An instant giddiness swept over me when I heard screaming. The kind of screaming that brought an instant smile to my face. Whatever it was, Ophelia had it first. After a quick two minute shower, I dressed in my own shorts and a loose t-shirt, applied a little makeup, and slid my feet inside leather flip-flops before rushing out to the scent of something baking and—

“Paxton?”

“Mommy!”

“Mommy!”

Both my little Clydes slid from their stools and into my arms. My eyes locked with his briefly, wearing a smile and flipping a pancake with either blueberries or chocolate chips. I shook my head in confusion and gave my undivided attention to my little girls as a fruity scent touched my nose. Blueberries.

“Hi babies,” I said, my eyes leaving his for them, both hands stroking long soft hair, one blonde, one black.

“I saw her last night and you didn’t,” Rowan chanted while trying to sneak in an unnoticeable shove with her elbow.

“I did, too.”

“Nuh-uh, because you didn’t know she was here. I did.”

“Stop that,” I interrupted. “I saw you both. Who wants to go to the park? Eat your breakfast, we’ve got to go.”

I looked up to the smirk on Paxton’s face and then a wink from is right eye. He was up to something, and he knew I knew it. My expression wanted him to know it. Not that it mattered, but still.

Rowan was the one who spilled the beans. “Well, we have to wait. Daddy said your friend is coming here first.”

I didn’t even feel surprised. Not in the least. Annoyed, but not shocked. I kissed both their heads as they slid back to their stools, back to their blueberry pancakes, content to have their mommy home. I picked up a blue crayon and a quarter from the floor while I looked at Paxton through narrowed eyes. The blue crayon rolled to the pile, joining the other colors on the island, and I dropped the quarter in his hand.

“That’s for last night. What did you do now?” I questioned while turning away from his lips.

Paxton laughed when he missed, kissing the corner of my uncooperative mouth with his sticky lips. My tongue peeked out, tasting the maple syrup as he spoke quiet words to my neck. “Jesus, what do I have to do for a dollar?”

I might have smiled a little, but I didn’t mean to, and I was serious. Trying to be, anyway. “What did you do, Paxton? I thought you were so busy with work,” I questioned while I watched him slide my pancake to the plate.

“I made you a pancake out of love. See, it’s a heart.”

My eyes shifted to the plate in my hand and I stared at it confused, head tilting and eyes squinting. “It looks like a possum.”

That definitely made me smile. The biggest smile ever. Both my little girls giggled hysterically at their daddy’s attempt to make a heart.

“It does not. It’s a heart.”

“What’s this long tail-like thingy here?”

“It’s not a tail thingy. It’s an arrow. Whatever, go eat your possum.”

I watched him cautiously and slid my finger across my phone, right to the messages. My head shook as I read them all, the last one being our address.

Gabby—Hey, come to my house.

Mi—Why? What about your husband?

Gabby—He wants to talk to you, too.

Mi—This wouldn’t happen to be “him,” would it?

Gabby—Maybe, but I’m not about to let her meet you alone. We’re married.

Mi—Yeah, so I heard. Poor girl.

Gabby—I’m not a bad guy.

Mi—Well that’s coming from a guy who had his wife arrested, soooooooo.

Gabby—LOL I like you. Be here around nine.

Mi—I’m only coming for Gabby, not you.

Gabby—Okay, sooooooo I’ll see you at nine.

“I really do hate you,” I admitted while stabbing my pancake with my fork, twisting it dramatically into his possum shaped breakfast.

“That hurts a little,” he said with two fingers over his chest, two taps and that damn grin. The sexy one that I hated.

“What are you doing here? You told me you were busy.”

“I am. This is your fault. If my guys screw up this layout, I’m taking it out on your ass.”

I refrained from accepting that threat, secretly hoping that they did. “Mmmm, real blueberries. I’m impressed. Did you Google that?”

He pointed his nose toward the girls and their argument. Ophelia’s pancake was bigger, Rowan had more blueberries. “Yes, right there. They went grocery shopping with me. Both insured me that their mommy didn’t buy the frozen blueberries. Only the organic ones. You’re so weird.”

