Turned out, the fish in the space cartoon had quite the hypnotic effect on the kids. After Jack and I ate, we did baths—I oversaw the twins and Jack took Ava into his room—and he gave the boys the shirts they slept in last night—the smallest ones Jack had, but still huge on them. Ava came prancing out in her pink princess nightgown that was fit for a runway.

“Ava, those PJ’s are fancy. I love them.” The little show-off gave me her best spins before landing on her bottom, which made the boys crack up in hysterics. Then they all started spinning around, and I felt like I was going to fall over from dizziness.

“Okay, bedtime snack, then lights out.” Jack clapped his hands together and got their attention quickly. We all traipsed downstairs for crackers, cheese, and fruit. Once their bellies were full, I suggested books, but the kids had other ideas.

“Aww, Auntie Harper, we wanna finish watching the fish in space movie,” Nick said, bottom lip out for effect.

“Yeah, we have to find out what happens,” Levi said, stomping his foot.

“How many times have you watched the fish in space show?” I inquired, pretty sure I knew the answer.

“A bunch of times, but we didn’t watch it yet today,” Nick said, arms out wide and shoulders up like he just stated his case.

“If you guys are quiet, I’m fine with that. What do you think, Jack?” I deferred to his super-kid knowledge.

He kissed Ava, who was in his arms, and said, “I think that’s fine. As long as there’s no monkey business.”

“I’m a monkey,” Ava chirped, and we all laughed.

“You certainly are,” I said and tickled her tummy. She chortled and wiggled around in Jack’s arms. His eyes found mine, and he gave me the nicest smile I’d ever seen, the love he had for her evident on his face.

He still hadn’t addressed saying that he loved me. We were both busy with the kids, so there wasn’t a whole bunch of time to discuss anything other than who needed to go to the bathroom and where Ava’s stuffed bunny was.

The girl was seriously cute, and she knew it. Seeing that child lying on her daddy’s chest made my heart nearly burst. Jack’s big arms wrapped around his little girl was too much. You could see how much they meant to each other, and she trusted him implicitly.

Eventually, Ava wanted to lie down on the cushions, which Jack had assembled on the floor, and ditch us for greener pastures. This left a space between Jack and me that he didn’t like.

“Move over, gorgeous,” he said, dragging my behind closer to him. His arm reached around me and held me tight. “Thanks for tonight.” Then he kissed the top of my head, and I snuggled deeper into his chest.

“I didn’t do anything, silly,” I murmured, smelling his wonderful woodsy man scent. I missed this. Just being in his arms, feeling his chest move up and down with the steady rhythm of his heart.

“You did. You stayed,” he said, and that statement burned both good and bad. Good because he was thankful I was there—bad because he thought leaving him with three hoodlums was even an option. Trust was earned. That’s what Mom always said. Nothing I could do about that at the moment except prove how much I wanted to be there and show him how sorry I was for not at least discussing the whole wife-child situation.

Mind you, the man wasn’t off the hook, not by a long shot. His lies would be felt for a long time to come. But at least now I understood his reasoning. And that was because I was a stupid shit. All my talk about not wanting kids, and the whole time he already had one. Ugh.

We stayed cuddled like that for another half hour or so, chuckling every so often at the adult innuendos in the movie. Who knew space fish were so funny? Ava finally got up and waddled over to me, Bunny close at hand. She made a move to scoot up onto my lap, and my heart stopped. Oh my God, she wanted to sit with me?

Jack reached over and helped her maneuver onto my lap. Once she was settled, he rubbed her back and moved his arm away. “You gotst pretty hair,” she said in her angelic voice, still snuggling Bunny.

“Why, thank you. Your hair is very pretty, too,” I replied and twisted a lock on my finger.

“Maybe you make my hair curly?” she asked, dropping Bunny and grabbing fistfuls of my hair and scrunching it between her fingers. I couldn’t help but laugh at her adorable little face, completely enraptured with my hair.

“I can curl your hair, sweetie. Sure.” The smile I got from her made me want to do pretty much anything she asked. Oh boy.

“’K,” she said, and then just as quickly she lurched forward and gave me the biggest hug ever. I returned the gesture, scooping her in close. Her chubby little body held on to me with everything she had. My head lowered, and I sniffed in her girlie shampoo with a hint of popcorn.

“Thanks for the nice hug,” I said and gave her one more tight squeeze. She clutched me like that for a while longer until she sighed heavily and her plump little body went limp on me. Her nose whistled a bit, and I looked up at Jack and grinned. “She’s sleeping?”

“Mmhhmm,” he said as he stroked her wavy sleek hair. “I can take her up to her room.” Jack moved and put his hands under her armpits.

