The mate of his nanny

Chapter 133: Pizza Party

Moana

By the time I picked up Ella and took her home, I had almost completely forgotten about the woman named Olivia who called the orphanage. Ella and I spent the remainder of the afternoon drawing and playing in the penthouse, and by the time that dinnertime came around, I was too tired and hungry after my long day to think about much of anything.

"Let's get ready for dinner, Ella," I said. I wasn't sure what Selina and the maids planned on preparing for dinner that night, but I looked forward to sitting down and relaxing a bit. I helped Ella clean up her coloring books and toys, then had her wash her hands and clean herself up before we headed back out to the dining room to eat.

However, when we walked into the dining room, I was surprised to find that there was no dinner. In fact, when I poked my head into the kitchen, it didn't seem that Selina and the maids were preparing anything at all. The three of them were seated around the kitchen island with tea and their own meals, but nothing else had been prepared.

I was about to open my mouth to ask if I should prepare something for myself and Ella — which I didn't mind doing at all — when I suddenly heard the elevator doors open and Edrick's voice came bellowing through the penthouse.

"I brought pizza!" he called. As he spoke, I could already smell it, and my mouth instantly began to water. I hadn't had pizza in ages, but even more than that, I was surprised to hear that the Alpha billionaire actually bought take-out pizza for dinner.

"Yay! Pizza party!" Ella shouted. She took off running into her bedroom, leaving me standing in the middle of the dining room with a puzzled expression on my face.

Edrick came in then and set the pizza down on the table. "What are you doing still dressed?" he asked, eyeing me. "Put your pajamas on. It's time for a pizza party."

I was utterly shocked. Not only had the maids and Selina not mentioned that we were supposed to be having a "pizza party" tonight, but I was also shocked to find that Edrick wanted us to eat in our pajamas. But before I could ask why, Edrick walked out of the dining room and disappeared into his own bedroom.

I could only stare at Selina and the maids in shock. Selina chuckled when she saw the confused look on my face.

"He does this every so often," she said. "It makes Ella happy."

"Oh." I was still taken aback, but it made sense that Edrick might want to make Ella happy after all of the stress she'd been through lately. I decided not to question it any further and went to my room to put on a set of pajamas that I felt comfortable wearing in front of everybody, then headed back out to the living room to see that Edrick and Ella were already seated on the floor in front of the television with plates of pizza in their hands.

"Come sit and grab some pizza," Edrick said, nodding his head toward a cushion on the floor that he set out for me. "Ella, do you want to pick out a movie?"

As I sat down sheepishly and picked up a plate of cheesy, gooey pizza that made my mouth water even more, Ella puzzled over which movie to pick until she finally landed on an animated children's movie with talking animals.

Together, the three of us sat on the floor and watched the movie while we ate pizza. Even though it felt a bit awkward at first to do something so casual with the Alpha billionaire, I couldn't deny the fact that it was a lot of fun. With my belly full of delicious pizza, there was a bit of a smile on my face as I occasionally glanced over at Ella and Edrick sitting together in the dark room with only the glow of the television to illuminate them. Eventually, we moved from the floor to the couch, and Edrick held Ella tightly in his arms while she watched the movie.

In an odd way, just in the same way that it felt when we hiked together in our casual close, it felt both strange and comforting to see this relaxed and playful side of Edrick. I had never seen him do anything so spontaneous like this, and during those moments, it really did feel like we were a normal little family enjoying quality time together.

I couldn't help but rest my hand on my belly as we sat and watched the movie, thinking about how we would soon have another addition to our makeshift family for nights like this, no matter how rare they were. Besides, seeing how sweet and caring Edrick was with Ella warmed my heart, as I thought about how he would treat our child the same way.

Even though our relationship was still complicated, it was a relief to know that I was bringing a child into a world with a man who cared so deeply about his children, even though he didn't seem like the type when I first met him.

I couldn't help but wonder, though, if he really was like this when I met him and that he just didn't show it, or if he relaxed more since I met him. Just a few months ago, he was a cold and ruthless Alpha billionaire who seemed to spend all of his time working and hardly paid any attention to Ella. But now, here he was, spontaneously bringing home pizza and watching children's movies on the couch in his pajamas.

Not only that, but to think about how sweet he had been when he took us to the mountain estate, even though it wound up going wrong in the end, made me think even more that the Alpha CEO was becoming more and more of a family man by the day. And in a lot of ways, it made me feel safe in knowing that I made the right decision to keep our baby and stay here with him and Ella.

At one point, I must have spent too much time looking over at Edrick in the darkness, watching how handsome his face looked even in the dim blue glow of the television, and he seemed to notice me looking. He glanced over at me, but I didn't look away at first, and we held our gaze for a long few moments.

During those moments, I felt Mina reacting strongly inside of me. I knew that she wanted me to get closer to Edrick, but at the same time, I still felt too confused by what our relationship had become to feel completely comfortable just yet — so I quickly looked away, hoping that he didn't see how red my face became during those moments.

By the time the movie ended, Ella was half asleep with her belly full of pizza. Edrick carried her to bed, and I couldn't help but follow behind when he disappeared into her room. Through the crack in the door, I watched as he laid her down in her bed and pulled the covers up to her chin.

"Daddy?" Ella asked, her tiny voice sleepy.

"Yes, Princess?" he asked.

Ella yawned. "Can we have more pizza parties?"

Edrick paused. I felt my heart flutter to see this interaction between father and daughter, and felt my heart flutter even more at his response.

"Sure, Princess," he said gently, kissing her forehead. "We can have lots of pizza parties from now on. You, me, and Moana.