The savory scent of roasted garlic and buttered vegetables lingered faintly in the air, mixing with the faint woodsy notes of Felix’s cologne. The table set up near his desk where two plates of half-eaten pasta sat.
Katherine twirled her fork through what was left of her lunch while Felix sat across from her, still occasionally cutting into his chicken breast, his sleeves rolled to his elbows. The office was unusually quiet except for the soft clink of silverware.
It had been two days since the incident at the amusent park. Two full days.
And nothing.
No unexpected visitors. No strange phone calls. No surprise drop-ins or awkward conversations.
Surprisingly, and sowhat unsettlingly... everything was normal.
Katherine leaned back in her chair, slowly chewing, her mind spinning behind the calm mask on her face. She hadn’t expected anything dramatic to happen, but if Leonard had figured it out... Shouldn’t he have done sothing by now?
Shouldn’t he have at least tried to contact her? Or ask... sothing?
She narrowed her eyes, placing her fork down. Then again, this was Leonard they were talking about.
The sa Leonard who had divorced her for a woman who was his first love.
Maybe he thought it didn’t matter. So what if he had kids with Katherine? They were already five. He’d already missed everything. What was the point of stepping in now?
Maybe he’d been a little shocked. Maybe even shaken. Not just that he had a child, but that they were so close.
Katherine sighed.
She lifted her glass of water to her lips just as her phone buzzed across the table. She glanced at the screen.
Jazz
She quickly reached over and picked it up. "Hi Jazz."
On the other end of the line, Jazz’s voice ca in sounding nasally and exhausted. "Hey Kath, I’m so sorry to call while you’re at work, but I had to tell you—I can’t babysit the kids this week."
Katherine straightened in her chair. "What? Why?"
Jazz groaned softly. "I’ve got mono."
"Oh, poor you," Katherine said, her tone quickly softening. "You must be miserable."
"Yeah, pretty much," Jazz replied, coughing. "I just didn’t want to leave you hanging. I’m really sorry. Are you gonna be okay?"
"Don’t worry about , Jazz. You just focus on resting and getting better, okay?" Katherine said sincerely.
"Thanks, Kath. And again, I’m really sorry."
"Don’t be. Get better soon," Katherine said before the call ended.
She set the phone down with a deep sigh, staring at the blank screen for a few long seconds before muttering under her breath, "Of course..."
Felix, who had been silently watching her from across the table, finally spoke up. "What happened with Jazz?"
Katherine leaned back and folded her arms over her chest. "She’s sick. Mono. She can’t babysit for a while."
"Ah. That sucks," Felix said sympathetically. "Didn’t she also not show yesterday?"
Katherine nodded, rubbing her forehead. "Yeah. I thought she just had a flu and would bounce back, but now I have to rethink everything."
Felix raised a brow. "Everything? What do you an?"
"We have that convention on Friday, rember?" she said, letting out another sigh. "I was counting on Jazz being okay by then. And Irene is still out of town—she won’t be back until next week."
She tapped her fingers against the table, her thoughts racing ahead. Katherine bit her lip. "Maybe I can—"
"Earth to Katherine," Felix said suddenly, waving a hand in front of her distracted face.
Katherine blinked, snapping out of her spiral. "What?"
Felix grinned at her. "I said, I can take care of the kids."
Katherine blinked again, slower this ti. "...What?"
He pointed to himself proudly, like a superhero announcing his na. ". Felix. I will babysit the twins."
A breath of laughter escaped her lips. "You?"
"Yes, ," he said with mock offense. "Co on, I’ve known those two since before they were even born. Who else would protect them with their life like I would?"
Katherine shook her head, laughing. "That’s true. But still... they’re a lot to handle."
"Exactly!" Felix declared, pounding his chest like King Kong. "Which is why no man alive is qualified. Except ."
Katherine tilted her head, amused and skeptical. "You do know babysitting is not just snacks and cartoons, right?"
Felix rolled his eyes. "Please. I’ve survived boardroom politics, scandal cover-ups, and my mother’s annual Christmas dinners. I can definitely survive two adorable gremlins for two nights."
Katherine chuckled again, relaxing slightly as she leaned her cheek into her palm. "I don’t know, Felix."
"Co on, Kath. Just think of this as making up for not going to the convention with you. I should be there, but I have that board eting. So let help like this."
Katherine paused, eyes narrowing as she studied his expression. There was no teasing behind his offer anymore. Just sincerity. Support. The kind she had always counted on from him.
"You’re serious?" she asked quietly.
Felix leaned forward and looked her straight in the eyes. "Dead serious. I’ll pick them up, feed them, play with them, help them with howork, maybe teach them how to take over a this company. And if necessary—throw myself in front of any monster under the bed."
Katherine laughed again, a true belly laugh this ti. She shook her head in disbelief. "You’re really good at negotiation, you know?"
"It’s a deal then?" he asked, sitting up straighter.
She hesitated one more mont, then finally said, "Yeah. Okay. You can babysit."
"YES!" Felix clapped his hands once, then punched the air like he’d just won an award. "This is going to be aweso. I’ll even buy board gas and snacks. And no sugar after 8 p.m.—I rember the rules!"
Katherine let out a long groan and facepald. "Oh gosh. What have I done?"
Felix grinned devilishly. "You’ve made the best decision of your life, Katherine Anderson."
Katherine peeked at him from between her fingers, her lips twitching into another smile. "We’ll see about that."
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