My Kind of Beautiful (Finding Love 2)

“This would be more than a donation. This would cost a lot and it would be time-consuming.”

“I have the money,” she says, “and you have the time. You would be in charge. Our grandparents run the rec center in Las Vegas. They would know what to do. How to set it all up.”

She’s right. Years ago, before we were born, our grandparents started a recreational center for kids to get them off the streets because Micaela’s dad, Marco, was one of those kids on the street. They’ve been successfully running it for years and would gladly help us.

“And if Aiden agrees, we can pay him to work here, to help us…”

“Which would pay for him to live in assisted living.” I throw my arms around Georgia. “You’re a freaking genius, and the best sister ever! Thank you! Thank you! This is the best birthday ever. I can’t wait to get started and tell Aiden…” I hug her tighter. “I love you, Georgia, thank you.”

“You don’t have to thank me, Lex. I’m your sister. I just want you to be happy.”

I pull away from her and glance back at the building. “This is it, Georgia. I can feel it… This is my path.”

Lexi

Seven Months Later

“Is that everything?” I ask, taking a look around the place one last time.

“I think so,” Alec says, coming up behind me and wrapping his arms around me. “And if it’s not, it’s not like we can’t get whatever we forgot… Your sister and Chase are still living here.”

I groan. “I can’t believe she’d rather live here than with us in our new house.” Two months ago we closed on our first home. It was days before I was due to give birth, and we thought we would have time to fix up the small things we needed to fix up and then move in. Only our daughter surprised us by coming early. We stayed in the condo for two months, which was actually great since Georgia was around to help. Since I had a C-section, I couldn’t lift anything for six weeks. Now, Abigail is two months old, sleeping almost through the night, and we’re moving out.

“She wants us to have our own space,” Alec says for the millionth time.

“Yeah, I know.” I pout. “But she’s staying here with Chase? She can’t even stand him…”

“I own the condo,” I remind her. “Instead of them having to find another place to live, I told them they can continue to live here. It saves me the hassle of having to find new tenants or sell the place.”

“Umm…in case you forgot, my sister is rich. She can afford to live anywhere she wants.”

Alec laughs. “Maybe she doesn’t want to live alone.” He shrugs. “Chase stopped bringing women around a while ago, and they haven’t fought in a long time.”

“I guess.” I huff. “I’m just going to miss her.”

“We’ll only be ten minutes away,” he points out, kissing me. I sigh into him and thread my fingers through his hair.

“Lexi,” Aiden says, ending the moment. “Lexi’s baby, Abigail, is crying.”

“I’ll go get her,” I tell Alec. “You make sure we have everything.”

I walk into the living room and find Aiden rocking Abigail’s car seat. She’s barely whining, but to Aiden that’s crying. Any time she makes any noise that isn’t happy, he wants us to make her happy. The moment she was born and he came to visit, he became attached to her.

“Here you go, sweet girl.” I put her pacifier into her mouth that fell out and her eyes roll backward, as she instantly falls back asleep.

“Can we go paint now?” Aiden asks, referring to Through Their Eyes, the non-profit art gallery that’s set to open soon. Right now, we’re painting the inside. Georgia and I have contacted dozens of artists and celebrities and have gotten many donations. When it’s done, it will be an art gallery people can visit and buy from, as well as an educational center. We’re planning to run yearlong programs, where kids can come to learn how to create, and all the proceeds will go to help support autistic children and adults.

“Go ahead,” Alec says, walking over and kissing my temple. “I’ll handle the rest.”

“You sure?”

“Yeah.”

Twenty minutes later, we arrive at the gallery and Aiden goes right to work, painting his masterpiece. He spends the afternoon painting while I work on the business side of things. When it’s time to go, I take him out front where the private bus from his assisted living center picks him up.

“I’ll see you tomorrow?” he asks, like he does every day, Monday through Thursday.

“Yes, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“And baby Abigail, too,” he says.

I laugh under my breath, realizing I said I instead of we. “Yes, we will both be here.”

“At nine o’clock, right?” It’s taken a little bit of time for Aiden to adjust to living in a new place and having a new routine. At first, it was rough. We even had to bring his blue tent with him and set it up in his room. But he’s slowly adjusting, and the most important thing is he’s happy and safe. The assisted living center provides a private bus that drops him off and picks him up every day during the week. I would love to take him myself, but they said he needs consistency, so it’s best to let him ride the bus every day.