Page 19

VIOLET

The snow has finally cleared enough for us to head into town and buy a pregnancy test—or twenty. I thought getting three would be enough, one for each of us, but Max is overcautious and wouldn’t let up about false positives, so he cleared the whole shelf.

We’re all a mess of anxious anticipation on the drive back home. As soon as the engine stops, I leap from the car and run to the bathroom, not caring about the melted snow and mud I’m tracking in with me.

I set the bag of tests down in front of me on the toilet and tear three open. I’d already read the instructions over and over in the car, so I know exactly what to do.

I’m mid-stream when the door opens. “Don’t look!” I screech, my body automatically clenching and stopping my flow. “You can come in when this part is done.”

Maddox just laughs and comes in anyway. He sits on the edge of the bath with his leather jacket and shoes still on and grabs one of the boxes to inspect. At least he’s not watching. Unlike Max, who’s leaning against the doorframe, those possessive brown eyes on me.

“You’re not leaving, no matter how much I ask, are you?”

Max slowly shakes his head. I blow the hair from my face in a huff. “Fine. Can you look elsewhere at least?”

“We’re not bothered by a bit of pee, baby,” Maddox chimes in, and I glare at him for not taking my side. He quickly diverts his eyes back to the box, and I aim my glare at Max. He holds my gaze, a devious smirk slightly curling his lips, before he eventually looks up at the ceiling.

It takes a few seconds before I can start again. Once I’m done, I set the tests on the sink, and my guys move in to get a closer look.

The first few seconds drag on. “Maybe we shouldn’t look at them until it’s time. We don’t want to jinx it or anything.” I quickly turn away, and Max frowns at me.

“It’s fine if they’re negative. We’d never hold that against you.”

Maddox tucks a strand of loose hair from my ponytail behind my ear. “Even if it never happens, that would still be okay. We’re just happy we get to have you.”

I blink away my tears and bury my face into Maddox’s chest. He wraps his arms around me and rests his chin on my head. “You’re perfect no matter what, baby.”

I’ve wanted this for a long time. A loving family with kids. It sounds like the most boring, basic thing in the world to want, but when you grow up without any stability, sometimes the mundane is enough.

Not that life with Maddox and Max is ever mundane.

Like some unrelenting force, they tore my heart and life apart, but it was what I needed to truly see what I’d been missing.

They may have started out as my stepbrothers, but they were always more than that. From that first moment I saw them at our parents’ wedding when we were kids, I knew we had a connection. I just didn’t expect it to become what it is today.

“A minute and seventeen seconds,” Max says. I untuck myself from Maddox’s chest and see Max intensely watching the timer on his phone.

“I’m sure if we look now, it’ll be the same result as it will be in a minute,” Maddox says impatiently.

“Minute thirteen,” Max continues, narrowing his eyes at his brother.

While they’re distracted, I sneakily reach for the test to take a peek.

“Oh, no you don’t!” Max steps between me and the sink. Maddox tightens his arms around my waist, lifting me off my feet.

“It’s not fair the way you two always team up on me.”

“Don’t pretend you don’t love it when we double-team you,” Maddox jokes.

I try not to laugh, but it’s hard not to. He’s right. I do love it.

The wait for Max’s alarm to go off is less stressful for the last half thanks to Maddox easing the mood.

“Ten seconds,” Max sounds off, and I can practically hear us all counting down in our heads.

Three.

Two.