Alpha Billionaire Series
Hot Mess Epilogue

KAYLA

Nine months later...

Iheard Chrissy fuss. With a groan I pulled back my covers and started to flail my way out of bed.

Nick's strong arm came around me and pulled me back into the center of the warm bed.

"The baby is fussing," I said, my voice groggy and heavy with sleep. I struggled weakly against his grasp

"I've got her. You worked hard yesterday. Merry Christmas, sleep in." He gave me a quick kiss and was out of the bed before I could protest.

Not that I would. I rolled over and fell back to sleep.

The house was full of the smell of sweet warm cinnamon when I woke up. It was hard to believe that a year ago I had woken up and the place had been cold and quiet. There had been no way of knowing that it was Christmas outside.

This year, with the help of a professional interior designer, I was able to decorate. The entryway, the living room, the dining room, all of the major rooms we used were full of twinkling lights and Christmas cheer. No more runs at the crack of dawn to buy whatever decorations I could replace.

Garlands and ornaments trimmed the handrail of the stairs, and around the arches that opened one room into the other. We had a single central tree that was decorated like my wildest dreams. The tree was tall and decorated in red and gold ornaments. Bows, angels, and lights covered every branch. It was the kind of tree that I had only ever seen at the mall, but now it was in my home.

I could hear Christmas music when I made it to the top of the stairs. By the time I made it downstairs I could hear Nick singing along.

He danced around in the kitchen with Chrissy kicking along in her bouncing chair. Every few words he would read something on a tablet, before returning to stirring something in a bowl.

My heart soared to see the two of them.

"Good morning, beautiful"- Nick turned Chrissy's chair so she could see me- "Mommy is here."

Chrissy kicked and gave me a wide-open mouthed baby smile. She was a delightful, happy baby. We doted on her constantly. She probably was spoiled, but she was a baby.

"What are you making?" I unbuckled the baby and held her.

"You've spent the past two days baking cookies and making fudge. I'm about to need some kind of intervention for the amount of sugar you've been feeding me." He stuck out his well-defined stomach and grabbed onto nothing but muscled abs and shook. I laughed and shook my head. There was no belly to shake. His complaining was nothing but a farce.

"Chrissy thought it was only fair that we make breakfast for you."

I looked over the counter island. I couldn't see the recipe on the tablet, but from the ingredients Nick had spread over the counter I made an educated guess.

"Are you making sausage balls?"

Nick's smile confirmed it. I skipped around the island and kissed him.

"Merry Christmas, babe." He pulled me in close and after kissing me he kissed a sloppy kiss on Chrissy's forehead.

She giggled and tried to lunge for him to get more affection from her Daddy.

He took her from me, and I stepped in and took over the cooking.

"Hey, I was supposed to be doing that."

I looked up at him. "Do you want to swap?" I held out my arms for the baby.

Nick held Chrissy closer. I got it. He loved his daughter.

I finished the sausage balls and put them in the oven.

"Should we open presents?"

Nick was so excited for Christmas morning. Chrissy didn't know what was going on, she simply enjoyed having our attention. A pile of new toys started growing around her and Nick. "This is out of hand. She can't even play with half of this stuff," I said as I opened another teddy bear.

I held it out and made it dance.

"She's going to need a second bedroom just for all the new stuffed animals. And you're going to need a room for all of your Captain Wonder action figures."

Despite a few rocky weeks, the studio felt that Nick behaved admirably and didn't pull Captain Wonder from release. It was a hit. He was now recognized everywhere he went.

Nick grabbed the toy and cuddled it. "But this is my favorite."

"The last one was your favorite too. Aren't these supposed to be for Chrissy?"

"Believe it or not, I did not buy all of these toys," he said. "I think Isaac bought more toys for her than I did."

I left Nick and the baby to continue opening presents. There was still a mountain of unopened boxes to get through. I pulled the sausage balls from the oven, and quickly whipped together a cheese dipping sauce. I put together a bottle for Chrissy before returning to the living room with breakfast.

