Page 20 of Eternal Pieces (The Violet Delights Duet #2)

MAX

I ’ve never felt prouder than I do in this moment.

I’m walking through my hometown, hand in hand with my ex-stepsister who is now my fiancée, my come dripping down her thighs, and my babies in her belly.

My brother looks just as smug as me on her other side in his sunglasses with a wide grin on his face.

Between us, Violet is smiling sweetly, observing the scenery around her without a care in the world. This is how it was always meant to be.

We get a few looks from some old faces I recognize, and their shock only makes me feel smugger.

The town is small enough for word to spread quickly, so I’m assuming that news of our engagement and pregnancy is already out. Well, the pregnancy part definitely is now if it wasn’t before. Violet’s dress does nothing to hide the swell of her stomach.

“There’s a new clothes store! Can we see if they have a baby section?” Violet picks up speed and drags us toward the store.

“Of course. But don’t we have enough clothes? The drawers are packed full at home.”

She stops and gives me a serious look. “Max. We are going to be dealing with three little poop machines, the more clothes the better.”

“She’s right,” Mad agrees, and with that, we’re heading into the store.

Violet hurries excitedly to the newborn section, and we follow slowly behind her, keeping watch like two bodyguards.

“Are you still sure about what you said before?” Mad asks once she’s out of earshot. He takes his sunglasses off, and there’s a nervous look in his eye. I know exactly what he’s talking about.

“Yes.” I’ve thought about it plenty. Pictured Violet’s face when she sees who’s waiting for her at the altar. How she’ll cry happy tears when she says I do to someone who’s not me. And it doesn’t make me sad because she’s going to be doing it all with a part of me.

“We could draw straws instead?”

After checking Violet’s okay, I pull him aside.

“We tried to make it fair, and it didn’t work, remember?

I know you, Mad, as cocky as you are you’d never put yourself before Violet’s feelings.

You didn’t have a breakdown when she didn’t answer the phone.

You put her first. So trust me when I say this is the right thing to do. ”

For once, he doesn’t make a joke. He’s always serious when it comes to Violet.

We don’t need to say anymore. I feel it the moment he accepts that this is what’s best.

Violet comes over, breaking us out of our silent connection.

“Look at how cute these rompers are! They’re so tiny! They even have them in yellow to match our nursery theme.” Violet holds the clothes up to show us, that oblivious smile still plastered on her face as it should be.

“Get as many as you want, sweetheart. You’re right about the more the better.” I lean in close and tip her chin up with the pad of my finger. “We should make sure we have plenty for all the babies that will come after these three.”

Her eyes widen, her cheeks flaming red. “You’re not joking about that, are you?”

I shake my head slowly, a wide grin forming. It’s cute that she thinks all the talk of us keeping her constantly pregnant was ever a joke.

She heads back to the rack of clothes, picking a few more things out. Mad quietly watches her, appreciating her joy. I wrap my arm around his shoulder and pat him on the chest. “The way you’re looking at her. That’s the reason why it has to be you.”

After a few more stores, we stop off to grab some coffee for the walk back to Dad’s place.

“Violet, is that you?” A female voice calls out from across the street.

I pull Violet behind me as they cross over to us.

“It’s only Chloe,” Violet says, stepping into view. I immediately block her again.

Chloe, whose boyfriend was friends with James. I can’t be sure whose side she’s on.

“Hi! I didn’t think I was going to see you around here again.” Chloe pants.

“I’ve been busy with college and everything else. Max, will you please move?” I don’t budge, and Violet takes it upon herself to circle around me. She gestures to her stomach with the hand with both engagement rings on.

“Oh wow! Congrats. Who’s the dad?”

Violet points both her thumbs toward me and Mad.

“Oh. Oh!” Chloe’s face goes bright red. She leans in to whisper in Violet’s ear, and I’m about to pull Violet away when I hear what she says. “Good for you. I’m sorry for trying to set you up with James. I had no idea he was like that.”

“What? A rapist?” Mad makes sure he’s loud enough for everyone to hear.

“Um, I’ll leave you to it. It was nice to see you.”

Knowing we don’t want her here, she starts walking away, but Violet calls out, “I have a new number if you ever want to catch up properly!”

Chloe hesitates, eyeing Mad and me.

“Ignore them. They’re just grumpy because I made them come shopping with me.”

They end up exchanging numbers, and Mad quietly says to me, “Why exactly are we okay with this? She left Violet alone to be fucking assaulted.”

“She didn’t know.” At least that’s what I’m telling myself to allow this. I’ll be sure to keep an eye on her if she does end up getting close to Violet again. But for now, I refuse to be the one to suck the joy out of today for her.

