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

Chapter 414: A Babysitting Situation

Julian arrived at the estate precisely on time, which was to say he arrived ten minutes early because Arianne had messaged him a reminder that he had volunteered for this.

"I didn’t volunteer," he’d said. "I was tricked. There’s a difference."

"There’s absolutely no difference," Arianne had replied. "You said yes. Now go take care of your godson."

"He’s not my godson. He’s my—" Julian had paused, trying to work out the exact familial relationship. "He’s your son. I’m your second cousin. What does that make us?"

"Family. Go."

So he’d gone.

Aunt Estella was already there, of course. She was always there, a constant and steady presence in the household, and she had Lexx settled in his bassinet in the sitting room before Julian even arrived. The baby was asleep, had been asleep for the past hour according to Aunt Estella, his tiny face peaceful, his fingers curled into loose fists, his brow furrowed in an expression that was almost comically serious for someone so small.

"He looks like Arianne when he does that," Julian said, peering into the bassinet. "The furrowed brow. The disapproval. He’s two months old and he’s already judging me."

"He’s not judging you. He’s sleeping."

"That’s when Arianne judges people the most. In her sleep."

Aunt Estella shook her head, but she was smiling. "Franz and Arianne should be back by late afternoon. The board meeting was scheduled to run long."

"I know. I got the itinerary. Gio sent it to me with a list of emergency contacts and a detailed feeding schedule." Julian pulled out his phone. "It’s color-coded. There are footnotes."

"Gio is very thorough."

"Gio is terrifying."

Aunt Estella gave him a look over her reading glasses. "He cares deeply about things going right. That’s not terrifying. That’s responsible."

"Those two things are not mutually exclusive."

She shook her head again. Julian remained where he was, looking down at Lexx, who had not woken up and who appeared to have absolutely no concerns about the color-coded document on Julian’s phone. The furrowed brow remained. Julian had a feeling it was going to be permanent. He found, somewhat to his own surprise, that he did not mind.

The front door opened. Julian didn’t even need to turn around to know who it was. The timing was too perfect, the universe’s sense of humor too predictable.

"Don’t you two have anything better to do?" he asked without looking.

"Not really," Nate said, strolling into the sitting room with Gilbert a few steps behind him. "We heard there was a babysitting situation. We came to provide moral support."

"I don’t need moral support."

"Everyone needs moral support."

"I need competent co-babysitters. Are you here to help?"

"No," Gilbert said flatly. "I’m here to watch."

Julian shot them both a look, but it was half-hearted at best. Kyle had already spotted the twins on the mattress in front of the television and was scrambling to join them, his shoes abandoned near the door. Lily was explaining something about the cartoon they were watching, and Leo was sitting cross-legged with the whale in his lap, his dark eyes fixed on the screen.

"Fine," Julian said. "Sit down. Be useless. See if I care."

Nate settled into the armchair near the window. Gilbert took the couch. Julian remained standing near the bassinet, his phone in hand.

"He’s two months old," Gilbert said, looking at Lexx. "He’s very calm. Lily and Leo were never this calm."

"You were there when they were babies?" Aunt Estella asked.

"Alex made sure of it. Every time he and Layla wanted an evening to themselves, we got a phone call. ’Come over. The twins need supervision. No, you don’t have a choice.’"

"We took turns," Nate said. "Well, we took turns holding them. Julian always got stuck with diaper duty."

"Because you cheated at rock-paper-scissors!"

"I didn’t cheat. You’re just predictable."

"I am not predictable."

"You threw rock four times in a row. That’s predictable."

"I was establishing a pattern. I was going to switch to paper on the fifth round."

"You never made it to the fifth round."

Lily had turned away from the television. "You used to babysit us? When we were babies?"

"Of course we did," Nate said. "Your father wouldn’t let us say no. We’d come over and take turns holding you while you screamed. Leo was mostly the calm one. You were the loud one."

"I’m still the loud one."

"We know."

Leo looked up from the mattress. "Did Mommy Aria," he began, then paused, his brow furrowing as he concentrated on the words. "Did she come too? When we were babies?"

The three men exchanged a glance. It was Gilbert who answered.

"No. She didn’t. She wasn’t around back then. She was working far away."

"Did she hate children?" Leo asked. Direct and simple, the way Leo asked everything.

The room went silent. Even Kyle stopped watching the cartoon.

"No," Gilbert said. "She didn’t hate children. She just didn’t know how to be around them. That’s different."

"Different how?"

Gilbert paused, searching for the right words. "Some people grow up knowing how to be around kids. They have younger siblings, or cousins, or they just know. Arianne didn’t have that. She grew up alone, mostly. Children made her uncomfortable because she didn’t understand them. It’s not the same as not caring."

"But she’s good with us," Lily said. Her voice was firm, almost defensive. "She doesn’t do the things other mommies do. She doesn’t sing or bake cookies or hug a lot. But she listens. She always listens. And she came to the school when Bradley was mean to us and she never yells."

"She’s learning," Nate said. "She’s doing her best."

"She’s good at it," Lily insisted. "She’s a good mommy."

Julian looked at her: at this fierce, loyal girl who had decided, somewhere along the way, that Arianne was her mother and no one was going to tell her otherwise. "You’re right," he said. "She is."

Lily gave a single satisfied nod and turned back to the television.