I wake up to an empty bed.

Stretching my limbs, I get up and walk to the bathroom to start on my morning routine.

After my shower and brushing my teeth, I grab a pair of leggings and a sports bra, then pull on one of Lex's hoodies. The weather looks a bit chilly outside, with the clouds being a grey color.

It could definitely lead to rain later on in the day.

As I make the bed, a note flies out from the covers. A pastel pink card with Lex’s undeniable handwriting on it:

“Why are you so sweet?”, I ask out to the empty bedroom as I smile at the card like a lovesick puppy.

I happily make my way downstairs and find the dining hall filled with the rest of the family. And I really do consider even the ones that are not blood related to me, to be family. They have worked their way into my heart and I honestly would not have it any other way.

Lex is of course nowhere in sight, so I sit at his vacant seat at the head of the table. It feels oddly intimidating to sit here. I can feel the dominance radiating off this chair.

“Good morning everyone”, I greet with a smile.

“Rosie, when are you giving me great grandkids?” Nana’s voice rises above everyone else’s as they greet me back.

“Nana..I think it’s a bit too early for that”, the heat creeping its way up my neck.

She scoffs. “Little Shiloh needs someone to play with, so you better hurry the heck up”. She purses her lips and goes back to cooing at the baby that’s on mom’s lap as she is seated next to Nana.

Everybody loves Shiloh. Isadora and Tommy really have made a beautiful child. She’s a joy to be around. But Nana will just have to wait a little bit. Probably a few years. I’m not sure if I want to rush into having kids yet.

I mean I just graduated yesterday. I still need to make my way into the industry. Lex and I haven’t even had sex yet.

I just hope and pray that Nana will be alive to see me give birth to her great grandchildren. Despite her upbeat attitude and personality, her body is really giving into the Alzheimers .

We’re watching her deteriorate in front of our eyes.

“You look good at the head of the table”, Gigi nudges me from the seat adjacent to the one I’m in.

“Shut up”, I retort.

“Seriously friend. Being with Alexander has been good on you. I can tell he treats you right. I mean you’re literally glowing”, she says the last part a bit louder.

“Yeah. I need your skincare routine ‘cause girl your look like a million bucks”. Isadora comments.

“More like a billion bucks”, my best friend shoots me a wink.

“You people are crazy”. I say as I pile up food on my plate and enjoy my breakfast.

After breakfast, I give Gigi the house tour that she has been demanding from me since she arrived.

“This place is a labyrinth ”. She comments as we make our way onto the most lower part of the house. I’ve showed her basically every part of the house including a brief look into Lex’s study and the main bedroom.

She was really impressed with the sheer size of the bed. According to her you could fit a family of four on it.

“This place needs an elevator”, she whines “My legs are killing me from walking on all these stairs”. She dramatically bends down to rub her legging covered knees.

I roll my eyes at her, “We’re here”, I open the door to what is basically the gym and an indoor, olympic sized pool.

“Heated pool! Oh hell yes!” her squeal echoes into the massive basement.

“Daddy Lex is really living the lavish life”, she walks into the gym. The two areas are separated by glass walls.

“Stop calling him that”, I playfully scold her.

She turns towards me with a grin “Because you’re the only one allowed to?”

For the millionth time today, I roll my eyes at my best friend. It’s a wonder how they haven’t gotten stuck in the back of my head or popped out of the sockets yet.

“Rosie, I never knew you were such a freak. It’s always the quiet ones I guess”, she has the nerve to wink at me.

What did I do to deserve her?

“Come on, I have one more place to show you”, I say as I begin to walk up the stairs.

She follows behind, “Is it Alexander’s secret sex room?”

“Georgiana!”

What goes on in this girl’s mind?

We burst into laughter as we resurface onto the main hallway that leads us back into the bedrooms.

“What? Your man exudes dominance. He gives off Dom vibes.” she smiles , “I wouldn’t put it past him to not have a Red Room of Pain like some type of Christian Grey”.

I once again laugh at her logic, “He does not have a secret sex room”.

