Page 86 of Enemy Ex's Secret Baby

AXEL

I scrape the remains of the burnt, inedible lasagna into the trash can, trying to ignore my skyrocketing pulse. The smoke is just clearing from the kitchen, but I can still smell the acridity of vegan cheese burning on the bottom of the oven.

I’m no chef, but I thought I could at least follow a recipe for once in my life. I wanted to make this night as special as possible.

Then, to my horror, the doorbell rings. I check my watch. Fuck. Gillian and Stella are early. Like way early. I tear off my apron that hasn’t seen a day of wear in its life until today and rush through the house, checking all the nooks and crannies.

My house is that of a bachelor in an LA way, which is to say it’s pretty bland. It’s a modern bungalow I designed myself, all steel and glass. All the decorations were chosen by an interior designer without much thought or care from me.

The only color is a bountiful bouquet of pink, orange, and white flowers that I had sent over for Gillian.

The doorbell rings again and Stella’s little voice shouts, “Hellooooo?” followed by Gillian shushing her quickly.

I smooth my hand down the front of my white dress shirt. Now or never, Axel. And, obviously, at this point, I’m choosing now.

I open the bulky mahogany door as quickly as its weight will allow me. My breath immediately leaves my chest when my eyes land on Gillian. She’s smiling her gorgeous smile that I’ve known for so many years, wearing a green button up dress with a floral pattern. Her blonde hair is pinned back out of her face with a few bobby pins. “Hi,” I say, unable to find more words than that.

“Are you okay?” she asks. “You look frazzled.”

“N-no. I’m fine. I’m…” I’ll explain everything later. For now, I just want to hold her. I wrap my arms around her and give her a kiss on the cheek.

We’ve seen each other enough over the past couple weeks that this action is easy. Our bodies are starting to remember each other, get used to our closeness. Consequently, it feels so easy.

Things between Gillian and me are amazing. We’ve fallen into a relationship quickly and without fear. Though both of us have busy schedules, we try to fit each other in whenever possible.

“Ahem.”

I break away from Gillian and look down at Stella. “Sorry, kiddo, didn’t see you there.”

She frowns and puts her hands on her hips. “I picked out this dress just for tonight!”

I get down on a knee at her eye level. Still feeling so familiar, yet so odd, to see my own eyes reflected back at me, especially surrounded by so many features I attribute to Gillian. “Forgive me, Stella. Give me a twirl, will you?”

Stella’s frown turns upside down and she spins around, the light blue dress flowing in a circle around her. “Do you see?” she asks, showing me the fabric patterned with cream-colored stars. “Stars! Because my name means star. Did you know that?”

I can’t help but smile at my little girl. Stella still doesn’t know that I’m her daddy. That’s why Gillian brought her here tonight. We’ve decided it’s time to tell her the truth.

We wanted to tell her as soon as possible, but we were still navigating the start of our relationship and we wanted a semblance of security and answers for any questions she might have, so we decided to wait for a little bit to see in which capacity I would be in her life, as a part of the household or as a co-parent, no other option was ever on the table. Now that I knew who she was to me, I’d never be without her again.

It also helped her to get used to having me around all the time.

Now the time has come. We know that what’s between us is real and deep, and we can invite Stella fully into it. Let our family start for real. “You know, your mother may have mentioned that to me…”

Stella frowns again and looks at Gillian. “Mommy, that’s my fun fact.”

“Don’t be mad at your mother. I asked,” I say. Which is sort of the truth. I guessed on my own and had Gillian confirm it. She’ll understand why soon enough.

“It smells like…burning?” Gillian says, sniffing the air.

I remember the burnt lasagna and get back to my feet. “Uh, yeah. That. Funny story…”

Gillian smirks. “Alright.”

“I wanted to make you girls a special dinner, but I don’t cook very often and –‘”

“Let me guess,” Stella says, crossing her arms. “You burnt it.”

Gillian and I laugh. I nod. “You got it, kiddo.” Then, I sheepishly look back at Gillian. “So…dinner is in the trash.”

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