by Penny Wylder
We never found out the sex of the baby. We decided, after careful consideration, that we wanted to keep it a secret from ourselves. After all, we’d kept the baby itself a secret from the rest of our family and friends for the months it took until we were sure things were going perfectly. It seemed only fair that we suffer a little with curiosity too—that we leave ourselves a secret to uncover soon.
We turned the guest room of the penthouse into a baby room already, keeping the colors gender neutral until we knew. Cheerful yellow walls, a green crib, red stuffed toys and matching bedding. Everything is ready. We even have two names picked out—either her mother’s name, for a girl, or my grandfather’s name, an old family name, for a boy. Either way, it will be perfect.
The doula steps into our line of sight, with a bundle wrapped in her arms. My heart nearly stops beating in my chest, I swear. Melanie, though, she’s always been the stronger one of us. She lets go of my hand and reaches out for her child. For our child. This little miracle, who will turn our marriage into a whole family.
“Congratulations,” the doula says, her own eyes swimming with emotion. “It’s a girl.”
“Beth,” Melanie breathes, her face lighting up. Elizabeth Marie. Elizabeth for her mother and Marie for mine. I drop into the chair beside the bed, unable to keep standing any longer, and lean in beside Melanie to marvel at our daughter’s beautiful, perfect face.
Her lips crack open and she lets out a little sigh, right before her tiny blue eyes peek open a crack to squint at me.
“Hello, Elizabeth,” I whisper. “I’m your father.”
Her lips quirk wider. Then she sneezes, and we both laugh. I tighten my grip around Melanie’s shoulders at the same time that I reach out to wrap my other arm around our child. I hold them both close to me, unwilling or maybe just unable to ever let them go.
“God, she’s perfect,” I murmur, gazing on the little girl we made together. The baby we created. Then I glance at Melanie and grin. “Just like her mother.”
Melanie laughs softly, finally tearing her gaze from our baby to look up at me once more. “Oh, I don’t know. She looks an awful lot like you.”
Somewhere on the far side of the room, the doula laughs. Looking back at Beth, I can’t help but agree. I reach up to tickle her chin. “Sorry for the masculine nose, sweetheart,” I tell her, which earns an even bigger laugh. This one from more than just one person.
I look up to find our family spilling in. My dad, my sister and my brother all hurry to our side, and Devan’s right behind them. She must have gone to fetch them the moment the baby came out. Before we can protest, we’re enveloped in tight hugs from all directions.
I lose track of time that day. Melanie feeds the baby, before we pass Beth from family member to family member, introducing them all one at a time. Someone brings snacks, someone else brings champagne, and we all toast to Mel, to Beth, to our new family. To the future we’ve built together. A future I could never have imagined, but one that I now can’t even picture living without.
Somewhere in the midst of all the celebrations, Dad catches my eye and nods toward the door.
I wait until a break in the conversation, before I lean down to kiss Melanie’s cheek. “If you need me, just let the nurse know to grab me, okay?” I whisper in her ear. “I’ll be right back.”
She glances up at me curiously. But then she spots my dad waiting, and smiles, nodding just once. “I’ll be fine,” she murmurs, and tilts her face to mine so I can kiss her softly. Sweetly. That kiss makes me want to stay right where I am. To not leave her side for a second. But there will be time enough for many more kisses like that in our future. For years to come, in fact.
I cross out of the room, pausing to hug my sister and then my brother on the way out, the latter slapping my back and muttering a whole string of congratulations to me before I finally manage to extricate myself from the room for long enough. When I do, I find my father waiting by the exit door. He leads me down to the courtyard outside the hospital, to a little square marked “Smoking Section’, which makes me frown in confusion. My father has never been a smoker.
But then he withdraws a Cuban cigar from his pocket and clips the end. “Family tradition,” he explains. “My father smoked one of these with me the night you were born.” He grins and takes a long puff, before he holds the cigar out to me.
I take a slow puff, and keep my gaze on him, waiting. He didn’t bring me out here just to smoke. I know my father better than that.
After another pass of the cigar, he sighs out a sweet-scented puff of tobacco. “I just wanted to tell you congratulations, son. And to tell you how proud I am of you.”
I suppress a laugh at that. “Don’t get all sappy on me,” I warn him, even though that’s pretty much my father’s MO.
He smirks. “Look, I know that I… that my methods, were harsh. With the bookstore. I regret what I did, trying to force you into a certain way of life. When your mother first died, I was lost too. I’d lost my partner, after all. The woman who I’d expected to have with me until my dying day.”
He blows out another puff of smoke. “But when I saw the way you reacted, holing yourself up in that store, refusing to get out into the world or to live, well… I knew I couldn’t let you do that, son. Because your life had barely even begun.” He shakes his head slowly. “But I was wrong to do it the way that I did. Kicking you out so forcibly, and forbidding you from even seeing the store or going into it at all in the meantime…” His eyes cloud over now. “I just worried that you were going to fall back into that habit, you know? Of mourning and never really living.”
“I get it, Dad. Really.” I lower my voice and try to catch his eye. “And… yes, I was pissed at you. Furious, actually. When you first took the store away, it felt like losing Mom all over again. But I get it now. Really, I do. Because…” I let out a faint laugh, and my gaze drifts away from my father, back up to the hospital windows above us. Somewhere up there, my wife and my newborn daughter are waiting for me to return. To come back to them and the life we built together.
A life I might never have considered starting if it hadn’t been for my father’s insane rules.
