Chapter 18
1124 Words
★NINA★
It was exactly seven days until Lila turned five, and I was already losing sleep over it.
Not because of nightmares this time—those had quieted since the night Malachi held me—but because every time I asked Lila what she wanted for her birthday, her green eyes lit up like Christmas lights.
“Bounce house!” she’d squeal. “And a big cake with pink frosting and sprinkles and a princess on top!”
She’d said it so many times in the last week I could recite it in my sleep. The problem? Malachi had other plans.
I found him in his office that morning, tie loosened, sleeves rolled up, staring at his laptop like it owed him money. I knocked once on the open door.
He looked up. “Nina.”
I stepped inside, closing the door behind me. “We need to talk about Lila’s birthday.”
He leaned back in his chair. “I already booked the venue. The rooftop at the Kane Grand. Private room, string quartet, catered by Henri. A few board members might stop by. It’s low-key.”
Low-key?
I almost laughed.
“That’s a corporate lunch, Malachi. Not a five-year-old’s birthday.”
His brow lifted. “She’ll have cake. She’ll have presents. What’s the issue?”
“The issue is she wants a bounce house. Balloons. Kids running around screaming. Face painting. Pin the tail on the donkey. You know, the normal kid stuff.”
He rubbed his jaw. “Bounce houses are chaotic. They’re loud. They’re messy. And the liability--”
“It’s a backyard party,” I cut in. “Your backyard is the size of a small park. We can rent one bounce house, keep it supervised, and have a magician or something. No investors. No networking. Just Lila and her friends having fun.”
He stared at me for a long beat. “She doesn’t have friends her age yet. She’s only been in school a few months.”
“Then we invite her classmates. I’ll handle the list. I’ll handle everything. You just have to say yes.”
He exhaled through his nose. “Nina, I don’t do backyard parties. The last time we tried something like that, Lila was two and the nanny quit the next week because of the cleanup.”
“I’m not quitting,” I said quietly. “And I’m not afraid of cleanup.”
He studied me. Really studied me. Like he was trying to figure out if I was serious or just stubborn.
I stepped closer to his desk, planted my hands on the edge, and leaned in.
“Please,” I said. Soft. Earnest. The way I’d seen Lila get him to say yes to extra bedtime stories. “She’s turning five. She deserves a real party. Not a networking event with cake on the side. For f***s sake, Malachi, it’s a child’s birthday.”
His eyes widened slightly at the curse. I never swore around him. Not once.
For a second I thought I’d gone too far, then the corner of his mouth twitched. Not quite a smile. But close.
“You just cursed at me.”
“I did.”
“And you used puppy-dog eyes.”
“I learned from the best.” I tilted my head toward the hallway where Lila’s laughter floated up from the playroom.
He looked away, jaw working. Then back at me.
“Fine.”
I blinked. “Fine?”
“One bounce house. No more than ten kids. No clowns—I hate clowns. And I’m not wearing a party hat.”
I grinned so wide my cheeks hurt. “Deal.”
He shook his head, but there was something softer in his eyes. “You’re trouble, Nina Manalo.”
“You like it,” I said before I could stop myself.
His gaze darkened for half a second. Then he cleared his throat. “Get out of my office before I change my mind.”
I left laughing.
***
That afternoon we blew up balloons.
Not the fancy helium ones from a party store. Regular latex ones in every color Lila owned—pink, purple, teal, gold. We spread them across the living room floor like confetti waiting to happen.
Lila was at her tutor’s for another hour, so it was just us.
Malachi sat cross-legged on the rug—suit jacket off, tie gone, sleeves rolled higher—in a way I’d never seen him before. He looked almost… human.
I tied off a bright pink one and tossed it at him. It bounced off his chest.
He caught it before it hit the floor. Raised an eyebrow. “Really?”
“Really.”
He blew up the next one—cheeks puffing out, looking ridiculous and unfairly attractive at the same time. When it was full, he pinched the end and held it out to me.
I took it. Our fingers brushed, neither of us moved for a second.
Then I tied it off and added it to the growing pile.
We worked in comfortable quiet for a while. Just the hiss of air, the pop of an occasional overfilled balloon, the soft thud of latex hitting the rug.
At one point he looked over at me. “You’re good at this.”
“At balloons?”
“At making things feel normal.” He tied off a gold one. “Lila’s never had a party like this. Karen tried once, but… it didn’t happen.”
I nodded slowly. “I know she misses her. The old nanny.”
“She does. But she’s attached to you now.” He paused. “We both are.”
My heart tripped.
I didn’t know what to say to that, so I blew up another balloon instead. Purple this time.
When the last one was tied, the living room looked like a rainbow had thrown up in the best way possible.
Malachi leaned back on his hands, surveying the mess. “This is going to take hours to clean.”
“Worth it,” I said.
He glanced at me. “Yeah. It is.”
Lila’s tutor dropped her off right then. She burst through the door, saw the balloons, and shrieked so loud the windows rattled.
“Balloons! Balloons! Daddy, look!”
She dove into the pile, laughing, rolling in them like they were snow. Malachi watched her with the softest expression I’d ever seen on his face.
Then he looked at me.
And for one quiet, perfect moment, the three of us felt like a family, not a billionaire and his nanny.
Just people who cared about each other, blowing up balloons on a random Tuesday afternoon.
It felt... normal.
- Writer