The thoughts on how to reply changed with his last comment. I almost boasted on my smart girls, and said something about him sidestepping my question about being up to something. I sputtered a short laugh instead. “Wait until you meet Mi.”

“Mi’s weird?”

“Mommy, my tooth is loose. See” Rowan announced from across the room, pulling my attention to her instead of my stubborn husband.

I answered Paxton and left him for my girls. God, I missed them. “You’ll see.”

My pancake was delicious, and I couldn’t believe how much I missed in less than a week. I swear they grew daily. Rowan didn’t lie, her front tooth would be missing in the next couple days. Ophelia skinned her knee and I felt horrible. It wasn’t the kiss it, cover it with a Band-Aid, all better kind. That one hurt, and there was no doubt she cried. She cried and I wasn’t there for her. That pissed me off. They both got new stuffed animals from the zoo truck. I half listened to what the hell that was while I glared at Paxton. Some bus came to the library, packed full of animals, all proceeds going towards the zoo. I wasn’t surprised by Rowan’s choice of a cat. She’d been asking for one for ages. Paxton was allergic, or so he said. I did laugh when Phi told me she got a fish. Of all things in a zoo, my girls chose a cat and a fish. Ophelia ran off to get her new fish while Rowan started the argument.

“Well, my cat is better because it can eat your fish.”

Of course Phi stopped. “No it can’t. My fish is bigger than your cat. My fish will eat your cat.”

“Fish don’t eat cats. Cats eat fish.”

“Some fish do. A shark can eat a cat.”

“Cats don’t go in the ocean.”

“Oh my, God. Stop it. Go get your fish,” I said once I realized how long their fight could go on. Hours. Days. Weeks.

“Your cat could fall off a boat,” Phi called. Spitting image of her daddy. I swear that girl would have taken a timeout before she would ever let Rowan have the last word.

Paxton and I exchanged a glance just as the doorbell rang.

“Is that your friend?” Rowan asked.

I answered with a yes, shaking my head at Ophelia when I heard Mi’s voice. Paxton was the one to scold her, not me. I stood back trying to give Mi the ‘sorry about my idiot husband’ look. She read it, and I read the understanding in her eyes.

“Ophelia Dawn Pierce. Don’t you ever do that again. You know better than that. What if that was a bad guy and he wanted to break into our house?” he questioned in a stern tone, hand lifting her chin to look at him.

“But it’s not a bad guy. It’s her.”

“You didn’t know that. Don’t open the door for strangers. Understand me?”

Phi looked up to him with puppy dog eyes and sad tone. “Yes. I won’t do it again.”

“I don’t want anything to happen to you. Okay?” he said while feeding right out of her hand, voice softening with every word. And that right there was why I always had to be the bad guy. He melted like chocolate in her hand.

“Hi, Mi. Come on in. This is Ophelia and Rowan, and my lovely husband Paxton,” I said as I invited her in with an open hand, introducing her to my family.

Mi ignored Paxton and bent over to Rowan and Phi, shaking each little hand, one in each of hers. “I have heard so much about you. Very nice to meet you.”

Rowan didn’t really respond. She sort of shied away without a reaction.

Busybody Ophelia was another story. She wasn’t shy at all. “I like your necklace,” she said as she held the crystal in her hand.

“Thank you. I wasn’t sure what kind of energy I would walk into in your house. Crystals protect you from bad energy.”

I sucked in on my lips at Paxton’s eyes darted quickly to me.

“What. The. Fuck?” he mouthed to me without audible words.

“We have good energy,” Phi assured Mi.

I smiled at her confidence. Like she knew everything there was to know about the energy field in our house. I was sure she had never been introduced to that before.

“Santa brought us crystal necklaces last time,” Rowan finally spoke.

“He did?” I asked, my attention going right to Paxton.

He shrugged both shoulders and pointed to me, letting me know that I bought them. That meant something to me at that moment, but I wasn’t sure why. Maybe the thought of buying them something that was believed to protect them from something bad.

