We all stood over Jonathan's body, waiting for him to get up. I rolled my eyes at his antics, then picked up Ilaria from the ottoman so I could her dressed in whatever two year olds sleep in. I shook my head at my stupidity, obviously its PJ's.
Remember Leo, she's human just like most of us.
After digging through all the clothes that Michael so randomly stuffed into different suitcases, I finally found some jammies with Minnie Mouse decorations all over the top and bottom.
"Daddy will get you something more...fitting for a Palmer, okay baby?" she ignored me as she's fully engrossed with my phone.
Surprisingly, that went well. Feeling like I made an additional billion dollars I joined the others. Only to find Marcus punching an unconscious Jonathan. I immediately covered Ilaria's eyes as she giggled,
"Guys! Baby in the room," Jesse let out a hearty laugh as Jonathan groaned, I'm assuming from the pain of being punched in the faced. Marcus helped him sit on one of the chairs,
"You seriously punched me?" Jesse headed towards the kitchen,
"What else was I suppose to do?" Marcus smiled mischievously as Jonathan glared at him,
"You're a doctor for Heaven's sakes! I'm sure you could figure something out,"
"Correction, neurosurgeon," I rolled my eyes this time. Not this argument again,
"Guys. Chill," I quickly ended the argument before it even started. Jesse then returned with a pack of frozen peas for Jonathan's face.
"Okay Leonardo, tell us everything," and so I did.
"Yeah so that's the story. But I'm pretty pissed that Sam hid her from me. I mean, did she think I couldn't handle being a Dad?" Jonathan spoke first,
"Yeah I get where you're coming from Da Vinci," I rolled my eyes, "but she did freak out when you told her about the thing," I scoffed at the memory,
"But it's no doubt that she's yours. The same eyes, Italian hair and attached earlobes," I glanced at my baby girl as Marcus made his observations.
"Oh, so you can easily come to that medical conclusion but you just had to punch me," Jonathan complained once more,
"You just have the perfect punching face," Jesse laughed at that. Why they always pick on Jonathan I have no idea,
"Look guys. I'm gonna need all the help I can get with this one. So Jesse, I need you to email Margaret a list of potential babysitters tomorrow. Marcus, Sam will be transferred to the hospital so I need you on that. Jonathan, just keep doing what you're doing," they all nod their heads at my demands.
Before I could say anything else, the front door opened and Mikey stumbled in. In all the commotion I didn't even get to keep tabs on the time.
"I know. I'm half an hour late and I won't give you a lame excuse,"
"Okay," in all honesty I don't even know how to handle this situation.
"You must be Mikey," Jesse shook his hand,
"It's actually Michael," Jesse nod his head in acknowledgement,
"Oh, that's Marcus and Jonathan. He's an idiot so-" I laughed at that,
"Hey! When did I become the bit- I mean female dog around here?" I glared at him for his slip up. Mikey sat beside Ilaria and I and sighed tiredly,
"Where were you anyway?" I asked curiously,
"I need to tell you my every whereabouts now?" he fired at me,
"I would like to think so. You live under my roof now and I would prefer you not end up in a ditch somewhere," he sighed again
"Fine Dad, I was in Jersey," I shook my head,
"Not to interrupt this father-son moment. But I have questions: how did he end up in Jersey and what school are they going to?" we all looked at each other, not because we were thinking the same things. But Jonathan actually asked sensible questions.
"Without a doubt they're going to Manhattan Prep," Mikey shook his head vigorously,
"Sam hated that school," I furrowed my eyebrows,
"I went to that school, it's fine," Michael sat up and looked at me,
"So did Sam and she hated it," I looked at the guys in confusion,
"How come I didn't know this?" Marcus spoke first,
"I didn't even think about it. Sam transfered to another school in senior year and then you moved from Italy to here in your senior year."
Mikey whistled at the revelation. I didn't say anything for a while. I was just going over different theories and scenarios in my head. Would I notice her if she stayed? Would she even notice me? I'm just imagining how different things would be, why didn't you stay Sam!
"Well, I don't really need to go to high school or whatever," we all looked at Mikey, "I graduated last year,"
"So you're like a super geek?" Marcus hit Jonathan in his chest,
"Something like that. I found that my IQ didn't stay at a fixed number when I hit puberty so I graduated early,"
"So what have you been doing since then?" I asked,
"Traveling. But when the accident happened I returned to Arizona,"
"Sam allowed you to travel alone?" I asked incredulously,
"As long as I took Granpa Wells' jet she was okay with it," I shook my head,
"So what are you going to do now?" Marcus asked. He's always fascinated by gifted people, since he's also gifted.
"Oh I got into Princeton for Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. I took the year off so I start in two weeks,"
Ilaria started fussing in my lap and rubbing her eyes. Okay I guess she wants to sleep now. I stood up,
"Okay. I'm gonna put this one to bed," they all kissed her cheek as she giggled,
"You guys know the way out. Michael sleep in any room you want tonight,"
"Sweet."
I called ahead and had Margaret set up a bed for Ilaria in the room closest to mine. I gently placed her on the bed and tucked her in. I kissed her forehead,
"You my Da-da now?" I smiled happily and nod my head,
"Yes I am. And you're my princess,"
"Forever Da-da?" I nod my head,
"Forever baby. I love you okay?" she nod her head,
"Lobe you and Ma-ma forever."
She then closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep. I stayed there at her bedside for a while. I'm a father now, this is bigger than anything in my life right now. I kissed her forehead once more.
I'll never fail you.
Hello!! I hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it.
I just wanted to show how Leo's friends are and provide a little back-story there. Thanks so much for all the votes and I like reading your comments so don't be afraid to drop one in the comment section.
Oh, I was listening to that song while writing and I like it so I decided to share it!
Happy Reading! Tasha :-)
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The Billionaire's New Baby
General FictionI've been standing here for about ten minutes, just staring at her. She stared at me with those big blue eyes. She has my eyes. What am I supposed to do now? I don't know sh!t about babies. Mikey, well he wants to be called Michael now, enters the...