“Or maybe he does and he hasn’t shown it to you yet”.

“I literally know every room in this house Gigi”, I deadpan.

Being the relentless person that she is, she stands by her claim, “I still think he has one and I’ll be here to say I told you so, when he shows it to you”.

She is so confident as she follows me out of the house as we continue to walk around the estate. The perfectly low cut grass is a beautiful green color. The air is crisp and fresh as it flows into our inviting lungs.

There is not a single piece of paper in sight. The ground is clean. In my early days of working here I found out that Lex hired a grass cutting and yard cleaning company that comes in twice a week to keep the yard in its picturesque state.

The very overly expensive and beautiful kennel comes into view, and the sight of it brings a smile to my face. Gigi is about to have a heart attack and I am honestly living for what I am about to do.

As strong as she is, my best friend is also very easily frightened so right now I am clenching my butt cheeks in hopes that she is at least going to be a little afraid.

“Why are we walking towards a shed? And why does everything this man owns have to be so damn glamorous. Even the bloody shed looks expensive”.

“It’s not a shed”, I correct her.

She tsks, “Whatever to me it’s a shed”.

Again, very strong minded person that sticks to her claims. This is why she bagged her job at Bliss magazine.

I slide the door and we enter. Saba’s sleeping form shifts as she moves her head up at the sound of the door opening. Her food bowls are half filled, an indication that she had her breakfast that Lex brings her every single morning.

That man is dedicated to his dog.

“What on earth is tha-”, she is cut off by Saba’s giant fury form barreling towards us.

The scream gets caught in her throat as she turns and hightails it out of the kennel or should I say Saba’s own little mansion. Seriously Alexander literally had people build his dog a house.

A house.

It’s sort of like a shed (so Gigi was right) but for a very big dog. It is understandable though. This Mastiff is big so having her inside of the mansion would be a lot of work.

“Rosalie ! Are you trying to kill me?”

She sounds terrified.

Perfect. My plan worked.

I casually walk out with the dog closely behind me as she resembles a giant shadow. Her dark brown fur is just mesmerizing to look at.

“Gigi, this is Saba, Lex’s dog”.

Saba barks out a doggy hello which causes my best friend to move backwards a few steps away.

“She doesn’t bite. Saba is a very nice dog.”, I turn to her as she sits on the lawn by my feet.

Which basically makes me a few inches taller than her. “Aren’t you Saba? You’re a good girl”, I coo at her.

Gigi reluctantly takes a few steps towards us and I see her hesitant hand reach out to pet Saba’s fur.

“It’s so soft”, she muses.

Yup.

She gets washed twice a week by her poppa. Lex really takes his role as a dog dad seriously. Saba’s wash days are fun to witness. Alexander always comes back into the mansion, a drenched mess from head to toe.

We walk around the expansive backyard with the dog. I throw a ball around as we play fetch. She needs to stretch her legs and get in some exercise.

“I know I said this already but this really suits you”.

I smile at Gigi, “I know it’s been a few months but it feels like I’ve been here for years. Like I have been with Lex for years. It kind creeps me out how insync we are with each other”

“No kidding Captain Obvious, you guys act like a married couple”

“Shut up” I say playfully punching her. I try to ignore the heat rising to my cheeks.

By the time we get back to the house with Saba in tow, Lex’s car is already parked in the driveway. The excitement in me is so hard to hide.

“I swear it’s like you’re the dog. The way you’re so excited it’s like he’s your owner”.

I try to keep my cool as we open the door, “He might as well be”, I mumble to myself.

He already owns my heart. He has it and I am happy that he is the one that I love.

Mom and June are having the time of their lives as they are deep in a tea fuelled conversation. They have become so close over the days that my parents have been here. Plus I’m pretty sure that June is happy to have someone who is in her age group to have tea and middle aged woman talk.

The same goes for Havey. He and my dad have been close.

It makes me happy. For them to find friendship.

Lex and I’s relationship seems to be bringing a lot of people together.

