Page 104 of Full Out Fiend

Maybe we’re both right. I’ve fucked up enough to know exactly what not to do this time around. I’ve accepted what I’ve done and who I once was—but I’ve also accepted that my life is better than it’s ever been, right here in this moment.

It’s an overwhelming sensation—to be so needed and so loved by not one but two people. But I’m up for the challenge, and there’s no doubt I can handle this beautiful gift I’ve been given.

I’ll make the most of each day. I’ll be the best for them because they deserve the best. And when I inevitably fuck up, I won’t let it pull me down or deter me for long. I’ll learn from my mistakes and move on. It’s who I am. It’s what I do. I only know how to play full out.

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My sister-in-law groans for several seconds, arms flung overhead, enormous belly bumping against the table. “I’m stuffed,” she declares when the full-body yawn that’s taken hold of her wanes.

“Oh yeah?” I can’t help but leer.

Maddie gives me a pointed look, but it’s my brother who speaks first.

“Are you really going to make a sex joke about my pregnant wife at the Thanksgiving dinner table while your kids play in the other room?”

Fair point.

“Every party has a pooper,” I snipe, rising up to clear the table. “You used to be more fun, Little Wheeler.”

Dempsey groans under his breath in apparent warning.

“I used to not be huge! Or swollen!” she counters, pulling herself up and revealing the girth of her growing stomach. Is it possible it’s grown even more since dinner started?

“Hey, don’t get sassy with me. It’s not likeIdid that to you,” I counter, jutting my chin toward her baby bump.

Heat flares in her eyes, and my brother mutters to himself.

“You may have not impregnated me, butyourstupid twin genes made methisbig andthismiserable!”

She’s not wrong.

Thankfully, I’m saved from the wrath of pregnant Maddie by my second oldest charging into the room.

“Come on, Uncle Dumpy. You promised!” Wesley whines, reaching for my brother’s hand and trying to pull him into the living room.