“You have very good energy. I’m surprised,” Mi said as her eyes landed on Paxton. She scanned him, head to toe while he looked at me, confusion written all over his face.

“Okay girls. Remember what we talked about? You’re going to go practice for your dance recital without fighting, and mommy and daddy are going to talk to Mi. Okay?”

“We want to talk to Mi, too.”

Mi moved Ophelia’s hair behind her back and smiled down at her. “Tell you what. You let us talk about business for a little bit, and I’ll teach you a magic trick. Deal?”

“A real magic trick?” Rowan questioned, interest piqued.

“Yes, and you can show all your friends, but you can’t tell them the magic part. Only you can know how it’s done. Okay?”

I loved how Mi was with my girls. Instant connection, unlike my fake neighbors, and they loved her.

“Okay,” they agreed in unison.

We all stared after them, hopping along, excited to learn magic when my mini me turned back. Ophelia suddenly stopped and turned her worried eyes right to me. “You’re not going to leave, right Mommy?”

The sting in my heart burned deep and I hated Paxton again. “No, baby. I promise.”

She smiled and skipped off with her sister.

“Damn,” Mi said quietly, hearing the same anxious tone from Phi.

“I hate you,” I said, eyes darting quickly to Paxton.

The look on his face told me he hated himself. Good. Stupid bastard.

“Let’s go to the patio,” he suggested. Paxton pointed to the French doors and Mi led the way. “You said she was weird, not crazy,” he whispered.

I elbowed him while holding in a laugh. “Let’s sit on that side so we can see the girls.”

“No, they’ll be out here in two seconds,” Paxton countered.

I turned and gave him a cold stare down. “I’m okay with that.” I was okay with it. I didn’t want them out of my sight, but he was also right.

We hadn’t been seated for more than thirty seconds when Phi opened the door. “We’re done. Can we play outside now?”

I looked to Paxton and he answered. “You didn’t practice. You can go play on the swings.”

“And the sandbox?” she questioned.

“The sandbox is right beside the swings.”

“You said we can only play on the swings.”

“Ophelia,” he said with the tone that she knew meant to knock it off. She stopped acting like him and ran down to the massive playset that Paxton built in our back yard. He couldn’t build a normal one. This thing had it all. Enough to keep them busy while we had the conversation that had me on edge in anticipation.

“What, Mi? What do you know?”

“First of all you have to pinky swear that you’re not going to call Nick and tell on me.”

“Of course I wouldn’t. You’re the only friend I have in the world.”

Paxton nudged my leg with his knee and looked at me with—love? What the hell? “I’m your friend, Gabriella.”

I gave him a once over, stopping at his eyes, and assured him otherwise. It was said lightheartedly, but with a point. He knew the point, thanks to Ophelia’s apprehension of me leaving her. “You are not my friend.”

He smiled genuinely at me, but I didn’t’ buy it. I was mad. I turned to Mi’s surprised expression instead.

“What?”

“I just, I—I don’t know if this is a good idea anymore.”

I frowned out of confusion. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, I wasn’t expecting this. I thought you hated him. I thought I would be helping you to regain some of your past. I don’t know if that’s such a good idea anymore. Maybe I should just go.”

I gave her a look like I had just eaten a sour lemon. “What? Are you crazy? I do hate him. You have to tell me. What do you mean some of my past?”

Mi’s chest filled with air and her eyes went to Paxton and then back to me. “Can we talk alone first?”

“It wouldn’t do any good. He’s got the place bugged.”

Paxton didn’t defensively lie out of that one like I thought he would. He smirked and pointed to one of the security cameras above our heads, right in the corner, facing Mi.

“Just tell me, Mi. Please.”

Her eyes looked to her nails as she spoke. “Okay, but I don’t want to cause any more trouble for you. Nick and I had a fight yesterday morning, and I wanted to tell him I was sorry. I dropped by his office with his favorite Reuben, and overheard him and Lane. That’s the only reason I snooped. He told Lane that there was no way those videos could fall into anyone’s hands, that the file was on an old laptop that he didn’t even use anymore. Lane told him that he didn’t care, and he wanted it destroyed. Of course, I knew what laptop he spoke of. There’s two of them in our closet. He keeps saying that he will get the files off them so we can get rid of them, but he never does.”

