Submitting to My Best Friend's Dad-Chapter 804 : Money Doesn’t Matter

*Elio*

“Welcome home.” Cat was smiling as always when I arrived home, Emilia tucked on her hip as they greeted me at the door.

It had been a crazy day from heading back and forth between some of the family’s properties and the warehouse. I stepped forward exhausted, dropping my bag to the floor as I crashed my head on her shoulder.

“Tough day?” I heard her ask, Emilia’s little hand coming up to grab onto my curls and pull but I didn’t mind as I gently settled my arms around her hips as she moved Emilia to a firmer hold around her chest.

“You could say that,” I said honestly, not wanting to get into it now.

“Poor baby,” Cat cooed playfully, kissing my cheek as she comforted me. “Dinner’s ready, so you might feel better after you eat something. You probably haven’t eaten since our lunch, have you?”

I nodded, allowing her to pull back as she gave me a bright reassuring smile, grabbing my hand to lead me to the kitchen. I followed silently, having no energy left in my body. The cooks already had dinner waiting on the table, and Cat took a moment to settle Emilia into her high chair.

I settled into the spot at the chair, the smell of the freshly cooked pasta both comforting and rejuvenating. My stomach growled as I saw the spaghetti bolognese with a side salad and breadsticks.

All of it was smothered in cheese, just the way I liked it, and I sent Cat a smile as she settled in beside Emilia’s high-chair, a small plate filled with cup bite up size pieces of spaghetti and some mashed purees of applesauce and probably what looked like mashed peas.

Emilia dug in with fervor, grabbing the spaghetti pieces with her fist and stuffing them lazily into her mouth, with no care whatsoever about the mess she was making. I chuckled as she cooed happily, legs swinging her high chair.

“Looks like she likes the spaghetti,” Cat laughed, taking a moment to dig into her own food.

It felt nice to be together like this, and my exhaustion of the day fell away as I slowly relaxed. Cat chatted about her date with my mom, Matilde, and Anna, trying on wedding dresses.

By the way she described it, sighing as she described the tiring process of putting on the dresses, I was feeling glad that I only had to wear a tux. Men didn’t nearly have as many choices to go through and that was a blessing in disguise, I realized.

“Unfortunately I didn’t find a single dress I liked,” Cat sighed, casting me a hesitant look as she twirled her pasta on her fork and then looked at Emilia like she was trying to busy herself. When she started to wipe Emilia’s sauce-covered mouth with a napkin even though Emilia wasn’t done with her food, I knew something was up.

The futile action was only because she wanted to pretend she didn’t have something to ask me. I raised an eyebrow, stuffing a bite of pasta in my mouth as I watched her send me slow glances like she was waiting for me to ask her.

However, I was clueless in this area.

“So, you’re going to go dress shopping again?” I asked, confused by what she wanted me to ask. “You need me to watch Emilia? I can take her to work with me one day if you need me to.”

Cat sighed, giving me a look like she thought I was being stupid but I gave her an incredulous glance. Did she think I was a mind-reader? I knew her better than I knew myself, but I clearly had no clue what she was thinking at all times of the day.

“If you have something to ask, just ask, Cat,” I told her with an exasperated look. “You know I can never say no to you–well, except for certain things. If you want to have the wedding on the moon instead of the cathedral, then that’s gonna be a tough ask, but I can try my best.”

She laughed, shaking her head at the ridiculous guess and I chuckled, giving her a soft look.

“I don’t want to have our wedding on the moon!” She rolled her eyes, grinning from ear to ear at the thought. She relaxed though and I considered that a win in my book as I took a sip of my wine. “I just... Since I couldn’t find a dress I liked, your mom said she could get in touch with a dress designer she knew to have them make me one. Anna thought we could design one that has all the aspects I liked of the other dresses but combine them together for my very own styled dress. It’s just... I don’t know if they’ll be able to make it in time and it’ll be expensive.”

She fumbled with her fork, scraping it across the plate absentmindedly with a guilty look and I couldn’t help but laugh at how adorable she looked, all sorry like she didn’t want to spend my money on something so frivolous.

“Cat, we’re getting married.” I tried not to laugh at her but it was difficult as she looked at me with those wide guilty eyes, like she’d wronged me somehow. She was utterly adorable. “My money is your money. I have no clue why spending it would make you so nervous. If you don’t like any of the premade dresses then yeah, of course we can have one made for you.”