Nick popped a hot sausage ball into his mouth. "This is my favorite new holiday tradition."

"New tradition?"

"You made these for us for the first-time last year. I couldn't imagine this morning with you, without something that was uniquely us, these."

He picked up the baby and her bottle and settled onto the couch.

"I can feed her," I said.

"You can feed yourself. I've got the girl, have breakfast."

"Fine." I dipped a sausage ball into the cheese sauce and bit into it. Nick had done a good job. All I did was roll them up and put them in the oven.

I watched him as he fed our daughter. Last year, Nick was the best Christmas present I could ever imagine. I had no idea a year ago how much I could love a person. And as I watched the two of them, I think I loved them even more.

Chrissy smacked her lips and sighed as she finished her bottle. She slumped in her sleep. Nick put the bottle down and carefully stood. He cradled her and carried her up the stairs. She would sleep for about an hour before she woke up again.

When Nick came back, he pulled me onto the couch with him. I snuggled in and curled against him. Our living room was a mess. Wrapping paper was crumpled and tossed hap-haphazardly around.

"This was fun. We're making cookies later, right?" I asked.

"I wouldn't miss it. Did you realize we were starting new traditions last year?"

"Last year we were starting a lot of things, weren't we?"

He laughed deep in his chest. "You haven't opened all of your presents."

"I've opened plenty," I said. "It can wait. I like the present I have right now."

I looked up at him and lifted my face for a kiss. I didn't need mistletoe for an excuse to kiss Nick. I kissed him at every opportunity. He kissed me long and slow. He pressed me back into the couch as he deepened the kiss. We had a few minutes to celebrate before the baby woke up.

I hooked my leg over his hip and urged his body closer.

With a growl, Nick ground his hips against mine. This was turning into a very nice Christmas morning.

There was a wail from the baby monitor. We froze and stared at it, waiting. She started crying in earnest a moment later.

Nick pressed a quick kiss to my lips. "I'll take a rain check on this."

He pushed out of my embrace and ran up the stairs.

I could hear him cooing at the baby and singing gently to her in his deep soothing voice as he changed her. While he took care of the baby, I started to clean up after opening presents. I sorted the recycling as I picked it up. Paper into paper bags, plastics into another bag.

"Someone didn't want to nap," Nick announced when he returned downstairs with Chrissy in his arms.

She looked sleepy, and I was pretty sure with some gentle cuddles and holding she would eventually fall back asleep. He sat and put her on his shoulder, gently rubbing her back, in case it was a burp that had disrupted her sleep.

"Did you look for your other present?"

"We have people coming over later."

"Yeah, later, for dinner. It's still early," Nick complained.

"Sure, and once you fall asleep with the girl, the next thing you know it's time to get up and get ready because my mother will come over early. She isn't going to trust the caterer to get everything right."

Mom was staying in the little bungalow while she visited over the holidays. She made it clear she was not pleased that Chrissy and I lived with Nick before we were married and wouldn't stay in the house with us. Which was fine by me. Nick and I agreed to not get married until the legal issues that resulted from my cousins blackmailing were resolved. Mom was just going to have to accept that. "Find that present. I want you to open it before your mother gets here."

I rummaged under the tree and found a flat package with an obnoxiously large bow on it. The tag hanging off proclaimed "open me first!"

I raised my brows to Nick in a silent question. I slid a nail under the bottom flap and peeled the paper back. A manilla file folder and two rings slid out. I picked up the rings and looked at Nick. They were the bands we agreed on for our wedding rings. "What's this? Our rings."

"Keep going."

I flipped open the file folder. I scanned over a lot of words that my brain wasn't assembling into any comprehension. They were legal documents from what I could tell. "Is this the trial results?"

Nick nodded. "It's finally over, we won."

His smile took over his entire face.

"We can get married now."

I sat next to him on the couch. He wrapped his arm around me. He had Chrissy on one shoulder, and me on the other. "Thank you. I couldn't imagine a more perfect present." Nick kissed me on the top of my head, "I love you. Merry Christmas."