Page 34 of The Billionaire's Christmas Baby Surprise

“All good choices. Janet says she’s ready for us to come over and said thank you again.”

“I’m the one who should be thankingher.” Max fastened his seatbelt. “It’s impressive that she’s taking in so many kids right at Christmas. All we’re doing is shopping.”

Billie gave him an approving nod. “That’s a good way of looking at it. But keep in mind, the real heroes are the kids, because they didn’t have any choice in the matter.”

“True.” Max put the car into drive, and they headed towards Janet’s house. “There’s a lot that I just never thought about.”

“It was the same for me when I started working with foster families,” Billie agreed. “My family didn’t have a lot of money, but I was lucky enough to grow up with loving parents who were always able to put us first. Not everyone gets that.”

“True,” Max echoed, and there was an unmistakable sadness in his blue eyes for a fraction of a second.

They arrived at Janet’s house a few minutes later. After parking out front, they each loaded their arms with bags and headed to the front door. A woman around Billie’s age with long, red hair in a bun opened on the first knock. Her eyes widened at the sight of Billie and Max with all their supplies.

“Wow,” she said. “You said you were bringing over a few things, but I didn’t expect this. Thank you so much.”

“There’s no need to thank us,” Max said. “Do you mind if we come in and set everything down?”

“Of course not.” The woman, Janet, opened the door wider to let them in. In the living room, two girls and two boys were playing a game of Sorry.A baby snoozed in a pack n’ play in the corner. At the sight of Billie and Max and the bags, the kids looked up with interest. Billie blinked in surprise as she recognized the oldest girl: Sierra came to the afterschool program at Sweetest Surprise sometimes.

“Sierra, Kate, Jordan, Carter, this is Billie and Max. They’ve brought over a few things for you.”

“Like what?” the oldest girl, Sierra, asked suspiciously. Then she caught sight of Billie. “Miss Billie!”

“Hi, Sierra.” Billie set down the bags and knelt to the girl’s level. “How are you doing?”

“Mom had to go away for a while.” Sierra looked worried. “I was trying to take care of everybody, but it was too hard.”

“Of course, sweetie. You did a wonderful job. And now Janet is here to help.”

“Yeah.” Sierra nodded bravely.

They spent around an hour with the family. Janet insisted they stay to share the food they’d brought over. Luckily, Max had brought plenty for everyone. After dinner, they played with the kids for a little while. Max was a natural with the younger boys, spending quite some time helping them assemble the Hot Wheels set he’d picked out for them and sending cars careening down the long, curved track. Billie rocked the baby for a while, then spent some time talking to Sierra and Kate.

When they left, Janet thanked them again and, once again, Billie and Max waved off her thanks.

In the car, Max turned to Billie. “What sweet kids.”

“I know. The oldest one comes to our afterschool program sometimes.”

“Did you know her family was having trouble?”

“A lot of the families we work with are having trouble in one way or another, but I didn’t know about Sierra’s family in particular.”

“I feel so bad for those kids, living in a new home at Christmastime.”

“I know.” Billie paused. “Speaking of which, Sweetest Surprise has a lot of programs that work with foster kids. If you’d like to keep volunteering after Christmas, maybe you could work with one of them.”

For a moment, she was sure she’d gone too far, and that Max would laugh at her and say that he wasn’t interested in charity after Christmas was over. But, to her surprise, he nodded.

“I think I’d like that.”

“That’s wonderful. And thank you for coming to me when you heard that Janet might need help.”

“Of course. I didn’t consider anyone else. And, to be honest, it felt good to help.”

“It does, doesn’t it?” Billie smiled at him. “We played a small role, but it’s nice to think that, because of what we did, we can make things a little easier for that sweet family.”

“It is.” Max looked at the time on the car’s dashboard. “But now I need to get back to work.”

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