skip a beat. It was the last thing I expected her to say, and it was the most beautiful moment in my life.

  “I love you, too,” I whispered.

  Before she had the chance to say anything else, I pressed my lips to hers, kissing her tenderly. I had found the love of my life, and I couldn’t have been happier.

  Untitled

  Epilogue: Eight Months Later

  “I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss the bride.”

  I didn’t hesitate. As soon as the preacher said the words, I stood on the tips of my toes and pressed my lips to Anthony’s. I could hear the cheering of our small group of friends, all showing their support for our new marriage.

  I had been living with Kellie and her father for the past eight months, and things had been going better than ever. Though we never really got engaged, we knew from the moment I moved in that we were going to be married. The days passed in a flash, and it hardly seemed real that we were now husband and wife.

  Kellie was clapping loudly, her bright blue wig matching her bright blue dress. Though her dress didn’t match my pale blue gown or Anthony’s white suit, I didn’t mind the bright colors. I thought they looked great with her personality, and it made me happy she was enjoying herself.

  “We need to have cake!” she loudly announced.

  “Soon, darling,” Anthony answered. It was a beautiful day on the Georgia beach we had chosen for our ceremony, and we had invited only the closest of our friends. Jace and Molly were both there, as well as Mrs. Jane. Though she wasn’t the nanny for our family any longer, I insisted she help Kellie catch up in school.

  The poor girl had lost a lot of work when she had been sick in the hospital, and I wanted to make sure she kept up with the rest of those who were in her age group. Thanks to the hard work of Mrs. Jane, Kellie was nearly back to where she should have been.

  Living with her dad had been doing wonders for her health, and though she was still wearing wigs, her real hair was growing back. Anthony, too, was doing very well with his new way of life. He had published his first book, and it was doing very well on the market.

  It was a sweet story about a single father struggling with raising his daughter who had cancer, and the unlikely love story that came from the situation. Though I had to admit I was somewhat biased with the story, I did think that it was very well done. At the end of the day, and I was proud we were the ones who got to publish it.

  Then, when we wed, I knew that we had made the right decisions with our lives. We had good friends and good family, and we were ready to step into the next chapter with joy.

  Of course, we had invited a few others from the office, but they were already enjoying the vibe the beach had to offer. I liked it. We didn’t spend much time down in the south, and this was proving to be one of the best vacations I had had in a while. Kellie was having a blast, and every day we spent together felt like we were becoming a real family more and more.

  But, the best part of the entire thing was that I was now with Anthony. We were getting along better than I’d thought possible, and I was falling in love with him more and more each day. I never wanted to imagine my life without him again, and I knew we were going to be together forever.

  As for Maisie, she had gotten the settlement she wanted, and we weren’t going to have to deal with any of her drama any longer. Anthony had been awarded full custody of Kellie, and we were only obligated to spend the time with Maisie we felt was necessary. Thanks to the way she chose to live her life, I didn’t think that was going to happen very often.

  “I think we ought to take a walk,” Anthony whispered in my ear.

  “What about everyone else?” I replied with a teasing smile. I knew he wanted to spend as much time as possible just the two of us, but I felt bad leaving the reception of the wedding.

  “They’ll be fine! What do you think they’re going to do on the beach like this? They aren’t even going to miss us.” He looked at me with a wink, and I felt my cheeks flush a bright crimson red. Though we had been together for quite some time, he still had the power to make me blush whenever he winked at me — and I enjoyed every second of it.

  “Alright, but we can’t be gone too long!” I said with a laugh.

  “Everyone! Settle in, have a few drinks, and enjoy yourselves. The bride and I are going to take our first walk as man and wife, and I can’t promise when we’re going to be back.” He laughed at his own joke, and many of the others joined in. I shook my head with a chuckle. There was no arguing with him, and nothing that could make my life any better than it was.

  He slipped his hand over mine, and we started walking barefoot up the beach, enjoying the end of the day and the excitement that had filled us both. The sun was starting to get low in the sky, and the warmth of the breeze blew against our skin. I enjoyed the smell of the sea, and I sighed contentedly.

  We had made it, now as man and wife. Nothing could stand in the way of our happiness, and I knew there were only more good things to come. We had conquered all the trouble life had thrown our way and emerged stronger people at the end of the day.

  Nothing was going to tear us apart now, and I was proud of the person I had become. I was Anthony Miller’s wife, and I was Kellie’s new mother. I was going to be the best of both that I could possibly be, and we were going to live happily ever after.

  Come what may, we would get through it.

  I just knew it.

  The Daddy’s Childhood Sweetheart

  Chapter 1

  Brett

  I was late. Again.

  I sighed heavily and pushed a hand through my shoulder length hair and tied it back out of my face. Normally I would keep my brown hair pulled back in a neat little man bun, but I had changed flights three times already, and I was becoming more than a little disheveled, and my stress levels had reached a maximum as the gate agent raised a microphone to her lips.

