Author's Note: Thanks to everyone for making this my most popular story!
Chapter 4: Dinner and a Show
"Thank you," she replied bewildered. Nobody had ever said that to her on a first date, or any date. But it's not a date, she thought, the cynical side of her coming out. Yes, it is! the hopeless romantic part of her retorted. Ugh! her whole mind said. "You look quite dashing yourself," she said, cocking an eyebrow in an attempt to imitate one of those stuck-up, filthy rich snobs she had once met at a Crimson meeting.
"Why, thank you, my dear," he said in the same tone.
"Won't you come in?" she asked dramatically, gesturing inside.
"Indeed I will," he said, before they both started laughing.
"What's so funny!" Lola cried from where she was playing with her cousins. "Dante!" she said, realizing he was here and running over to give him a hug.
"Hey, Lola," he said, ruffling her hair.
"Dante, this is Cameron, Jake, Aiden and Colin, ages ten, seven, five, and eighteen months.
Aiden ran over and stopped short just in front of Dante. "Hi," he said, waving his hand.
"Hey, buddy," said Dante.
"'Sup?" Cameron said, before turning his eyes back to the television.
"Are you sure he's ten and not fifteen?" Dante whispered to Lulu, who grinned.
"Dante, do you wanna play a game with us?" Lola asked, pulling him over to the sofa where she had been playing Sorry with Jake and Aiden. Lulu walked over and picked up Colin, placing him in his highchair and placing a handful of cereal on his tray before retreating silently back to the kitchen.
Lulu smiled as she continued cooking dinner. Dante was so good with the kids, it was a wonder he didn't have any of his own. Lulu's mind began to wander to very interesting places... no. No, no, no.
But it was so tempting. Dante was incredibly kind, amazing with the kids, down to earth, he was damn sexy, and he had called her beautiful, something she had only heard from her parents and maybe once from her brother.
"So, I move my piece there?" Dante said, pointing towards the square on the board.
"Nooooooo, you go there," she said.
"You never played this game before, didya?" Aiden asked with an accusing look.
"Uh, no, the only game I played when I was a kid was stickball."
"What's that?" asked Jake.
"Only the greatest game in the world! It's like baseball, but you play it with a stick and a rubber ball. Best part is you can play it in any street you want," Dante explained.
"I wanna play!" Lola said.
"Me, too!" Jake said.
"Me, too!" said Aiden.
Cam grunted from his spot on the couch.
"Well, it's pretty late, so maybe another time, okay?"
"Ohhhh-kayyyyyy," said Aiden.
"Dinner!" Lulu shouted from the other room, and all six of them came running.
"What's cookin', mama?" Lola asked as she did every single night.
"Chicken Courdon Bleu," Lulu said.
"Yesss!" she shouted, jumping up on her chair and raising her fists to the sky.
After everyone had eaten more than their fill, they all wound up in the living room.
"Mama, can we watch a movie?" Lola asked.
"Why don't you ask everyone else?"
"Yeah!" said Aiden.
"Uh-huh," Jake said.
"Whatever," said Cameron.
"Sure," Dante said.
"Ah-kay," Lola said. "Here's the movies we got," she said, running over to the cabinet and pulling it open. "We got Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, Barbie and the Fairy Princess, Snow White, Polly Pocket Waterworld Adventure..."
The three boy's faces wrinkled in disgust.
"Can we watch a good movie?" Jake asked.
"But those are good movies!" Lola said.
Jake and Aiden went over next to Lola and looked at the movies inside.
"How 'bout Transformers? Or Star Wars, or Indiana Jones-"
"No way, those movies are booooring!" said Lola. The four kids broke out into an argument.
"Okay, okay, how about we do something else?" asked Lulu.
"Like what?" asked Lola, Jake, Aiden and Cam. Lulu was surprised that Cameron had actually been paying attention.
"Um, well, we could play a game or something," Lulu suggested.
"We could play go fish!" said Aiden.
"Okay," said Lulu. "I'll go get the cards."
Three hours and six games later, Aiden, Colin and Lola had fallen asleep and Cam and Jake were well on their way.
"I think it's bed time for you two," Lulu said. Cam and Jake both groaned, and yawned.
"Come on, it's almost eleven," said Dante.
Dante and Lulu had managed to put Lola and Aiden in their sleeping bags without them waking up, and Cameron and Jake had gotten themselves in theirs, too. Lulu took Colin into her bedroom and put him down in his playpen. They both ended up in the kitchen.
"Hey, do you want a beer?" Lulu asked.
"Sure," Dante replied, passing the cards from hand to hand. "You up for another game of cards? Just not go fish this time?"
"Bring it on!" she said. "What game? Poker?"
"Yeah. What are we playing for? Chips or money?" he asked.
"Oh, chips definitely. You're going to be glad, too, when I beat your ass," she said.
"We'll see about that!" he said.
"Ha!" Lulu said an hour later, showing Dante her hand.
Dante groaned and they both stood up at the same time, faces inches away. They could feel each other's hot breath on their faces and they stared at each other for a few moments before Dante pulled her in close and crushed her lips with his. The kiss became increasingly passionate, and Dante picked her up and placed her on the small table, moving his hands down her back as Lulu's hands tangled in his hair. His tongue penetrated her lips and explored the inside of her mouth and she pressed herself up against him.
Their kiss was interrupted by the sound of Colin crying through the baby monitor. Reluctantly they pulled away from each other.
"I'll be right back," said Lulu.
"No, it's fine, I got it," said Dante, walking into Lulu's bedroom. Oh my God... he thought. It was as amazing as he had imagined. He picked up Colin and cradled him against his muscular chest. "Hey, buddy, don't cry. Shhhh," he said. Colin stopped crying at the sound of Dante's soothing voice, but he wasn't ready to fall asleep. A half hour later, Dante wound up on the couch with Colin laying on top of him. Slowly they both drifted off to sleep, and Lulu walked in to see the adorable sight.
"How sweet," she murmured to herself. She went back into her room, changed into pajamas and brushed her teeth. Lulu went back into the living room. From her own experience, she could tell that Colin was fast asleep and wasn't going to be waking up soon.
She picked him up and brought him back into her room, laying him down gently. She went back into the living room and considered waking Dante up, but decided against it.
Walking back into her room to go back to sleep, she couldn't help but fantasize about what an amazing daddy he would make.