Page 13 of Milk For The Billionaire’s Little (The Lactin Brotherhood #20)
JAMES
It was hard to believe it had been one year since we got married. Daddy had always been the one to plan all of the celebrations—my birthday, my promotion, even our wedding. But today… today I was taking the reins.
He’d been out of town for work most of the week, and it gave me the perfect opportunity to get everything set up.
I’d ordered a cake from the same bakery we used for our wedding, and a meal from the same caterers too.
I even bought a new set of dishes that matched the ones we had on our reception tables.
I was setting everything up to mirror that day—our day.
It might not have been a flashy wedding by billionaire standards, but it had fit us perfectly, and I wanted to recreate a piece of our wedding.
It had been a small wedding, but it wasn’t tiny by most people’s standards.
But by the expectations the papers all had for my husband, given his status, it had been minuscule.
Fewer than a hundred people, including us.
No press, no board members. No extended cousins or “my grandfather’s lawyer’s friend’s daughter.
” Just our people. Friends and family. The people who mattered most.
It couldn’t have been more perfect.
We even wore the masks from our first real date during our first dance as husbands.
People thought it was sweet and romantic, and it was.
But it was also a reminder of who we were…
of the fact that it wasn’t the world’s version of us that mattered.
Not the titles. Not the expectations. I was a manager at a small nursing home, and he was a billionaire CEO.
But those were roles. Costumes in their own way.
The real us? That was what counted. That was what stood under the twinkle lights on our wedding night.
If I’d known the first time I’d worn my mask that it had real gemstones on my face, ones set there by some designer I couldn’t even pronounce… I probably would’ve panicked all night, worrying I’d break it. But I didn’t know. I just felt like a prince.
Willow licked my ankle—her newest habit.
“Hey, Willow. Did you need to go out?” I asked, looking down at her wagging tail, going a thousand miles a minute.
Just like Rosco had come into my life, Willow had too via work.
One of the new residents couldn’t find anyone to care for her, and the intake coordinator knew exactly who to go to.
She didn’t even ask me. She went straight to Kennan.
She knew which of us would cave fastest, and she was right.
Kennan and Willow were best buds from day one.
I barely got a hello from Daddy when he came home anymore. Nope. He was too busy rolling around on the floor with her, she demanded it.
It was sweet.
I slapped my thigh, and she followed me out to the back door, and I let her out to explore the yard. The sky was that perfect kind of blue, the clouds soft and puffy and lazily drifting. I stared up at them, finding shapes… like I used to as a kid. A bunny. A car. A train.
When she was done, we trotted back inside together, and I double-checked everything one last time before heading to the shower. I wanted to be done and ready when Kennan got back.
I stood under the hot water, rinsing out my hair, when I heard a familiar voice cut right through the sound of the spray.
“I canceled my morning meeting,” Kennan said casually.
I smiled. “Let me guess. You missed Willow?”
He chuckled, walking the rest of the way into the bathroom, his shirt already halfway off. “There room in there for me?”
“I suppose I could make room.”
The thing was huge. The shower, I mean. We could probably fit a dozen people in here and still have space. Showerheads above and from all sides. It was totally ridiculous. I adored it.
Daddy finished taking off his clothes and stepped inside, warm water cascading over his skin.
“Happy anniversary, my love,” he murmured, pulling me close.
“Happy anniversary,” I echoed, and kissed him gently.
I helped him wash his hair, then his body. It was slow and sweet, not rushed. Just the comfort of being together. Being home. Gods, I missed him.
“You’re a sight for sore eyes,” I said, shutting off the water. “Thanks for coming home, really.”
He dried his hair with a towel and looked at me like I’d lost my mind. “How could I not be here? This is the anniversary of the happiest day of my life.”
Even though I knew we had a whole fancy dinner planned, when he suggested we climb into bed to take a quick nap, I agreed. I needed to snuggle up under the covers, just as badly as he seemed to.
“You must be tired,” I said, brushing my fingers over his arm.
“I’m…” He yawned. “That’s all I’m gonna say.”
“Me too,” I laughed.
“Then maybe you should have some milk before you fall asleep.”
I wasn’t gonna say no to an offer like that, that was for sure. I kissed his jaw and shifted, resting across his chest.
“I love you, Daddy.”
“I love you, my sweet boy. Now be good and have some milkies and take a little nap.”
I didn’t argue. His arm wrapped around me, solid and warm, while I latched on. I closed my eyes, nursing slowly, not because I was ravenous, but because I needed this connection… needed my Daddy.
He told me a story while I suckled, about a lion and a squirrel who built a home in the middle of the woods where no one else could find them.
And the squirrel, he said, liked shiny things and couldn’t stop bringing home treasures.
The lion didn’t care. The lion just liked having someone to come home to.
I smiled, milk in my mouth, his voice humming in my ear.
After a while, I dozed off.
When I woke again, he was smiling down at me.
“You know, I heard someone has something very special planned for our evening.”
I yawned. “You heard, huh?”
“Seth might’ve told me.”
“Seth,” I groaned. “Why would he do that?”
“Because,” Kennan said, tapping my nose, “he didn’t want me to ruin your plans by making plans of my own.”
“What kind of plans were you thinking of?” When Seth assured me he wasn’t making any because he was going to be away, I’d assumed that had been the order of things.
“Oh, just a trip. Back to our honeymoon spot.” His smirk made it necessary for me to kiss him. So I did.
“We leave next week,” Kennan said.
“We have work.” Stupid adulting.
“Your leave request has already been accepted.”
“How can it be accepted? I’m the boss.” I’d have seen it for sure.
He smirked. “Are you? You think you’re the boss?”
“Hello,” I mumbled into his chest, pretending to be asleep again, knowing full well I had my intake coordinator to thank for making this happen, but not quite ready to admit she was the real person behind the curtain, despite my title.
Later that evening, after we got dressed in the exact outfit we wore to our wedding, I brought him down to the dining room. He stopped in the doorway, stunned. I’d matched everything, down to the napkin folds.
“James…”
“I wanted to remember it all.”
He stepped forward, pulled me close, and we danced to the same song from our first dance, right in the middle of the room, this time with no masks.
There were no photographers. No speeches.
Just us. He dipped me at the end, something he only dared to do at home, since I once told him I was afraid of being dropped in public, and then kissed me until my knees nearly gave out.
The food was delicious. The cake was perfect. Willow barked in approval when I shared the tiniest corner of frosting with her.
We curled up on the couch later with Willow tucked into beside us. Kennan had me in his lap.
“I can’t believe it’s been a year,” I whispered.
“I can,” he murmured back. “I’ve loved every second.”
“Even when I cried because I couldn’t find my other green cat sock?” That hadn’t been my best day.
“Especially then.” He kissed the top of my head. “You came to me instead of sulking. You didn’t even hesitate.”
It was true, I didn’t. I needed my Daddy. And if that meant calling him at work, that was what I was going to do. If it was a time he couldn’t be reached, he’d have waited to get back to me. That was the deal we had made, and so far it was working well.
“Even when I flooded the bathroom trying to fix the sink?”
He laughed. “You didn’t flood it. Just… moisturized it very aggressively.”
“I want a hundred more years like this,” I said softly, eyes closing.
“I want forever,” he replied, stroking my hair. “And you already promised that to me. No take-backsies allowed.”
Worked for me.