“You’re always right, Father. So I believe you.”
“And I’ll always be here if you need advice.”
“Yeah,” I said. “I’m lucky that I have you as a father. Most people don’t have what I have, so I can ask the best of the best. Makes it a little easier.” I didn’t realize what I’d said because it tumbled out of my mouth so quickly. I was speaking from the heart, unfiltered.
My father didn’t say anything for a solid minute. He just sat on the phone, letting the silence stretch between us. “One day, your son or daughter is going to say something like that to you…and you’ll know it was all worth it.”
I took the day off from work because the show didn’t seem important to me anymore.
Nicole was both pissed and confused. It was unlike me to drop the ball like this.
But I didn’t care what she thought.
I lay beside Muse in bed while I waited for her to wake up. She must be catching up on sleep because she should have been awake a while ago. But she kept sleeping, hooked into my side like a child holding a teddy bear.
When she finally woke up, my face was the first thing she saw. “Con…”
My fingers moved through her hair, and I placed a kiss on her forehead. “Morning.”
She stretched beside me before she buried her face in my neck. She hugged me as she woke up slowly, her arm squeezing my waist.
My fingers drifted down her back, feeling the smooth skin.
She took her time waking up, her breathing slowly increasing until she was finally awake. Then she pulled away and propped herself on one elbow. “What time is it…?”
“Nine-thirty.”
“Shit, really?” She squinted at the clock on my nightstand to make sure I was right. “We’ve got to get to work.” She scooted herself to the edge of the bed.
“Whoa, come back here.” I grabbed her by the elbow and gently tugged her back toward me. “We aren’t going to work today.”
“You want me to stay home?”
I pulled her back into my side and placed a kiss at her hairline. “We’re both staying home today.”
“But why?” she whispered.
My hand moved to her flat stomach. “I don’t want to work today. I want to spend time with you.” My fingers felt her tiny belly button and the small abs underneath her skin.
“I know you have a lot of work to do for the show…”
“I don’t give a shit about the show,” I said seriously. “I’m staying here—with you.”
Her eyes softened in a way they never had before. “That’s so sweet…”
“I thought we would try to make breakfast together.”
“In Dante’s kitchen?” she asked in surprise.
“Yep.”
“And you think he’ll be okay with that?”
“I told him to take the day off.”
“Do you know anything about cooking?” she asked.
“Nope.”
“This should be fun,” she said with a laugh.
“You can teach me. And then we can eat what’s edible before we order a pizza.”
“I’ve never seen you order a pizza before.”
“I used to before I could afford a guy like Dante.”
“I can’t even picture that.” She rubbed her hand up my chest, in a much better mood than she was last night. Now, she couldn’t stop smiling. She couldn’t stop looking at me like she was a very happy woman.
“Looks like you’re about to see for yourself.”
“Have more faith in yourself than that. I’m sure you can make some breakfast. But I admit…I would love to see Dante’s reaction when he opened the door to a pizza delivery person.”
“Me too.”
Muse and I made a mess in the kitchen as we prepared pancakes, eggs, and bacon. I burned the first batch of eggs, so I had to make a second one. Muse took care of everything else since she was a lot faster than me.
We left a tornado of dishes behind.
Dante wouldn’t be too happy.
We stood at the counter as we ate, pancake batter on our clothes and spots of grease on our skin.
“Pretty good,” Muse said.
“Just as good as the stuff you made me in New York.”
“Maybe we should cook more often.”
I glanced at the dishes and shook my head. “No thanks.”
She chuckled. “It’s not so bad. The dishwasher does most of the work.” She dragged the pancake through the syrup then popped it into her mouth. It was the most I’d seen her eat in days, and now I was glad her appetite had returned. “I feel like I owe you an apology.”
“Me?” I asked. “Why?”
“I should have told you sooner. I shouldn’t have assumed—”
“Don’t apologize.” I set my fork down and inched closer to her, my face almost touching hers. “You had every right to be afraid. And it makes me very happy that you aren’t afraid anymore.”
“Well…you took the news a lot better than I thought you would.”
I kissed her forehead, smelling the syrup on her lips. “I’m a very happy man. I’m successful, rich, and now I have a woman who’s giving me a family—a legacy. To be anything but happy would be an insult to all those people who have nothing. And I certainly don’t have nothing.”