Chapter Twenty-Four
Xander
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There was a lot happening at Café du Monde, but we got our beignets quickly enough.
“Oh, this is such an adorable home,” Bailey said when we arrived at Chad’s. “It’s got so much character.”
“It does,” I said. “Also cracks and a very archaic ventilation and heating system and—”
“Hey, Mr. Grinch, you can get out of character now, okay?” She said this so seriously that I instantly burst out laughing.
The front door swung open. Chad nodded at me, then he turned to Bailey.
“Hi, Bailey, nice to see you again,” he said.
“And you. Hi, Scarlett. Oh, your dress is amazing.”
Scarlett instantly smiled, hoisting the baby up on her shoulder.
“You brought beignets too. Good instincts,” Chad said. “Let us know if you need anything.”
“We won’t,” I told him.
He always said that, but something truly major would have to happen for me to call him on a damn date.
“Bailey, thanks a lot for stopping by tonight,” Scarlett said. “You had your hospital visit this evening, right?”
“Yes. It went really well. Xander here even successfully played the Grinch.”
I’d never seen Chad shocked, but it was a sight to behold. He jerked his head back so fast, I was surprised he didn’t get whiplash. His eyes were comically wide, his jaw hanging open. He closed it as if he’d just realized that.
“Wait, what? Was there a costume involved? Explain this. I need the details. Did you paint yourself green?”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” I replied.
“He didn’t even need a costume. The kids bought his act even though he was wearing a suit and all. That’s how convincing he was,” Bailey said.
Scarlett only chuckled, but Chad burst out laughing. “One day we need the full details of the story,” he said. “Preferably when the entire family is present.”
I rolled my eyes. “You’ll get it, I’m sure. Now go before you’re too late and lose your reservation.”
“Brother, it’s only been a few minutes. No one boots you out of your place unless you’re more than fifteen minutes late.”
“You’re already five minutes late,” I pointed out.
“You with the details, always.”
As they left, Bailey and I stepped inside.
“Bella?” I asked loudly.
“I’m in the kitchen, Uncle Xander.”
When she was a little girl, she’d wait by the door and jump into my arms. I missed those days.
“Dad said you were coming with your girlf—” She stopped talking when she noticed Bailey. “Hi, Bailey.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. My niece had a penchant for calling everyone “girlfriend” when she saw them. Then again, it was true.
“It’s nice to see you again, Bella.”
“You brought beignets.” She clapped her hands excitedly before grabbing the bag from Bailey.
“The girl knows what she wants,” Bailey whispered as Bella brought the bag to the table.
“Yes, she does,” I whispered back. “By the way, if she tries to talk us into watching Goblet of Fire , we have to say no.”
“Chad doesn’t allow it?” she asked.
“Exactly.”
“I’ll stand strong.”
Bella started to grab plates for the table.
“We’ll do that,” I said.
“No, Uncle Xander. I’m a big girl now. I set the table all on my own every evening. I’m really good at it.”
She set out three plates and then saw four beignets.
“Everyone gets one?” she asked.
“Exactly.”
“So, what do we do with the fourth one?”
Bailey was looking at me intently.
“I can split it in three.” I was only teasing her, but I could practically see the joy leave her eyes, and I couldn’t do it for long. “Kidding, Bella. It’s yours, of course.”
“Yesssss. I haven’t had beignets since we went to Café du Monde.”
“I find that hard to believe.”
“Fine,” Bella said. “Dad sometimes buys them for me, but I’m only allowed one.”
I didn’t blame him, but it was Friday, so she didn’t have to get up early for school tomorrow. Besides, as everyone liked to remind me, we had one week to go before Christmas. Rules could be broken.
“What do you want us to do tonight, Bella?” Bailey asked as we ate our beignets.
Bella sucked in her breath, looking straight at Bailey. “We could watch Goblet of Fire .”
Damn, I was good. I’d been about to wait to warn Bailey until after we ate, but my instincts were on point, as usual.
Bailey had an excellent poker face, though. She didn’t seem either surprised or amused, though I knew her well enough to tell that she was both.
“I remember that being a very dark movie, Bella. Does your dad allow you to watch it?”
The thing about Bella was that she never lied. Sure, she tried to negotiate, but she didn’t lie.
“No.” Her shoulders slumped. “But if I watch it with an adult and you think it’s okay, then maybe he won’t mind.”
She might not lie, but she did like to sneak around.
“We can’t do that. We don’t want your dad to stop trusting us. Then he would never let us come around again, and how would you get your two beignets?”
Bella frowned, starting to eat her second one. She had powdered sugar in her hair. She’d done that ever since she was a baby. In the beginning, I used to clean it up after every bite, but eventually I realized it was easier to just let her finish eating before cleaning her up. Of course, that had been years ago. These days, she went to check her appearance in the bathroom mirror and took care of the powdered sugar all on her own.
“But I have a suggestion,” Bailey said. “I mean, you can totally say no.”
Bella perked up. “Yes?”
“What if we rewatch your favorite Harry Potter movie and discuss it?”
Bella looked at me skeptically. “Uncle Xander, have you seen any yet?”
“The first one. We watched together, don’t you remember?”
She groaned. “That was two years ago. Hmm. Then we have to watch the second one or Uncle Xander won’t understand any of it.”
I wanted to point out that I’d totally erased it from my mind, so I didn’t remember the first one either, but that seemed like the wrong thing to say. “I’m open to anything.”
