"Baby?" Tripp snapped. He whirled on Roshan, who didn't flinch. "So you're the new guy. Think you're hot shit, don't you?"
"Please don't swear in front of my daughter," Roshan said coldly.
That hit a nerve with Tripp—not because he actually cared, but because he wanted to win the argument. "Yourdaughter? She's my kid!"
Zoey frowned, hiding behind Roshan's leg. Tripp left us when she was young so I doubted she even remembered his face. To her, he was just a scary stranger.
Tripp scowled, annoyed that Zoey was balking from him. "Look," he said, thrusting the chocolate peanut cake at her. "Want some of this?"
With pinpoint precision, Roshan smacked the box upwards out of his hands, then caught it in midair before it hit the floor. "She's allergic to peanuts, you absolute trollop." He dumped the box back in Tripp's arms. "Now take your cake and stop bothering my family."
"Yeah, don't bother my daddies!" Zoey cried.
Roshan and I stared at her in awe. That was the first time she'd ever referred to Roshan as her parent. Despite the tense situation, my heart melted. We really were a family.
That was the last straw for Tripp. Clutching his cake, he stormed out of Puff Patisserie. I never saw him again.
Roshan crossed his arms. "Let me guess. That wonderful guy didn't pay child support, either."
I laughed. "Not a dime."
"Why am I not surprised?" Roshan leaned over the counter to kiss me. "Sorry you had to deal with that. Are you okay?"
"I'm fine. Thanks for scaring him off."
"That guy was weird!" Zoey exclaimed.
I chuckled. "Don't I know it, Zo."
"Anyway, forget him. Look what we found at the souvenir shop," Roshan said, digging into a gift bag.
"I wanna show daddy!" Zoey cried.
Roshan handed it to her to do the honors. "Here you go, kiddo."
Sticking her tongue out in concentration, Zoey pulled out a greeting card from the bag. There were two adult stegosaurus and two baby ones. A fun font spelled out:One Big Stego Family!
"Look, this is you and dad," Zoey said seriously, pointing at the adult dinosaurs, "and this is me and my little sibling."
I heard a gawking noise behind me. Forest had just exited the back room and was standing there, a box in their arms, their jaw dropped. "Wait, Chris, you'repregnant?"
I smiled sheepishly. "Surprise?"
"Wow! That's awesome, congrats, man!"
"Thanks, Forest."
Forest grinned at Roshan. "Guess it's a good thing you denied me as a client, huh?"
Roshan chuckled and wrapped his arms around me. "Sorry about that, Forest. I just knew Chris wasthe one."
Butterflies fluttered in my chest. I would never get tired of hearing that. After a long streak of bad luck, Roshan turned it around.
Because I'd finally found my soulmate—my fated mate.
10
Roshan