“Can I hold her for just a bit?” I asked, loving the feel of this little person burrowed on me. His mouth went slack for a second, and he nodded. Her sighs and movements were all so cute, I couldn’t stand it. For a minute or two, I got teary-eyed thinking about my sister Charlie’s little one coming into the world sooner than later. One day I’d be holding my new niece or nephew just like this. I couldn’t wait.

Eventually, I conceded, and Jack carried her upstairs. What a sight that was. A tall, handsome man carrying his sleeping, adorable baby girl upstairs. Gahhh. I was pretty sure my ovaries just cheered.

Somehow, we survived the evening and the morning hubbub of getting the kids dressed and fed. Murray had texted me saying that Audrey was hell-bent on getting out of the hospital that morning so they would be by shortly.

Jack and I did our utmost to get the kids to help us clean up a bit, but all they were interested in was playing with each other. Despite the age difference, they really got along well. I must say I was proud of the boys for including Ava in their games and being tolerant and patient when she couldn’t quite keep up.

The home phone rang its weird ring that signaled a guest. Jack picked it up and told someone named Arnie to let his friends in. Seconds later, Audrey and Murray were at the entrance to Jack’s apartment.

“Nice digs, man,” Murray shot out and pumped Jack’s hand. “And thanks for looking after our holy terrors. I hope they weren’t…”

“Good God, did my brats do this?” Audrey stared in shock at the display before her. I couldn’t blame her. It was a disaster.

“It’s all good, Audrey. Don’t worry about a thing. I had my hands full, but then Harper stopped over and helped out,” Jack said, reassuring them that everything was fine, even though it clearly was not.

“We should stay and clean this mess up,” she said, then bent down and flinched.

“No, we have it. Don’t worry,” I said, pulling her back up as gently as I could. The woman was obviously still in pain.

“Good Lord, woman. This place is unbelievable. Just look at the size of those windows.” Her hand still held on to my arm, but she was clearly in control. “You need to show me around this place before I have to take my next pill.”

I walked her to the kitchen, but she declined trying to sit down, saying, “It wouldn’t be a good idea.” The men were making their way into the living room, so we had a modicum of privacy. “So, you came over and saved the day?” she loud whispered to me. “When you weren’t at our house, we went over to your place, thinkin’ you would have taken the boys home with you. But Riley said you hadn’t been home the whole night,” she said, eyebrows waggling like a crazy person.

“Oh no, I’m sorry I forgot to mention that I was here.” Shit. Of course, they would think I was at my place.

“No worries, girl. Jack and Murray were in a meeting when I got sick. Jack came over and scooped up the little demons so I could get to the hospital as quickly as possible. That man was a godsend. But now I need to know what happened when you got here. Tell me every detail.” There was no helping the laugh that bubbled out. Audrey was intense, and she had seen how devastated I’d been the last few weeks. I definitely owed her an explanation.

“Uh, let’s just say we’re back together again,” I said and tossed my hair over my shoulder and hoped the men couldn’t hear me.

She threw her arms up and said, “Hallelujah.” It was a little too loud, but whatever. That was Audrey for you. “You happy?” Her eyes narrowed on me, waiting for signs of the slightest deviation.

But all she saw was the huge smile on my face. “Yeah.”

“Then that’s all that matters. People do shit, people say shit, but until you know the real story, you don’t know shit.” Granted, that was a lot of shits, but the woman was right. Communication was key.

“I’ve been lied to an awful lot, you know?” I whispered, trying my best to keep quiet.

“Yeah, gotcha. But Murray swears this guy is the real deal, honey. I think he may have been more upset than you when this whole baby-daddy shenanigan went down. In fact, I had to stop him from calling up Jack to give him a piece of his mind,” she said and slapped her hand on the counter.

“But I told him to let the chips fall where they may. I’m kinda regretting that now, though. Because I think God gave me a kidney stone to get y’all together. I told Murray and all the doctors and nurses that if my pain helped you two stubborn idiots, then it was all worth it.”

I was never happier to hear the boys tearing down the stairs than I was at that moment. “Mommmmmmmm!” they both yelled in tandem, running right into their mother’s arms.

“Careful now, boys. Your mother is still sore.”

Audrey squished the life right out of them, and they clung to her as if she were their lifeline. Those brave kids never once let on that they were scared for their mother. Any kid would worry knowing their parent was ill and in the hospital. Jack spotted me wiping away my tears and waltzed over to put his arm around me.

“She’s good?” he asked and kissed the top of my head. I hadn’t quite gotten control of my emotions, so I just nodded.

“Well, we should go. Your mother will need another pill soon, and I think you two are done destroying the most expensive property in the city. Thanks again for taking them on such short notice, you guys. I don’t know what we would have done,” Murray added his heartfelt thanks.

“Awww, you going home?” Ava said, stuttering down the stairs in plastic princess heels. That had me concerned, but Jack didn’t do or say anything, so I shut it.

