Maxi glanced at the pregnancy test and blinked, hoping that when she opened her eyes again, the result would change.

She couldn't be pregnant again. Kyle was barely one, and her life was in chaos. She had no idea what had happened, where the time had gone after she'd brought the baby home. The only indication of the passage of time was how much Kyle was growing. Despite his rocky start, he was now a happy and healthy baby. Unfortunately, he also appeared to be a spitting image of Davyn, his hair jet black and his eyes settling on the same shade of dark blue.

This caused some malevolent glances from Freider. Even if he did his best to hide his displeasure at how his alleged baby had ended up looking, he slipped fairly often. For the first time, her mother-in-law came to her salvation, cooing over how much the baby looked like Freider's father. Once she saw a photograph, Maxi was shocked to see that Grace was right.

Sirius Grant seemed to have given his entire gene pool to his son, Davyn, who passed it on to the baby she was now struggling to pass off as his brother's. But Freider could not claim anything when the baby looked like his grandfather. Davyn was a forbidden subject of conversation in their house.

Even when more news regarding Snitch Gravel's activity were on the TV from time to time, Freider just switched the channel, and they never mentioned it. He was like a silent ghost, floating in their house.

Unbeknownst to Freider, he also joined them in bed every single time. Even if she'd promised to herself that she would stop, she still thought about Davyn every time Freider so much as touched her. Time didn't help. Being with her husband was becoming harder rather than easier. Freider was also very demanding, so it was hard to dodge and make excuses. Exhaustion worked for a while, as did a medical prohibition, which she'd doubled.

Once Kyle started sleeping through the night, she was out of valid reasons. And as a result, she was now apparently knocked up again. She wanted to scream.

She didn't like being a mother. She was alone and confused and scared most of the time. Her calmest months were while Sophie had helped, but as the baby grew, she'd gone back home, only visiting occasionally. The relationship between her and Freider was civil, but Maxi could feel the tension between them.

"Maybe the test is wrong," she whispered to herself. "I can't be that unlucky." They'd been using protection anyway. Why would she be pregnant?

She didn't want to tell Freider. He'd probably get all excited. She wanted to make sure first, so one afternoon, she left the baby with Grace and headed to the hospital. Doctor Reynolds was on call and agreed to see her even without a prior appointment.

"What seems to be the issue?" he asked once she sat down in his exam room.

"I think I might be pregnant again," she said.

"Oh? Are you late? How long?" he asked once she nodded.

"Two and a half months."

The doctor raised his eyebrows. "Did you take a test?"

"Yes, and it was positive."

"Then I think you can be fairly certain that you are pregnant."

"But I shouldn't be. We're using protection," she whispered.

"I see..." He was now frowning as he pulled his echo machine closer. "Are you on birth control?"

"Um, no. We use... Um, condoms."

"I see..." This time, he sounded even more displeased, and she wasn't sure why. "You know, contraceptive methods sometimes fail, especially if your sexual activity is intense."

Heat rose to Maxi's cheeks, and she tucked her hands between her knees. "I just want to confirm."

"We can do that right away. If you'd lie down..."

She eyed the machine, and a sense of dread overwhelmed her. She was reminded of when she'd seen Kyle for the first time and all the misery that accompanied the event. The fear, the uncertainty, all the lies. Kyle's condition when he was born as if something had aimed to kill him before he saw the light of day.

If there was one thing she was sure of, it was that she didn't want to go through that anymore. She still wasn't sure what had happened to Kyle, but she knew she didn't want to subject herself or her future baby to that torture again. To any risk.

"I don't want that machine near me."

The doctor looked confused. "The echo machine?"

"Yes. It could hurt the baby."

Now he looked skeptical. "There is no scientific proof that supports any such claims. These machines are perfectly safe."

"Oh yeah? Then what happened to my first baby?"

The doctor tensed. "I don't know, but it was surely not from the echo. He appeared just fine on your last checkup."

"And he wasn't!" Now she was screaming. "It's my right to refuse this!"

"Then how will we monitor the baby's health as they develop?"

"I don't know. The old-fashioned way. People did just fine before these things were invented."

