Page 122 of Baby Daddy
“Do you like it?” asks Dee.
“Fuck. I love it.” I smack a kiss on Dee’s lips. “Is this what you were secretly working on in your studio?”
Dee has a studio in our spacious backyard where she paints. We converted the guesthouse. Last month, she had her first major exhibition at Jaime Zander’s art gallery and it was a huge success. Instead of teaching, she now paints full-time, but on weekends, gives painting lessons to a few lucky kids. It allows her to be a stay-at-home mom and have a fulfilling career at the same time.
After a nod, a wistful smile crosses her face. She casts her eyes down at the painting and then back at me. “That day will always be special to me.”
I tenderly brush the side of her face with my fingertips. “How, baby?”
“It was the day I fell in love with you. I saw the way you connected with Ty and her with you. That connection was so powerful. So beautiful. And I knew then how much my…our…baby girl needed a loving father in her life…how much I needed you.”
Her voice grows watery and trails off. I carefully set the painting on the bed and then tap my thigh. “Come here, baby.”
I watch as she repositions herself on my lap, her bent legs straddling me and her arms wrapped around my neck. Her soulful brown eyes lock with mine and I think about how our little girl brought us together. I move in for another passionate kiss when the bedroom door handle jiggles and is followed by a loud knocking.
“Mommy, Daddy, open up!”
Ty. “Coming.” I wish, but I’m not going to let an opportunity pass. My mouth consumes Dee’s with a hot, tongue-driven kiss. I force myself to pull away and before heading to the door, grab the pajamas strewn on the floor after last night’s love making. We scramble to put them on.
“Happy Anniversary, Mommy and Daddy!” shouts out my Mighty as I swing the door open.
I give her a big hug and lift her into my arms. “What’s that?” I ask after noticing the folded piece of paper she’s holding.
“It’s your card! I made it myself!”
“Cool! I want to read it with Mommy.”
A few seconds later, we’re all on the bed. Dee and I take turns reading the adorable card with the whimsically drawn family aloud. The little girl with pigtails is wearing a red cape just like the one Mighty is wearing over her PJs.
Me: “Happy Anniversary to the Bestest Mommy and Daddy in the World!”
Dee: “Love, Your Cupcake (“Mighty”) and Milo.”
A big red heart and lots of X’s and O’s follow.
“Oh, cupcake!” gushes Dee with a kiss. “I love this! Such a perfect picture of us.”
“Me too,” I add, smacking a kiss on her other cheek. “Thank you, sweetheart!”
A smile as wide as the sky lights up my precious girl’s face. She’s missing several teeth now, and the front one has come in crooked just like mine did when I was her age.
“I signed Milo’s name for him. I couldn’t get him to hold the crayon.”
Dee and I laugh while Ty’s attention shifts to the painting on the bed. “Mommy, did you paint this?”
Dee grins. “Yes, cupcake. I made it for Daddy for our anniversary. I want him to hang it in his new office.”
I now occupy my father’s large corner office. After the Gunther Saxton debacle, my father decided not to sell our company but to retire anyway. Following the overnight success of Mighty Girl, he handed me the reigns and I’m now President of Hanson Entertainment.
“I know exactly where it’s going to go…on the wall right across from my desk so I can see you all day long,” I tell my daughter.
“YAY! What did you get Mommy?”
My pulse rate quickens with excitement. I have the most fucking awesome present for the love of my life—a pair of dangling diamond earrings, each heart-shape diamond symbolizing the two other loves of my life. My little gems. Just as I’m about to retrieve the little box hidden under my pillow, a loud wail sounds.
“Mommy, Milo is up!”
Our three-month-old son. Conceived on our wedding night. Though I wasn’t wearing protection, Dee was still on birth control. The chances of getting her pregnant were slim. What can I tell you? My sperm are still Olympians. And Zoltar was right as usual…a surprise awaited us.