“What files,” I asked, eyebrows frowned inward.

“I didn’t really watch them. I only opened the first one, but only watched a few minutes of it. Then I sent them to my email, so I could send them to you.”

I knew the answer before I even asked. “What was it? Was it me?”

“Yes, in Nicks office.”

“Why was I in Nick’s office?”

“I’m not sure. Like I said, I didn’t think it was my business. I didn’t watch them.”

“Send them to her email,” Paxton ordered.

I waited for his dominate ego to be squashed by Mi.

She gave him the exact look I knew she would. Haughty. “Excuse me? Who are you again? You probably control that, too. Right?”

“Send them, Mi,” I said, not wanting a pissing match between Mi and Paxton. It would be like Ro-ro and Phi, lasting for hours.

“You can’t let Nick find out.”

“Was the fight over me?”

Her eyes leaving mine assured me that it was. “Yeah, but you know I’m here for you. I wasn’t about to throw you out to the lions. I just wasn’t expecting him to be the cat.”

“What the hell does that mean?” Paxton asked, tail feathers in the air as Mi set off his ego.

“It means you love her. I can read people through the energy around them. He’s not a bad guy, Gabby, just stupid as hell,” she said, fierce eyes softening, moving from Paxton to me.

And the claws came out with the sudden attitude. “You don’t know me. You don’t know anything about me.”

“Calm down there, tiger. I don’t need to know you. Here, you should have a pair of Hematite’s,” Mi said. She pulled a wallet from the purse crossing her shoulder, and retrieved a cloth bag. Patrick from Sponge Bob smiled at me from the little pouch. Only Mi. Paxton gave me the look that said my friend was cookoo while we heard rocks being tossed in the bag. Rocks. Mi carried a bag of rocks in her purse. She was crazy.

The girls cautiously joined us, looking to their dad to determine whether or not they were about to be run off. I raised my arm, allowing them permission to join us. We weren’t talking about anything they couldn’t hear. Nothing was disclosed. Not one damn thing. I had to wait again. I watched Mi place something in her hand while she searched her bag for more rocks. Good grief.

“This is magnetic hematite. They always have to stay together. If I give you each one, do you promise to always bring them together? At least once a day? If you do that, they’ll never lose their power and you’ll always have each other. Can you do that” Mi asked both girls, portraying big eyes, opened hands, and nods in agreement. She pulled a set of the stones apart and held them in her hands while staring at the girls with deep concentration. “This one is calling to you, and this one to you,” she explained while placing a small stone in each little hand.

Rowan and Phi examined the black nuggets in their hands and followed Mi’s instructions.

“Move them close together.”

The magnetic rocks clicked, coming together with great force while the girls stared in awe, but I wasn’t sure why. We had magnets all over the refrigerator. It wasn’t like they hadn’t been introduced to the mineral before.

“Wow, that is magic,” Rowan exclaimed.

“No, this is the magic. Watch this,” she said as she pulled two more stones apart, one in each hand. “Which stone is calling to you, Pax?”

I glanced over in search of anger from the nickname. Dumbfounded, I watched him zone in on the two stones, concentrated while he chose.

Paxton took the stone from her hand and Mi handed me the other one. The smaller one. His ego was too big for the lesser stone. “I’m not surprised you took that one,” she confessed as she separated Rowan and Phi’s stones. “Here’s the magic,” she said in a whimsical voice, totally engrossing my girls in her strange beliefs.

Mi dug around her purse, pulling a homemade keychain from her bag. “Hold your stone to this,” she instructed the girls.

“It doesn’t stick,” Phi said puzzled.

“Right, because they’re not strong enough alone. Now hold it to your moms.”

Both girls smiled when all three rocks came together as one. She coached Paxton into trying next, holding the keyring to his stone. It was strong enough to pull it from Mi’s hand when she loosened her grip. The girls gasped in awe as Mi explained that their dad had the most powerful stone, but they all had to come together at least once a day to recharge them and stay strong as a family. Her voice sounded dramatic as she moved all of our hands together, letting Paxton’s pull all of our stones together as one.