“ Chamber of Secrets is the one with the basilisk, right?” Bailey asked.
Bella looked at her as if she’d hung the moon. How could she relate to kids so easily, even those at the hospital? She’d been able to form a connection with every single one of them even though she’d only met some of them that very evening.
“Exactly. It is a bit scary,” Bella admitted. “When I read the book, I didn’t imagine the basilisk to be so frightening. It looked more like a snake to me, not a dragon.”
“I thought the same thing. I don’t know why, though. It did say it had scales. But maybe I imagined a snake because it was far less scary.”
“You got scared too?” Bella asked, mouth hanging open.
“Oh yeah. And in the beginning, when Harry was hearing all those whispers from the wall and we didn’t know what it was, that was even scarier.”
I didn’t think Bailey was making it all up. But she was clearly adding some dramatic effects for Bella.
“Yes, exactly. Me too. I was reading it under my covers with a flashlight because Dad said I was only allowed to read a few pages a day.” As I said, the girl was sneaky! “But once you start reading Harry Potter, you can’t just read a few pages. I’m not sure why he thinks that.”
“I’ll have to take your side on that.”
Bella looked like she wanted to jump over the table and hug Bailey. Instead, she simply ate her beignet at a faster pace. Harry Potter was always a fantastic motivator for her.
Since Bailey and I only had one, we finished first. Then Bailey looked around.
“You already have a Christmas tree,” she remarked.
“Yes,” Bella said breathlessly, mouth full of beignet. “It’s all in Gryffindor colors.”
“Red and gold. It’s truly beautiful!”
“Thank you. We love it too. Okay, I’m done. I’ll clean myself up, and then we can start watching. Uncle Xander, could you turn on the TV?”
I nodded. “Sure.”
Once Bella was out of earshot, I told Bailey, “You opened a can of worms, just so you know.”
We both rose from the table. I intended to go to the living room but then got another idea. I pushed her against the edge of the table and feathered my mouth over hers.
“Xander!”
“This is going to be the last chance I get to kiss you like this tonight. Bella will hold us hostage here until the movie ends. And I’ve been wanting to kiss you ever since we were at the hospital.”
“By all means, then, get your fill,” she teased.
I captured her mouth the next second. I knew I would never have enough of Bailey, just as I knew that my name was Xander LeBlanc. She tasted like powdered sugar. I deepened the kiss, holding her waist. She felt so damn good against my body. I sucked on her tongue and practically felt the second she started to get turned on. She pressed her thighs together and pushed her chest into me. I only pulled back because I heard footsteps, stepping away just in time.
“Uncle Xander, did you start the movie?” Bella asked impatiently.
I cleared my throat. “No, not yet.”
“Why? What were you doing?”
“We were...”
“Kissing?” she asked.
I nearly swallowed my tongue. Bailey gasped. “No, we were preparing to clean the table.” She turned around quickly, grabbing the plates.
“I know about things like that. Sometimes I spy on Dad and Scarlett when they kiss. I don’t know why they’re trying to hide. I like that they love each other. It makes me happy.”
Her explanation completely put me at ease. I wasn’t touching Bailey inappropriately, or doing anything more than kissing. Granted, I would’ve preferred Bella not to see us at all, but it never occurred to me that seeing adults show affection could make a kid feel happy and safe. I tried to think back to my own childhood and realized Mom and Dad were always like that with each other—a quick peck on the lips or a hug were daily occurrences. We’d grown up like that.
After depositing everything in the dishwasher, we went to the living room. “Do you know if Netflix or Prime has the Potter series?” Bailey asked.
“Dad bought the movies for me on Prime, so I have all of them even though I’m not allowed to watch them.”
If I wasn’t careful, she was going to start her propaganda again for Goblet of Fire . “ Chamber of Secrets it is.” I immediately started the movie, and Bella hopped into her favorite armchair next to the couch. Bailey and I were sitting next to each other. I put an arm around her waist, pulling her as close as possible to me.
“Don’t you dare fondle me,” she whispered in my ear.
“I wouldn’t dream of it,” I whispered back. Only now that she’d put the idea in my mind, all I could think about was ways to do that without Bella catching on. I was like a teenager, figuring out ways to grope the girl I liked, which was completely unlike me. I couldn’t even remember the last time I’d felt like that. But then again, being around Bailey brought out this side of me, and I wasn’t sorry about it. Not in the slightest.
I’d spent the past few years focusing on numbers and numbers alone. Sure, it had paid off—the Orleans Conglomerate was far more profitable than it had been before I dug into the books—but I’d let a lot of things slide in the process.
Some of my brothers, like Julian and Zachary, not to mention the younger ones, had found a balance. Their businesses did fantastic, and they also had fun. But I’d denied myself that for too long. No more.
As the credits popped up on the screen, I scrolled through my emails. Ron Trudeau sent me one about the confectionery, but I didn’t want to open it right now. I made a mental note to reply first thing Monday morning.
“See, I’m already starting to get mad at the Dursleys,” Bailey said when the first scene came on, and I realized on the spot that she knew her Potter stuff and hadn’t been faking the interest earlier for Bella’s benefit.
“They’re such mean people.”
She totally enjoyed chatting with Bella, and I was so caught up in the passionate way she defended Harry that I wasn’t even paying attention to the movie. I just wanted to watch Bailey.