Page 18 of The Billionaire's Instant Triplets

“It’s like you said yesterday. The magic of parenthood is showing up, and I don’t. At least, not always.”

“First of all, youdoshow up. You took in the triplets when they needed you most, and you’ve been taking care of them for a few months now. Second, you’re not a lousy father. You’re trying your best in a very difficult situation.”

As Ria spoke, she realized that she believed everything she was saying. Before, she’d judged Tristan for disappearing into his office the moment she’d arrived (and for his too-cool demeanor), but now she was beginning to understand why he acted as he did. Of course he kept some distance from the kids. They’d been a huge surprise.

She still would have liked to see a little more effort from him, though.

“I am trying, but I’m worried it isn’t enough. I just don’t know how to keep them from crying or get them to sleep or even play with them. And I worry about stepping into their mother’s role when she isn’t here.” Tristan bit his lip. Now, his usual attitude was melting away, and Ria saw a vulnerability in his eyes.

“You’re going to be fine. And if you ever need help, you can just ask me.” Ria paused. “You know, we can start tomorrow. I was planning to take the kids to the park in the morning. Come with us.”

“Oh, I’m not sure?—”

But Ria wasn’t about to take no for an answer. “It’ll be nice. We’ll all enjoy a little sun and fresh air, and you can see the fun side of being a parent.”

“All right.” Tristan gave a lopsided smile. “I suppose there’s no arguing with you, is there?”

“Nope.” Ria grinned. “You’ve been told your marching orders. Now you just have to follow them.”

“Is giving orders part of your nanny training?”

“No — actually, I should be giving you two choices, both of which are acceptable to me. For instance, would you like to go to the park with the kids tomorrow, or should we take them to the pool?”

“Now that you present my options like that, the park is sounding good.” Tristan glanced down at his food, which appeared to have been forgotten. Ria realized that she hadn’t eaten anything in a while either and turned her attention to her spaghetti.

“It works on the kids, too,” she said as she swirled a few strands of pasta onto her fork.

“I’ll give it a try.” Tristan halfheartedly stabbed a piece of fish. “So, you know that I had a sister I never knew. Do you have siblings?”

“I have four.” Ria grinned at his look of surprise, which she saw on nearly everyone’s faces when she told them about her family. “All younger than me. I have two sisters and two brothers. The oldest is a few years younger than me, and the youngest is still in college.”

“Wow. I can’t even imagine. I grew up as an only child, and I was always a little jealous of families with siblings, but four seems like a lot.”

“It was.” A memory of bouncing her youngest sister on her hip, trying to calm her down from a burst of tears after their mother had hurried out to her evening job, flashed through Ria’s mind, but she didn’t mention it. Hearing about Tristan’s sister and beginning to understand his complicated relationship with the triplets was enough for tonight on the revelations front. “But I love them. It’s been cool to see them all growing up into their own people.”

“Are you close with your siblings and parents?” Tristan asked.

“Yes. Well, I’m close with my siblings and my mom. My dad passed away when I was young.”

“I’m sorry.”

Ria gave a sad half-smile. “How about you — are you close with your parents?”

“They both passed away.” Tristan took another bite of his quinoa. The gesture was almost too casual, as though he was trying to prove that all was well, but Ria’s heart broke again. He’d lost both his parents and a sister he’d never known. Now he was raising the triplets without any family support — no wonder things were so difficult.

“I’m sorry to hear that.”

“It was a long time ago. And to be honest, we were never as close as some families are.”

“I’m sure that doesn’t make it hurt any less.”

“No.” Tristan lifted his eyes to hers. “Probably not.”

They looked at each other for a long moment before Ria glanced down at her empty plate. She felt her cheeks reddening, although she didn’t want to think too much about why.

“I’d better go shower and head to bed,” she said, still looking at the empty plate. “The kids will be up early.”

“Of course, and I have a little more work to do.”

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