Sawyer Lunch was great, but now it was time to run over last night’s finances and make sure all the staff was coming in tonight. I was just finishing up the calls when in bounds one of the greatest loves of my entire life. I didn’t think I would ever love anyone this much. In runs a tow-headed little girl with curls falling all around her little round face. She runs straight for me, jumping into my arms. “Hey, cherub! Did you have fun at Gram and Grumps’ last night?” I squeeze the five-year-old tight in my arms. I missed her this morning. “Yes! I ate lots of ice cream!” She squeals excitedly. “Telling on old Grams again huh, Katie Pop.” In walks Jensen and Carmen’s mom. They are the perfect grandparents to my kids and have helped me out so much, even though neither of us is related to them. Katie shakes her head. “I love you, Grams!” Her speech is clear since we have talked to her as though she was an adult, never once baby-ta

Sawyer It’s after midnight by the time we head to bed, which is nothing new, considering I own a bar and sometimes get calls before closing. Luckily, it was smooth tonight with Jeremy and Cruise, both making sure it all ran smoothly. I have Jeremy in charge of security and Cruise is my manager who occasionally works at the bar if we are short-staffed or become swamped. For the first time in the past five years, memories of what happened to me when I was fifteen are coming back. My trauma came back to haunt me, even though I have dealt with it. These memories shouldn’t be resurfacing now that I’m thriving. Maybe the boys being back is making them come to the forefront. I wake up an hour before dawn screaming again, covered in sweat from my nightmare. There is no way I’m going back to sleep, so I check on the children to make sure I didn’t wake them. Just as I’m closing Darius’s bedroom, there is a loud knock on my door. I throw the doo

Jensen After dinner, the guys and I head to Storm’s apartment to drink. All of us are still in awe of the fact Sawyer is a mother. Our girl is a mom. “Why didn’t she say anything about the kids when we talked?” Carter asks. “Knowing Sawyer, it’s because she wanted to protect her children. If we’re never going to be around her, why would we need to know?” Storm points out. My parents could have told me about them, but they didn’t either. Then again, it wasn’t their business to inform me. “Sawyer having children changes nothing.” JT is correct. We will willingly still protect those children, same as the rest of our loved ones. “We could have been helping Sawyer raise them. They could have been our kids if we would have stuck around,” I say, still going over the what-ifs of never getting caught and staying in town. “Still can be, but it’s up to Sawyer if she wants us in her life again,” Storm says

Sawyer I got Katie back to sleep. When Dillian left around midnight after the two of us ate a half gallon of ice cream and, along with a full bottle of Irish cream liquor, the door closing woke her up. It took me another half hour of reading Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet to get Katie back to sleep. She demanded I read that story since she enjoyed playing with ‘Romie’ so much two days ago. Darius came in while I was reading to Katie. He climbed into the bed opposite his sister’s and was back asleep within five minutes. Tee arrives at my doorstep ten minutes after Katie falls asleep. He texted me his arrival instead of knocking, thankfully. “I’m so glad you texted instead of knocking. I just got the kids to sleep ten minutes ago.” “I know how it is,” he reminds me of the child his family is raising. Ali’s sister-in-love and her two husbands were murdered in front of their little boy, who is now a teena

Sawyer “Mo cherub!” My Uncle Jax shouts, running to me. He lifts me and spins me around while I laugh happily. Jaxson has always been the most fun-loving of my uncles. He sets me down, making me giggle when he rubs his freckled nose against mine. Fairy kisses, he calls them. From the very first time he met me, he has greeted me this way. He makes me feel like a little girl again. “That’s enough of dat, you,” Uncle Tee scolds him with his arms crossed over his chest. Jax looks at him with a knowing smirk, sauntering toward my uncle. “What’s the matter, mo pheata? Are you mad I didn’t come to kiss you first?” Tee scoffs at him, but when Jax puts his arms around his neck, Tee’s face softens, and he holds his husband close. “Did you miss me, ma doudou?” I snicker at the sound of Tee’s pet name for Jax. ‘Pheata’ translates to pet and ‘Doudou’ loosely translates to pookie or security item like a blanket. Jax’