The Tycoon's Toddler Surprise (16 page)

“My point is, that sometimes
it’s
really hard for someone to change.  Your daddy spent the last two weekends with us and he was home for dinner every night last week.  But he has things to do.  He’s trying to change, but we need to give him some time.  And we need to be okay when he can’t be home with us.”

Victoria considered her mother’s words carefully, but she wasn’t happy with them.  “Growing up sucks!” she huffed and turned to head to the car. 

Kristen almost laughed at her daughter’s outburst but smothered it.  She thought about reprimanding her for using the word “sucks” but sighed as she followed her dau
ghter to the car.  She couldn’t
really argue with her.  Sometimes life was pretty frustrating.

“Get in the car, honey,” Victoria said, searching through her purse to make sure she had her cell phone and
office keys. 

When she realized that Victoria wasn’t moving, she looked up.  Then stopped herself, stunned by the sight in front of her. 

Gone was the grey minivan that needed a major tune up and new tires.  In
its
plac
e was a shiny new Acura MDX, sparkling gold
with
tan
leather seats.  As she got closer, she realized that the keys were
lying
on the passenger seat with a note.  Instantly, she knew that her car hadn’t been stolen and a shiny new one accidentally left in it’s place.  As her fingers opened the driver’s side door, she knew that Mikhail had bought her a new car, one that would start up instantly without fiddling with the starter or having that expensive tune up. 

As she looked in the back, Victoria’s car seat was already installed along with her toy bag. 

“Oh my,” she said and allowed her hand to slide along the smooth leather. 

“It’s ours, right momma?” Victoria asked, eagerly climbing into the back seat and checking out her toy bag.  She plopped her fanny down into her car seat, happy to have her old stuff in a new space. 

Kristen looked at the note, smiling as she read Mikhail’s bold scrawl. “Hopefully no starter issues.” 

She laughed and slid into the driver’s seat, picking up the keys and putting it into the ignition.  It started up smoothly with no hesitation, no gurgling or any odd sounds. 

Victoria had already strapped herself into the car seat so Kristen tossed her briefcase onto the passenger seat and put the car in reverse.  Driving down the stre
et this high up was a different
experience, not to mention how well the car maneuvered around in the snow.  She absolutely loved the car and couldn’t wait to call Mikhail and thank him.

Suddenly, something started buzzing on her dashboard.  She pressed the flashing light and instantly Mikhail’s voice came through.

“How’s the new car?” he asked, his deep, silky voice making Kristen’s insides melt with the memory of how he’d used it the other day.

“We love it!” Victoria called out from the back seat.  “But you weren’t home for breakfast.  Daddy’s should be home for breakfast.”

“Tory, we talked about this,” she said.

“No, she’s right,” Mikhail said through the dashboard intercom.  “And I’ll be home as often as I can.  This next month might be a bit strained but you can count on me, cupcake.” 

Victoria giggled at her new nickname by her father.  “Thanks daddy!”

“Look to your right, next to the gear shift.  There’s a button with a high and low on the top and bottom.”

Kristen glanced down and noticed the button.  “I see it.  What does it do?”

“Just press it to high.  And tell me about it when you
have time today
.”

Kristen pressed the button.  “Okay.  I’ll talk to you later.”

“Have a good one,” and he clicked off.

Kristen worked on negotiating traffic which was abnormally heavy at this time of the morning. 
Dropping Victoria off was easy since she was so excited to tell her friends about the new car and her new daddy.  The rest of the day was just as
exhausting
as she had court appearances, frantic clients to soothe and new clients to discuss issues with.  She picked Victoria up at their normal time, but she was distracted, trying to figure out what to cook for dinner, wondering if Mikhail was going to be there and if he’d grow tired of her boring cooking.  But what could she make for dinner that would be exciting for him?  He was used to five star restaurants or having his cook spend hours making something for him that was already warm when he walked into the house.  She wasn’t sure she was up to the challenge of competing with that. 

She hated cooking anyway, had never liked the chore.  And evening coo
king on a weekday was the worst!
  Most of her meals were raw fruits and vegetables with some sort of lean meat, usually chicken with different spices or simmering sauces because they were fast, easy and
relatively
nutritious.  Now she had to
struggle
with something she couldn’t even comprehend competing with…a gourmet chef and creative housekeeper! 

As she negotiated traffic, she realized she was worrying about dinner for no reason.  He probably wasn’t going to be done with whatever he was working on and wouldn’t be home in time for dinner anyway.  If memory served, when Mikhail was discussing business with his deputies, they generally worked late into the evenings.  An early night for him had been seven o’clock with dinner being
served about eight o’clock,
cocktails or wine before then.  She smiled as she turned right into her neighborhood, remembering curling up with him with a glass of incredibly good wine and listening to him tell her about his day, answering questions about her day and hearing him give her advice on some of the trickier legal questions.  She’d always been amazed that, even though he didn’t have a law degree, he knew so much about not just the American legal system, but also about the European and Asian countries as well, since his corporation was global. 

As she pulled into her driveway, she noticed a large, metallic looking bag sitting on her stoop.  She had no idea what it could be and she negotiated
the icy sidewalk carefully, keeping Victoria behind her as she approached. 

“What is it momma?” her daughter asked, peeking between Kristen’s legs. 

“I’m not sure, honey.”  She pulled her cell phone out and was about to call Mikhail when a dark Range Rover drove down their short street, pulling into their driveway. 