She lit up with happiness, eyes shining with awe and love I swear if she looked at me like that every time I spent money, my small fortune would’ve vanished a long time ago. I melted in her adorableness, laughing as I got out of my chair to walk over to her.

She yelped as I lifted her straight out of the chair, carrying her back to mine and I plopped her down on my lap, nuzzling into the crook of her neck.

“What are you doing now?” she asked, amused.

“I’m showing you how much I love you. You think I care about the money when I have you?” I told her, holding her tightly and breathing in her comforting scent slowly.

Just having her there in my arms was enough for all the stress of the day to melt away like it was never there. She was my everything. I only wished she could be a little more confident in that.

“I know,” she said quietly. “I just... don’t want to waste your money on something so frivolous.”

I hummed in acknowledgment, gazing up into her eyes with a soft smile. I cupped her cheek, brushing my thumb under her eye and I could feel her leaning into my touch, just as comforted by me as I was by her.

“Cat, you can do whatever you want and I’ll pay whatever it costs to make you happy. Money doesn’t matter to me. You do. I work so hard to make money for us so that I can put anything you dream up into a reality. If you want me to build a theme park in your name, I’d do it. Having a wedding dress made is much easier than trying to perform our wedding on the moon, so I can safely say that you are not wasting anything. If it makes you happy then I’m more than happy to do it.”

“Elio,” she said, teary-eyed as she brushed her fingers across my jaw, looking utterly touched. “I don’t care about the money either, you know that right? I love you.”

“Of course I know that.” I laughed, leaning forward to take her soft lips in mine.

It was a slow and sweet kiss, one that I didn’t take for granted as I took my time. I held her around her waist as her hands dove into my hair, tugging through my curls masterfully.

I swallowed her groan as I licked her bottom lip, begging for entrance which she so obediently gave to me. I lost myself, our kiss heating up with passion as she clung to me helplessly as I ravaged her lips until they were bruised.

I only awoke from the growing desire when a loud clatter broke us apart. Both of us turned to Emilia simultaneously and she stared at the floor with wide curious eyes, her plate of spaghetti having been dropped all over the floor.

She was also a mess, with applesauce, mashed peas and pieces of spaghetti stuck all over her face, hair, and bib. She didn’t look the least bit sorry either as she glanced at us with an expectant look.

It almost looked like her eyes were saying ‘Well? Clean it up.’

Cat burst into giggles, unable to control herself as she hid her face in my shoulder, her whole body racking with wheezing laughs and I couldn’t stop my grin either, both proud and exasperated with our daughter.

But still, I cleaned up the mess as Cat took Emilia to get a bath and get changed. I finished my dinner, warming up Cat’s in the microwave until she came back, and it didn’t take long for our daughter to come back in her mom’s arms, smelling of soap and in her pink pajamas.

Cat finished her dinner while I took Emilia to get her ready for bed, playing with her a little bit before she started yawning. I held her, patting her back slowly as I hummed one of Cat’s many lullabies for her, softly rocking her.

In this slow moment, I thought back to what Franky had told me about Junior being back. It was frustrating to have that asshole back, but so far he wasn’t a real threat. It occurred to me when I saw Cat to tell her about it, but I hadn’t wanted to talk about it.

I still didn’t, to be honest, but I knew I would have to tell Cat eventually. Luckily she hadn’t pushed me for answers yet. I sighed, not sure what all there was to tell her either, we only had flimsy connections so far.

Luckily, Emilia fell asleep with little to no fuss and I tucked her in her crib, making sure she had her foxy plush right next to her in case she needed it, and slipped out of the nursery.

As soon as I walked into the bedroom, all thoughts of Junior flew out of my mind. Standing in the middle of the room, Cat fully lifted her arms above her head, pulling off her shirt and bra in one go. I could only see her smooth back, skin tanned from the summer sun and I couldn’t help but stare intently at the luscious skin I itched to have my hands all over.

Cat seemed to have noticed as she looked over her shoulder, her front still hidden from my view as she sent me a sly grin. “See something you like?”

“Yes,” I answered honestly.

She sent me a teasing grin, fully turning around and putting her hands on her hips as she smirked and said, “Well, why don’t you do something about it?”

Well, I thought with a lustful look, she asked for it.