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Without hesitating any longer, I get right to it. “I quit my job. To be honest, I barely even started it.”

“What? When?” Violet gasps.

“I walked out on my first day.”

She brings her hand to her mouth and her eyes well with tears. This is why I avoided telling her for so long. I didn’t want to face her disappointment.

“Where have you been going every day?” Violet’s concern turns to confusion. Mad moves next to her and puts his hand on her shoulder. There’s a wary look in his eye. He thinks I’ve done something to hurt her.

“Nowhere in particular. But I’ve had a lot of time to think, and I know what I want to do. You two will have your dream jobs, and I’ll have mine. I want to be the one who stays home and looks after the babies.”

A chorus of sighs fills the room.

“That’s it? You want to be a stay-at-home dad?” Mad chuckles. “Damn, Max, you could have told us that at any point, you didn’t have to announce it. Does this mean you’ll have dinner on the table for me every night?”

“You’ll be doing your own chores,” I tell him, my tone lighter than usual.

“Did you think we wouldn’t be happy with your choice?” Standing up, Violet cups my cheeks and searches my eyes. “You should have told us from the start. I just want to see you fully happy again. Maddox and I will accept whatever you want. And honestly, I love the idea.”

“You do?” A gentle warmth lights up my heart.

“I’m happy as long as you’re one hundred percent sure this is what you want.”

“A million.” I smile at her, picking her up how I imagine I’ll carry her home on our wedding night. Her legs dangling over my arm as she holds onto my neck. The weight of her in my arms is what grounds me the most. “You’ve always been my dream, sweetheart. Now you and these babies are my life.”

“I love you. Can you please put me down now? I weigh a ton.”

“You weigh the perfect amount.” I drop her gently onto my bed and admire the way she sprawls out on my covers. My teenage wet dream come to life.

I place my knee on the bed between her legs, forcing them apart. Staring at her heaving chest, I crawl over her. “All this work has given me quite the appetite.”

CHAPTER 21

MADDOX

We decide to spend most of Sunday clearing out our old rooms.

There’s not much worth keeping in mine. I’d already brought my video games and anything sentimental home with me months ago.

After a quick shower and a change into some clean sweats and a tank top, I head to help Max and Vi finish up.

They’re both in her room. She’s humming along to some pop song playing out of her old speaker system. Her plump ass wiggling side to side in her daisy print overalls as she sorts through her drawers. I wonder if she’s noticed the lack of panties yet. I put them all to good use last year.

Max is sitting on the floor, sorting through a pile of books. Neither of them has noticed her phone is lit up on the bed with multiple notifications.

“Baby, your phone.”

“Oh, it’s probably just Sarah wondering how the weekend’s going. I’ll text her back when I’m done,” Vi says over her shoulder.

It keeps buzzing, and I try to ignore it, but its persistence is irritating me, so I decide to put it on silent. Sure enough, thereare a few unread messages from Sarah, but they’re from over an hour ago. The recent ones are from an unknown number.

Everyone sees how disgusting your relationship is but you

Those babies don’t deserve a fat slut as a mother. They’ll hate you when they’re older

Watch your back or you’ll lose it all

An uneasy feeling settles deep in my bones. I’m immediately reminded of the last time she had messages from an anonymous person. It can’t be a coincidence that the day before James’ sentencing she’s getting them.