Sophia woke the next morning wrapped in Alexander's arms, sunlight streaming through his bedroom windows and painting everything in golden hues. For a moment, she lay perfectly still, savoring the feeling of his chest rising and falling beneath her cheek, the way his arm tightened around her protectively even in sleep.
Last night felt like a dream, his desperate declarations, his promises, the way he'd worshiped her body for hours as if trying to apologize with every touch. But the engagement ring on her left hand, a stunning emerald-cut diamond that had somehow appeared at 3 AM along with another round of passionate promises, proved it had all been beautifully, wonderfully real.
"Good morning, fiancée," Alexander murmured against her hair, his voice rough with sleep and satisfaction.
Sophia tilted her head to look at him, taking in his rumpled dark hair and the soft smile that transformed his usually stern features. "Good morning, fiancé. Though I still can't believe you had an engagement ring just lying around."
Alexander's cheeks actually flushed slightly. "I've had it for three weeks. I bought it after our first night together and have been carrying it around like an idiot, too scared to use it."
"Three weeks?" Sophia stared at him in amazement. "Even when you were pushing me away?"
"Especially when I was pushing you away," Alexander admitted, pressing a soft kiss to her forehead. "Some part of me always knew you were it for me. I was just too much of a coward to admit it."
Before Sophia could respond, the sound of small feet running down the hallway made them both freeze.
"Sophia! Sophia, are you awake? We want pancakes!" Emma's voice carried through the door, followed by the unmistakable sound of her trying the door handle.
"The door's locked," came Ethan's confused voice.
"Why would Sophia lock her door?" Emma asked, and Sophia could practically hear the six-year-old wheels turning.
Alexander and Sophia looked at each other, the reality of their situation suddenly crystal clear. They were in his room, in his bed, very obviously having spent the night together. The children would have questions, and this time, they needed to have answers.
"We have to tell them," Sophia said quietly.
Alexander nodded, his expression becoming serious. "Together. Right now, before they come looking for us."
Twenty minutes later, after quick showers and hastily thrown-on clothes, they found Emma and Ethan in the kitchen with Mrs. Chen, who was making their breakfast while fielding increasingly creative theories about why Sophia hadn't been in her room.
"Maybe she went for a really early walk," Ethan was saying.
"Or maybe she's sick and hiding so we don't catch it," Emma added sagely.
"Or maybe," Alexander said, entering the kitchen with Sophia beside him, "she was with me."
Both children turned, their faces lighting up at the sight of them. But Emma, ever observant, immediately noticed their joined hands and the way Alexander's arm was around Sophia's waist.
"Daddy?" Emma said slowly. "Why are you holding Sophia's hand?"
Alexander and Sophia exchanged a glance. This was it, the moment that would change everything for their little family.
"Because I love her," Alexander said simply, his voice steady and sure. "And she loves me. And we wanted to talk to you both about what that means."
Ethan's eyes went wide. "Like... love love? Like married people love?"
"Exactly like that," Sophia said softly, kneeling down to their level. "In fact, your daddy asked me to marry him last night, and I said yes."
The silence that followed felt eternal. Emma and Ethan stared at them with identical expressions of shock, processing this enormous revelation.
Then Emma's face broke into the biggest smile Sophia had ever seen.
"You're going to be our real mommy?" she squealed, launching herself into Sophia's arms.
"If you want me to be," Sophia said, tears threatening as she hugged the little girl close.
"Yes, yes, yes!" Emma chanted, while Ethan stood frozen, staring at them.
"Ethan?" Alexander said gently, noting his son's hesitation. "What do you think, buddy?"
Ethan looked between his father and Sophia, his young face serious. "Does this mean you won't leave us anymore? Even when Daddy gets scared and says mean things?"
The question hit both adults like a physical blow. These children had watched their relationship's ups and downs, had felt the uncertainty and pain of adult emotions they were too young to understand.
"I'm never leaving you again," Sophia promised fiercely, holding out her arm for Ethan to join the hug. "Never. No matter what happens, no matter what anyone says, I will always be here for you both."
"And Daddy won't send you away again?" Ethan pressed, still hesitant.
Alexander knelt down beside them, his own eyes bright with unshed tears. "Never again. Sophia is going to be my wife and your mother, officially and forever. I was an idiot before, but I promise you both I will never let my fears hurt our family again."
That was all the reassurance Ethan needed. He threw himself into the group hug with enough force to nearly knock them all over, and suddenly they were all laughing and crying at the same time.
"Mrs. Chen," Alexander called to the housekeeper, who had been discretely wiping her own eyes while pretending to be very busy with breakfast preparations. "I hope you're available to help plan a wedding."
