THIRTEEN

"Can I speak with you?" Gwen gestures to Xander just as he's about to leave with Cara.

"Hmm, sure." Xander stays back.

"Well, I'll just leave," Cara says, her smile thin and brittle as she twists the doorknob and steps out. She can't help but wonder what they're talking about. Is it about her? Her babies? Or are they just screwing around while she waits at the reception?

How disrespectful.

"So, about the test you asked me to run..." Gwen starts.

Xander cuts her off, "The babies are mine," he says, like it's a fact already written in stone.

"I was going to say, it'll take a few weeks because she's having twins."

"Don't worry about it. You don't need to," Xander dismisses her.

"No, let me do this for you," Gwen insists, placing her hand on Xander's.

~~~

"Twins? Whoa, your vagina is never going to be the same," Cassie teases, her tone dripping with mock concern.

Cara glares at her friend through the screen. "I can't believe I'm having two kids. I mean, I'm still a kid," she groans.

"You'll be fine. I'll be right here," Cassie says with a reassuring smile.

Cara shifts her phone a little. "I know." She pouts.

"Where's Alexander?" Cassie asks.

"Still with that bitch of a doctor. Why?"

"I wanted to thank him for the business books he gave me."

Cara's jaw drops a little. "Back up. Business books? When and how?"

"When you were taking a bath yesterday, we talked. I might be interested in business."

"Great. Why don't you two get married and start a business together?" Cara snaps.

"Is that jealousy I sense in your tone?" Cassie wiggles her eyebrows.

"No, it's not." Cara scoffs. "It's my *baby daddy is nice to everyone but me* annoyance you're sensing."

"I'll stick with jealousy," Cassie says, grinning.

Cara rolls her eyes. "But for real, I don't want to be like those baby mamas who hate their baby daddies and turn their kids against them. Xander might be a jerk, but I don't want to have to tell my kids that he's a jerk." Cara looks at her screen to see if Cassie is still listening. "Do you understand what I'm saying?"

"I do. And maybe you should talk to him about this."

Gwen's door opens, revealing Xander. "Speak of the devil," Cara mutters. "I gotta go," she says, hanging up the video call.

"You have a thing with making me wait," Cara says as she stands up, following Xander to the door.

"I'm sorry," Xander says, almost casually.

Cara stops in her tracks, trying to process the fact that he just apologized to her. Alexander fucking Black just apologized.

"Are we going or what?" Xander asks, holding the door open.

"Y-yeah," Cara says, a bright smile breaking out across her face.

~~~

"Good morning, sir." Jonathan greets Xander as he walks into the kitchen, all suited up and ready for work.

"Morning," Xander replies, stopping in front of a couple of burnt pancakes. He had waited in the garden for a while, expecting his breakfast, but when no one came, he decided to check what was going on in the kitchen.

"Where's Cilia? And who made this?" Xander points at the poor excuse for pancakes resting painfully on a white ceramic plate.

"Cilia was given the day off by Madam Cara, who wanted to make breakfast. But it started burning, she started crying, and then she had morning sickness..."

"Where is she?" Xander interrupts.

"Upstairs."

"Okay, thanks. Throw the pancakes away," Xander says as he walks out of the kitchen.

"Okay, sir," Jonathan calls after him.

~~~

Xander places his hand on the knob of Cara's door and hesitates for a second. He balls his fist and tries that knocking thing she's always complaining about. After three knocks and no reply, worry begins to gnaw at him, so he opens the door.

"Cara?" He calls out as he steps into her empty room. He moves toward the bathroom, where he finds the curly-haired girl seated on the tiles, close to the toilet.

She looks so fragile, hugging her knees, but Xander knows she's anything but fragile. He feels this strange urge to pick her up, hug her, and ask her how she's doing, but he ignores it. It's probably just the hunger talking.

"You look like crap," Xander comments, his voice almost amused.

Cara looks up at the ever-handsome man, and a wave of spite surges through her. How can he look so good while she looks and feels like crap? She's been really emotional all morning. She started the day on a high note, even wanted to cook, but nothing seems to be going right. She burned the pancakes, felt the urge to vomit, and now she's been sitting in the bathroom for over an hour, thinking about everything. How much she misses her mom, the pregnancy, how her life has changed.

"Gee, thanks." Cara rolls her eyes.

"Are you okay?" Xander asks, bending down to meet her gaze.

"I'm fine," Cara lies, but the dried-up tears and her rosy cheeks betray her.

"You were crying," Xander says, lifting his hand as if tempted to cup her face.

"I'm fine. Leave," Cara dismisses him, hating that he's seeing her like this.

Xander stands up and walks out of the bathroom, as she commanded.

Cara looks up at the empty bathroom, her heart sinking a little that he actually left.

But then he returns, minus his suit jacket, and takes a seat on the marble floor beside her.

She rests her head on her knees and smiles.

They stay like that for almost an hour, until he's sure she's really okay.

