Alpha Billionaire Series
Billionaire and the Barista Chapter 33

GABRIELLA

"Where's Daddy?" Robbie asked as he jumped on my bed first thing in the morning.

I had slept like a baby for the first time in what felt like weeks. I ground my hands into my sleep-laden eyes. The skin was no longer tender to the touch.

"I guess he's asleep in his bed at home," I said groggily.

"But isn't this home? Annie says her mommy and daddy sleep in the same room, like a sleepover every night. Why didn't he sleep here?"

I pulled Robbie into a hug. "Annie has a different family than we do. Doesn't she?" I started.

Robbie nodded.

"You like her family, don't you?"

He nodded again.

"You just met your daddy. And, well, me and him aren't married. We are still Mommy and Daddy, but the rest of it is just different."

"I won't get a big brother?" He looked so sad.

I kissed his little forehead. "No, but someday you'll get to be the big brother."

I thought about telling him someday soon, but I wasn't ready for that yet. He would replace out soon enough. It broke my heart that he had been missing a family all this time. But Nathan was back, and things hadn't gone horribly wrong when he met Robbie. I still needed to tell him about the baby, but that seemed like it would be easy after last night.

"It's a school day, time to get ready." I hustled him off my bed.

"Will Daddy come over later?"

"I think he will," I said.

Robbie gave me a huge grin and ran back to his room to get ready for his half-day at pre-school.

I walked through my morning on a different happy cloud than Robbie. He was thrilled to now have a father and was making all kinds of plans. I was happy to have Nathan back. Even though I still felt a little unsure.

I got Robbie to school, and then I started my day at the café. The customer line wasn't terribly insane, but with my help, everything would go smoother. I wasn't scheduled to start baking until later after Robbie came home from school. Lacey had classes this afternoon, so this was one of the days where we set Robbie up with his own table and he colored.

My phone buzzed and I looked at it.

"What time does Robbie get out of school? When can I come over?" Nathan had texted.

I smiled because Nathan wanted to spend time with his son and because he could look after Robbie for the afternoon.

I sent him a quick text letting him know the schedule for the day.

"I'll be there by lunch."

The hours until he arrived dragged out. I wanted to see Nathan again, I wanted to be certain this was real, and that last night hadn't been a dream.

A large stuffed bear walked in the door of the café holding a bouquet of roses. I didn't see Nathan until he was almost to the counter. At which point he had given up, and found a chair to prop the oversized stuffed animal in.

"What is all of this?" I asked, laughing.

"These"- he handed out the flowers- "are for you, and this is for Robbie. Is he back from school yet?" I knew that expression well, only I was used to it on a much smaller face. Robbie looked like that when he was beside himself with joy. I had never seen Nathan so happy.

"They're beautiful," I put my face into the flowers and smelled their heady fragrance. "I need to see if I have a vase. Can I leave them on the counter so everyone can see how beautiful they are?"

Nathan snagged me around the waist and pulled me to him. I loved the way he was smiling at me, holding me.

"So they can see how much I love you," he said before his lips claimed mine in a kiss.

I could have melted into him. Probably would have if someone hadn't let out a loud wolf whistle in response to our public display.

I reluctantly left his arms and found a vase for the flowers.

"You want to drag that upstairs?" I asked as I beckoned Nathan to follow me.

"I'm on lunch, I have to get Robbie," I announced before I stepped into the back hall and then up the stairs.

The teddy bear barely fit through the door.

"You're going to spoil him," I protested, but not very seriously. Robbie was going to love that bear.

"I have a lot of lost time to make up for," Nathan said. He put the bear in the TV room and then returned to me in the kitchen.

"I have some more gifts for you."

"Did you bring me chocolate too?" I laughed when he looked momentarily panicked. "I was joking."

He swung a case that hung from his shoulders around and removed a few sheets of paper.

"I personally called every agent on this list to tell them to stop calling about this property. As far as I can tell, this is the list Gavin was working from. Oh, and I picked him up from Mitch's this morning. You were right. Mitch dragged Gavin's sorry a*s home last night. I dropped him off, still drunk, at my mother's. She can deal with him. I owe Mitch big time." "For taking in Gavin?" I shrugged. It's what Mitch did.

"For Gavin, but mostly for you and Robbie. I want to do something nice for him. Will you help me think of something?"

"Of course. I don't think enough people do nice things for Mitch." I rested my hand on Nathan's arm. That familiar zing from touching him lit up my skin. "Thank you for making those calls."

"No one has bothered you?"

"Not today," I said with a shake of my head.

"Good." He pulled out more papers. "I have more for you. You're going to want to take your time going through all of this, and then you'll probably want a lawyer to look at it before you sign anything." "What?" I slid into a chair and pulled the papers in front of me. I had no idea what I was looking at, but I was looking.

"This will transfer my share of the Lake More development into a holding trust for Robbie. Because we were not together at the time of his birth, I'm sure my lawyer will insist on a paternity test." "What is all of this Nathan?"

He sighed and ran his hand through his hair, messing it up.

"I'm transferring my ownership of the property next door into Robbie's name. That way it can't be sold until he decides what he wants to do with it when he's twenty-one."

I stared at him in complete shock.

He reached forward and pointed to another sheet of paper. "Here is a draft of a similar document, putting this property in his name as well. You would still be the manager of the estate, but this locks it in for you, and for him. You don't have to do it if you don't want to. It's a suggestion. I don't want you to think that anyone can come in here and take your property. You're holding onto it for all the right reasons. I want to help with that."

"Can you change the name on these?"

"You want me to put them in your name?"

I shook my head. "I mean, can you add a name, even if you don't know what it is yet?"

"What are you getting at Gabriella?"

I looked up at him, and then down at the papers in my hands. "You're doing this for Robbie, your son."

"And for you," he said.

"Well, will you be able to change things when you have more than one child?"

Nathan shrugged. "Sure, we can add language and caveats for additional children. But..."

He stopped talking and moving. His jaw dropped open and he looked at me.

I nodded.

Nathan didn't move at all. Suddenly with the swiftness of a viper strike, he had me out of the chair and in his arms. The chair tipped over in his speed. His hands ran over my hair, down my arms.

"Are you serious? Gabs, don't tease me."

"I'm not teasing. We're going to have a baby."

With a whoop, Nathan scooped me into his arms and spun me. I was laughing and crying all at the same time.

The alarm on my phone went off. "I have to get Robbie. Put me down."

"Does he know about the baby?" Nathan asked. He was still holding me.

"Not yet. He's still flying high on having met his father and wondering why you don't live with us. I don't know how he'll take to being a big brother right now."

He dropped my legs and let me slide down his body until my feet hit the ground.

"That's a very good question, you know. Why don't we live together?"

"There are a lot of reasons Nathan, but-"

"But nothing. Marry me, we can figure the rest of everything out as we go like other people do. I'll move in here until we decide if we want to get a house or stay here. Marry me, live with me. Let's be the family we were meant to be." I was speechless. I was all ready with my list and he made them all vanish.

"You want to marry me and live here? Here, in this apartment?" I knew the kinds of places Nathan was used to living. My little above the café apartment was not what I would have put on his shortlist of preferences.

"I want to be with you. Where you live, I will be."

I placed my hands on his cheeks. I couldn't imagine my life without him, and then I had to endure years of it. I never wanted that loneliness and hollow feeling again. "I love you. Yes. Yes."

The kiss Nathan gave me seared me to the core. I was forever his.

My phone alarm buzzed again. "Okay, okay, we have to get Robbie, or they'll get mad at me for being late."