EPILOGUE
3 Months Later
Owen
The scent of something downright heavenly pulled him from his sleep, and he grinned up at the ceiling. Living with a chef certainly had its benefits, even if he was in danger of needing to go up a pants size because of it.
Rolling out of bed, he stopped by the bathroom on his way down the stairs to where Julia was working her magic in the kitchen. Her movements should have been frantic, judging by the number of pots and pans on the stove and the bowls piled in the sink, but there was a grace to the chaos he always admired.
“Good morning, babygirl.”
She flashed him a huge, bright smile before turning back to whatever she was cooking up. “Morning! There’s coffee, and if you want something to nibble on while I finish up here, I tried a new recipe for those muffin tops you like so much.”
Oh, man. His girl knew his weaknesses far too well. Without bothering to pour a cup of coffee first, he picked up a blueberry muffin top and bit into the warm, fluffy goodness.
Closing his eyes, he let out a moan as the flavor exploded in his mouth. “These are amazing, baby. Thank you.”
“Yeah? I wasn’t so sure about this recipe, but the batter was to die for. And they look like they baked perfectly. Fluffy in the middle, crispy around the edges.”
Now that he’d had a few minutes for his brain to finish waking up, he caught the nervous tone in her voice. “Is something wrong?”
“What?” Her voice rose an octave, making his Daddy antenna quiver. “Nothing is wrong. Why would you even ask me that?”
“Maybe because you sound like a naughty little girl who needs to tell her Daddy something he isn’t going to like to hear.”
Turning away from the stove, she planted her fists on her hips and he swore for a moment she was about to stamp her foot. “I can’t do something nice for you without you thinking I have some kind of ulterior motive?”
“That isn’t what I said, little girl. But something seems to be bothering you and I would like to know what it is.” Preferably before she went into a full-blown tantrum, but he was beginning to suspect that might not be avoidable, even if he was still completely in the dark about what she could possibly be so nervous about.
“It’s not like that.” Something on the stove popped, and she whirled back around, her wail of dismay filling the kitchen. “Oh no! My hollandaise!”
Guilt pricked at the base of his skull. He should have waited until they sat down to eat to question her instead of distracting her while she was cooking. “I’m sure it’s fine, baby.”
“No, it’s not! I let it get too hot and the eggs scrambled and now everything is ruined!” Covering her face with her hands, she promptly burst into tears.
Shocked and growing more concerned by the minute, Owen crossed the kitchen to pull her into his arms while he flipped all the burners off. Whatever she’d been making was apparently already toast, and just then her emotional state was his main concern.
“Baby, baby, it’s okay. Shh. Daddy’s right here and everything is fine.”
“It’s not fine! It’s ruined!” Sobbing even harder now, she buried her face in his chest, her tears soaking his t-shirt.
“It’s just food, babygirl. We can go run and grab something if you can’t salvage it. No big deal, I promise.”
“You don’t understand! I w-wanted everything to be p-perfect!”
What the hell was going on? “Baby, I need you to calm down. Can you take a deep breath for Daddy?”
When her sobs only grew louder, panic locked around his chest like a vice. Moving purely on instinct, he pulled away just enough to grip her chin firmly in his hand. “Julia Lynne, do as you are told and take a deep breath right this instant.”
To his shock — and knee-weakening relief — she sucked in a breath and held it for a few seconds before expelling it in an explosive whoosh.
“Good girl. Breathe in again, hold it, that’s my girl. Okay, now can you let it out slowly for Daddy? Good girl.”
It took a solid six breaths like that with him walking her through each and every one before she seemed calm enough to risk questioning her again. “There we go. Feel better, baby?”
Eyes still watery, she managed a small nod. “Uh huh.”
“Good. Now, are you going to tell me why you got so upset about breakfast?”