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

Chapter 415: Lexx’s Favorite Uncles

Lexx woke up.

The cry was sudden and insistent: not the desperate wail of a baby in distress, but the demanding cry of a baby who wanted attention and wanted it now. Julian was at the bassinet before he’d consciously decided to move.

"Okay, okay, I’m here. What’s wrong? Are you hungry? Wet?" He checked the diaper with the efficiency of someone who had, as Nate had pointed out, mastered the art through years of unwilling practice. "Clean. So you’re just complaining."

"He wants to be held," Lily said without turning around. "He likes being held, especially by Mommy Aria. But she’s not here, so you have to do it."

Julian picked up the baby. Lexx continued to cry, his tiny face scrunched up, his fists waving in the air. Julian rocked him, bounced him, made soothing sounds that had absolutely no effect.

"Why isn’t it working? This always worked with Leo."

"Leo was a different baby," Nate said. "Lexx is clearly more discerning."

"Thank you for that helpful observation."

"Any time."

Julian tried a different tactic: a slow sway, the kind he’d seen Arianne use when she was calming the baby. Lexx’s cries continued, undiminished.

"Here." Gilbert’s voice was calm, matter-of-fact. "Give him to me."

"I can do it."

"You’ve been trying for two minutes. Give him to me."

Julian, defeated, passed the baby over. Gilbert took Lexx with the same unhurried care he brought to everything. He didn’t bounce or sway. He just held the baby against his chest, close and warm, and rocked him in a long, even rhythm.

Lexx yawned.

His cries dropped away into hiccups, then silence. His dark eyes blinked, blinked again, and drifted closed. Within seconds he was asleep.

Nate let out a low whistle. "Look at that. Gilbert Pemberton, baby whisperer."

"It’s not difficult. He just wanted to be held."

"He didn’t want Julian to hold him. He wanted you to hold him. There’s a difference."

Kyle, who had been watching the entire exchange with the intense curiosity of a four-year-old, spoke up. "I think Lexx’s favorite uncles are Uncle Gio and Uncle Gilbert. He doesn’t cry when they hold him. He cries when Dad holds him. And he hasn’t met Uncle Nate yet."

Nate put a hand over his heart. "I’m wounded. Lexx hasn’t even given me a chance."

"You haven’t held him yet."

"That’s a strategic decision. I’m waiting for the right moment."

Julian dropped onto the couch with a groan. "This is unfair. I’m Arianne’s cousin. I should be the favorite uncle."

"Second cousin," Nate corrected.

"That’s still family!"

"Apparently Lexx doesn’t care about family connections. He cares about vibes. Your vibes are wrong."

"My vibes are not wrong."

"Your vibes made him cry."

"He was already crying when I picked him up!"

Aunt Estella, who had been sitting in her armchair throughout the entire exchange, finally spoke. Her voice was warm with amusement. "You three haven’t changed at all. I can imagine Alex saying the same things when the twins were born. He would have told you that Lexx’s favorite uncle would be him, since he was Franz’s brother."

The room went easy with that. Not the uncomfortable weight of grief, but the warmer thing: memory.

"He’d be right," Gilbert said. "Alex would win. Hands down."

"We wouldn’t even be in the competition," Nate agreed.

"It’s not a fair fight. He had an unfair advantage."

"He was Lexx’s actual uncle. By blood. We’re just—"

"Honorary," Julian finished. "We’re the honorary uncles. The backup uncles."

"The B-team."

Nate pointed at Julian. "You said that, not me."

"You agreed."

"Speak for yourself," Nate said. "I’m A-team. Lexx just doesn’t know it yet. He’ll figure it out when he’s older. He’ll realize that among all his uncles, I’m the most handsome and the coolest."

Julian snorted. "Coolest? You spend your evenings in a bar doing other people’s taxes."

"That’s not what I do."

"That’s exactly what you do. You literally have a spreadsheet for it."

"It’s a very impressive spreadsheet."

"It’s a tax spreadsheet."

"Coolness is subjective."

Gilbert looked down at Lexx, asleep against his chest. "He’s going to grow up with all of you arguing over him. He’s going to be spoiled."

"Good," Julian said. "He deserves it."

"He deserves to have uncles who show up," Nate said, his voice low now, something in it settling into sincerity. "That’s what matters. Not who’s the favorite. Just showing up."

Julian looked at him. Then at Gilbert, holding the sleeping baby. "We’ve been doing that for a while now."

"Since high school."

"Since before that."

"Alex started it. We just kept going."

Aunt Estella smiled from her armchair. "He’d be proud of you. All of you."

The sitting room settled around them. The cartoons flickered on the television. Kyle had fallen asleep on the mattress, his head resting against a cushion. Lily had not looked away from the screen, but her eyes were drooping. Leo had set aside his tablet and was leaning against his sister, the whale tucked between them.

Lexx slept on in Gilbert’s arms, his tiny face peaceful, the furrowed brow finally smooth.

Julian didn’t move for a long time. He sat where he was and let the room be what it was: the cartoon murmuring in the background, the sound of children breathing, the particular peace of a house where everyone had stayed.

He thought about the feeding schedule. He thought about Gio’s footnotes. He thought about the fact that none of them had ever planned to become the kind of people who knew how to do this, and yet here they were.

He supposed that was how it always worked. You didn’t plan it. You just showed up, again and again, and one day it had become the shape of your life and you couldn’t imagine it any other way.

And the uncles stayed where they were, watching over the children the way they’d always done, the way Alex had taught them to do, the way they would keep doing for as long as anyone needed them.