Of course they stuck. They were magnets. Four hands held the stones, bringing them together as one, but without all four, the littles couldn’t hold onto the ring.

“There’s the magic,” she whispered.

“No pressure there,” Paxton mumbled, dropping his to the pocket of his jeans. “Are you going to send the file? I don’t have time to sit around here and discuss rocks. I’ve got work to do.”

Mi ignored him and continued to talk to the girls, clicking their stones with each other’s. “You can keep them in a safe place. Just make sure you bring them together every night before bed, okay?”

“Okay,” the girls agreed. I smiled at the little things they cared about. Simple things.

“Good job. Can you let me talk to your parents for a minute?”

Rowan and Ophelia ran off with their magic, happy and content.

“That’s not really magic,” Paxton assured her, raining on his own parade. He didn’t rain on mine, and I was sure from Mi’s demeanor, hers was untouched, too. It was magic to me, and to them. I knew they would never lose those stones.

“Yeah, I didn’t mean for that to happen. I was going to teach them how to pull a quarter out of someone’s ear. What’s your sign?”

Paxton frowned. “Excuse me?”

“I feel like you’re a Sagittarius or maybe a Scorpio like me.”

“He’s a Scorpio,” I tattled, unsure why. I mean, I read the silly little horoscope in the paper every morning, but I can’t say it was anything more than entertainment.

“Figures. Scorpio suns should never get married. They’re too cruel and manipulative. Hot and cold, secretive and vengeful. Hardly traits that are good in any marriage. I think all Scorpios should get a swift kick in the ass before they’re allowed to get married. We’re very loyal and loving, but most of us need a beating first to get all those negative qualities out. We normally gravitate toward the weak. I’m surprised at how much power you have around him, Gabby. I wasn’t really expecting that. I thought for sure you would be weak in his presence.”

I don’t know why I took great pleasure in hearing her say that, but I did. It wasn’t like Paxton bought into any of her crazy stuff anyway. Although she sort of was right on with her description of him. I could even see that in her a little, in the way she was with Nick. A happy version of Paxton.

“I’ve got to go to work. Nice meeting you,” Paxton said with a nod.

I watched him walk away, knowing he was headed toward his office and not a job site. He would have kissed the girls and told them goodbye.

“Is that really a camera?” Mi questioned with a stretched neck and a narrowed eyes toward the well-hidden camera.

“It’s for my protection,” I answered, sarcastically.

“Right. I shouldn’t have come, Gabby. You’re okay here. I really believe that. I think you and Paxton will be fine if you talk. You gotta tell him what you’re thinking. He can’t read your mind.”

“Yeah, well, we don’t really have that kind of relationship.”

“Yes you do. That man is falling all over in love with you. He can’t even see straight, he’s so in love with you.”

Mi was crazy. I didn’t see what she saw. “I spent the night in jail. Do you remember that? I was the crazy chick begging your boyfriend to hypnotize me.”

“Okay, yeah. You have a point, but—. I feel like he’s sorry, like he knew he took it a little too far. I’m just saying that I don’t think you should watch the video’s anymore. I think you should pretend that they never existed.”

“But why? I don’t get it, Mi.”

“Look, from what I caught from Nick and Lane, they’re pretty detailed. Just like the one where you described your accident. I think there’s a hidden secret there. One that may be better off left in the past. Go get your nephew and forget them.”

I looked down, filling my lungs with humid air and then back to her. “I can’t, Mi. What if there’s something about my twin? I need to see them. It could be the only way I ever learn anything about my past. I need that.”

An audible breath was heard while Mi took the same air into her lungs. “Okay, but, I’m sending them to you one at a time. That way it’s your call, not his,” she said to the camera in the corner. “I won’t send another one until I hear from you. Just text me my dog’s name and I’ll send you the next one. He doesn’t know that. I also think you should watch them together, with Paxton. I still think you should leave it in the past, and move forward, but if you insist, at least share the secrets with your husband. You can’t build a positive environment on lies. Just saying.”