  I am Brett Capal, award winning photojournalist. I've been in war-torn countries and embedded with our own military in hostile areas, and none of it was as bad as this. I should be able to handle this. I felt my heart pounding and sweat on my brow, dreading the words that were about to come out of this woman's mouth. She had been whispering fervently with her co-worker for five minutes, and I could tell by the looks on their faces that they didn't have good news and neither of them wanted to be the bearer of it.

  “Ladies and gentlemen, we do apologize, but we will, unfortunately, be further delayed this afternoon as there is an electrical issue with the aircraft. We hope to begin boarding in two hours.”

  There was a collective groan around our terminal, and I heard the couple behind me grumbling about missing a family reunion they must have been traveling to. I feel for them but I'm more concerned with my own situation.

  I should have been pulling into my driveway in two hours, hugging my wife and daughter after being away for the last six weeks. Instead, I was still going to be here, in the middle of Michigan, waiting, while my wife grew more and more impatient with me. I dreaded seeing her face when I finally made it home.

  It hadn't always been like this, I reminded myself. Evie had been my everything since seventh grade. I know that sounds silly, but it's true. I'd loved her my entire life, and nothing would ever change that. Our dads had both been cops, partners actually,
and when we were ten, her family moved in next door to us. Being the same age, our moms immediately pushed us to be friends. At the time, being friends with a girl was gross but Evie became my best friend. As we got older, we each developed our own interests and new groups of friends, but I knew every night she’d still wave to me from her bedroom window and I would wave back.

  In high school, I started out as her protector, and in our junior year our friendship changed, and I asked her out on a date. I remember being so nervous walking to her front door on a path we had worn between our two houses many years before. My palms were damp with sweat when I rang the doorbell and I gulped when Evie’s dad opened the door, his arms folded across his chest, asking me my intentions.

  That was when Evie had appeared at the top of the stairs, begging her dad to stop. She floated down the stairs; at least in my love-induced haze of a seventeen-year-old boy mind it looked like she floated. Her blond hair glowed in the hall light, and her hazel eyes looked grey when she smiled at me. I promised to have her home by eleven before leading her back across her yard to my driveway. I held the door on my car open, a candy apple red Chevy Nova SS. It had been my dad’s, and we had fixed it up together, and he had given it to me for my birthday.

  Taking Evie out on our first date had been everything. It still was if I was being honest. We dated for the rest of high school and right into college. We had gotten into different colleges, but they were only thirty minutes away from each other, so I’d drive over to her campus and pick her up. She’d wait for me outside her dorm, and her girlfriends would stare and whisper and giggle as she waved goodbye and climbed in beside me.

  Evie went to school to become a teacher, just like her mom. She loved kids and had such a gift with them that there wasn’t any better profession for her to get into. Meanwhile, I decided to pursue a degree in journalism. During my junior year, we had a guest lecturer come in that was a highly regarded photojournalist and immediately I felt a connection to the work he was describing. I added visual communication and photography classes to my mix, even taking a full course in the summer between my junior and senior years so I could graduate on time.

  Evie supported my new career goals just as I supported hers. On the day we graduated college, I proposed. That summer we searched for jobs, and eventually, she found a teaching job in Hartford, and we set out there together. I had a small portfolio of articles and photos for my college paper that helped me get a job with the paper in Hartford, and I set out to build my portfolio and chase my dream.

  In the beginning, the dream didn’t take me far, and Evie would tag along every now and then to an assignment. Four years after graduation, we got married, and I got my first break. The paper was sending me to Boston to cover the Democratic National Convention, and a young, charismatic senator from Illinois gave the keynote address. My photo from that moment ended up on the front page of newspapers across the country, and with it came a call from the Boston Globe. They wanted to use me as a freelancer, and I jumped at the chance. I traveled all over the nation, including going to Denver in 2008 for the DNC again where that same senator from four years earlier would be named the nominee for president.

  I ended up crisscrossing America on the campaign trail, my pictures featured in newspapers and magazines across the globe. Evie joined me for most of the summer before returning back to Hartford to prepare for the start of school. On election night, I covered jubilant crowds of people in Boston before heading home for a break with my wife.

  After covering the inauguration in 2009, I got the call.

  CNN.

  They had seen my work and wanted to know if I would be interested in doing a piece for them where I would be entrenched with US soldiers stationed overseas. After sitting down with Evie, who encouraged me to follow the stars, I went and shot some of the best work of my career. After that my life was a blur of assignments in foreign lands as well as domestic. My passport was filled with stamps, and I had met some of the most interesting people in my travels, and I felt honored to have the opportunity to document their moment in time for prosperity.

  On some of my tamer assignments, Evie would sometimes go with me. She had joined me as I shot the running of the bulls in Spain. We had toured Italian vineyards together and lounged on the French Riviera on what we had lovingly referred to as our honeymoon.

