Page 72 of Daddy's Unexpected Gift

The shower started, and I lost my moment with Cecelia. I rolled and set Georgie into the crib while I pulled out an applesauce pack to feed to her. They were gone. I looked in the trash. Yep, It looked like Cecelia had fed the baby. Damn, I loved that woman.

I stared at the bathroom door and then back at the baby. If I stepped in while Cecelia was in the shower, I’d climb in with her and make love to her.

Georgie complained and rattled the sides of the crib.

“I know, baby, I know. Not while you’re awake.”

I got dressed and played with the baby while I waited for Cecelia to get out of the bathroom.

She stepped out from the bathroom, dressed in the skirt to the little gray suit I saw her in so many times. Her top was pink, and her hair was wrapped in a towel turban style, and she was the most beautiful I had ever seen because she was here with me.

“You should probably give me a ride back to the apartment so I can take my car in,” she said.

“I can give you a ride.”

She shook her head. “They’ll see you, they’ll?—”

“Let them, Cecelia. Better yet, I’ll walk in with you and you can tell them you quit.”

She opened her mouth to protest. I stepped across the small space and pulled her to me. “Quit work. Take care of me and Georgie.”

“I’m not a nanny, Sterling.”

“I don’t want a nanny, Cecelia. I want you in my life. When you said you were coming here to Amarillo, I thought we could make it work. Long weekends together, meeting in the middle where no one would know us. I see now that it won’t work. It’s not fair to you. If it means you don’t work for them, then don’t.”

Her smile faltered.

“I know you want a job and to be able to take care of yourself. But let me take care of you. You can find another job.”

“My apartment. I have to pay rent.”

I shook my head. “If you won’t move in with us, then I’ll help you until you find another job.”

“Wait, stop. What did you say?” she asked.

“Let me take care of you,” I repeated.

“No, the move in with you part. You want me to move in with you?” She looked so scared.

I smiled and nodded. “Yes, Cecelia. I want you to live with me. Me and Georgie. And before you come up with any other excuses, I will put you on my insurance, I’ll add you to my cellphone plan. I want you with me. We are a family. We belong together.”

She gulped and a tear ran down her cheek.

“I need you,” I confessed.

Georgie crawled across the bed and tried to get to her feet. She wobbled and fell into a sitting position. She held her arms up to Cecelia, asking to be picked up. “Mama.”

“We need you.”

Cecelia lifted Georgie and cradled her in close. I wrapped my arms around both of them. “Georgie needs a mother. She needs you.”

38

CECELIA

Emotions overwhelmed me, and I cried. I was so happy and I was crying. I should have been laughing and dancing. Instead, I was a snotty mess. My skin had to have been splotchy, and I desperately needed a tissue.

I held onto Georgie and leaned into Sterling. These two were my everything. I was going to have a real family.

---