"Are you sure I'll be able to get a good shot from here?" Larry fretted as he wiggled in his seat and looked around the auditorium.

I bit back the urge to tell him this was just one little recital. It warmed my heart to see how excited my alphas were to see Bella perform her big solo number she’d been preparing and practicing for weeks.

"I mean, one of us could always walk up to the front, off to the side there and probably get a better shot." Ryan offered helpfully.

"Neither one of you are going to go push yourself up to the front like those annoying-ass mom-and-paparazzi parents like to do. The dance studio has their own videographer filming program tonight so we can just sit back and enjoy the show," I admonished them both firmly, giving Larry's cell phone the side eye until he reluctantly put it away.

Before either of them could fuss anymore, my mother's hesitant voice came from over my shoulder. "Would it be all right if we joined you boys?"

I looked up to see my mother smiling hopefully, her shoulders and eyes filled with nervous tension. Big Dick stood at her side with his hand resting in the small of her back, a congenial smile on his face. It meant a lot to me that they had come for Bella despite our recent friction. I’d wanted to get things back on track with my mom anyway. I felt badly that they'd gone as far as they had.

Mom wasn't a bitch, a fact that I had explained patiently to Larry more than once now. The poor guy’s protective alpha urges were at full blast these days, wanting to fight my every battle. No, Mom was a good person—just set in her ways. I truly believed in my heart of hearts, that when I moved home after leaving Milton, she’d seen it as my do-over. A chance to pick up where I'd left off a decade earlier, which in her mind included college.

Instead of paying rent to my mother for the past year and a half, I should have just stayed there a few months while I’d built a nest egg and then gotten my own place for me and Bella. I'd known better going in, but it had been nice to have another adult around to have my back if I needed a hand with Bella. But adult children and their parents really were not ever intended to live together, at least not in my recent experience.

"Right over here, Mother. I saved two seats for both of you." I said as I pointed to the two empty seats on the other side of Ryan. Larry stood from his aisle seat and stood to the side so Mom and Big Dick could squeeze into our row.

Before either of them had a chance to make a move, I heard Milton's familiar nasally twang. "What about for the girl’s actual father? Did you save a seat for me and my fiancé?"

Fuck me.

A month had gone by without any sign of Milton, and we’d finally begun to let our guard down and breathe again. I struggled to my feet with Ryan's help as he stood himself and helped me up without being obvious about it.

"I don't know how you found out about this, or what you think you're going to accomplish, but you really don't belong here, Milton. And if you were seriously just here to see Bella, you would've taken a seat anywhere else in the auditorium without me ever needing to know that you were here. This is about you trying to terrorize me, and that’s just not happening."

I stood my ground, squaring my jaw and staring him down—despite the fact that my knees were shaking and my palms were already beginning to sweat.

"My fiancé and I can sit anywhere we please, and if you want to have visitation rights to our daughter once I get custody, I’d suggest that you learn to kiss up a little bit. You always were too snooty for your own good. I came over here out of the goodness of my heart to try and extend an olive branch, so that Bella can start to see us as a united family as we learn to co-parent together going forward," Milton said with his most magnanimous yet disingenuous smile.

Poor Devon was blushing five shades of red, and looked like he would prefer to be anywhere else on earth than here. My mom took one look at Devon and squared her shoulders. Her finger wagged threateningly in Milton's face as she leaned forward and all but hissed at him.

"I don't know what your game is, you pitiful little man. And I don't know why you're dragging this poor child, who is obviously close to delivering, along for the ride. But hear me, and hear me well—my husband was an attorney, as you’ll recall. An attorney who had private investigators on his payroll. We knew all about you and all the times you’d escaped being arrested for statutory rape against a minor. You do like them young, don't you?" Mom raised a sardonic brow as she smiled at him beautifully. "Usually about sixteen is your preferred age, right? Although my son was probably a little long in the tooth for you—being as he was so close to eighteen already when you began dating."

Mom turned her attention to Devon. "How old are you, dear?"

Milton snarled and tried to stop Devon from answering, but Devon gulped and answered. "Ei—eighteen, ma'am. I had my birthday last month." The poor kid’s knees were knocking while he stood there, grimacing in pain as he held his stomach.

Mom nodded and turned back to Milton who was fuming silently. "Let me guess, you want Bella as an attempt to prove to the boy's parents that you’re a legitimate family man—not the pervert that you truly are. You're not man enough to properly maintain a relationship with someone your own age, so you keep chasing after young boys who aren’t old enough to see through your despicable veneer of slime. You're disgusting, and if you think for one moment that you're going to lay one hand on my granddaughter or threaten my son, then you’ll regret it. I have a lovely file left for me by my late husband that I will be more than happy to turn over to my attorney. I'm quite certain the police would be interested to learn of some of your past indiscretions."

