Alpha Billionaire Series

BROOKE

I was not quite asleep when I thought I heard my mom.

“Brooke?”

I opened my eyes. It took a minute to become awake enough to fathom what I saw. My parents were hovering over my hospital bed with worried expressions on their faces.

“What are you doing here?” I asked.

I was groggy from having been woken. I was annoyed, I wanted to sleep. I wasn't getting any rest. The nurse had insisted thaf they take the babies into the nursery so that I could rest.

“You won't be any good to anyone if you can't figure out how to sleep,” she had scolded me right before wheeling the babies out of my room.

“How am I supposed to sleep? As soon as I get one of them fed and asleep, the other one is fussy and needs her diaper changed,” I knew I was being a whiny patient.

Iwas so tired and stressed. Mark hadn't returned when I had expected him to. I had been up all night worrying about him and watching the babies. And now I couldn't sleep, not with my parents staring at me like I was a goldfish in a bowl.

Mom sat on the edge of the hospital bed and took one of my hands hostage. I hit the control button to lift the back of the bed so I could sit up more easily. I couldn't exactly sit; my body was entirely too torn up for that.

“What do you mean what are we doing here? We're your parents, you're in the hospital, where else should we be?” Mom was panicky and shrill.

Dad just glowered at me. He stood there with his arms folded, a frown carving deep creases into his face. He was the embodiment of disappointment.

“I don't understand why you couldn't tell us. Tell me. I'm your mother” She wiped away tears I couldn't see.

Dad grunted. He wasn't going to be any help in this.

I hadn't been prepared to face this on my own. I wasn't mentally prepared, and I didn't know if I had the fortitude to see it through. Tears of exhaustion leaked from my eyes.

“Crying isn't going to help you get out of this,” Dad said.

I flashed a glare at him. How dare he? I was overwhelmed and now they were forcing me into a confrontation.

“Well, where are they?"

Seriously? My children were not available for his inspection.

“What happened to the babies? We were told you had twins," Mom's voice started winding up with more panic.

“They're in the nursery so I can sleep,” I said with a heavy sigh. “How did you find out?”

I was too tired to try to figure it out. I don't think Angela must have said anything. Mark must have told them. We hadn't discussed that I didn’t want to tell my parents right away. I knew this was what I was going to have to deal with. I felt like I was under some kind of investigation.

“Mark came by the house and told us. Is it true?” Mom straightened up her back, indignation surged through her posture. Itook my hand back from her and rubbed my face. “I don't know what he told you, so I can't..” I shrugged. “I had twins, yes. He was the delivering physician on the floor of the hotel ballroom. Ah—"

“What? He never mentioned that you were on the floor of the hotel!” She looked from me to Dad and back again. “We thought that you must have ended up in a hotel room somehow.”

“What were you doing at that hotel?” Leave it to Dad to make everything sound like an accusation.

“I work there.”

“Did you really come to Chicago to go to school, or were you only hiding this from us?”

I closed my eyes and leaned back in bed. I was too tired to deal with all of this, I wasn't willing to put forth the effort to be upright for my parents.

“I moved to Chicago with Angela to attend graduate school and get an MBA. I'm doing a hospitality management program. I worked at that hotel; I was on my events rotation. Okay?"

“And the babies? You weren't hiding them from me, were you?"

I decided to lie to make my life easier. “I didn't realize I was pregnant until after I got here”

“But you didn't say anything when you did bother to call”

“Mom,” I groaned. I just wanted to be asleep.

“Is that all you have to tell us?"

I didn't have the energy to look at Dad.

“How about instead of seeing if I'l confess to something, you just tell me what it is you already know."

“Why aren't you telling us who the father is, Brooke?”

“What? If Mark flew all the way back to Atlanta to tell you I had babies, then he told you. Mark is the father, okay?”

“Not, okay.”Exclusive content from NôvelDrama.Org.

“Peyton, you aren't doing your blood pressure any good,” Mom said.

I looked at her and nodded at Dad. “That is exactly why I never told you I was seeing Mark. You were always trying to set him up with women. So why are you both so upset that I was the one he ended up with."

“You're my daughter”

“And you're my father.” If he was going to point out the obvious, so was I.

“He's, my age. I don't know if I'l ever be able to trust him again."

I sighed. “I'm an adult. And in another ten years, the difference in our ages isn't going to seem so extreme. He's your friend. I you can't trust him around me, then why was he ever allowed in our house?”

“Brooke, you shouldn't speak to your father that way.”

“Fine, I'll talk to you then. If Mark is so untrustworthy, why did you try to hook him up with your friend?”

“Because he's a good man. Your father is overreacting. We just want the best for you.”

“That's it, right there, Mom. He's a good man, and he is the best for me. You're always saying he's the best at what he does. Why isn't he the best for me then? Why can't you see that? Do you think I'm not good enough for him? Is that it? Cause he certainly thought I was good enough.”

“He let you live up here without any assistance for the babies?” Dad grumbled.

“Mark didn't know about the babies. We broke up before I moved up here”

“Oh sorry, I didn’t realize you had visitors.” A nurse stepped into the room.

“My parents are here."

“I just need to check on your vitals really quick”

I nodded. Our conversation stopped while she took my blood pressure and put an oxygen sensor on my finger. I still had fluids and antibiotics dripping into my arm through an IV.

“Do you want me to bring in the babies since you're awake?”

Mom clapped her hands and a big, surprised smile spread across her face. “Oh, yes, please bring in the babies. I haven't eve gotten to meet my grand babies yet”

I wanted to say no. I wanted the nurse to kick my parents out so I could get some sleep.

My parents hung around in awkward silence while we waited for the babies to be brought back.

My mom was instantly in love the second they were rolled in, two little bundled-up babies sharing a bassinet. Mom cooed and reached in, picking one of them up.

She held the baby as if she knew exactly what to do.

“Hello precious” She was hooked. I didn't know if all was forgiven, but I didn't think she was still as disappointed in me as she had been. Or maybe she was momentarily distracted.

“Peyton, look at your little granddaughter”

Dad looked and grunted, and then looked at the other one.

“He doesn't want to accept that he's a grandfather. He started a fight. He punched Mark. I think he gave him a black eye.” “Dad, you didn't"

“Ym not supposed to defend my daughter's honor?”

“You are not supposed to go around punching people. You didn't even know if my honor needed defending”

I held out my arms to take the baby from my mom so she could pick up the second one.

“You hadn't told us anything, what was I supposed to think?"

“So, hitting your friend and ruining a friendship, was it the right choice?” I asked.

“rd do it again. Don't tell me you wouldn't do the same for these two."

Okay, maybe he had a point.

“What are their names?”

I shifted the blanket around the baby's face so I could get a good look at her. Summer's nose was still a little mushed looking. I was going to have to figure out other ways to tell them apart once her nose bounced into shape.

“This one is Summer. And you're holding Strawberry.”

Dad scoffed. “I doubt Mark is going to let you keep those names.”

“Mark has been the only person who supported me in picking those names.”

“Summer is a perfect name,” Mom started.

“And so is Strawberry. She's sweet and pink, and that's her name’

Dad peeked over Mom's shoulder and looked down at Strawberry. I saw a hint of a smile as his face relaxed.

“They are beautiful. They look exactly like you did when you were born."

For the first time, I saw a genuine smile on my dad's face.