Alpha Billionaire Series
Baby Surprise Chapter 36

ALICIA

We stood at the zoo entrance waiting for Christopher. Ceejay was squirmy, so I held him. I should have brought the stroller.

"My friend will be here soon."

"Down." Ceejay pushed on me.

"If I put you down, you have to stay right by Mommy, okay? No running off, or we go straight home, and I have to tell Santa you didn't listen."

He stopped fusing and nodded. I hated threatening him with Santa, but it was a fast way to have him learn about consequences. "Alicia."

I turned when I heard my name. Christopher looked ridiculously gorgeous. I couldn't remember a time I had seen him in jeans. They really emphasized his strong legs. He wore a heavy sweater and had a scarf draped around his neck. I should still be mad at him, but I couldn't bring myself to carry that grudge anymore. I was in love with him, and he wanted to meet his son.

Ceejay whimpered and hid behind me as soon as he saw Christopher. I didn't blame him. Christopher had been pretty intimidating the day before.

Christopher leaned into me, and I gave him my cheek for a kiss.

"You ready?" I whispered.

With a nod, Christopher knelt down on the pavement, so he was at the same level as Ceejay.

"Sweetie, this is Mommy's friend from yesterday. He's nice, I promise. Yesterday he was upset and didn't mean to scare you. Can you say hi?"

Ceejay shook his head and stayed behind my leg.

Christopher looked up at me.

"Say hi, and we'll let him warm up to you."

Christopher nodded. "Hi, Ceejay. I didn't mean to make you nervous." He looked back up at me. "Are you sure?"

"I'm sure. Once he sees some animals he'll calm down." I squeezed Ceejay's hand. "Let's go."

Christopher reached into his back pocket. "I've got it."

I held up our membership cards. "Thanks, but we've got a membership, and you're our guest."

"You come to the zoo a lot?"

"You have no idea."

"No, but I'm going to replace out, aren't I?" he said with a chuckle.

"If you hang around with us, definitely."

I let go of Ceejay's hand and admonished him not to go too far in front of me, but to lead the way to our first animal of the day, the flamingos. Ceejay pretended to be a trailblazer in the deep jungle. It felt like he was miles in front, but he was maybe four feet away. Christopher could catch up in a single step if needed.

We hit the African savanna animals next, elephants, lions, and zebras. By the time we got to the gorilla exhibits, Ceejay was holding Christopher's hand and leading him around. Christopher was amazing. He asked questions and listened, even when it was hard for Ceejay to articulate what he was thinking. My boy wasn't a big talker, and he was shy.

It made my heart happy to see him thriving under Christopher's attention. At some point, Christopher picked Ceejay up and began carrying him as if he weighed nothing. I would have been struggling.

I was getting tired by the time we reached the panda enclosure. Ceejay was more energized; the way toddlers are. After this was his favorite animal.

As Ceejay plastered himself against the glass to watch the panda, I pulled Christopher a step or two back.

"If you haven't gotten him anything for Christmas, stop in the gift shop before we leave, okay," I spoke low enough that Ceejay couldn't hear. "He will be heartbroken if you don't have something for him tomorrow." "Does he have something for me?"

I gave him a quick glare. "Of course, he does." We had made a panicked trip out the night before to pick something out Ceejay could give Christopher. It wasn't anything grand, but I involved him in the process. "I'm joking. He doesn't need to give me anything. He himself is my most precious gift."

My pulse raced and tears pricked my eyes when he looked over at his son. Ceejay was a gift.

"Oh, hey, I have something for you."

I blinked away my tears and smiled. He had gotten me a gift. That meant he had probably done some last-minute shopping as well.

"Tomorrow should be fun then. I've got something for you too. You are coming over aren't you?" I hadn't even thought about what plans he might already have made.

"I'm yours all day long. Tell me where and when."

"Early if you can make it."

My eyes were on Ceejay when Christopher leaned down to tie his shoe or something.

