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“No, Mummy!” He rushes to me, pushing me out of the kitchen. “You’re ruining the surprise. Go wait outside!”

“Is this the way to greet your mother in the morning?” I complain in a fake scold but still comply with his demands.

“Look.” He stops for drama, placing his tiny palms on his hips, cocking it to the side while raising his eyebrow.What the hell?How did this kid turn so sassy? “This a surprise. Uncle Jake told me you need to behave and wait in the living room until we call you!”

Look at that attitude! This boy will give me a lot of headaches when he grows up, thatI’m sure.Hopefully, he’ll keep this kind and affectionate side and spare me a few troubles.

Chuckling, I concede. “Alright, boss.”

With a triumphant smile on his face, he goes back inside, and I plop my butt down on the couch, watching some random TV channel, waiting for this surprise.

“Come on! Come on,” he yells, dragging me after him, back to the kitchen.

Inside, Nana’s already sitting down, next to Jake with a breakfast banquet on the table. On one side, there’s scrambled eggs, bacon, cheese, ham, and some oats. The other side has a plate with toast alongside some pancakes, butter, jams, and Nutella. And in the middle there is a variety of beverages like milk, tea, and freshly made orange juice.

My throat clogs up at the tender eyes trained on me; the love I feel for these three people is immense and I am beyond grateful.

“Thank you so much, to all of you.” It’s only loud enough for them to hear and smile at me.

“You deserve this and so much more, Lo,” Jake comments, a white spot of flour on his cheek, drawing my attention. “We just wanted to remind you how loved you are.”

“Now, get over here,” Nana orders, a playful tone in her voice.

That’s permission enough for Jake to go back to his silly self, immersing himself in intense bickering with his nephew. Nana asks me about school, purposefully avoiding last night’s subject. I try to engage as much as possible, and the two silly males in the kitchen manage to force out a few laughs, but deep down, my mind is still stuck thinking about something. Specifically, someone.

He was raging. How will I even be capable of diffusing such anger?

“Sis,” Jake breaks me out of my reverie. “Nana and I planned to take Dylan to the park today.”

“Sure. Let me just grab my bag.”

As soon as my foot touches the first step, the bell door rings. Chills cover my body as I turn around and look at Jake questioningly.

“Well,” he quips, rubbing the back of his head. A rare sight for Jacob Hanlon, since he rarely gets embarrassed. “Liam told me he’d be here early today to talk to you. And Nana told me it was a good idea to let you guys talk properly without…distractions.”

“Please, tell me you didn’t give him our address,” I beg.

“Nana did,” he confesses.

“Couldn’t you have given me just one more day off?” I whine just before the bell rings again. “I had already made up my mind about solving this the best I could.”

“Then we just created the opportunity,” Nana quips, heading towards the door.

“I’m ready!” Dylan calls from the staircase. “Mum? Why aren’t you ready?”

“Mummy’s tired,” Jake answers before I can. “Give her a kiss, and let’s meet Nana up front.”

I follow them to the front door, coming directly face to face with a stoic Liam. He is focused on Dylan the entire time while my son initially ignores him. It’s only when they step outside that he sticks his tongue out at him. If the urge to cry wasn’t so strong, I’d be laughing at his vigorous personality at such a young age.

The silence and thick tension stretch for the entire time it takes for Jake to pull him to his car. Only when they drive off, does Liam look at me. His lips are whiteish and thinned from being pressed together, and his light brown eyebrows are twisted in a deep frown. All the while, his cobalt irises are piercing right through my soul. It’s exactly the expression I expected.

Taking a deep breath, I open the door wider, letting him come in. He follows, quietly shutting the door after him. The clicking sounds of the door, the wood creaks from our steps, and our breathing are the only audible sounds, seemingly louder than usual.

I stop by the couch, motioning for him to sit down. We’ll both need to be sitting down for this. Surprisingly, he does, not even uttering a word. The both of us, sitting down at opposite ends of the couch, keep silent.

A strong contrast from the raging emotions from last night, today, we’re both contained. Under control. Let’s just hope we can keep it that way.

“Let’s—”

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