“How many are there?”

“The folder has seven files inside. Sessions is how they are labeled. One through seven.”

“I don’t know what I would do without you, Mi. Thank you. For everything.”

“You can’t hate me if you don’t like what you see. And you’re not going to.”

“I have to.”

Mi nodded like she knew that would be my answer. She stayed until after lunch while Rowan and Phi hung on to every single thing she said and did. They loved her, freaky self, and I loved her for it. I had never in all the time that I had known my neighbors witnessed them talk to them like Mi did. She doted on both of them like she’d known them their entire life.

Mi promised to send the first file by nine, using the time as a way for Paxton and I to work through our problems while the girls slept. That scared the hell out of me. She pretty much ensured me that the very first video wouldn’t be pretty. That was all I needed on top of everything else. More gasoline for the fires raging around us.

I tried to busy myself with my girls, a new broccoli casserole, and then some research on my tablet while the girls watched Frozen—again. Paxton sat in his office behind his desk while his eyes locked with mine, or mine locked with his every so often. I was just as guilty of searching him out as he was.

We’d just finished another eye linger when something on my tablet caught my eye. I had been looking through old newspapers from around the time of my accident when I found it. A homeless Jane Doe, admitted to the same hospital three days after my admission. The thump in my chest moved to my ears as I thought about it.

“Where you going, Mommy?” Rowan asked as I stood.

I placed a finger over my lips and pointed to her sleeping sister, whispering my reply. “To talk to daddy for a minute. You watch your movie and rest for a little while.”

“Okay, I’m holding her magic stone while she sleeps.”

A wink and smile gave her my approval.

Paxton had just moved his chair back from a filing cabinet to his desk when I entered. I took it as an invitation and sat right on his lap, pulling one knee to my chest. “Look at this,” I said, right before I noticed the startled expression on his face. “What’s wrong?” My eyes glanced to his fingers, cautiously wrapping around my ankle and back to his eyes. His stunned eyes. What the hell?

“Nothing. What do you want?”

I relaxed my spine and tried like hell to hide the smirk. This was serious. No time for games. Nonetheless, I smiled. “This too intimate for you?”

“No, shut up. What do you want?”

Once again my spine straightened and I regained the seriousness of my new lead. “This girl was admitted to the same hospital, three days after me. I just remembered one of the nurses telling me about a girl no one claimed. She went into a nursing home, or something like that. I was mad, too mad at her for making me leave with you to care.”

Paxton ignored the last comment and skimmed the article. “A forty-year-old homeless woman?”

“What if she wasn’t forty? Remember how I described Izzy with Nick? She was hurt pretty bad. What if they didn’t know? Can we at least check it out?”

Paxton stared at me while he thought about what I wanted him to understand. Turning his chair while keeping me on his lap, he opened a folder on his laptop with one finger. I watched while he opened up my hospital records, scrolling through my release instructions. His finger slid down the page and both our eyes scanned the words. “Was it that nice nurse? The one you liked so well?”

“Yes, what are you doing?” I finally asked, wondering what my medical records had to do with anything.

“I’m going to call her.”

“Julie Shall?”

His hand dropped like dead weight to his keyboard and his eyes shot to mine. “You remember her name and you let me look for it for ten minutes?”

“You didn’t ask me,” I rebutted.

His head titled to the side and he growled like a grizzly bear, a gravely moan deep in his throat.

“What? You didn’t.”

Paxton swiped his phone and dialed the hospital. I was a little surprised to see it in his contacts. I didn’t really see him calling to check on me.

“Fifth floor, please,” he said into the phone, eyes narrowed on mine.

My heart did that fluttering thing with the adrenaline when I realized what was about to happen. For whatever reason, I knew it was her. I felt it, call it a twin thing, but I did. Deeply. I suddenly needed a drink of water as my throat dried and I thought about the possibilities.

“ICU step down, this is Julie.”

I moved Paxton’s phone to the ear nearest mine, and listened to every word. He gave me an annoyed look, but didn’t stop me.