“Maybe you can come to our house next time,” Levi said. “Can Ava come over, Mom?”

Before she could answer, Murray spoke up, “Ava can come over anytime after your mother has healed. She just had surgery and needs to rest for a few days.”

“Come here, Miss Ava. Let me take a look at you,” Audrey said and let go of the boys to wave her closer.

Ava was more than happy to slide over to the newcomer in her house. “Well, aren’t you just the spittin’ image of your father. And look at that dress and those shoes. You’re a real princess, for sure.” Audrey laughed and patted Ava’s head. “I bet you’re real smart, like your daddy, too. Am I right?” she inquired, but Ava had lost interest and went spinning away until she toppled over.

The boys thought that was the funniest thing ever and let out loud laughs and doubled over. “Okay, boys, we’ve more than overstayed our welcome. Let’s leave these people to some peace and quiet.” Murray turned to Jack. “Let me know what they broke and I’ll cut you a check.”

“Oh, we ain’t invited to Jack’s grocery store no more,” Nick said with a long face.

“We aren’t invited to Jack’s grocery store anymore,” Audrey corrected him and sighed. “I’ll just add that one to the list of stores you’re banned from.” Slowly, she started walking toward the elevator and her crew followed. Once at the doors, she waved and said, “Thanks again and let us know if we can ever return the favor.”

After they left, the silence was deafening. The first few moments were odd, just the three of us.

“Well, we better get you packed up, little lady. Mommy is coming to pick you up soon. Come help me gather your bag together,” Jack said, and Ava immediately turned back to the stairs on her way to her room.

“Uh, I should get going,” I said, nearly ready to pee my pants at the thought of Beauty Queen coming over. Shit, hopefully I didn’t bump into her on the way out to my car.

“You aren’t going anywhere.” Jack pulled me into his arms and took my mouth in a passionate kiss. I was still self-conscious about PDA around Ava, and I really wanted to get the hell out of there before his ex-wife arrived.

I pushed him back and said, “Look, I don’t think I should be here when you guys do the handoff. It’ll be awkward for everyone, so I’ll just take off.”

Immediately, he grabbed me back. “You’re not leaving. Go upstairs to my room. Run a bath, watch TV, I don’t care what you do, but you’re not going home until I have my way with you.” Oh boy, that imagery caused all sorts of shocks to go off in places that hadn’t seen the light of day in nineteen…no, twenty days.

“That’s tempting. But what will a certain person’s mother think about me being here?” I already knew the answer, but I wondered if he had thought about it.

He sighed and shook his head, then cupped my face. “I don’t give one fuck what she thinks, and you shouldn’t either. This is my house. And anyway, you’ll be upstairs, all warm, wet, and soapy,” he said and kissed my lips tantalizingly.

My mind knew better, but my body couldn’t resist this man.

“All right, but I’m hiding up there and I’m not coming down.”

“Mmmhmmm,” he said into my ear, and I shivered.

“Daddy, where’s Bunny?” Ava called from the railing.

I giggled. “I wonder if there’s a way to stick Bunny to her so she’d stop losing him.”

“Not legally. I looked into it,” he said and gave me one last hug.

The bathtub called my name, but I didn’t feel comfortable with everything going on downstairs. Jack’s ex-wife was going to be here, and I was scared she would somehow find out I was naked in his bathtub, surrounded by bubbles. Yikes.

Instead, I settled for a nice, warm shower. The steam surrounding me relaxed my frayed nerves, and I tried my best to forget about the exchange happening downstairs. Using Jack’s soaps made me all tingly thinking about him walking up the stairs, slowly taking off his clothes and…

After my shower, I blew my hair dry, but just thinking about putting on the same clothes that I wore yesterday icked me out. Jack had a drawer full of T-shirts, and I knew just where they were.

He still wasn’t upstairs yet, so I wandered around, but with limited things to do in a bedroom, I soon got bored. The remote looked like you needed a degree from NASA to work it, so I decided to crawl into bed and wait.

Mmm, his sheets were so soft, probably the best you could buy. But the best part was that they smelled like Jack. I sniffed his pillow like a bloodhound on the hunt. That’s when I heard it. At first, I thought the boys had come back in, but then I realized who it was.

“Nooooooooo,” Ava screeched a bloodcurdling yell. “Her said she’d curl my hair.” More screaming and wailing the likes I’d not heard before from such a pint-sized body. I crept to the door and opened it slightly. Shit. She was still going. “Harper’s gonna make curls,” she bellowed.

Crap. What the hell was I supposed to do? Ava kept calling my name, and to say I felt like a guilty dumbass for standing there like a yellow-bellied coward was an understatement. “Harper, Harper.” Oh, good God. This needed to stop. I yanked on a pair of Jack’s shorts and marched to my doom.