"Newborn mortality was much higher in those days."

"Just... No!"

They fell silent, staring each other down. Finally, Doctor Reynolds let out a heavy sigh.

"Fine. If you don't want an echo, I'm not going to use one on you. We can draw blood for the test, even if it will take much longer to know."

She straightened and shifted in her seat. "Thank you."

"However, under these circumstances, I cannot act as your physician anymore. I will not supervise a potentially risky pregnancy, given your history, without the means to act if necessary."

His words hit her heart, but she knew there was no going back. Doctor Reynolds was not an idiot and she'd offended him

"I will refer you to another doctor. And older one who is more... traditional. I want you to keep in mind one thing. If your... husband, has been forgoing protection without telling you, that can qualify as abuse, or even rape."

She just nodded and let him draw blood, then, half an hour later, she was in another examination room with a doctor who seemed to be at least a hundred years old. Part of her was convinced Reynolds wanted to punish her for her beliefs.

"What seems to be the issue, dearie?" he asked, his voice croaky.

"I think I may be pregnant."

"Ah, yes, of course. That's why you came to a gynecologist." He let out a wheezy laugh. "I'm doctor Smith. I'm surprised young Reynolds sent you to me. He's very progressive, and I'm just an old fosil." He laughed again.

Fosil was right. "I had a difficult delivery with my first baby, and I don't want any rays or radiation touching me."

The old doctor nodded. "Understandable. Those machines are so unnecessary. Women were made to give birth without all this mumbo jumbo. Anyway, let's see. Lay down."

What followed was a very uncomfortable physical exam ending with Doctor Smith placing a stethoscope on her belly.

"Well, all indicators show that you are pregnant. And also..." He frowned as he shifted the head of the stethoscope from left to right. "I believe you might be having twins."

"What?" She sat up, knocking the doctor aside. "What did you just say?"

"Are there twins in your family?"

"Well, yes. I'm a twin, but--"

"But what? It's very statistically possible."

"How can you even tell?"

The old man drummed a finger to his ear. "Two heartbeats. I have the best ear for this stuff. Even those damn machines are wrong more often than I am."

She couldn't breathe. The only thing worse than having another baby was having two. How was she going to handle herself with three babies? She already felt like fainting.

The doctor took his gloves off and rolled his chair away. "I'll call when the blood work is on, but I think you should go shopping for a double stroller."

Maxi felt numb as she left the hospital and took a cab home. The encounter, everything she'd found out... it felt surreal, as if happening to someone else, not her. All this couldn't be happening to her. She was still a high-schooler in a dorm room with three other girls, painting and playing her piano, hoping to get into Julliard someday.

The feeling didn't disappear as she reached what was supposed to be her home. It was Freider's house. Somewhere she'd sought temporary shelter. But now here she was, married to him, with a baby and Freider's actual babies on the way. Those were actually Freider's children inside her. No longer Davyn's.

The thought was crashing, so she didn't even pay attention as he walked inside the house and almost bumped into Freider. He had Kyle in his arms, and he was crying. Her husband threw her a death glare.

"Where the hell have you been?"

Maxi could do little more than stare at him with empty eyes.

"You know you shouldn't trust my mother with the kid for more than an hour. What were you thinking?"

A very good question. What were they both thinking, playing house when this was the biggest sham in the universe?

"I asked you a question, Maxi. What was so important that you abandoned our child?"

"I was at the hospital," she finally said.

Freider faltered, and even Kyle stopped crying at the sound of her voice. That made her smile, made her feel less useless.

"Why?" he asked.

There was no point in stalling. As much as she hoped it wasn't true, she wasn't an idiot. It would happen, so she'd best get it out of the way.

"I think I'm pregnant again. So, I went in for a checkup."

He froze this time, his eyes wide, and she could see the joy overtaking him. He seemed much happier now than he had when she'd told him about Kyle. But just like that time, the happiness seemed to be tainted by a weird sort of triumph, as if he was keeping some kind of score she didn't know about.

"And?" he asked, bouncing Kyle up and down since he'd started fussing again.

