LOGINLiv I held onto his shirt tight and I half laughed through the first real contraction that felt like my insides were twisting up. “They always do Kacy. Always pick her. But you know what. Screw them. You are carrying me like some hero from a movie and I am dripping everywhere. At least the universe gave me one good thing today.”He got me buckled in the car and started it up and we drove off while I could hear sirens somewhere far away for Ava happy ending. I kept talking the whole way words just spilling out between the breaths because the pain was getting stronger and I could not keep my mouth shut. “ I hate them I really do but I would never wish Cole gone or anything. That is Ava level crazy and I am not like her. I am just me. The one they always leave behind. Again. But you are here. You are always here.”Kacy squeezed my hand at every red light and he said and I am staying. “Breathe Liv. In and out. We are almost there.”The hospital turned into a blur after we got there. Nurs
LivI stood there in my doorway with my huge belly sticking out like it had a mind of its own and I just stared at the whole mess on my porch. Ava was shoving her way past me yelling about how I stole Cole and how it had to be payback for everything that happened before. Caleb kept yanking her arm back like he was the only one trying to keep things from blowing up completely. Then Mom and Dad pulled up in their car and jumped out looking all worried and ready to jump into the middle of it like they always did when Ava needed them. My twin, my ex and my parents who turned on me the second things got hard were right here now begging for help finding their son. I hated every single one of them deep down in my gut but I swear I would never wish anything bad on them, not even this kind of hurt.You stole him, Ava screamed right in my face with her eyes all red and swollen from all the crying. I know it is you Liv payback for what I did to you admit it right now.I put my hands on my hips
Joyce The lady picked up all professional and bored, “Crimestoppers hotline, what’s your tip?” and I jumped right in cutting her off because who has time for small talk, “Listen up, no names, no questions the baby boy kidnapped from the park earlier, the one everyone’s crying about on the news? He’s sitting in a carrier on the bench in the vacant lot behind the station on Fifth, go get him now before I change my mind and he’s gone forever.” She tried interrupting, all “Ma’am, can you stay on the line and give more details?” but I laughed right over her, rude as hell, “No details, lady, just send a car, and tell the parents it’s a free gift, no ransom needed anymore click.” Hung up before she could say another word, tossed the phone out the window into a dumpster because bye-bye evidence, and then I waited, engine off, slouched low in the seat watching the lot through the rearview like some paranoid ex-girlfriend which, okay, fair.Sirens started up quiet at first, no lights at first
Joyce I couldn’t stop grinning like an idiot even though my hands were shaking so bad I almost dropped the phone twice, because after everything, after rotting in that cell for months thinking about Caleb every single damn day and how Ava stole him from me like she owned the world, I finally had the upper hand and nobody, not even that smug therapist version of me from before, saw this coming. I mean, I escaped that place by hiding in the laundry cart like some bad movie plot but guess what, those guards were too busy arguing about football scores to notice the extra bag rolling out the side gate, and once I was free I didn’t waste a second, I went straight for the park because I’d been watching them for weeks from my burner phone pictures, waiting for the exact moment Ava would turn her back like the careless idiot she is. One second, two seconds, that’s all it took I scooped up little Cole while she was digging in the diaper bag for some stupid toy and I was gone before she
Ava "Sure you will," I said, but I let it drop. We ate in silence, him flipping channels, me stealing glances. It wasn't perfect, but it was something.By eight months, though? Torture. I couldn't sleep, couldn't breathe right, and Caleb's "trying" meant he'd cook eggs sometimes burnt, of course or ask about my day like a script. "How was it?" he'd say, not looking up from his laptop."Boring as hell," I'd snap. "Sat around, watched my feet inflate. Thrilling."He'd chuckle half-heartedly. "Want ice cream?""Always," I'd say, and he'd get it, but it felt like pity.One day, I had a check-up alone because he "had work." Sat in that sterile room, legs dangling, and the doc did the ultrasound. "It's a boy," she said, all cheery. But then her face changed. "But, uh, there are some concerns. Heart rate's off, fluid levels low. He might be sick, and may need NICU time after birth. We'll monitor."I froze. "Sick? Like how sick?""Could be chronic issues, respiratory to go below. We'll see."
Ava I stood in the kitchen, my back killing me from this stupid pregnancy weight, and Caleb just walked in like nothing, tossing his keys on the counter with that thud that always grated on my nerves. It had been weeks since that whole mess with Liv and the poisoning, yeah, the one where I tried to fix things my way and it blew up in everyone's faces. Caleb had been all smiles and warming up before that, like maybe we could fake this marriage into something real, but now? Cold as ice. He'd do the bare minimum to hold my hand at doctor's appointments if someone was watching, pat my belly like it was a dog he didn't really like wbut at home, nada. Zilch. And today, I was done pretending."You're home early," I said, not even turning around, stirring whatever slop I was trying to call dinner because cooking was the only thing keeping me from screaming.He grunted, opened the fridge, grabbed a beer. Pop. Fizz. "Meeting got canceled.""Oh, wow, lucky me," I muttered, "Thought you'd be ou
~Liv~I was still tangled up in Rowan, his arm heavy across my waist, his breathing slow and even against my neck, when my phone buzzed on the nightstand. Once. Twice. Three times. Like it couldn't decide if it wanted to ruin everything or just annoy me to death.I reached for it blind, squinting a
~Liv~I stood there in the kitchen way too long after Rowan walked out, staring at the phone like it was a bomb. Mom's texts kept lighting up the screen, Ava's voicemail icon glaring at me, everything piling on until my chest felt like it was caving in. I couldn't breathe right. Couldn't think. Jus
~Liv~His mouth was on mine again and this time it wasn’t angry, it was just hungry, like he’d been starving for months and finally decided to stop pretending he wasn’t. My back hit the counter hard enough that I grunted into the kiss, but I didn’t care, I just grabbed fistfuls of his shirt and yan
~Rowan~I couldn’t fucking sleep. The one night I actually needed my brain to shut up, it decided to throw a goddamn party. Every time I closed my eyes I saw her hand coming at my face, heard the slap echo, felt the sting all over again. And yeah, part of me kept thinking I had it coming, but the







