Page 53 of Stolen Love

Her eyes dim when she realizes he isn’t with us, but then they land on me. “I know you, don’t I?”

“We’ve met a few times.” I take a seat on the bench and gesture for her to sit. “I lived here for a while.”

“Oh.” She smiles and her eyes crinkle in the corner. “It’s lovely, isn’t it?”

“I liked it.” I nod.

“My boys make sure I’m well looked after.” She squeezes her fingers in her lap as she smiles at one then the other.

“You seem to be in good spirits.” Rogue’s shoulders lift with one less worry.

“New meds,” she says with a soft smile.

Rebel clears his throat. “Mom, who is Ruin?”

“Ruin?” Her voice turns wary. “How do you know that name?”

“You called me that a lot growing up.” Rogue sits on the other side of her. “I thought it was because of the illness. Because you thought I was a demon. But that’s not the truth, is it?”

“Do we have another brother?” Rebel scowls down at her. “And if so why the fuck don’t we know about him?”

She crumples inward, her chin dropping to her chest. For a very long time she says nothing.

Rebel shifts from foot to foot, his gaze burning into the top of her head. Rogue taps his thumb against his knee at an agitated tempo. Eventually he clears his throat. “Mom.”

“You have another brother,” she says quietly as she lifts her head. Her eyes are full of regret. She shakes her head. “You’re not twins. You’re identical plus one. Ruin is your fraternal triplet.”

Holy shit! It’s true then… Meeting West and seeing him with my own two eyes… seeing the resemblance… I could almost convince myself it was in my head, but having it confirmed… that he’s their triplet brother… holy shit.

"What the fuck, Mom?” Rebel explodes into action, tossing his hands up and walking away.

“How is this possible?” Rogue asks. “How did we not know about this?”

Rebel stalks back. A muscle tics in his cheek. “How the hell could you keep this from us?”

“You have to understand…” Momma Maddox’s eyes entreat him. She places her hand on Rogue’s, like she needs his strength. He covers it with his other while he waits for her to go on. “I never wanted to give Ruin up. I was so young when I met your dad. In college. He was a couple years older, and so good looking. He bought me expensive things and took me to fancy parties and on luxury trips. He was charming and funny and intelligent. He had this confidence. People flocked to him. I fell so hard. I didn’t know what he was capable of. Ruin’s father… your father… he came from a dangerous family. It was only months into our relationship when I discovered that I was pregnant. When I told him, he told me to get rid of you.”

“Fuck, Mom. Was he married?” Rebel asks.

Her mouth slants down even more. “You really think that little of me?”

“I don’t know what to think,” Rebel mutters. “All our life the one constant has been your unreliability.”

She flinches. “I know I’m not the mother I should have been. The mother you deserved. But I tried.”

“You were barely with us,” he snaps. “You knew about your illness. You could have handled it better.”

“It’s not always that easy.” She starts to extend a hand and then lowers it to her lap. “I’m sorry I was a shitty mother. That was never what I wanted. The new meds are helping. I’m doing better now.”

“Can we get back to what’s important right now?” Rogue asks. “You couldn’t terminate us. But you didn’t want to keep all three of us either?”

She shakes her head. Her eyes fill with pain. Her chin trembles. “At first I didn’t know. I thought I was pregnant with one baby.”

“But then you found out there were three of us?” Rogue asks.

“Yes.”

“And it was too much?” Rogue looks crestfallen while Rebel shakes his head and stares into the distance.

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