"The doctor thinks we might be having twins."

Laughter erupted from Freider, filled with glee, and for a moment, she felt bad that she resented it. He put Kyle on the couch, letting him crawl to the other end, and rushed to grab her shoulders.

"Is it certain?" he asked.

Maxi just shrugged. "I don't want any more echoes or anything that could affect the baby or babies, but the old doctor who saw me said he's certain." She hated it, but she'd believed doctor Smith.

"That's... That's amazing!" He pulled her into a tight hug. "That's..." He halted and stepped back, watching her through narrowed eyes. "Aren't you happy?"

She knew she should lie. Take this as it was and cry, pretend that they were tears of joy. But Doctor Reynolds' words swam inside her head like angry hornets.

"Why are we having babies, Freider?" she asked, her voice low. "Why, when we are using protection?"

She expected him to falter, mumble a half-witted excuse, even blame the condoms themselves. What she hadn't expected was for his expression to harden.

"You know I want more children. We discussed this."

A shiver of frost ran down her spine as her husband turned frightening. "Yes, we did. But you know that I've found it very hard to handle myself with Kyle and--"

"You're doing fine. The kid's alive, isn't he?"

"That's not--"

"Do you have other reasons why this news doesn't make you happy?"

She wasn't sure if she was imagining it, but he seemed to imply he knew what she was thinking. But he couldn't. He couldn't know that she still yearned for Davyn, that she was disgusted that she was now carrying Freider's children. She'd hidden it so well. Or had she? In her exhausted state, what if she'd slipped? What if Freider realized she'd been avoiding him? What if she'd said Davyn's name in her sleep by mistake?

The thoughts terrified her, and she realized she was one wrong answer away from losing everything she'd sacrificed so much for. This was supposed to be her dream life, and her own stupidity was getting in the way of her plan.

So she forced a smile. "Of course not. I'm just afraid. Two babies will be a whole lot harder than one, and Kyle is still so small."

"He'll be two by the time his brothers are born. Old enough to be of use. You'll see, it will all be fine." Freider hugged her again, though it felt rougher this time around. "We'll get a nanny if you'll feel overwhelmed and everything would be just great."

"You're right. I'm just being silly."

His hold on her tightened, and he kissed her hair. "Yes, you are. But I'm here for you. I'll always be here and we'll have our happy family."

She nodded into his chest, snaking her hands around his waist as tears poured down his cheeks. Behind them, on the couch, Kyle started crying again.

♣️

"Was Freider joking, or are you knocked up again?"

Maxi jumped and almost dropped the frying pan she'd been washing. Ron had made his way into the kitchen, a huge grin on his face. He'd grown at least a foot over the past year, and was now almost as tall as Freider if still gangly at fifteen. Even if she still wasn't sure she liked him, Maxi had grown to appreciate him as an extra pair of hands around the house and someone who could entertain Kyle for half an hour when she needed to take a shower.

What kept her from truly liking her brother-in-law were affirmations like this.

"He's not joking. We are expecting," she said, returning to her task.

Ron headed for the high chair where Kyle was scooping up ruit puree with his hands and ruffled his hair.

"And twins?"

She hated to be reminded of that. "Probably."

"What can I say? Congratulations! Though you're obviously not psyched."

That again. "I'm tired, Ron. Taking care of a baby is hard work."

"Then how are you going to take care of three babies?"

The question still plagued her every waking moment, but she shrugged it out as she usually did. "We'll figure it out. Maybe you'll want to be more around the house and help out with babysitting."

Ron huffed. "Fuck no! I'd rather stay in boarding school, thanks."

"Don't curse in front of the baby!"

"Pffft. He's a man. He's going to curse his mouth off when he's older, right Kyle?"

Maxi gritted her teeth wishing Ron would really get lost back to boarding school, but it was the winter holidays, and he was home at least for a few more days. At least he wouldn't be there for Christmas. She didn't think she could stand a holiday with him there.

"You should chillax. I'll be out of your pretty hair soon enough."