~~~

Feeling much better, Cara heads downstairs to the kitchen. She sent Cilia home, so now it's up to her to cook and clean up the disaster she left behind earlier. When she walks into the kitchen, she's surprised to find Xander cooking. His jacket is off, his blue shirt sleeves rolled up, showing off his muscular arms. He looks so hot, flipping pancakes.

A big smile spreads across Cara's face at the sight. "Didn't leave for work?" she asks, announcing her presence as she sits on a barstool near the counter.

Xander turns toward the sound of her voice. "Decided to work from home," he says, placing the last pancake on top of the stack.

"Aww, you big softie. You just couldn't leave me," Cara teases as Xander hands her a plate.

"Says the girl who was crying over burnt pancakes."

"Those weren't tears," Cara defends herself, despite the obvious evidence.

"Yeah, right," Xander mocks.

"Whatever. What fun activity do you have planned for us?" Cara asks, heading to the fridge to grab some juice.

"I want to imagine you know what 'working from home' means," Xander says, placing a glass of juice on his tray before walking out of the kitchen and into the garden.

"And you're alone again," Cara mutters to herself as she pulls out a carton of juice. "Lucky for me, I'm a fun person."

~~~

"...It's like I just single-handedly annihilated, you know, every rap chick in the building, like I'm Nicki Minaj, Nicki Lewinski, Nicki Da Ninja, Nicki Da Boss, Nicki the Harajuku Barbie. Like, I mean, I don't even know why you girls even bother at this point..." Cara stops rapping the moment she realizes the music has stopped. She turns to see Xander holding the remote, a big frown on his face.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Xander glares at her like a parent who just caught his teenage daughter throwing a party.

"Entertaining myself. Give the remote back," Cara says, stretching out her hand.

"I'm working."

"Well, I'm not. Give the remote back!" Cara walks up to him and tries to grab the remote from his hand, but he lifts his arm, holding it well out of her reach.

"You're such a child," Xander scolds, looking down at her.

A child? Cara is going to show him who's the child. Just when he thinks she's given up, Cara climbs onto the couch beside them to gain some height advantage and attacks. But her plan isn't well-executed, and she loses her balance, falling on him. Lucky for her, he catches her, lifting her up with his hands firm on her waist as the remote drops from his grip.

Cara's heart is pounding, but not because she almost fell. It's because she's suddenly so close to him. Their faces are inches apart, her eyes drifting to his lips before meeting his gaze again.

Gosh, why does this asshole have to be so damn attractive?

Xander has always thought Cara was beautiful, but up close, she's absolutely breathtaking. He should let her go, but he finds himself holding on, staring at those freckles that dance beneath her ocean-blue eyes.

Cara doesn't hesitate. She closes the distance and presses her lips to his. That's all the invitation Xander needs. He lifts her, and she instinctively wraps her legs around his waist. He takes control of the kiss, his mouth firm but tender, their tongues moving in a slow, intoxicating dance that tastes faintly of red wine and orange juice.

He turns, pinning her gently against the wall, his hands sliding up her waist until his fingers are tangled in her curly hair. The heat between them is overwhelming, and they both pull back just enough to start tugging at each other's clothes. Xander grabs the hem of her sweater, and she raises her arms, letting him peel it off and toss it to the floor. Her pink lace bra and the small curve of her baby bump are exposed, and something primal stirs in him—pride, desire, an overwhelming need to claim what's his.

"Is it hot in here, or is it just me?"

They freeze. The voice isn't Xander's. Cara's heart stops as she turns her head, eyes landing on the man standing by the couch. He looks exactly like Xander.

For a split second, Cara wonders if she's somehow with the wrong man. But then it clicks—the reason Xander didn't flinch when she mentioned having twins.

Xander has a twin brother.