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Her father leaned back, steepling his fingers. “Have a seat, you two. You don't plan on just standing there, do you? Drink?” He moved to pull out a scotch bottle from his drawer, but both Lexi and Tyler declined. 

“Very well, then,” Paul said, and returned the bottle, “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

They took their seats, then Lexi said, “Dad, I know you're upset with me and I'm not here to make it any better, I'm afraid,” she swallowed hard, “but before we tell you anything, I need you to know that I need you now. More than ever… And so I'm begging you to be understanding,”

Paul Graham frowned, “Out with it, Alexia. I'm in no mood for riddles and you're starting to make me worried. Are you alright?”

Lexi swallowed hard again, but Tyler was the one who answered this time, his tone cool, deliberate. “We’re here to tell you… That Lexi and I are together. She’s pregnant. And we’ve decided to get married.”

The silence that followed was deafening. The ticking of the antique clock on the wall seemed suddenly loud. Paul Graham's jaw tightened, but his voice was soft, dangerous. “Pregnant?” He looked at Lexi, his disappointment cutting deeper than if he had shouted. “Do you have any idea what you are doing? You're my daughter for God's sake. If only you listened to me. Victor was supposed to—”

“Victor was your plan,” Lexi snapped, surprising even herself. Her cheeks flushed, but she didn’t back down. “Not mine.”

Paul ignored her outburst and his gaze snapped back to Tyler, ice cold. “And you. The parasite who ruined everything.”

Tyler didn't even look flustered or affected. He returned his hard gaze right back. He'd been expecting this, and he knew that he had to be strong for Lexi right now. 

“Do you think I’ll bless this… mistake? You seduced my daughter and now come here boasting about it?”

Tyler straightened, shoulders squared, his voice steady. “With all due respect, Lord Graham, Lexi isn’t a deal you get to close. She made her choice. And I won’t apologize for loving her.”

“Love?” Paul scoffed. “You’ll never be good enough for her.”

Tyler’s jaw flexed, but he didn’t flinch. “That’s fine. I’m not here for your approval. I built my  life and my company without anyone’s blessing, and I’ll build a family with Lexi the same way. You can either be part of it—or not.”

Lexi’s throat tightened as her father’s expression hardened. For a moment, she thought he might throw them both out. But then his hand tightened around his glass, knuckles white, and he muttered, “You’re making a mistake. Both of you.”

Lexi stood and stepped forward, her voice soft but firm. “Enough! Both of you!” Both men stared at her, “I didn't come here for this. Dad, for once, I’m making my choice. And I hope someday you’ll see that. And Tyler, would you please give me a few minutes so I can talk to my father alone? Please?”

Tyler didn't really want to, but he gave a curt nod and headed out. After the door closed behind him, and Lexi turned to look at her father again, her eyes were misty with tears. 

“Do you even love me, dad?” she asked. 

Paul's eyes softened at her question. “Of course I love you, Alexia,” he replied, “And I can't believe that you'd ask me that. Everything I've done. Every plan I've made for you, especially after we lost your mother, has been because I love you. I just can't believe that you'd throw it all away because…” he stopped talking and gestured in the direction of the door. “of him,” 

There was silence for a while before he spoke again. 

“Are you really pregnant?”

The tears were falling now as she nodded, “Yes I am dad. And I know this isn't what you wanted for me. I didn't plan for it either but it happened, and this is my reality now. Tyler is a part of it whether you like it or not. I'm pregnant, and we have decided to get married. I want you to be a part of it too because I can't imagine doing this without you, but it's all up to you now,” 

“Do you love him?” her father asked. He sounded old, for the first time that she could recall. And it made her even sadder, but it didn’t make her change her mind. “Do you really love him?”

“I think I always have, Papa,” Lexi whispered. “But I tried not to. For your sake.”

“Does he love you?” her father asked, sounding almost severe. As if he couldn’t bear to think about it.

“That’s the thing,” Lexi said with a quiet conviction she hadn’t known, until now, was there inside her. “I think he’s loved me even longer.”

And when her father sighed, she knew she’d won. Or that he would support her, anyway. It felt much like the same thing.

“You don’t have to love him,” she told her father. “I don’t require it.”

“I love you, Lexi,” her father replied gruffly, and she knew those weren’t words that came easily to him. Bringing with them, as they did, the potential for so much loss. So much grief. But she’d never doubted the truth of it, no matter how little he said it. “If this is what you want, I support it. Your mother would have flayed me alive for making you think you couldn’t love the man you wanted to love.”

And Lexi didn’t know when she started crying even louder, but she didn’t stop. Not when he stood and came over to her. Not when he hugged her tightly, thinking of the mother she’d lost, the father she still had and all these years she’d tried so hard to keep herself from feeling.

But she couldn’t cry forever, not even if the tears had more to do with the acknowledgement of emotion—and the sheer relief that she had her father on her side. She took a deep breath. She wiped her eyes. She pulled away and finally drank the water her father offered her.

“Do you both have to be somewhere?” Paul asked her after she pulled herself together. 

“Not immediately,” Lexi replied, “Why do you ask?”

“Because… Because I'd like to spend some time with my future son in law… If he wouldn't mind. I'd like to get to know him,”