So I smile and meet his gaze once more. “Without your forcing my hand, Dad, I might never have wound up where I am today. I might never have gotten together with Melanie. And she’s everything to me. So… I get it.” I grin. “Just don’t try and force me into doing your bidding anymore, okay?”
“Even if it’s for your own good?” Dad asks, but he’s grinning at the same time, his eyes alight with mirth.
“Even then,” I tell him. Then I accept the cigar for another long puff. “And don’t let this one victory go to your head,” I warn him.
He snickers. Then he claps my back. “Don’t worry, son. It already has.” We both laugh, but he gazes at me steadily, serious. “I look at you, and I see what your mother and I had. And that’s all I could possibly ask for for my child. For a life as happy as the one I’ve had.”
We hug, and he slaps my back hard enough to make me cough cigar smoke across his coat. Then I pull away, shaking my head. “I should get back.”
“Of course.” He tips the cigar in my direction. “I’ll be up once I put this out. But go be with your wife. Hug her, hold her close. Tell her you love her every damn day, son. Enjoy your life.”
I grin. And then I turn around to head back into the building, to do just that.
Upstairs, I find Patricia cradling Beth, cooing to her as they sway across the room. Marco is in the corner chatting to Devan, who’s texting with one hand even as they talk. Probably updating Andrew, I’m sure. As for Melanie… Her gaze finds mine, and she stretches out a hand.
A second later, I’m at her side. If she reaches for me, I always want to be there for her. I wrap my fingers around hers, raise her hand to my lips and kiss her knuckles softly, one by one.
She smiles, her eyes half-lidded with sleep. “You smell like smoke,” she comments.
&nbs
p; “Family tradition, apparently,” I laugh. “Dad makes you smoke a cigar when your first child is born.”
“He didn’t do that with me,” Patricia protests, before Marco drags himself upright and, with uncharacteristic perception, taps my sister and Devan on the shoulders. A few moments later, once Patricia has handed Beth back to us, we watch the rest of our family file out of the room. Devan’s the last to leave. She winks at us, and pulls the door shut behind her.
Only then do I let myself lean fully against the bed, until I’m sitting beside Melanie, her body curled against my side. With my free hand, I stroke the top of Beth’s smooth, soft little baby head. So delicate. So fragile.
“I’m scared,” Melanie whispers. “I mean, I’m happy, of course. But… look at her.” She tilts her head back to meet my gaze. “What if we mess up?”
I think of my father downstairs in the courtyard, apologizing for bringing me here to this moment. I lean down to kiss her softly, savoring the taste of her sweet lips, the way they part beneath mine. “If we mess up?” I whisper against her mouth. “Then we’ll just have to try harder again to fix it in the future.” I smile. “But I have a feeling that even if we mess up, she’s going to turn out just fine. After all, she’s your daughter, isn’t she?”
“And yours.” Melanie’s eyes sparkle.
And in that moment, I realize, I finally have everything I could have ever wanted in life.
The Single Dad Arrangement is a swoon worthy romance with off the charts chemistry. When Killian hires Tilly to plan his daughter’s birthday party, he never expects to fall in love. But with an ex doing anything to drive them apart, Killian has to decide if he’s willing to risk everything for true love. He’ll do anything to put a ring on Tilly’s finger. The blurb is below! Read The Single Dad Arrangement here!
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The Single Dad Arrangement
A sizzling-hot Single Dad Standalone Romance Novel.
When I first met Tilly, she looked like a princess. Literally-- we're talking pink lace and a pound of glitter. I'd hired her for my daughter's birthday party.
But behind Tilly's cute exterior is a dirty woman who wants to be corrupted.
I'm eager to help.
There's just one problem.
She's working for my ex-wife, and that harpy is out to ruin me. But she promises to leave me alone... if I break up with Tilly. Walking away from this girl should be a no-brainer, right?
Well, it isn't. I can't keep my hands off of her.
I'm done trying to cooperate with my ex.
Even if it means risking everything...
I'm keeping my princess.
Read The Single Dad Arrangement here!
Books By Penny Wylder
Filthy Boss
Her Dad’s Friend
The Virgin Intern
Her Dirty Professor
The Pool Boy
Get Me Off
Caught Together
Selling Out to the Billionaire
Falling for the Babysitter
Lip Service
Full Service
Expert Service
The Billionaire’s Virgin
The Billionaire’s Secret Babies
Her Best Friend’s Dad
Own Me
The Billionaire’s Gamble
Seven Days With Her Boss
Virgin in the Middle
The Virgin Promise
First and Last
Tease
Spread
Bang
Second Chance Stepbrother
Dirty Promise
Sext
Quickie
Bed Shaker
Deep in You
The Billionaire’s Toy
Buying the Bride
Dating My Friend’s Daughter
Big Man
Trapped with My Teacher
My 5 Bosses
Good Girls Say Yes
His Big Offer
Dangerous Love
The Roommate’s Baby
Perfect Boss
Cowboy Husband
Knocked Up By Her Brother’s Enemy
Flirt
Lust
Claim
The Wife Arrangement
Big Mountain
The Baby Maker’s Club
Prom King
The Single Dad Arrangement
Getting Her Back
Hate to Lose You
Drink Me Up
For Her
For Us
Valentine’s Day Virgin
She Is Mine: Prequel to the Billionaire’s CamGirl
The Billionaire’s CamGirl
His Shy Virgin
Good Time Doctor
Basket Stuffer
Wife for Now
Rich Groom
Rich Soldier
Rich Player
Summer With My Dad’s Best Friend
Married to the Secret Billionaire
Overnight Wife
The Marriage Dare
Married to my Dad's Best Friend