Maxi didn't even bother to deny that it wouldn't make her life easier. Every time he came home, she was terrified that he'd start using drugs again and she'd find him dead in his room. He seemed fairly sober while he was there, but she had no idea what he was up to at boarding school or where he even went for the holidays.

"Don't worry, Kyle," Ron said. "Your mom will lose the stick up her ass by the time you become a teenager and maybe then she'll be fun."

"Just get lost and leave me alone!" She turned, her fists clenched. "And stop talking to him like that. He's a baby!"

Ron narrowed his eyes at her. "He won't always be a baby, and you know it. It scares you doesn't it? That he'll grow up and judge you."

"Shut up and get out of my kitchen!"

His lips twisted in a snarl. "It is your kitchen, isn't it? Your house, not mine." He stood, all amusement gone from his voice and his expression. "I can't wait to turn eighteen and never have to see any of you again." He fortunately spared her a retort as he turned around and walked away.

She leaned against the sink, breathing heavily, her sides sore. She didn't need this. Her happily ever after most certainly didn't include Ron.

♣️

"Are you in the mood for idle gossip?"

Phillip lounged on the bed in Davyn's dorm room at MIT. Since he wasn't a regular visitor, Davyn was always thrilled to have him, especially since Phillip came with news from Rachel and Simon.

"When's the wedding?" he asked, his attention on the substances he was mixing.

"Hah, you guessed. Three months. And of course Rachel said she'd kill me if I didn't bring you the invitation." Phillip dug into the back pocket of his jeans and pulled out a folded envelope. "I actually believe her capable of that."

Davyn put the vials down, wiped his hands and took the paper from his friend. "Thanks for the added essence of ass. I'll tell Rachel all about it." He pulled out the invitation. It was simple, but elegant, golden script on a black backdrop. "Nice."

"Not a lot of people coming, for obvious reasons. They're planning to let the Counters think they've eloped in Vegas."

Davyn pondered on this as he studied the invitation. "So I take it Alan and Harrison aren't going if we are."

"Nope. It's us and a few friends of theirs from outside the Agency."

"Count me in." He placed the invitation in one of his organic chemistry books. "I'm happy for them."

"So am I. It's amazing how they managed to find happiness in all this mess."

That was true. "They deserve it."

"I couldn't think of two people who deserve it more."

They were silent for a few moments, both of them lost in thoughts of what could have been, then Phillip snapped out it and the corners of his mouth turned down.

"Speaking of happy families..."

Davyn knew what that meant and his stomach instantly knotted. Ever since he'd left the organization, one of the things he did for Davyn was bring him news of his former family from time to time. As painful and unpleasant as it was, he'd rather he knew than be hit in the face with surprise. He'd done nothing, but that didn't mean he wasn't still hellbent on revenge.

"Let me have it."

"I've heard that your brother has taken multiplying seriously. Apparently they're expecting twins."

Davyn winced. It made sense since Millie was a twin herself. It had been two years. Why did hearing this still hurt so much? He'd come to terms with the fact that he was now empty inside. Emptiness was not supposed to hurt.

But in front if Phillip he kept a neutral mask. He knew that if he showed even a tiny bit of how much this affected him, his friend would stop providing updates.

"When's she due?" His voice was the perfect embodiment of indifference.

"I have no fucking clue. Sometime in the summer if she got knocked up recently."

Something stirred inside Davyn's mind, the semblance of a plan ignited by possibilities. He'd been there when the first kid was born. He could repeat the experience without the screw-up.

"Try to find out and let me know."

"Why? What are you planning?"

"Nothing, yet, but I do smell possibilities. Anyway, I won't bother with it until after Rachel and Simon's wedding."

Phillip looked skeptical. "Okay. Just... Don't do something that you regret."

Davyn huffed. "Me? Never!"

He'd do something that would fuck up his life even more instead.

♣️♣️♣️

Things are moving along and Maxi is being a moron as usual. Nothing new there. But she wasn't expecting kids so soon... Oh well...

And Davyn is most certainly going to do something idiotic about it, because that's how he is, Mom!

At least Rachel and Simon are doing well and on their way to forming a family. ❤

Thanks so much for reading and don't forget to vote and comment for support.