Sweet Love 2x: Miss Ruthless CEO for our Superstar Uncle

Chapter 397: Lex With An Extra X

Morning arrived with sunlight and the sound of the door opening.

Arianne woke to the rustle of movement and the low murmur of voices. She had slept through the night, real sleep, deep and restorative, the kind her body had been craving for months. She was tired, but the bone-deep exhaustion of the past days had eased.

Franz was in the chair beside her bed. He was wearing the same clothes from yesterday, rumpled and creased, his hair in disarray, his eyes shadowed. But the smile was there, that same dazed, joyful expression from the delivery room.

"You stayed up all night," she said, her voice rough with sleep.

"I told you I’d watch over both of you."

"You need to sleep."

"I’ll sleep later. The twins are here."

Before she could respond, the room filled. Aunt Estella and Gio came in first, their expressions a matched set of concern and relief. Franz’s parents were behind them: Amanda with a bouquet of flowers, Vincent near the door. And weaving between the adults, making straight for the bassinet, were Lily and Leo.

"Where is he? Where’s the baby?" Lily’s voice was a loud whisper, the kind meant to be low but wasn’t. "I want to see him. Leo wants to see him too. We’ve been waiting forever."

"Lily, calm down," Franz said, though he was already smiling.

Lily and Leo approached the bassinet with the hushed reverence of a museum, Leo with his whale tucked under one arm, Aunt Estella must have brought it from the estate, his dark eyes fixed on the tiny bundle in the blanket.

"He’s so small," Lily whispered. "He’s really small. Is he supposed to be that small?"

"Newborns are small," Franz said. "You were that small once."

"I was never that small."

"You were exactly that small. Both of you."

Leo peered over the edge of the bassinet, his brow furrowed. The baby stirred, his tiny fist uncurling near his face, and Leo’s eyes went wide.

"Meet your little brother," Franz said.

Lily’s head came up fast. "Brother? You said cousin a second ago."

"No I didn’t."

"You were about to."

Franz chose not to argue the point.

Lily turned back to the bassinet. "Hi, baby. I’m your big sister Lily. I picked out your paint color. You’re welcome."

Leo reached out and touched the baby’s hand with one finger. The baby’s fingers curled around Leo’s. Leo’s face lit up.

"Brother," he said. "My brother."

Across the room, Aunt Estella had come to stand beside Arianne’s bed.

"How are you feeling? Have you eaten? You look tired. Have you slept at all?"

"I slept through the night. Franz stayed up."

Aunt Estella glanced at Franz. "Of course he did." She reached down and smoothed Arianne’s hair back from her forehead. "My baby had a baby. I’m allowed to worry about her."

Arianne’s expression changed, surprise then something softer. She didn’t pull away from the touch.

"You should check on the baby. Make sure he’s all right."

"The baby has plenty of attention. Look at him. He’s surrounded by his siblings, his grandparents. He doesn’t need me." Aunt Estella paused. "You needed me. When you were born. Your mother couldn’t—" She stopped. Her voice caught. "I was there. I held you when she couldn’t. And now you’re here, with your own child. It’s—" She shook her head.

Arianne reached up and covered Aunt Estella’s hand with her own. "Thank you. For being there. Then and now."

Aunt Estella’s eyes glistened. She nodded once, briskly, and turned away.

Amanda had been hovering near the bassinet, her eyes on the baby with barely concealed longing. She kept glancing at Arianne, then back at the baby.

"Do you want to hold him?" Franz asked.

Amanda looked startled. "Can I? I mean—" She glanced at Arianne. "If it’s all right with you."

Arianne nodded.

Amanda’s face lit. She lifted the baby from the bassinet with practiced hands, cradling him against her chest with the easy confidence of someone who had done this before. Then she looked at Franz.

"You’re going to need to learn how to do this properly. Come here."

Franz approached. Amanda repositioned his arms, showing him how to support the baby’s head and neck. "Like this. You have to be firm, but not rigid. They’re not as fragile as they look."

"He looks pretty fragile."

"He’s a Rochefort. We’re resilient."

The baby yawned. His tiny mouth opened wide, and his eyes fluttered open. Dark eyes. Arianne’s eyes. But the rest of his features, the shape of his nose, the curve of his chin, those were Rochefort.

Amanda smiled. "He has Leo’s nose. Exactly the same."

Lily objected immediately. "That’s not fair. Leo and I are twins. We’re supposed to look the same. If the baby looks like Leo, he should look like me too."

"He looks like himself," Franz said. "That’s the best way."

"But I want him to look like me."

"He has your bossiness. That counts."

Lily considered this. "I suppose that’s acceptable. For now."

Amanda turned to Vincent, who had been near the window. "Look at him. Our newest grandchild."

Vincent looked down at the baby. His expression didn’t change — Vincent’s expression rarely changed — but something in his eyes did. "He looks like a Rochefort."

"Of course he does. He is one."

"What’s his name?" Amanda asked.

The question sent a ripple through the room. Lily scrambled onto Arianne’s bed. Leo tugged at Franz’s sleeve, his dark eyes wide. Franz looked at Arianne. She gave a small nod.

"His name is Alexis," Franz said. "Alexis Rochefort. We named him after Alex."

The room went to silence.

Amanda’s eyes filled. She pressed her free hand to her mouth, looking down at the baby — at Alexis — with an expression so full of grief and love it was hard to witness.

"Alexis," she said. "After my Alex."

"He was one of the reasons we ended up together," Franz said. "He believed in us before we believed in ourselves. He loved Arianne like a sister. He would have wanted this. We wanted to honor him."

Vincent cleared his throat. He didn’t speak. He didn’t need to.

Lily gasped. "Alexis. That’s almost the same as Daddy’s name. Daddy was Alexander." She frowned. "But it doesn’t start with L. Leo and Lily both start with L."

"Lex," Arianne said. "You can call him Lex. That starts with L."

Lily’s brow furrowed the way it did when she was working through a problem. Then her face cleared.

"Lex. But with an extra X. Lexx. Because Lily is a four-letter name, and Lexx is a four-letter name, so we match. It’s only fair."

"Lexx with two X’s?" Franz asked.

"L-E-X-X. Four letters. Like L-I-L-Y. L-E-O is three letters, but he’s special so it doesn’t matter."

Leo typed on his tablet: LEXX IS GOOD. I LIKE LEXX.

"See? Leo agrees." Lily turned back to the bassinet. "Hi, Lexx. I’m your big sister Lily. That’s with one X. You have two. You’re welcome."

Everyone laughed. The room, which had been held in that moment of grief and love and memory, released into warmth. Amanda hadn’t stopped crying, but she was smiling. She held Lexx close, her son’s namesake, her eldest boy’s memory given new life, and Vincent stood beside her, his hand on her shoulder.

Aunt Estella had found a handkerchief and was composing herself near the window. Gio had retreated to the corner, his expression neutral, but the tension that had lived in his shoulders for months had started to ease.

Arianne watched it all from her bed. Her son was in his grandmother’s arms. The twins were beside her, arguing over the proper spelling of Lexx. Her husband was near the bassinet, unshaven and exhausted and wearing that same dazed smile.

She was tired. She was sore. But she was happy.

Franz came and sat on the edge of the bed, his hand finding hers.

"You did it," he said, low, under the noise of the twins’ ongoing debate. "He’s here. He’s perfect."

"He’s loud. He cried for an hour last night."

"He’s perfect and loud."

"He gets that from you."

"Probably." He lifted her hand to his lips and kissed her knuckles. "Thank you. For him. For everything."

She didn’t answer with words. She held his hand and watched their family fill the room.