تسجيل الدخولMaya’s POV I am so fucking excited.Yeah, I said it exactly like that.Last night, I already dropped Gabby off at my mom’s house, and of course my brother was there… along with his stuck-up-ass wife. He was going on and on about work, talking about how he had to write up more than half the staff because they kept coming in late, and the supervisor didn’t give a damn. Didn’t even act like he wanted the position.Honestly, I see why Keisha brought my brother in. It makes sense.But then, like always, Alexis had something to say.She rolled her eyes at me and said, “You don’t never keep your children.”I turned to her real slow.“First of all, I don’t have children. I have a child. And you really shouldn’t be speaking, because you don’t keep yours either. When you were in Arizona, your sister had them. Now you’re in Chicago, and my mama got them. So as a stay at-home wife, shouldn’t you be taking care of your own kids?”Yeah… that went left real fast.We started arguing out loud, and we
Shane’s POVEverything had been going good.No, better than good.It actually felt like a real family vacation for once. Isla was there with us, going to the parks, eating breakfast and dinner with us, laughing with the kids… acting like a mom.That alone had me thrown off.Even my cousin Stephanie pulled me to the side at one point like, what the hell is going on? Because Isla had never been like that before.Everything was smooth.All the way up until Tuesday night.I was bringing my bags downstairs, getting everything together for the morning. Isla was still over at my cousin’s house, and I was talking to Stephanie’s husband when he asked,“So you’ll be ready to go in the morning? What’s the plan?”“I’m gonna return the van,” I told him. “Then catch a shuttle to the airport.”That’s when Isla’s voice cut in.“What are you doing?”I turned, confused. “What do you mean?”“What do you mean you’re leaving?”“I’m leaving,” I said plainly.Her face twisted. “So you’re just gonna leave ou
Keisha’s POV I take a deep sigh because, yeah… I just got that call, from Kole, and yeah, I have to take off on Thursday. I go ahead and alert the team that I won’t be in, keeping it simple because this situation? It’s already messy enough. I lean back in my chair, shaking my head slowly. Now how in the hell do you go to another state… and the previous state’s system doesn’t flag that you already filed for child support, didn’t produce a child, and got everything thrown out? It doesn’t make sense. One thing I can say about Wisconsin, though is they don’t just slap child support on somebody without proof. They actually require a DNA test and all that. So maybe she didn’t think that part through. Or maybe she did… and just doesn’t care. Either way, we’ll be there with all our documentation, and hopefully this gets tossed out just as fast as the last one. Still… I don’t know why she’s wasting her time. Kole said he was gonna do something drastic. I don’t know what that means ye
Kole’s POVMonday rolled around fast as hell.I made sure to get my baby girl up and ready, holding her against my chest while she played with my tie like it was the most fascinating thing in the world. I glanced over at Keisha, and something about her felt… off.I cocked an eyebrow. “You okay, Keisha?”She sighed, dragging a hand down her face. “I’m dreading going into this office. Hopefully I don’t have another quote, unquote gag gift sitting on my desk.” She paused, then added, “Plus… I haven’t been feeling well lately.”That had my full attention.I looked at her more seriously now. “Do we need to take a trip to the doctor? You turning into Sienna or something?”She burst out laughing. “I’m on birth control.”I raised an eyebrow higher. “You know Sienna got pregnant on birth control twice.”She shot me a look. “Don’t put that shit on me. I am not pregnant. It’s just… Chicago winter weather always changing, allergies, and whatever.”I smirked. “It’s not winter. It’s spring.”She la
Shane’s POV Day one really wasn’t bad.We got here, and met up with my cousins, got settled in… and I made sure everything was smooth from the beginning. I rented a van, because we weren't about to be cramped up. Not just a regular van either… damn near a mini bus. Eighteen seats. Everybody had space, nobody complaining.The kids?Man, they were ecstatic the second we walked in to my cousin's new home.Rooms were shown very quick, bags dropped, and just like that, they disappeared with their cousins like I didn’t even exist. I just stood there for a second, watching them… smiling. That’s all I wanted. For them to be happy.Of course, not even five minutes later, here come the questions.Stephanie pulled me to the side first.“Why are you still with your wife? Why is that woman coming here?”Straight to it. No filter.Same old, same old.Then Mark comes behind her, looking me up and down from earlier like he analyzing a case file.“Isla's really coming here? I thought she didn't want
Isla’s POV Isla’s Saturday had been, for lack of a better word, irritatingly uneventful.Her family had already left ahead of her, leaving her to book a very last minute flight and figure everything out on her own. So instead of traveling together like a normal family, she found herself standing outside, waiting on an Uber and double checking the time, making sure she wouldn’t miss her flight out of Midway.And yes, Midway. Not O’Hare.Of course.By the time she got there, everything felt rushed and overpriced. She checked in at the counter, handed over her bag, and then paused when they told her the total.Her brows furrowed.“When in the hell did Southwest start charging for checked bags?”She sighed, already annoyed. She hadn’t flown Southwest in years, and clearly, things had changed. Still, she paid the fee, because what choice did she have?Once she boarded, it didn’t get much better. Her seat was all the way in the back, her least favorite place to sit. She felt every bump, ev
Crandon’s POV I wake up Sunday with this gorgeous woman wrapped around me, and I have to pause for a second to figure out how we even got like this.When we went to sleep, we were on our own sides with her hand on my chest.Now she’s snuggled into me, head and hand on my chest, her thigh thrown ac
Crandon POV After our date at Buckingham Fountain Saturday night, we walked past people selling neon necklaces and light-up gadgets. Tempest’s eyes lit up like she was a kid at a carnival, so I bought her a spinning fan that glowed in different colors and a neon necklace she put on immediately. I
Maya’s POV, After hanging up the phone with Shane, I shake my head. As a parent, just like Shane, just like Isla, I know exactly how this looks. Chasing someone who doesn’t want you anymore, using whatever tactics you can just to get them to interact with you. I’ve been there.When I first had my
Shane’s POVI finish the burgers first, making sure the cheese melts just right over the patties, then I drop the fries into the deep fryer. They don’t take long. Once they float, I shake them off, hit them with seasoning salt, not regular salt, seasoning salt, because that makes all the difference







