Alpha Billionaire Series
Baby Surprise Epilogue

CHRISTOPHER

The next morning...

Consciousness came in the form of a small body crawling into bed and wedging himself between me and Alicia.

"Santa, Santa was here!"

Ceejay was neither quiet nor still.

"Sh, give mommy a minute to wake up," Alicia rolled over and wrapped Ceejay in her embrace, effectively binding him with her arms.

"You sleep over?" He glared at me from the safety of his mother's arms.

The night before I had stripped that woman down and did the most amazing things to her body. I hadn't wanted there to be anything between us, even when we were asleep. But she had insisted just as I was about to pass out from exhausted bliss that I put my shorts on. I had done so begrudgingly.

Now I understand why.

Her bed was a family bed. Ceejay would always have access to his mother, that's how she was. That was another reason to love her.

"Yeah, buddy. That way I could be here when you open your presents."

Alicia made half-awake semi groaning sounds. "What are the numbers on the clock?"

"Five," Ceejay started.

"What number does it have to start before you can wake me up?"

"Six," he sounded disappointed.

I put my finger to my lips and then slid from the bed. I beckoned him to follow. I grabbed my t-shirt from the floor and pulled it over my head. The clock said five fifty-two. It wasn't much time. I held my hand out to him and we quietly stepped out of the room. I swept him up into my arms and covered his eyes as I rushed into the kitchen. He giggled and kicked.

"You can't look," I said. "Your mommy wants to see your face when you see. So, no looking, not until she gets up."

I put him on the kitchen counter with his back to the tree. When he tried to turn, I caught his face in my hand. He was so little. I gazed into that tiny face that really did look like me from the same age. "Behave." I gave him a wink.

He nodded.

"Good. Let's make your mommy some coffee. I think she would like that." I turned my back to him to start the coffee maker. Everything was already out on the counter.

"Cookies are gone! Santa-"

I spun around and caught him before he was able to turn around any farther. "Hey, no looking. Yes, Santa was here. But this morning is special for mommy too, right? If I give you one of the cookies, will you promise to not look?"

His eyes went wide. Yeah, a cookie for breakfast on Christmas morning, like the kid was going to need extra energy. I grabbed the plate of cookies and let him pick one. I think he touched every single cookie before picking. "How about next time, we just touch the one we want."

He looked up at me and nodded. He was all big eyes and messy hair. His pointy little chin was one-hundred-percent Alicia. I didn't trust him. He was too little to have impulse control. I scooped him up and put him on the floor sitting against the cupboard. He'd have to get past me to see the tree. And I didn't think he was tall enough to see over the counter that separated the kitchen from the living room.

The coffee pot started gurgling moments before Alicia stepped out. She ground the heel of her palm into her eyes. She had the most glorious bedhead hair I had ever witnessed. "Where's Ceejay?"

I looked down as he whimpered, still sitting by my feet.

"I've got him here. I wouldn't let him look until you could see his face."

Her face went all soft, and her mouth made a perfect O. She pressed her hands to her chest. "Really? I love you. Okay, sweetie, come on, let's look at what Santa brought."

With a squeal to rival tires peeling out on a racetrack, that kid zipped out of the kitchen in a puff.

I knew I had made the right choice when I saw how happy Alicia was for him. His eyes were wide and he didn't know where to start first. I pulled a cup from the cupboard and poured the first cup of coffee and handed it to Alicia as I stepped from the kitchen to the living room.

I sat on the couch and watched as Ceejay tore into his gifts.

Alicia sat on the floor with him. Pointing and directing and helping him open the larger gifts.

"Oh, who is that one from?" She looked back at me.

I shrugged and played innocent as Ceejay unwrapped the box.

He was too excited to articulate as he revealed a dinosaur Lego block play set. If I had known about the panda obsession, I would have looked for one of those. The first time I had been in this apartment, I could help but notice the tiny building blocks everywhere. I tried not to smile too much in my pride of having gotten him a good present.

He unwrapped gift after gift. But they weren't all extravagant gifts like I had expected, like I had gotten growing up. I had gotten more gifts than love. And when I was older, I had to prove my worth to get either.

No, this kid was loved. And his mother wasn't rich. There was no bike and no video games. Maybe he was too young. He got books, pajamas, and more panda stuff than I realized was possible.

Alicia reached forward and pulled a box out from under the tree. "Take this to him." She pointed at me as she gave the box to Ceejay.

"Is this from you?" I asked.

He looked uncertainly over his shoulder at Alicia. She nodded. "Remember we got it the other day?"

He began nodding.

I carefully unwrapped and then opened the box. It was a picture frame. A nice wooden one with polished stone inlaid. But the real present was the picture. Alicia and Ceejay smiled out of the frame at me. It was the kind of picture a family man would have at his desk. It was the kind of picture I would have on my desk of my family.

A lump formed in my throat as unexpected emotions hit me. "I like this very much."

Alicia held out her arms and grabbed Ceejay to sit on her lap. "I have another present for you," she said to him.

"You like my friend?"

Ceejay nodded.

She held out her hand, the one with my ring on it. "This present he gave me, is also a present for you." Ceejay started to pull on the ring. "No, the ring is mine. But this means he's your daddy."

She looked up at me, and if I felt overcome with emotions from a picture, she was going to drown me in emotions now. Love and I don't know what else, pride, joy, exuberance, all of it flooded my system. I slid from the couch to sit with them and pulled them both into my arms.

I couldn't speak for a moment.

"I love you," Alicia said.

I kissed her. This was all new to me and it was a lot. When Ceejay wrapped his little arms around my neck and squeezed, I had to clench my eyes shut to keep from crying. It was overwhelming what I felt for the two of them.

It was my turn to pull a hidden box out from under the tree.

"Oh whoa, Christopher, you shouldn't have."

She turned over the box and looked at me wide-eyed.

"Your old tablet was always causing you problems."

"Thank you." She leaned over and kissed me again. "I really needed this."

I was an idiot. I looked around her small apartment with the meagre little tree covered in paper ornaments, purchased as the tree lot was closing down for a steep discount. She was a single mother; she didn't have the disposable income to buy a new piece of tech simply because the one she had was old. Well, that is going to change now. What would a woman with the resourcefulness of Alicia do with money? I couldn't wait to replace out. "One last present," she announced.

She handed me a long narrow box. Something the right size for a watch or a pen. A watch would have been out of her budget. I opened it and it was a pen. A purple magic marker. "Turn it over," she said.

I stared at it. It still looked like a purple magic marker, but with a window with a plus sign in it.

"Is this what I think it is?"

She bit her lip and nodded.

If I thought I had been overwhelmed by emotions before, this was like getting slammed by a tsunami. She was pregnant.

I pulled her into my lap. "I don't know if I deserve you. But I will do my best to earn your love every day. I got a family for Christmas; I don't think this can get any better."