  It was during that trip that Hannah was conceived. Now six, she was my world. I had never imagined a life with children of my own, but I can't imagine my life without her now. My two girls were my everything, and I just wanted to get home to them.

  I knew Evie would be annoyed with me. She had been more and more upset with me whenever I came home from an assignment in the last year. At first, I hadn't noticed it, but then when I did and thought back, I saw all the signs that I had missed. When I had tried to broach the subject with her, to make sure we were okay, Evie always assured me that we were good, that she loved me, but I had had my doubts as of late.

  She had been quieter with me, and we fought a lot more often when I was at home. I can admit that I hadn’t been home much in the last year; my freelance gigs had kept me busy, but it also kept my family living the best lifestyle possible and all I wanted was for my girls to have it all. I knew Evie wanted me home more, but this was my passion.

  After a three-hour delay, we were finally boarded on a new plane and took off for Hartford. I was only going to be home for a few days before another assignment had me hitting the road again, and I wanted to make the most of every hour I had with Evie and Hannah.

  When we landed in Hartford, I grabbed my carry-ons—my duffel bag and my camera bag—and sprinted through the airport to get to the long-term parking lot. I sped to get home, but it didn’t matter. It was after eight at night, and I had been due home hours ago. I was sure that I would find dinner waiting for me, cold on top of the stove if I was lucky, in the trash if I was not. When I finally parked in the driveway, I let out a breath as I stared up at our home. The two-story brick house had been too much home when it was just Evie and I, but after we had had Hannah, it was perfect. It had always been a home filled with love, whether it was me and Evie, or the three of us. I just hoped to find a little of that old magic that night.

  I made my way up the walk and turned my key in the lock, letting myself inside. I hoped against hope that Evie would greet me with a hug and a kiss like she always used to, but I was not surprised that no one came to greet me. I left my things in my office which was the first room off the hall and headed towards the living room. Evie was sitting on the couch, and she didn't look up or acknowledge me as I entered.

  “Hey,” I told her as I leaned over the back of the couch and kissed the top of her head.

  “Hey,” she said back without taking her eyes off the tv. I could tell it was going to be one of those nights with her, and I dreaded another night of fighting with her. I hated fighting with Evie. It hurt my heart for her to be mad at me and I didn’t know how to fix it.

  “Is Hannah in bed?” I asked.

  She grunted. “Her bedtime is eight, and it’s eight thirty. Of course, she’s in bed.”

  With a sigh, I left the room and took the stairs to my daughter’s room. The door was cracked open, and I pushed it open slowly and stepped into the room. Leaning against the doorframe, I watched my precious daughter sleep and just savored the moment. A part of me wished I had my camera to capture it, but I stored it in my memory instead.

  I tiptoed further into the room and approached her bed and kissed her forehead softly. She didn’t stir, and I smiled to myself. She was a deep sleeper, just like me. I could tell by Evie’s mood that we were headed for another fight; at least I knew she would sleep through it.

  I headed back downstairs and went into the kitchen to see what I could find to eat. In the fridge, I found chicken and potatoes, and I grabbed them, piling the plate with food and placing it in the microwave. When it was warmed through, I took my plate and a beer into the dining room and ate. The grandfather clo
ck in the corner ticked away the minutes, and it was the only sound in the room save for the faint noises of the television coming from the other room.

  When I was done eating, I rinsed my plate in the sink and put it in the dishwasher before I made my way back to the living room. I sat down beside Evie and put my arm around her. She shied away from my touch, and I frowned.

  “What’s wrong?” I asked her.

  “Nothing,” she answered sharply, staring straight ahead.

  “Evie, don’t be like that, please. Just talk to me. We used to talk all the time.”

  “What do you want to talk about then, Brett?” she said as she turned towards me. “Do you want to talk about how you’re gone all the time? Or that I feel like a single mom taking care of Hannah all by myself? Or how about that you’re never here for Hannah and me?”

  “Evie,” I started, but she cut me off.

  “Don't Evie me, Brett. I'm entitled to my feelings. You're always gone.”

  “I'm not always gone,” I tried to reason.

  “You've been gone for six weeks, and you couldn't even get home in time for dinner with Hannah and me.”

  “That wasn't my fault. I tried, Evie, but there were flight delays and flight changes I couldn't have predicted.”

  “When are you leaving again, Brett?” she asked me pointedly.

  “Wednesday,” I answered her quietly.

  “It’s Sunday, Brett! You’re home for two days. Are you serious?”

  “You knew what you were getting when we got married, Evie. In fact, you’ve always been my biggest cheerleader.”

  “It’s different now, Brett. Life is changing all around you, yet you just keep doing for you.”

  “For me? Are you kidding me, Evie? I do all of this for you and Hannah. You're my whole world.”