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Emmanuel watched his son transform from the confident young man before him to a lost little boy. He would pull him to the side and talk to him. Oliver could have handled the situation more respectfully, but he was looking out for Ivy. It was a point on which his son and he could agree.

“Crap. It would have been nice to have another uncle. Another Uncle Frank would be wicked.” Sage seemed excited by the idea.

“The coolness of your Uncle Frank can never be matched. Girl, you know better.” Frank boasted.

Sage laughed at Frank’s antics. “Of course not, Uncle Frank. What about the baby? Can we keep him?”

“What?” More than one person asked.

“Well, obviously, we don’t want Evil Unc to be part of our lives. After we teach him a lesson, he probably wouldn’t want to be a part of our lives anyway. But we have a little cousin. Do we get to meet him?”

It was a challenging question to answer. First off, that was his girl! Sage understood Leonardo’s stunt wouldn’t go unanswered. Second, he didn’t know if he could ever think of the Journee’s woman child as his nephew. How would incorporating the boy into their lives even work?

Your dad is persona non grata. Oh, and I ruined his life, but you wanna play catch champ?This was not something he could see working out.

“Sage, I think we will need time to figure it out. This is all so new,” Ivy answered.

“This shindig is lacking in hospitality Ivs. Are we going to get some refreshments or what?” Frank asked.

“Let me see what I can arrange,” Ivy answered as she stood.

“Don’t forget to get the crow pie for Kimberlin. She looks hungry.” Frank added.

Emmanuel bit back the laugh, attempting to escape him. Kimberlin had been a part of their lives for a long time, but her brand of ‘friendship’ contributed to making a difficult situation even harder. The fucking STI test still stung.

Emmanuel recalled a conversation he had with Kimberlin. The two had run into each other while he was getting a coffee after moving out of the house.

“I just think you owe Ivy the truth. Be honest with her and let her decide if she wants to give you her forgiveness.” Her tone dripped with veiled contempt.

“I’ve been honest with Ivy. There are no secrets between us.”

What he had really wanted to tell her was to fuck off.

“The test says otherwise, and she is hurting.”

Emmanuel was infuriated by the interaction. When he and Frank had spoken about it, his exact words were,“Kimberlin means well, but the crow is going to taste the same either way. Just remember what she means to Ivs.”

“Frank!” Ivy admonished.

While Kimberlin flipped him the bird, “Bite me, Franciscus.”

Benjamin occupied his mother’s vacant spot. “Hey, Dad. Are you okay?”

“Right as rain.” His feelings about his world being turned upside down didn’t need to be shared with his son.

“I’m sorry. This all seems so surreal. I doubted… I didn’t want to believe it.”

He cupped his son’s neck. “I know. You did nothing wrong.”

Benjamin shook his head. “I could have done?—”

“I know. It’s forgotten. Thank you for looking after your mom and sister. For being here.”

Benjamin looked up and saw his brother staring intently at them.

“I’m going to see if Mom needs help.”

He nodded at his brother then. It was all the encouragement Oliver needed. Unlike his brother, he didn’t sit beside his father. Oliver kneeled in front of where his father sat.

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