"Alicia," his voice was that deep low tone he used when he was serious.

"Yeah?" I barely glanced at him, not wanting to take my eyes off Ceejay.

I had to do a double take as Christopher was kneeling on the ground and holding something out to me.

My mouth went dry, and I struggled to breathe. I had to blink several times to be certain I was seeing what I was seeing.

"I can't wait until tomorrow. Will you marry me?"

I started laughing before I managed to say anything. Ceejay ran back to us and sort of crawled into Christopher's space. He didn't know what was happening, but it seemed even better to have him in the middle of it.

I began nodding and I think I said yes. The next thing I knew people around us were clapping as Christopher slipped a stunning diamond on my finger. I leaned over and kissed him. Somehow the three of us were in a big family hug and I was crying again.

"I love you. I've loved you for years. From this moment on, we talk, we yell, no more secrets, no more games." He kissed me again before turning to Ceejay. "Show me these pandas, I think your mommy needs a minute."

"Is mommy sad?"

"No, no, happy tears. Go show off your pandas." I covered my face. What did Christopher want to be called? Daddy? Father? I'd worry about that later.

I stared at my finger. The ring didn't seem real. I glanced up at Christopher, he had Ceejay on his hip. Naturally holding his son as if he'd been doing it for years and not a few hours. Ceejay was reaching up and explaining something in his direction-free toddler way. He completely held his father's attention.

I ran my thumb around the band on the inside of my finger. It would take some time getting used to. I hoped I would never be used to how I felt right now, watching my guys together. It made me so incredibly happy.

I patted happy tears away from my eyes before I stood up and joined them in front of the exhibit.

"Ceejay was telling me everything about pandas," Christopher announced.

"Oh really?"

Ceejay nodded. "Dey my favorite." He was beaming. He got to see pandas, and he had the undivided attention of his father. He didn't understand what any of that meant yet, but someday he would. "What's next?" Christopher smiled at me.

I smiled in return, and my stomach flipped. It was happy nerves, too soon for the baby's acrobatics to be noticeable.

"The plan is to go look at the lights, get a Christmas tree, and then go home for dinner, and decorate the tree." "What's for dinner?"

"Mac cheese!" Ceejay exclaimed.

I shrugged. "Well, you heard him, macaroni and cheese."

"Sounds good."

I couldn't read his expression. He looked like he was thinking about asking something.

"It's going to be from a box. Chicken nuggets might be involved. I usually throw a can of tuna and some broccoli into mine. It's not Michelin-rated cuisine. But you are invited if you want."

"Hey." He picked up my hand and showed me my ring. "This means I want to. I want canned tuna and boxed noodles if that means I get you."

I blinked back more tears. This man had me crying for the past two days.

His thumb grazed my cheek, and he swept my tears away. He captured my chin and tilted my face up. His beard tickled, but his lips were warm and soft.

"I love you. Get used to me being around."

I nodded. I wanted him around. "Does that mean you'll help us make cookies for Santa and decorate the tree?"

"I wouldn't miss it."

We were all tired by the time we got home. Christopher carried our meagre tree inside and set it up in the space by the TV. Waiting until the last minute left us with few choices. He and Ceejay started decorating the tree with paper snowflakes while I made dinner. It wasn't fancy, but it was warm.

We sat on the couch and looked at the little tree after I put Ceejay to bed. Presents were piled up, ready for the frenzy of Christmas morning. I leaned my head against Christopher's shoulder.

"This is probably the best Christmas I've ever had," he said.

"Yeah," I agreed.

"Are you going to give me my present? Or are you going to make me wait?"

I stood up and took his hand and led him back toward the bedroom. "You're going to have to wait. But Hannah's spending Christmas with her family, so I put Ceejay to bed in her room. I have something else for you to unwrap." Christopher grabbed me and pressed his lips to mine. "Now that sounds like the perfect present."