Speaking of Lex..the man himself is sitting on one of the plush armchairs near the fireplace. He has Shiloh on his lap as he peppers kisses all over her chubby face. Her baby giggles fill the room.

I walk over to them and sit on the chair’s armrest. “Hey baby” he lowly says to me. Everyone else in the room is caught up in their own stuff, they aren’t paying any attention to us.

“Hey Love”, I place a kiss on his forehead. He looks up at me amazed at my action.

I personally think that there is nothing wrong with giving your man forehead kisses. They cannot be only reserved for you only. A relationship is a give-and-take type of thing so he also deserves the same treatment he gives me.

Isadora and Tommy walk into the living room all dressed up, “Okay, Xander, we’re on our way out.”, she hesitates before she speaks again, “Are you sure you can handle her?”.

The man next to me nods, “I’ll take care of her, besides I have Rose with me” he looks at me and shoots me his sexy grin.

“Okay, we’ll be back in a few hours”, Tommy says as he ushers his wife out and they leave us with the baby.

“I wasn’t aware that we’re babysitting”, I say to him.

“Are you not up for the challenge?”, his right brow lifts questioningly.

I scoff, “Oh I’m up for it. The question is, are you ready to change diapers?”.

He stands up with Shiloh in his arms, “I was born ready”.

Taking care of a baby is a lot of work and spending hours with my attention solely on this little human being has been eye opening. This person is dependant on you for feeding, bathing, changing their diaper, burping and putting to sleep.

My parents refused to help us out in any way. “This is good practice for when you have your own” mom had said when I asked her to help check the temperature of Shiloh’s bottle.

She told me to not microwave breast milk but to leave the bottle in a bowl filled with hot water. But then I had let it sit a little longer than it had to in a bowl of boiling hot water.

Mom’s instructions were not exactly clear. So now I had to cool off the bottle in another bowl filled with cold tap water.

Thankfully the baby is now fed, bathed, burped and is laying asleep. She is nestled in my arms as I sit in between Lex’s legs with my back to his front, my head on his chest as we watch Catfish on MTV.

“I can’t believe people can be so naive”, he says. His voice so gentle, careful not to wake the baby.

“When you crave to be loved, you’ll take anything. Even an online illusion of what you think is real” I say to him.

Shifting shiloh to lay on my chest, I get more comfortable on Lex’s. This baby refused to sleep on the bed. Every time I put her down she cries.

“Are you comfortable?”, I ask him.

He is leaning on a pile of pillows against the headboard. “Yes my love”.

We apparently also drifted off because I find myself being shaken awake. “Hey, dinner’s ready”.

My eyes open to see Isadora who now holds an awake baby Shiloh. “When did she wake up?” I ask.

She nonchalantly shrugs, “The moment I opened your bedroom door, which is literally a minute ago”

“Wake him up will you?”, she says gesturing to the man who is currently spooning me.

I nod, “Thank you for taking care of her”, she genuinely smiles.

I return her smile, “It was wonderful. I actually don’t mind doing it again”.

She walks out, leaving me with her still sleeping brother. I shift in his arms and turn to face him, “Wakey wakey”.

He doesn’t budge. “Sleeping Beauty wake up”, I say gently scratching his beard.

“Sleeping Beauty was woken up by a kiss. I don’t feel you kissing me so I am just going to continue sleeping”, he says with his eyes closed.

This whole time he was pretending. I stare at his “sleeping” face as a shadow of a smile appears on his lips.

I place a quick peck on his lips and pull away. His eyes open, gracing me with that beautiful blue color. “That’s it?”

I nod, “Yeah that’s it. It woke you up didn’t it?”.

I try to move out of his embrace but he tightens his grip on my waist and pulls me towards him. He flips up over and ends up hovering over me.

“This is the kiss I wanted”, he says before his face descends towards mine and our lips meet in a kiss filled with so much passion that I feel my ovaries begging for him to put a baby in me.

When he pulls away I am left in a daze. Butterflies wreak havoc in my tummy as he moves away from the bed and puts his shoes on. “Let’s go have dinner with the family”.

