Mag-log inSienna’s POVMonday morning. Just a few days before Derrick’s release from jail.I sat on the edge of the bed, staring at nothing and everything all at once, wondering how much more we were supposed to endure in this lifetime. Alex said Derrick would be on electronic monitoring for the next year, but that didn’t calm me. I knew people who could disable those ankle monitors in a heartbeat and never get caught. And Derrick… he was slick. A slippery, perverted bastard who always found a way to slide out of his bad choices and consequences.I sighed again, long and tired.The morning alarm went off, slicing through the quiet.Knox’s hand slid across my lower back as I reached over and stopped the alarm.“How long have you been up, love?” he mumbled, voice thick with sleep.“A while,” I whispered. “Hell, I don’t even know anymore.”He shifted behind me, pulling me back down. “Baby, lay down with me. You’re thinking too hard. And I’m worried about you and the baby.”I let him pull me again
Knox’s POV As I look at my brother who is angry beyond belief, pacing like he’s ready to flip the whole damn house over and I sigh.“Bro,” I say quietly, “let’s go talk.”“Talk about what?” he snaps.Before I respond, my dad steps in. “Come on, son. Let’s just go talk.”Martin gestures toward the hallway. “Use the room on the first floor, the one in the back.”We head there, and the moment we walk inside, I can’t help but scoff. It looks like a second baby room with a crib, soft lighting, toys tucked neatly into little baskets.“If it was up to my sister,” I mutter, “she’d have two rooms for each baby.”Dad shakes his head, but it’s true. Kira’s ridiculous like that. With five bedrooms upstairs, one nursery down here, girl’s building a baby kingdom I guarantee in at least two more rooms.We all take a seat, and I look at Kole.“Alright,” I say. “Explain everything.”Kole throws his hands up. “Man, I just got a message saying I’m a father. She wants me to come see the baby, and she’s
Sienna’s POVAt least they’re not calling the baby ugly outright. You never do that. Babies change every other day. One morning they look like a potato, the next morning they look like a tiny angel. So I just sigh and say, “He’ll be fine, he’s okay, and he’s a good, fine baby.”Grandma Mabel nods. “That he is. He is a fine baby. But look at this little cutie.”She lifts the baby girl slightly. “You wanna hold her?”“No, let her sleep. I’ll hold her later.”Kira comes out right then with her son latched on her boob and a receiving blanket draped over both of them.“Hey, girl, I didn’t even know you were here.”“Yes, Kira, mama,” I say, laughing. “You’re working it.”“Shit,” she groans, dropping down into the rocking chair, “I ain’t working nothing but these breasts. I’m just a human feeding machine.”I laugh. “Well, look at me. I don’t have too much longer to go. I’ll be in the same damn boat.”As she’s rocking, Knox’s mom walks out of the kitchen with Kole and Keisha behind her.“Oh!
Sienna’s POV I finish getting dressed, even though I feel like I’m fighting my closet every damn day now. It’s Saturday, and today we're finally going to visit Kira’s twins face-to-face. Knox has been giving her son the funniest frowny face every time I even mention him.I think both babies are adorable.Knox… disagrees.He keeps saying, “That little boy looks funny,” like he’s trying to figure out how to say something nice without insulting him. I tell him he’s just a baby, he’ll grow into his looks.Knox goes, “Not with that nose. Do you see that nose?”I swear he said it with his whole chest too.I just laughed, because he looked dead serious.“His nose is perfect and cute,” I argue.Knox sucks his teeth. “On a grown man, maybe, but not on a newborn.”I shake my head and keep getting dressed. My belly is really protruding now, and I don’t even know what to wear anymore. My cute cinched-waist outfits are done. My high-waisted pants? Retired.So I put on maternity jeans and a long-s
Crandon’s POV Two Days LaterWhen I show up at my therapist’s office with my homework assignment actually done, I can’t help but smirk to myself. I really sat down and wrote that three page paper. When my name is called, I walk into Dr. Chandler’s office. He stands, shakes my hand, and I take my usual spot on the couch while he settles back into his chair with his notepad.He looks at me and asks, “So, Mr. Morgan… do you have your homework assignment?”I smile.“I do.”“Good. Before you tell me what you wrote, how did you feel while writing it?”I let out a long sigh and look down at the folded pages in my hand.“It felt like… like I was in a house fire stuck behind a wall of smoke. Behind some kind of smoke screen. And the more I wrote, the more the smoke started to clear. I started seeing the way I was treating Carmen. Like everything just got clearer. If that makes sense.”Chandler nods slowly. “It does. Go on. Tell me what you wrote.”I sigh again and pull the papers out. “Do I h
Crandon’s POVThe woes of suspension are plaging my life. I sit in front of the therapist my company and definitely my father forced me to see. Do I think I need to be here?No.The fuck.I don’t.I know exactly what’s going on with me.Chandler, the therapist, taps his pen against the notepad like he’s waiting for me to break into a confession. I just sit there, twiddling my thumbs. Sixth session with him. And if I don’t show up, I can’t go back to work. So here I am, wasting oxygen.He sighs.“So, Mr. Crandon… Mr. Morgan.”I stare at him. “You gon’ say all my names?”He chuckles and shakes his head. “I’m not forcing you to be here. This is our sixth session, and you still haven’t told me anything. The reason you’re here is because of what? You had a little breakdown at work, your job made you come. So tell me why you think you’re sitting in that chair.”I sigh. “I’m here because I’m forced to be here. Next question.”He nods, like he expected that. “Okay. Since you’re forced to be
Sienna’s POV “Okay, Mom, I’m very sorry I didn’t tell you right away about the engagement.”I sighed, rubbing the back of my neck as she went quiet on the other end of the phone. “It’s been two weeks since Knox had popped the big question.”FlashbackThe night plays in my head like a movie I’ll ne
Kole’s POV Thursday MorningThe moment I walk into the building, I already know it’s going to be one of those days.The kind where tension hums through the air before I even make it to my office.Everything feels louder and faster, like the whole damn place is on edge. And maybe it’s not just the
Sienna’s POV Friday AfternoonThis week has been long and tiring as hell, and today takes the damn cake.First thing this morning, I walked into my office and found a vase full of beautiful red and pink roses sitting on my desk. For half a second, I smiled, thinking Knox was being his usual though
Knox’s POV“So bro, how big is the new house and where exactly is it again?” Silas asked, eyes flicking up from the endless pile of customer files on the desk.“It’s a decent sized old brownstone, down in Bronzeville off Michigan,” I said, rubbing the back of my neck. “Still needs some work, but it







