Page 14 of Santa Daddy
“I mean every word, and I plan to remind you how much I mean it every day. I love you, Lexi.”
“But what about them?” She peeks over my shoulder.
“What about them? This is about us. We’ve waited long enough. They need to accept it.”
Lexi smiles, resting her head on my shoulder with a sigh. “I think they’ll get over it with some time.”
“They have to because I’ll never give you up.”
Chapter8
Lexi
Stormingout of a house during a snowstorm wearing next to nothing isn’t my best moment. I also realize how childish it looks, but I’m exhausted from denying what and who makes me happy.
“We need to get you inside before you get sick,” Caleb says, kissing the top of my head as we walk back into the house.
“I like the snow. I always have. It’s like a fresh start,” I say as I look at Caleb.
He pulls me tighter into him. “I like you wet,” he says with an incredibly sexy smirk.
I slap his stomach. “This is no time to joke. We’re about to enter the dragon’s lair,” I say as we approach my mother and stepfather.
“I’ll put on a pot of coffee, and we’ll talk,” my mother says. She turns to address Alistair.“Calmly.”
“I’m pretty fuckingcalm.Cool as a cucumber. As calm as any man could be in my situation,” Alistair says, gesturing for us to sit on the white leather sofa.
Everything about this house is so pristine, so perfect. The house belongs in a Martha Stewart feature spread. Here we sit, the three of us silent, each wanting to say a million things and all scared to start.
And then my mother walks back into the room. “Caleb, she’s a child.Mychild. You’re old,” she states bluntly.
That’s my mother, never mincing words and saying how she feels, no matter the outcome.
“Frankly, Miriam, you have no say in this,” Caleb says coldly.
He grabs my hand, and I am unsure if it’s to comfort me or himself.
“She’s a legal adult. She’s able to fight a war, consume alcohol, and vote. She’s perfectly able to decide who she wants to be with. And I can promise you this: I will treat her like the queen she is for the rest of my life. I will make sure she’s happy and taken care of.Forever.You know I’m a man of my word. This is my word.”
My mother and Alistair look at each other. They don’t speak, but in that silence, it appears like they’re communicating volumes. I smile at the exchange. My mother has had a hard life, and Alistair is her rainbow at the end of the storm.
He’s her perfect match. Just like Caleb is mine.
“Lexi, you’re my only child. I love you with every fiber of my being. Is this what you want?” my mother asks.
I look at Caleb and smile. “More than anything I’ve ever wanted.''
“Then, that settles it. You’re an adult, and I know Caleb is a good man,” my mother says as she extends her hand and holds Alistair’s. “I know he comes from good stock.” She looks at Caleb, giving him a cold stare. “But if you ever do anything to hurt my baby, I will gut you like a fish.”
“Miriam, I would rather die than hurt Lexi. I’d cut out my own heart before hurting her,” Caleb says in a soft tone that tells me he’s beyond sincere.
I look at the man I love, feeling warm and complete.
Alistair walks over to us. Caleb releases my hand and stands. I’m not sure what’s going on. They circle each other like two wolves about to battle it out for pack dominance.
“She may not be my daughter by blood, but I love her mother, and that love puts Lexi under my protection. We may not always agree, but I know you’re a good man. If you’re what Lexi wants, I won’t stand in the way because I know you would never make a move like this unless she were the one.” Then the two of them shake hands, and just like that, everything we were most worried about, everything keeping us from moving forward, disappears.
Chapter9