The Billionaire's Mermaid

by Amberlee Day

  Van felt a grin spread across his face. “Well, if you’re sure ...”

  “I’m sure. Besides, Mrs. Fortney has the boys, and it looks like Gus already has my bag.”

  While Mrs. F had rushed to see the baby, Gus had gone straight to work and already climbed the stairs to take the bag inside.

  “Hey, Gus,” Van said. “Don’t go far. I want you to meet my daughter.”

  The older man nodded, but kept going up the stairs. Van understood. Gus would take his turn holding the baby and getting to know her. He wasn’t one to rush things, especially important moments.

  Mrs. F moved the boys farther out of the way. “Alright, Daddy,” she said to Van. “Undo that contraption and bring that wee babe inside. She needs to see her home, and I can’t see enough of her under all those layers.”

  Van chuckled. “Alright. I’ll get her.”

  He took several moments trying to unlatch the infant seat mechanism, but couldn’t disengage it from the base. It was different from the one they had with the boys, and he felt a little silly, worrying this was a sign he wasn’t prepared to be a father of four. But his tiny daughter slept through it, her delicate dark eyebrows and pink bow lips beautiful and peaceful while he worked.

  He finally gave up and unbuckled the straps, lifting her gently and cuddling her to his chest. “This is better anyway, isn’t it?” he whispered to her. He turned so she could have seen Eagle Hill if her eyes had been open. “Welcome, baby girl. This is our home.”

  Cleo had knelt down and stopped to pick a few weeds along the driveway, a familiar sight in the past years. Ever since she experienced her first summer at Eagle Hill, she’d fallen in love with helping Gus outside, her first time living in a house with a yard.

  “Miss a weed yesterday?” Van teased. Cleo had been in labor just the morning before, but insisted on doing a little weeding between contractions.

  She stood up and grinned at him, a wry smile on her face. “Lots! They’re much easier to reach when you’re not shaped like a beach ball.” She moved closer and dropped a gentle kiss on her sleeping baby’s bonnet. “But such a cute little beach ball you are,” she crooned before touching the baby’s nose with her pinky and following Gus inside.

  Van held back with the baby, looking up at his ancestral home—now her ancestral home, too. The high stone edifice with rows of windows capped with majestic eagles loomed above, both familiar and imposing at once. Not exactly a warm and inviting place for such a tiny bundle.

  “I know it looks a little big,” he whispered, “but give it a chance, huh? It grows on you. And I know your brothers are loud, but they will, too.”

  He tucked her closer and carried his little daughter through the large wooden front door, joining Cleo, Mrs. F, and the boys in the library. Cleo sat on the settee by the window, Justin climbing up to claim her lap.

  “Everything alright?” Van asked as Mrs. F took the baby out of his arms with adept speed and gentleness. Reluctantly, he gave her up, knowing how much his friend and housekeeper had looked forward to holding this new addition. He turned his attention back to his wife. “Are you worn out?”

  She shook her head and pointed toward the rug in front of the unlit fireplace. “No, just wondering what mischief our puppy must be getting into.”

  “Gus put Goliath in his kennel so he wouldn’t get too excited and knock anybody over,” Mrs. F said.

  “Good idea,” Van sighed. “He’s going to be a good dog, but he still has a ways to go.”

  “Oh, he’s a good dog now,” Cleo assured him. “You can’t expect a year-old Great Dane puppy to behave the same as our sweet old Samson.”

  “I miss Samson,” Vander declared importantly, climbing up on the settee next to Cleo and Justin. He’d picked up a small stack of picture books, and settled in close to his mother. “I found these books you can read to the baby.”

  Cleo glanced at Van with a smile. “You did, huh? How nice. Looks like these are some of your favorite books.”

  “I thought they might be the baby’s favorite too,” Vander said.

  “Good thinking. We’ll have to read them to her and see what she thinks.”

  Vander nodded, and Van walked over to pat his first boy on the shoulder. A sudden padding of footsteps drew all eyes to the library door in time to see Lily rush in the room. At sixteen, she had grown into a slender, graceful young lady, but Van had a sudden image of his niece as a new baby herself at Eagle Hill, just as tiny as her new cousin.

  “I stop watching for two minutes ...” she said, before her eyes landed on Mrs. F and the baby and she rushed over to see. “Oh my gosh! She’s so tiny!”

  “Look at her,” Mrs. F said, already in love. “Isn’t she the image of perfection? Just a little angel.”

  Lily studied her for a moment. “She looks like Cleo,” she finally declared. Nodding at Van, she added, “That’s a good thing.”

  “Yes, it is,” Van agreed, though Cleo just smiled and shook her head.

  “She’s a girl!” Justin chimed in.

  “Yes, she is,” Cleo said.

  “Alright.” Lily put her hands on her hips. “You wouldn’t tell us over the phone, so out with it. What’s my new cousin’s name? I’m assuming she has one.”

  Cleo met Van’s eyes. Oh, yes, they had one. Did she want to tell? he wondered.

  She read his mind. “Go ahead,” she said. “The honor is all yours.”

  Pride bubbled up in Van. “Alright, then.” He apologized to Mrs. F as he took the baby out of her arms, and waited for the family to gather around the settee. Even Gus had returned by then, so everyone was present. Van tried to clear the lump in his throat, looking around at his beloved family and feeling the sweet weight of this new member in his arms. “I’d like you all to meet Daisy Blue Rivers.”

  Mrs. F softly cooed her approval, but Lily cocked her head. “Daisy? What made you think of that?”

  Cleo and Van exchanged another look, but Van’s emotions were threatening to rise to the surface, so Cleo answered. “Because we decided that with our first daughter named Lily, we should continue the tradition and name our second daughter after a flower, too.”

  Lily nodded slowly. “I like it. And you even gave her a hippy-dippy middle name like mine. Good idea. She’s gonna love it.”

  Van took a deep breath, determined not to show how much it meant to him that Lily knew she was as much one of their children as these little three. “Yes she will, Lily Bean Sprout Rivers,” he said all in one breath. “Now, why don’t you sit down and take a turn holding Miss Daisy here. Maybe you can show Vander and Justin how it’s done.”

  Lily didn’t need to be told twice, and she dropped down on the long red settee next to the others. Van blinked a few times to get his emotions in check. There were Lily, Vander, Cleo, and Justin, all together, the sunshine backlighting them in the most perfect way. An image of Cleo sitting exactly there that first morning popped in his head, shimmering in her mermaid outfit and capturing his heart all in a moment. He couldn’t have known everything this beautiful, loving woman would bring into his life, but she had in fact given him everything. Love, hope, partnership, family. Yes, everything he loved was right there.

  Gently, he set Daisy into Lily’s arms, and a tender smile lit her face.

  “Here,” Mrs. F said. “You go behind them. I’ll take a picture.”

  How Mrs. F had remembered to bring a camera he didn’t know, but he wasn’t surprised. She was always prepared. He hurried to a spot in the back, his arms reaching from one end of his loved ones to the other and his cheek resting on Cleo’s hair. Smiling for the camera, he whispered to his wife, “I love you.”

  “I know,” she whispered back, and for that moment, everything was perfect.

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  ABOUT THE AUTHOR →

  About the Author

  Amberlee Day is a married mother of five, longtime humor writer, and avid dog lover. She is often hiking in the woods or exploring beaches around her western Washington home with her sweetheart, kids, and a large canine or two. Keep an eye out for more sweet-and-clean romances from Amberlee.

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