Page 73 of Billionaire and the Barista

Robbie’s gasp when he walked back into the kitchen was worth it.

“This is for you.” I held out the stuffed car.

He grabbed it and hugged it tightly. “I love it.”

He didn’t put the car down the entire time he ate dinner. It wasn’t a fancy meal, but it was the first one we had together as a family. I caught Gabriella wiping away tears.

After Robbie asked to be excused— I was impressed with his good manners— and ran off, I pulled Gabriella into my arms.

“I saw that,” I murmured against her hair. “Thank you. Thank you for giving me a family and for giving me a chance to prove to you that I deserve you.”

I wanted to stand there in the middle of that kitchen and just hold her.

Robbie came in tangled in a pajama top.

“Are you getting ready for bed already?” I asked.

“Dinner, get ready for bed, and then stories. That’s our routine,” Gabriella said.

“Will you read to me?” Robbie asked.

Gabriella smiled at me. “I don’t know if Nathan is ready for that,” she said with a chuckle.

“You mean Daddy,” Robbie corrected her.

“You’re right,” she said as she helped him navigate the rest of the way into his pajama shirt. “I don’t know if your daddy is quite ready for that, after all this is his first day as a daddy.”

“Hey now,” I interjected. “I think I can handle reading at bedtime.”

I hovered around the kitchen and in the back hallway while Gabriella helped Robbie wash his face and brush his teeth. I did my best to be an out-of-the-way observer until Robbie grabbed my hand and dragged me into his room. His new stuffed car had a prominent position on his pillow.

I sat on the edge of his bed, and he brought me a stack of books. I lifted my gaze to Gabriella. Maybe she knew what she was doing when she laughed at me earlier. It was a big stack of books.

She stepped up to me and took the pile. She handed back three books, and then picked a thick book from the table next to his bed.

“We get two picture books, and always this one,” she tapped the cover of a book with a pigeon on the cover. “And then one chapter from here,” she said as she handed me the thicker hardback book.

“Let’s do this,” I said.

Robbie curled up next to me, and together we read and looked at the pictures of his books. Once we finished the picture books, Gabriella tucked him in under his blankets. As I read the chapter, I kept glancing up at her, and down at the sleepy boy. Her eyes were bright with tears again and she wiped her cheeks.

Robbie was asleep by the time I closed the book. I leaned over and kissed his head. I had a son, and I had read him to sleep. It was a feeling I didn’t know if I could describe it. It was better than any adrenaline high, ever.

I pulled Gabriella into my arms and kissed her long and deep.

“You’re doing a great job. Are you ready for this daddy stuff?” she asked.

“I want to play house with you in the worst way.”

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