“It’s daddy!” Victori
a screamed excitedly and
hurried
down the driveway
as quickly as she could without slipping. 

Mikhail was smart enough to stop far away from his daughter who was rushing to greet him.  He put the car in park and lifted her onto his lap, then let her steer the last few feet into the driveway.  Victoria was in heaven as she snuggled on her father’s lap, feeling very tall and important. 

“Got any enemies?” Kristen asked when he was next to her on the sidewalk. 

“Of course.  Why?”

Kristen’s shivering increased as he stopped an inch away from her and she could smell his scent.  He was spicy and male and she wanted to lean her head
against
his hard chest and simply inhale for a long moment to regroup from a crazy day. 

She refrained, not sure what their status was.  Or even if they had a status. 

“
Because
there is a strange package on my front stoop.”

Mikhail
glanced over to the front door, his eyes worried until he realized what was there.  With a chuckle, he leaned down and kissed her on her forehead.  “That’s not a bomb,” he said quietly, then stepped around her to pick up the metallic bag.  “It’s dinner.”

He then plucked her keys out of her hand and unlocked the door, carrying Victoria inside and winking at a stunned Kristen.

She followed him inside, the warmth hitting her like a soft wave and she closed the door quickly to
keep the heat
inside and the freezing temperatures outside. 

“What do you mean
‘
it’s dinner
’
?” she demanded as she shed several of the layers of outer garments, tossing gloves and scarves into the plastic bin by the door that tried to handle all those things. 

“I mean…” he said as he unzipped Victoria’s jacket, “I hired a service to come each day to deliver dinner.”

Kristen wasn’t sure why, but she was suddenly offended by the idea of him hiring someone to cook.  “So are my dinners so bad that you can’t stand them?  I know they aren’t gourmet meals, but maybe you could use a few simple things in your life.  Not everything has to be perfect, you know.”

Mikhail stood up, one eyebrow raised.  He glanced down at Victoria who was listening avidly to the brewing argument.  “Why don’t you go wash up for dinner, cupcake.”

Victoria left, but only because he called her by her new nickname, which she loved.  Otherwise, her personality was too curious to leave something she wanted to hear. 

As soon as she disappeared into the bathroom, Mikhail turned to her and stepped closer.  “What’s going on?” he asked softly. 

Kristen tried to step around him but even pushing against his shoulders didn’t get him to move.  “I just get really irritated when you do things like this?”

“Like what?  Like arranging for someone else to do something you hate doing?”

“How do you know I hate cooking?”

“Because you told me once.  You’d walked in after a difficult day when your boss was yelling at you for something and you walked into the family room, took a sip of wine and said how nice it was to not have to figure out what to cook.”  He sighed and leaned down a bit.  “I’m not trying to take over, Kristen.  I’m just trying to make things easier for you.  I have the means to do this, why not let the service cook?  I’ve given them specific instructions on what you don’t like and they know how old Victoria is so they’re going to ensure that the food is kid friendly, but still something healthy.  What’s the harm?”

Kristen sighed and leaned against the wall, closing her eyes and shaking her head.  “There’s nothing wrong.”

“Then what’s this fight about?”

A tear slipped from her closed eye despite her attempts to stop it.  “You weren’t here for breakfast.”

“And that’s a problem?”

She sniffed and shook her head.  “I just…I don’t know what to expect from you.  I don’t know if you’re going to be here or if you have a business meeting or if you’re going to actually even show up.”

Understanding dawned in his eyes and his lips compressed.  “I’m not going anywhere.  In fact, this morning was a meeting to get my headquarters moved here.”

Her eyes sprung open and she gasped.  “You’re moving you’re whole company here?  To Minneapolis?”

“My meeting was with the m
ayor and the
g
overnor
to discuss the idea.”

Her heart sank and she looked away.  “So you’re just exploring the idea.  I see.”

“No, you don’t see.  I’m definitely moving my entire operation here so I can be with you and Victoria.  I’m not going anywhere. “

“Bu you just said…”

“I told the governor and mayor that I was considering the idea.  If I’m moving potentially my entire headquarters office here, which would include about ten thousand people just for the headquarters operation, I want some major tax incentives.  I want them to assure me that the infrastructure will be available for
my companies
’
needs and that people can get in and out of the airport.”

“Minneapolis is a major hub for several airlines,” she said, excitement growing at the idea that he might really be moving here.

“Yes.  But I’m not going to let them know that it’s definite until I can get them to give me the incentives I want.”

For the first time all day, her stomach unknotted and a smile started to form on her face.  “So you’re really thinking about it?”

“I’m not thinking about anything.  It’s going to happen.  And by the way, you’re going to have to move.”  He pushed away from the wall and picked up the metallic bag, walking into the kitchen. 

“Move?” she asked, her stomach churning once again as she tried to understand this new chain of events.  “Why would I move?”

“Because I can’t sleep in that tiny bed of yours, and that bedroom wouldn’t be able to fit a bigger bed.”  He had his back turned to her while he took containers out of the bag and set them on the table. 

“Um…we haven’t agreed that you will be sharing the house with us.”

He turned around, determination in his eyes as he said, “We will be a family, Kristen.  Have no doubt about that.”

“There are many fathers who don’t live with their families.”

He was grim and took the step that had him towering over her.  “I will
not
be one of those fathers.  We will live together.  You are my wife and that’s my daughter.  You still feel the same way about me and we’ll work out whatever issues you have and everything will be fine.”