Billionaire Baby Daddy

I glanced over at Lexi as I chopped onions. She was fidgeting worriedly again, sliding first a plate slightly to the left and then adjusting a wine glass two millimeters to the right. I smiled. “Katherine's been to my house before,” I told her.

Lexi gave me a startled and somewhat guilty look. “Of course, she has,” she said. But she was clearly confused as to why I'd said that.

“So, Katherine knows that this place never looks perfect,” I told her, looking pointedly at the table. “I mean, it's a beautiful house, but it's not as though I have a caterer come by to set the table or make the dinner.”

Lexi looked sheepish. “Sorry,” she said. “I'm just nervous.”

“I know,” I said. “But for the hundredth time, you have nothing to be nervous about.”

“That's easy for you to say,” Lexi said, rolling her eyes. But she moved away from the table and came to sit at one of the barstools, watching me put the finishing touches on the dinner casserole that I'd been assembling. She picked at a loose thread at the end of her sleeve. “What if she thinks I'm just some gold digger trying to extort you?”

“Katherine would never think that,” I promised. “Even if she were capable of thinking something like that, she wouldn't tell you if that's what she thought of you. She's nice to everyone.”

“Great, so she'll be nice to me to my face, but then she'll tell you to break up with me in a few days?”

If anything, Lexi looked even more panicked.

“Of course not,” I said, abandoning my cooking utensils and moving around the counter until I was standing next to her. I put a hand on each of her knees. We were almost the same height like this. “Just be yourself. Katherine is going to love you.”

“How do you know that?” she whispered.

“Because you make me happy,” I told her simply. “And Katherine likes seeing me happy.” I leaned in for a quick kiss and then went back to the casserole, putting a few last touches on it and then sliding it into the preheated oven.

“So, do you always cook when Katherine comes over?” Lexi asked curiously. She paused. “I didn't realize you ever cooked, actually. I thought that was Janice's job.”

“Every once in a while, I like to cook,” I said, shrugging. “And while Katherine loves Janice's cooking, she appreciates when I put in the effort to cook for her. Plus, this is one of our mother's old recipes. I know how to make it better than Janice ever could.”

“Don't let her hear you say that!” Lexi said with a laugh.

I grinned at her and got to work on salads for each of us. In actual fact, I hadn't been planning on cooking that night, but it had been the only way to get Katherine to agree to come over for dinner rather than going out to lunch with the girls. The closer it had gotten to my sister's return, the more nervous I'd gotten about the idea of letting them meet without my supervision. I wanted to make sure Katherine realized how special Lexi was to me.

Katherine arrived not too long after that, and she immediately swept both Lexi and Emma into hugs. “It's great to finally meet both of you,” she said warmly. She knelt down next to Emma and held out a small present. “I brought you something from Paris. I hope you like it.”

“What do you say?” Lexi asked.

“Thank you, Aunt Kat'rine!” Emma chirped, beaming at Katherine.

“'Aunt Kate' is good, and probably easier to say,” Katherine said.

“Aunt Kate,” Emma agreed solemnly. She looked down at the present, her fingers clearly itching to tear the wrapping off it. But she paused, looking towards Lexi for permission. Lexi nodded.

Emma shrieked with delight when she saw the beautiful doll that her aunt had gifted her with. I saw Lexi's look of discomfort and moved towards her, lightly squeezing her hand. She relaxed noticeably, smiling over at me.

“I would have loved to have a doll like that when I was her age,” Katherine said, straightening up and turning towards us. Her smile was sheepish. “I'm sorry if I'm overstepping, I just couldn't help myself.”

“She's beautiful,” Lexi said.

There was a moment of silence. “So, the two of you seem to be settling in nicely here,” Katherine finally said, looking between Lexi and me.

“Yeah,” Lexi said, glancing over at me. “Andrew's been really great.”

“You guys are easy,” I told her, kissing her gently on the lips and hoping that would calm her down a little, too. “Emma especially.”

Lexi laughed. “She's a good kid,” she agreed.

“Any luck on the job front?” Katherine asked. “Just, Andrew said that you were looking.”

“Nothing yet,” Lexi said, a faint blush staining her cheeks, and I inwardly cursed Katherine for bringing up the job situation. But Lexi forged ahead. “I had a couple interviews recently that I'm hoping could turn into something, though. We'll see.”