"It would be my honor, Mr. Steele," Mrs. Chen replied with a warm smile.
Later that morning, after the twins had been sent to school with strict instructions not to share their news until after their parents had made some phone calls, Alexander and Sophia sat in his study facing the more daunting task of telling the adults in their lives.
"My mother first," Alexander said grimly, already reaching for his phone. "She's going to have... opinions."
"Bad opinions?" Sophia asked nervously.
"Victoria Steele has very specific ideas about who is appropriate for her son," Alexander said diplomatically. "But she'll come around. She has to because you're going to be part of this family whether she likes it or not."
The call to Alexander's mother in Paris was every bit as difficult as expected. Even through the phone's speaker, Victoria Steele's displeasure was palpable.
"The nanny, Alexander? Really? Have you completely taken leave of your senses?"
"Her name is Sophia," Alexander said firmly, his arm tightening around Sophia's shoulders. "And I love her. We're getting married."
"This is about sex, isn't it? It always is with men your age. You could have an affair without marrying her, darling."
Sophia flinched at the cruel words, but Alexander's voice turned to ice. "Mother, you will speak respectfully about my fiancée or this conversation is over."
There was a long pause before Victoria spoke again, her tone slightly more controlled. "Alexander, be practical. What will people say? What will the board think? This girl has no breeding, no connections, no,,,"
"She has my love and my children's love," Alexander interrupted. "That's all that matters. We're announcing our engagement publicly this week. You can choose to be supportive or you can choose to be absent from our lives. But Sophia is going to be my wife."
After several more minutes of increasingly tense conversation, Victoria finally hung up with a promise to "think about it," which everyone understood to mean she was planning some kind of intervention.
"That went well," Sophia said weakly.
"She'll come around," Alexander assured her, pressing a kiss to her temple. "She may be difficult, but she loves her grandchildren too much to stay away forever."
The call to Sophia's best friend Maria from college went much better.
"Finally!" Maria screamed so loudly they had to hold the phone away from their ears. "I've been waiting for you to land a billionaire since we were freshmen! Is he as gorgeous in person as he is in magazines?"
"More," Sophia laughed, feeling some of her tension ease. "Maria, I need you to be my maid of honor."
"Obviously! I've already been planning your dream wedding in my head for years. Please tell me you're having it somewhere fabulous."
The rest of the day was spent making calls and planning their public announcement. Alexander's publicist, a sharp woman named Rebecca who had been managing his image for years, was surprisingly enthusiastic about the engagement.
"This is actually perfect," Rebecca said during their afternoon meeting. "The mysterious billionaire finding love with the sweet nanny who won over his children? It's like a fairy tale. The press will eat it up."
"I don't want her exposed to media scrutiny," Alexander said protectively. "No invasive questions, no digging into her past."
"We'll control the narrative," Rebecca assured him. "A beautiful engagement photo, a carefully crafted announcement, maybe an exclusive interview with a friendly publication. By the time we're done, Sophia will be America's sweetheart."
That evening, they decided to start with Alexander's inner circle. He called his assistant to arrange a dinner party for the weekend, inviting his closest friends and business associates, the people whose opinions actually mattered to him.
"Are you nervous?" Alexander asked as they got ready for bed that night.
"Terrified," Sophia admitted. "Your world is so different from mine. What if they don't accept me?"
Alexander turned from his closet, where he'd been hanging up his suit, and walked over to where she sat at his dresser in her silk nightgown. His hands settled on her shoulders, meeting her eyes in the mirror.
"Then they're not really my friends," he said simply. "Sophia, you're about to become a Steele. That name carries weight, respect, and power. Anyone who doesn't treat you with the respect you deserve isn't worthy of our time."
He leaned down to press a kiss to her neck, his lips warm against her skin. "Besides, they're going to love you. How could they not? You're brilliant, beautiful, kind, and you've made me happier than I've been in years. They'll see what I see, that I'm the luckiest man alive."
As they settled into bed together, Sophia wearing her engagement ring and Alexander's arms around her, she marveled at how much had changed in just 24 hours. Tomorrow, they would begin the process of truly going public, of merging their lives completely and permanently.
It would be challenging, she had no illusions about that. Alexander's world came with scrutiny, expectations, and social pressures she'd never faced before. But as he whispered promises against her hair and held her like she was something precious, Sophia knew they could face anything together.
They were no longer hiding, no longer pretending, no longer afraid. They were Alexander and Sophia Steele-to-be, a family united in love and ready to take on the world.