Dad’s already home by the time we get back. Violet heads straight upstairs for a nap with Mad following close behind. Before I have a chance to go with them, Dad’s calling me into his office.

I slouch down in the chair in front of his desk and shove my hands in my pockets.

He always hated it when I used to sit like this, but it doesn’t seem to faze him anymore.

I’ve been here far too many times for one of his talks.

Usually, they were about how I needed to do more to secure my future.

Guess I’m not too old for another one. In a way, I’m grateful for them.

Now, I put all that obsessive training I had for baseball into caring for Violet.

“Did you have a nice time in town? Not much has changed since you moved.”

“You never bring me in here for small talk, so what do you want?”

He frowns at me, but to my surprise, doesn’t reprimand me for disrespecting him.

“Alright, I’ll get straight to the point. Maddox told me about your job.”

I sit a little straighter. How does Maddox know I quit? I’ve been pretending to go every morning and then wandering around the city or hanging out in the park or gym until it’s time to go home.

Dad leans forward on his desk and steeples his fingers under his chin.

“Are you really happy there? You have plenty of skills and experience from your baseball days, Max. It’s a shame to waste them.

I’ve been speaking to coach Reid, and he says he’d love to have you assist him.

You can work part-time if you need to.” He nods toward my bad side. “How is it nowadays?”

“I’m managing,” I say gruffly.

“I’m glad. I’ll set you up a meeting with Reid before you leave Monday, then.” He starts writing it down in his schedule.

“I don’t want that.”

The pen stops mid-word on the page. Dad slowly meets my gaze.

“But it was your life. You can’t leave it all behind because of what happened.

Some of your old teammates are still in town; you could visit them, get a reminder of what you always loved.

You can still make a career out of it despite everything. ”

“I’m not doing this again.”

I stand up to leave, but Dad stops me. “Max, please. I…I only want what’s best for you. I don’t know how to talk to you anymore, you’re always so closed off.”

Turning back to him, I’m ready to lash out, but as soon as I see his somber face, my anger vanishes.

“When I first told you I got a job, you were happy for me. Was it a lie?”

“No. But I know you, Max. You can hate me all you want for pushing you so hard back then, but you enjoyed it. Until Violet came along.”

I open my mouth to interrupt him, but he carries on.

“I see it now. The love you were missing. I put so much energy into securing your future that I didn’t stop to see what you needed in the moment.

I should have been a better father. Which is why I have to ask why you have this job?

Maddox is starting his own business doing what he loves, Violet will have the babies to look after?—”

I scoff. “She doesn’t want to be a stay-at-home mom. She wants a career of her own.”

“Will she have time? I remember how hard it was raising twins, your mother didn’t want a nanny to help, so she did it herself while I worked until…”

“Until she died, and you chose to work harder. I don’t hate you for that. Not anymore. But it’s not what I want for my family.”

He walks around his desk so we’re eye to eye, and I see how tired he is. The trial’s probably taken a lot out of him, even though he’s not directly working it.

“Then what do you want? I can help.”

“I appreciate it, Dad. You’ve done a lot for Mad and Violet, and now for the babies. Honestly, all I want is for them to be looked after. You’ve done more than enough. The rest of it is up to us to figure out by ourselves.”

He gives me a solemn nod. I turn to leave, and suddenly he hugs me. “I really am proud of you, Max.”

My shoulders start to feel a little lighter.

Upstairs, I find Violet asleep in Mad’s bed.

His body curled around hers, his hand resting on her bump over the covers.

I leave them in peace and head across the hall to my room.

I’ve not been in here since I left to find Violet.

It’s been tidied up since then. New sheets are on the bed, and there’s not a speck of dust anywhere.

My trophies are all neatly lined up on the shelves where I left them. I used to stare at them each morning, psyching myself up to go to practice. Now I feel nothing when I look at them. Is this what moving on feels like? Have I reached the final stage of my grieving?

Deciding it’s time for them to go for good, I grab some trash bags and boxes from the garage and start clearing up.

I don’t realize I’ve lost track of time until I hear Violet’s concerned voice behind me. “What are you doing?”

“Sorting my shit out. I don’t need this anymore.” I smile at her, gesturing to the boxes. She doesn’t say anything, just gives me a worried look.

Letting out a lighthearted laugh, I take hold of her hands and sit her on the edge of my bed. “I’m not having a breakdown. This feels really good. I’m past it all now, so there’s no point holding onto any of it. I actually need to talk to you both. I have a confession to make?—”

“It can’t be that bad if you’re smiling,” Mad says, leaning against my desk, his blond hair messy from sleep and sticking up at the top.

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.”