"You miserable old cow, you have nothing on me. And if you did, you would have used it against me years ago—I think we both know that I’m right, now don't we?" Milton sneered at my mother with a cold smirk.

Mom's knee came up out of nowhere, connecting with Milton's crotch with a ladylike swish of her dress brushing against her pantyhose. I didn't hear a crunch, or pop, but I definitely saw Milton's eyes bulge and water right before he bent over double with a loud intake of breath. Mom looked down at his back where he cowered in front of her and rubbed her palms together as though wiping them clean.

"And don't think for a moment that I don't have possession of a copy of my granddaughter's birth certificate. We needed a copy for her college fund, remember? There is the troubling little matter of a certain missing signature on that particular document, which is undoubtedly why you've been able to skate past paying child support and have avoided letting Ethan take you to court so far. Ethan might be forgiving, trusting, and sweet. Me? I'm a mama bear protecting her cub, so back off, Jack. Crawl back into whatever hole you came out of, and leave my family in peace."

All the other parents sitting in the rows around us slowly began to clap at mom's finesse with handling Milton. Milton finally caught his breath, and stood upright again. He gave Mom a dirty look as he straightened his tie, before glancing at Devon with distaste.

"You know what, kiddo? You ain't worth this shit. Let your parents threaten me with the cops because I knocked you up. Wish them the best finding me, I'm Audi 5000. Later, fatso." With that, Milton shoved past poor Devon, nearly knocking him off his feet. He probably would’ve if Big Dick hadn't been fast enough to catch the kid.

Before anyone could respond to all that it just gone down, Ryan snorted from behind me. "Please tell me that asshole didn’t seriously just say that he was Audi 5000? Someone needs to tell him that it’s not 2004 anymore—he needs some updated material."

I snorted at Ryan's comment, but immediately became concerned when I noticed the puddle of water forming at Devon's feet. Motherfucking Milton. Fucking asshole had sent the poor kid into labor. Before I could say anything, I heard the gruff voice of Larry's friend, Daniel, as he came walking over to us.

Julian was about four steps behind him, bearing a large bouquet of pink daisies. I had forgotten Bella had invited both of her new Papa's best friends to her big night. Daniel took one look at Devon and immediately turned his attention to Larry.

"You two need a hand?"

"Yeah, please. I'd appreciate it. The poor kid just got dumped by Ethan's ex, and I think the stress sent him into labor."

"C—could I maybe tell you about it in the car on the way to a hospital or something? Preferably somewhere where they have drugs, because this shit hurts way more than Miltie said it would." Devon gasped out in pain as a contraction hit, doubling him over where he stood. Without hesitation, Daniel scooped the guy up, and turned to leave.

Julian thrust the bouquet of daisies he held at Larry, who was the closest. "I am going to see if I can’t help with the kid. Please give Bella my sincerest apologies for missing her big night, but that situation looks a bit rough, eh? I'd say your mate there could use a bit of assistance." Julian turned and rushed off, his long-legged stride easily catching up with Daniel. We all watched as Julian skirted around them to open the door, and then the trio disappeared into the night.

"Well, now we've had the show—perhaps we can take our seats and enjoy the rest of the evening?" Mom let out a dry chuckle as we all squeezed back to let her by. When she came to me, Mom stopped and gave me a big hug, pausing to whisper in my ear. "Thank you for inviting me tonight, and for not interfering when I finally gave that piece of shit alpha what for. I'm sorry that things have been tense between us. And I take full blame for my behavior. I love you, Ethan. I shouldn't have tried to push my will on you, but I suppose that's a subject for another time. Perhaps in a more private venue?"

I hugged Mom back, happy to finally have a bit of peace with her again. And the vision of my ladylike mother ramming her knee into my ex’s crotch was one I'd be reliving for years to come. That was indeed the gift that would keep on giving me smiles forever.

By the time we all got settled into our seats, the house lights began dimming. I watched with happy tears in my eyes as Bella led the line of little girls out onto the stage. They all looked like fluffy bits of cotton candy with their matching pink tutus. It was freaking adorable, and I was so grateful that Milton hadn’t managed to ruin this evening for me.

Ryan's arm wrapped around my shoulders, pulling me against him—although I'm not sure whether he was giving or receiving comfort in that moment. Larry sat on the other side of me, holding my hand in a white knuckled clench. Apparently, my alphas were more than a little wound up after the run-in with Milton.

I couldn't wait to get them home later and reassure them we'd probably never see him again. I hadn't realized that my parents were even aware Milton hadn't signed Bella's birth certificate. It wasn't a matter of him denying paternity, he just hadn't bothered to come to the hospital when I’d given birth. And while it had made things tough when fighting for child support, it had also made things quite simple when I'd left him. Lemons to lemonade, right?