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D read fills my stomach as I pull onto my street. My bike vibrates underneath me, offering me just a little bit of comfort. When I see her car parked in the driveway, my gut clenches. Pulling in next to her car, I stare up at the house in front of me. The white house with black shutters stands out in the all-beige landscape and neighborhood, but I love it. It looks like the home of a typical middle-class family, only we’re far from it.

Reaching forward, I shut off my bike and brace myself for what’s to come. After a long day of tattooing, all I want is to spend some time with my girls before they go to bed. It’s after they go to bed that the problems start.

The curtain moves, and I see her.

With lead-filled legs, I get off my bike and head inside.

“Daddy!” Selena and Sienna yell in unison.

“Girls!” I crouch down just in time for them to launch themselves at me. The girls hit me so hard that they knock me onto my ass, making the three of us laugh. “I missed you so much today,” I murmur as I kiss their temples.

“We missed you too,” Selena says.

“Did you have a good day today?”

“We went to the park and then got ice cream,” Sienna says as she pulls back.

I brush her dark hair away from her face. “That sounds like fun. What flavor did you get?”

“Bubble gum,” they say in unison, making me laugh.

I always thought the shit about twins being on the same wavelength was made up. There was no way they would say the same thing all the time without prompting. These two proved to me that I was wrong as soon as they started talking.

Someone clears their throat, and I look up when both girls tense slightly. Miranda stands before us with her arms crossed and a frown on her face. A look I’ve gotten used to seeing aimed my way more and more over the years.

“Girls, why don’t you go play in your room? I need to talk to Daddy,” their mother says.

“But…” Sienna protests.

“This is our time with Daddy,” Selena finishes.

“Girls…” Miranda warns.

“Hey, how about you two go to your room and play? I’ll be in there soon, okay? Daddy just has to talk to Mommy for a minute, okay?”

“Fine,” both girls mumble.

I pull them forward and kiss their foreheads before letting them go. I watch the girls march down the hall, hand in hand. Fuck me, I love them more than I love myself. They have me wrapped around their fingers, and they know it.

Once they are out of sight, I look back at Miranda and stand. “What’s up?”

“What’s up?” She scoffs. “You’re late.”

“No, I’m not. You knew I would be late tonight. I had it on the schedule,” I say calmly even though I feel anything but.

“We need to talk.”

“What’s wrong today, Miranda?”

Her eyes narrow. “You make it sound like I always complain.”

Because you do.

I keep that thought to myself and head into the kitchen. I hear her follow when I open up the fridge and grab a beer. Popping the cap off, I lean against the counter and wait her out.

“I’m leaving.”

I pause with the bottle halfway to my mouth, sure that I heard her wrong.

“Excuse me?” I say as I lower the bottle to the counter.

“You heard me.”

“And where do you think you’re going?”

“Don’t worry about it,” she says as she shifts from one foot to the other.

“Why?”

“You know why.”

“Is this about the old lady thing?”

Miranda scoffs. “The old lady thing? Of course it is!”

“Miranda…”

“No, Michael. I’ve waited for you to claim me in front of your club for three years, and you haven’t. I’m sick of waiting. Do you know how embarrassing it is to live with a man, to have his children but not be able to wear his name on my back or his ring on my finger?”

I rub my hands over my face as exhaustion kicks in.

Fuck me.

This is such a worn-out subject between us. A topic that brings a fight at least once a month.

Is it jacked up that I haven’t claimed her after all this time? Probably, but things have never been like that between us. Miranda and I were kids when she got pregnant unexpectedly. I stepped up and worked my ass off to provide for her and the girls. For a while, I tried to make the relationship work until I realized I would never be what she wanted.

I’ll be damned if I claim her as my old lady and let her on the back of my bike when I don’t love her. It’s the one thing that I won’t cave on. No matter how many threats she throws my way.

“I’m sorry you feel that way, but you know where I stand.”

“I know, which is why I’m taking the girls with me and we’re leaving.”

“You aren’t taking my girls anywhere. This is their home,” I grind out between gritted teeth.

“Yeah, well, they have a new one now.” She says it flippantly, as if ruining our little girls’ home is nothing to her.

“Miranda, we both know that’s not going to happen.”

“But it is, Michael. Take a look around, all my shit is packed, and some of the girls’.”

Looking around the room, I see that she’s right. The girls’ favorite blanket that they like to curl up under on the couch is gone. Some of their toys that take up the corner of the living room are absent.

Shit. This isn’t an idle threat.

“The girls and I are moving across town with my boyfriend.”

“Your what?” I say as blood rushes through my ears and disbelief fills my veins.

“My boyfriend Scott. He has a place, and we are going to stay with him for a while.”

“You have a boyfriend when you’ve been in my bed every night?”

Miranda rolls her eyes. “Don’t act like you’re jealous now. We both know you haven’t touched me in six months.”

I know it should sting that she has a boyfriend when she lives with me. It should be a blow to my ego that she’s been cheating on me, but I feel numb to it. Things haven’t been working between us for a long time. I refuse to let her take my girls, though.

“Okay, Miranda. You want to get Elenore over here to watch the girls while we go to the club for me to claim you? I’ll call her right now, because no way in hell are you taking my daughters and moving in with some stranger that I don’t fucking know. Ain’t no way.”

Anger crosses her face. “A little too late for that, Michael. I’ve made up my mind. The girls and I are gone. We can co-parent, but that’s it. This is over.”

“Leave the girls here, Miranda,” I say with a hint of pleading.

“No, they are mine. Besides, they like Scott.”

I hang my head between my shoulders. Of fucking course she introduced my girls to him. I don’t know why I expected anything less.

“I won’t let you leave with them.”

She gives me a smirk. “That’s fine. I can call the cops. Tell them all about your little club and what you do. I’m afraid for my life. My children need a stable home. You think I didn’t plan for this? You will let me walk out that door with them if you ever want to see them again. I’m trying to be amicable, Michael.”

The blood drains from my face. Miranda doesn’t know much, but she knows enough to ruin any chances of getting the girls into my custody. Judges in this county are notorious for siding with the mother. It’s not like I can pay them off. Would I even want to? I can’t keep the girls from their mother. They need her as much as they need me.

“Girls!” Miranda yells.

I hear the stomping of little feet come flying down the hall.

“Yes, Mommy?” Sienna asks.

“Tell Daddy bye-bye. We need to head to our new house.”

“But I don’t want to leave.” Selena’s bottom lip wobbles.

“Yeah, we wanna stay with Daddy,” Sienna adds.

“Girls, enough. Let’s go,” Miranda demands.

“Miranda…”

She turns her glare toward me. “No. I’m not budging on this, Michael.”

The girls start crying as they clutch each other.

“Come here, girls,” I say as I fall onto my knees.

As the girls step into my arms and bury their faces into my neck, I squeeze my eyes shut as their tears soak the collar of my shirt. “Miranda, leave them with me, please,” I beg.

“Not happening, Michael. Now let’s go. It’s getting late.” Miranda steps forward and grabs both of the girls by the arms.

I feel as if I’m dying as I watch my ex drag the two girls who hold my heart in their hands out of my house while they scream for me. When the door clicks shut behind them, I hang my head and cry.