The Daring Billionaire’s Wife by Lypstical

Dominic

After a long day with Frank, I visit my father-in-law, who wanted to speak to me from his resting bed.

"My son," he says, running his hand through his now bald head. "There was a time I was ready to give up, but thanks to you, look how everything turned out and I've come to the end of my treatment." Despite how thin he's become, seeing him smile warms my heart and I say, "I know how much my wife loves you and treasures you in her life. I didn't want her to go through what happened with her mother." I pause for a moment, thinking about how that's one of the earliest memories I have of genuinely embracing Vanessa while she burst into tears because of her mother.

"How's it coming along with your father?" he asks.

"Everything's great." I force a smile.

"That's not true." He firmly shakes his head.

I sigh in defeat. "I'm used to it."

"He'll warm up to you soon."

"I don't think so. How many months has it been since he found out the truth about Carmella and I?"

I instantly clench my fist at the thought of her. She rarely crosses my mind for anything positive since all I can think about is her lack of remorse. That's why ever since she was sent to prison, I haven't gone to see her.

"You know what?" I say to him, trying to stop thinking about her so it doesn't ruin my mood. "I'm at least glad that my relationship with my mother and siblings is back to normal. As for my dad, it doesn't matter how hard I work. He just doesn't see me the same anymore. Vanessa's delivery is in a few days and he's so sweet to her but when it comes to me, it's all about business. I-"

The sudden ringing of my phone cuts me off and the caller ID makes me smile since it's my mother, who's been staying with us for a while.

"Mom," I say to her with enthusiasm.

"Where are you?" Her voice is urgent and in the background, Vanessa grunts in extreme discomfort.

"What's wrong?"

"The baby's coming!"

"What?" I jump out of my seat, my heart beginning to race. "I thought it was in-"

"I know!" She cuts me off. "Take it easy my dear. Just breathe, alright?" She does her best to calm Vanessa.

The call abruptly ends and I freeze for a moment, listening to my heart pounding hard in my chest.

"What's going on?" My father-in-law asks.

"The baby's coming! We have to go!"

"What? I have a few tests for now. You go on ahead and I'll join you later," he says to me.

Breathing hard, I sprint across the spacious room and open the door.

The ride to the hospital already has my body temperature rising even with the windows open.

At the hospital, I'm led straight to my mother, who grabs me by the sleeve of my shirt and guides me inside so I can get changed. I can already hear Vanessa screaming in pain and I already can't take it.

It only gets worse when I join her inside the delivery room and she has her eyes shut the entire time while she tries to push. It hurts me and stresses me out to see her like this and I just want to make her feel better, so I get closer and reach for her hand. "Babe," I gently say to her.

She drops her head to the side while gritting her teeth but as soon as she sees me, I can tell that she's relieved but the pain she's in is so intense that she tightens the grip on my hand and looks to the other side with sweat dripping down her face like it's water. I know she's giving birth to our baby, but seeing her like this makes me want to take away her pain. If only I could actually do it.

Despite my mother's encouragement, she stops pushing for a moment, shaking her head while in tears. "I can't do it!"

Along with the encouragement of everyone present, I smile at her. "I know you can do this and I'm right here, okay?"

She nods while breathing hard, then raises her head and screams even louder while pushing and my knees go numb for a moment at how this all affects me.

Finally, I hear the cries of a newborn baby and Vanessa relaxes her facial muscles and drops her head to the side to catch her breath.

I quickly wipe her tears, not looking away from her face for even a second as I want to comfort her.

"You did it." I chuckle, wiping the sweat from her forehead as we hear more of our baby's cries.

After being placed in my arms, the little hands and feet melt my heart as I finally get to hold my new found joy.

Vanessa tries to raise her head but she's too exhausted, so I get closer. Even though I'm extremely happy, I also smirk in satisfaction before I give her the baby.

"It's a girl," I say to her.

She playfully rolls her eyes with a lot of effort. "I'm obviously the loser here."

"How could you be the loser when you've given me the greatest gift of life?"

Gently, I place our baby in her arms and she rests her forehead right against her. Seeing the two of them together, the ones who now matter the most to me, fills me with pride as there's no better feeling than this.

My mother, who wanted to give us a few seconds, gets closer and gushes over her grandchild.

"She's so precious! You two have been arguing over the names for a very long time!"

"We finally settled for two names," I say to her, looking right at Vanessa. "Isn't that right, babe?" Vanessa exhales deeply and chuckles. "Yes. Her name is Charlotte."

One by one, my siblings show up, and soon after them, it's Frank and Mia. All of them can't stop gushing over how cute Charlotte is and all the ways they're going to spoil her.

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It's all heartwarming until I spot my father from the other side of the hallway. He walks past everyone else then stands right next to me.

"Congratulations," he says to me, his tone calm as he heads in the opposite direction.

"Thank you." I smile, despite feeling a little awkward while following him to get away from the others.

"Shouldn't you be with your wife right now?"

"She's sleeping, but I'm going back inside to be with her."

"You should. You're now a family man and I hope you don't mess this up. I expect the best for our princess."

"I won't let you down," I assure him.

He scoffs and I know he's thinking about what happened in the past Seeing him like this is another fresh reminder that I still have a long way to go when it comes to his trust, but I can live with that.

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After joining Vanessa, I sit beside her and watch her sleeping face.

Flashbacks of how stressed I was come back to me and I can only appreciate her even more for going through it all for our little bundle of joy.

Suddenly, the door creaks open and I look over, seeing my father-in-law slowly walk in.

"Is my daughter awake?" he asks with excitement.

"Maybe in an hour," I say to him.

"I just saw Charlotte and she's absolutely beautiful. I just can't tell who she looks like right now."

"Come on. It's obvious she looks more like me," I brag.

"You're just trying to convince

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yourself of that." He chuckles, then turns serious. "If only my wife could be here right now, she'd be the happiest to become a grandmother. I'm just glad I've lived long enough to witness this moment. I'm a proud

grandpa!"

I force a chuckle. "Of course you are."

"What's wrong?"

"It's my dad. We spoke and he congratulated me, but-"

"You didn't feel his warmth?"

"Not really."

He bursts into laughter, making me raise my eyebrows.

"What's funny?" I ask.

"I'll let you in on a little secret." He raises his eyebrows and moves closer. "No one here is more excited than your father!"

"Really?"

"Yes! I was alone with him a few minutes ago and trust me, he might still be acting a certain way towards you, but he's extremely excited about this!"

My eyes widen in pleasant surprise. "I...I had no idea."

"Now you know, so cheer up!"

After an hour, Vanessa finally wakes up and I proudly kiss her forehead.

"Baby," she says.

"Yes, babe?" I respond.

"Actually, I was talking about my baby girl."

Her clarification makes me shake my head as I chuckle.

"Well played." I cross my arms, but only a few seconds later, I get closer and kiss her on the lips. "My mom's bringing her in. Everyone's here, including your dad."

"He made it?" Her face brightens up.

"Of course."

Just as I begin to text the others that she's awake, my mother comes in with Charlotte and places her right in Vanessa's arms.

I get closer, watching the two of them with a smile that never fades as I take in the view of my growing family.