He helps me slip into my own shoes as he walks out of the bedroom with our hands intertwined.

“Finally you’re here. We were about to start eating without you”, June says as we enter the dining hall.

“About to?”, my father’s already food filled mouth says.

Mom swats his hand, “We haven’t said grace yet”.

Dad rolls his eyes as he swallows, “I’m sure God is not going to send me to hell for eating this unblessed carrot”.

“How did you even get to the carrots, no one’s dished up yet?!” mom asks.

“I’m a man of many talents”, he says as he lovingly smiles at her.

A chorus of aww comes from Isadora and Gigi.

After grace is said, we fill our plates with the delicious meal that the new best friends June and my mother have prepared.

Once again the tables is filled with conversation and playfull banter between Lex and his sister. Isadora really likes teasing him. I can tell that this stems from their childhood.

“They were so cute, all asleep , cuddled with Shiloh”, she tells the table of how she found us.

“You lie”, Gigi says with a playful smirk.

“I kid you not, I even took a picture”, she pulls out her phone from her sweater pocket and clicks on it until she finds what she is searching for, “See?”

The phone gets passed around the table, even Harvey finds it cute as he stares at the screen.

Why do I feel embarrassed? I have no reason to be. I refuse to acknowledge this feeling.

The phone eventually makes its way to myself and Lex. I gotta admit it’s very cute. We look like parents who were worn out from looking after their baby.

“Your ovaries are screaming again”, Gigi comments.

I glare at her as I drink my sparkling water. “No they’re not”, I deny.

She is not lying, they really are screaming. Being around this child and hall the baby talk is getting to me.

NO!

I am not ready. I have plans and a baby is not on top of my priority list.

So this warm, baby wanting feeling better dissappear. .

Once dinner is over, I help with the clean up and then watch TV with Gigi and Isa.

Lex and Tommy disappeared into his study while all four of the old timers are doing their own thing in the kitchen.

“This has been a good weekend, I can’t believe I am leaving tomorrow.”, Gigi says. Her head on my lap as she lays on the couch.

“Me too”, Isadora seconds her statement.

“I don’t want to go back to reality”, Gigi whines.

Reality.

Now I have to think about my own reality. I’m a college graduate now, it’s time to kickstart my career.

Exhaustion overwhelms us and we decide to call it a night as we all retire to bed.

I take a nice hot shower and wear a pair of my own pajamas for once. I find Lex already in bed when I emerge from the closet.

“I’m tired”, I huff out as soon as I get under the covers.

“Mhmm”, he says as he pulls me closer to him. The warm body temperature radiating from him envelops me. I feel like I am wrapped by love.

“I have something for you”, he murmurs.

“Oh yeah?” I say. I feel the sleep pulling me in as my eyelids become heavier.

He frees one arm from me to reach for a small piece of paper from his side table and hands it over to me.

My eyes land on an address printed on the paper. More importantly an address that I would recognise anywhere. I have had it imprinted in my brain for as long as I can remember.

No freaking way!

I stare at the paper for a few seconds, my mind trying to grasp what this means. My jaw feels slack as my mouth opens in shock.

“Do you wanna go?” he asks.

“Are you serious?”, I ask. He better not be pulling a prank on me. This is one thing I have wanted so much my entire life and if he is pulling my leg I will not hesitate to smother him with a pillow.

He nods which then adds fuel to the already burning spark of shock that I am feeling.

“Lex! Are you freaking kidding me?” I launch myself onto him.

“Yes! Yes! Yes!”, I scream out.

He laughs, “Shush baby, you’re going to wake up the whole house”.

“Oops”, I giggle as he pulls me down. I somehow got to be on my feet on the bed jumping up and down in glee like a five year old.

Who wouldn’t? This is a literal dream come true.

“When do we leave?” I can’t contain the excitement. Sleep is long forgotten.

“Tomorrow night” he answers, his smile matching my own.

I can’t help but kiss him and wrap him up in a hug. Expressing my gratitude towards him for doing this for me.

Holy smokes.

I’m going to Paris.

I’m going to The Louvre.