“Oh, hey, you’re just the nurse I was about to ask for. I’m not sure if you remember me or not. This is Paxton Pierce. My wife was there back in the spring.”

“Of course I remember you. How is Gabriella?”

“She’s okay, but she’s found out a few things she’s trying to find answers to.”

“Oh, I was hoping you were going to say she regained her memory.”

“Not yet, but we’re sure her sister was with her when she wrecked. She’s been missing since the accident. Gabriella found an article where a female came in three days after her. She said you told her about a girl who went to a nursing home because nobody claimed her. We’re pretty sure she was hurt pretty bad, maybe unrecognizable.”

My heart stopped when she paused. “I wish I had good news for you. This lady was dragged by a bus, a black woman with no memory. I’m sorry.”

My body relaxed into Paxton’s while he thanked her and said goodbye. So much for twin intuition.

“I’m sorry, Gabriella,” Paxton said as his arms went around my body, a loving attempt to make me feel better.

“It’s fine. I’ll keep looking,” I replied sadly.

“I think I have something to make you feel better.”

“I don’t trust you.”

Although it wasn’t meant to be funny, Paxton laughed. “Someone from the state will be here in three days for a home study.”

I frowned and pulled away a little. “State? Why do they want to study our home?”

“They have to make sure we’re capable of taking care of Vander. You know, make sure we can provide for him and all.”

I stood with that, feeling the wind knocked right out of my lungs. “What do you mean?”

He said it like we were running out for milk or something. “We’re going to get Vander.”

I wasn’t ready to buy it just yet. “I don’t trust you,” I repeated. Again, not even trying to be funny. I didn’t understand this side of Paxton, or this tone. Paxton didn’t talk to me like he cared. Not like this. I wasn’t lying. I didn’t trust him. Not at all.

“Gabriella, watching that video, hearing you describe your sister’s skin being peeled from her face, and the sound of your voice when you described her begging for you take care of him. I—I—

I helped with my own words, trying to understand what he wanted me to comprehend. “You felt empathy?”

“I always feel empathy. I felt it today when my daughter had to think about her mommy leaving her again. I didn’t mean to hurt her.”

“Only me.”

“I’ve never felt it for you. We didn’t click like that.”

“I don’t even know what that means, Paxton.”

“What if these videos disclose that you’re not really my wife, that you’re really Vander’s mom and not Rowan and Ophelia’s?”

“It won’t.”

“How can you be so sure? Maybe I wasn’t in love with you before because you weren’t you. Maybe that’s why you were never in love with me. Maybe you were your twin.”

I shook my head and blinked my eyes. “Shut up. You’re making me confused. Why did you do that? Is that what you’ve been doing in here all day? Is that why you kept closing the door? So I couldn’t hear?”

“Yes, I didn’t want to get your hopes up in case it turned out to be a flop. It’s real, and we’re about to be the proud custodial parents of a five-year-old. What’s wrong? I thought you would find that something to hold on to.”

I cleared my throat before trusting my voice. It helped but still cracked. “But I didn’t get to go through it with her. That sucks.”

“That’s not my fault, Gabriella. You can’t pin that one on me. I never even knew about her.”

“Why, Paxton?”

“I don’t know, but I think we’re about to find out. What if I’m right? What if we learn that you’re not my wife? What then, Gabriella?”

I let out an exasperated breath, tired of assuring him of my identity. “Let’s cross that bridge when we get there.”

“Mom, can I have a nana?” Ophelia called to me in a groan as her arms and legs stretched. I swear that girl dreamed about food. She always woke up hungry.

I walked out of Paxton’s office and across the room to the girls, another few hundred questions flooding my mind. I wasn’t sure I was even up to watching the videos. I’d had enough ‘what the fucks’ for a lifetime, and I wasn’t sure I could handle any more. I wasn’t even sure I wanted to anymore. Maybe Mi was right. Maybe I should be happy with Vander and move on. Maybe, but I couldn’t, and I knew as soon as the girls were down for the night, Paxton and I would turn another page. The question being whether or not I was ready for it. If he was.