North
Brandon stops me right before we get to the kid's doorway. I turn to him in question and he sighs.
"Look, I know you guys mean well, and you wanna do right by Sang and these kids, but you need to remember that they already have a life here. They have a home, and the kids have friends, and Sang has a good job."
"What are you tryna say to me, Brandon?"
I may appreciate what him and his team has done for Sang Baby and the kids, but we're here now.
"I'm saying don't think you can just sweep them away. Even after this Volto thing is over. She may be playing nice for the sake of the kids, but I have no such qualms."
"What do you mean for the sake of the kids?" I scoff.
"You really think she wants her kids to see her upset with their fathers? Those kids love you guys, even if you haven't been around for them. All those kids want is for their family to be together again, and Sang will do anything to make sure her kids are happy. But we won't let you manipulate the situation. You're not taking them away from us."
"We're their fathers," I seethe.
We have every right be want our kids to be with us, and if that means packing all three of them up and taking them back to Charleston where they belong, then that's what we'll do!
"And we're the uncles they've cried to at night. So don't think for a second, just because they don't have our DNA, means that we don't have a bond with them."
Before I can come up with a proper response, Morgan sticks her head out of the doorway.
"Daddy North, Uncle B, are you two fighting?" she asks with a tilt of her little head.
"No."
"Yes," Brandon tells her at the same time as me.
"What are you doing?" I angrily whisper to him.
"We don't lie to the kids," he says to me. "Morgan, go get your brother."
"Is everything ok Uncle B?" she asks timidly.
"We're making pizza, Magpie, go get your brother," he tells her, avoiding the question.
"Ok."
Morgan gives him a quick nod before going back into her room.
She's just as intuitive as her mom. God, I can't believe how much we've missed out all because of that Volto jackass.
"I thought you said we don't lie to the kids?"
"I didn't lie," he tells me. "I just didn't answer her question. That way they know not to push it. If you avoid talking about something, they know to back off. Unless they really want to know the answer, then you're screwed."
"Ooooo, Mommy!" Cole screams out. "Uncle B said a bad word!"
"Thanks a lot runt." Brandon smirks as he leans down and starts to tickle Cole. "Last time I say anything around you. I thought you had my back."
"I do! I do!" Cole gets out around his laughs. "I'm sorry."
He's definitely Gabe's kid, ha.
Brandon stops a few seconds later, while Morgan looks on with an intelligence far beyond her years.
"I thought we were making pizza, Uncle B?" Morgan asks him.
"We are, Munchkin. Come on, let's go."
I watch as he picks up my kids like it's the most natural thing in the world and feel my heart squeeze a bit. It hurts to admit that he's right. They do have a life here, but we'll be a part of it, no matter what.
"You coming Daddy North?" Cole asks me after they've gone down the hall a bit.
"Yeah, buddy, I'm coming."
Sang
Corey walks back into the apartment right after Brandon, North, and the twins walk out of the hallway. Marc takes Cole from Brandon, and follows Corey into the kitchen with Raven, Luke and Gabriel right on his heels.
"Hey, Mommy?" Morgan asks as he walks up to me. "Why are you wearing a sweater? Are you cold? Does Uncle Axel have to fix the thermostat again?"
"I'm fine, sweetie," I say to her, inwardly cringing. "Uncle Axel doesn't have to fix anything."
"Then why are you wearing a sweater inside? It's really hot out," she says while tugging on my sweater sleeve.
"Are you sure you're alright, Princess?" Victor asks as he walks up behind Morgan.
I have to physically stop myself from cringing at the nickname.
This is going to take some getting used to.
"I'm fine, Victor," I tell him.
"You're still not very good at lying, Ten," Kota mumbles.
"Mommy doesn't lie," Morgan scowls at him.
You go Morgan!
"Brandon said the same thing," North grunts.
I narrow my eyes in his direction before Morgan demands my attention, pulling on my sleeve again.
"Mommy, please take off the sweater. You're making me hot,"
"Not right now, Morgan. Go in the kitchen with your brother," I tell her.
"Ok," she pouts before walking away.
"And Brandon did something similar to Morgan in the hallway," North comments.
"What are you trying to say, North?"
"I'm saying, you won't lie to the kids, or in their presence, but that courtesy doesn't extend to us, does it?"
"Any why would it exactly?" I ask as I cross my arms. "What exactly have you done to earn my honesty?"
"We're their fathers," North fumbles for an excuse.
"That has everything to do with the kids, and nothing to do with me. You wanna know your kids? Fine, I won't stop you. But don't you dare think that it's an automatic ticket back into my life. I can have every visit supervised by one of their uncles like that," I say with a snap of my fingers. "So if you think that everything is all better now because you've apologized, don't. We are far from OK. And I'm not keeping score or anything, but we're far from even,"
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"It means, at any given time you could've used Victor's giant brain to keep track of us or reach out. If you would've kept your family in the loop, then they would know that they have grandchildren, and they could've acted as a go between. This distance between us, is on no one but you," I seethe.
This whole time I've been speaking at a low tone as to not alarm the children, but I know North's hearing is picking up every word.
"She's right," Axel steps in behind me. "She tried everything to find you guys after the twins were born. We made her stop looking after you were gone for a year. That same brain that hid you all so well, could've easily devised a plan to get in touch with her. You have no one to blame but yourselves."
"You think we don't know that!?" Nathan explodes.
"Keep your voice down," I growl.
"Nate-" Kota tries, but gets cut off by Nathan.
"No! I'm not going to stand here and let her talk down to us like we didn't do what we did in order to save her life. She knows that we can get tunnel vision when it comes to her safety."
"Am I supposed to thank you for that?"
"You could!" he shouts.
"Well thank you, Nathan! Thank you for leaving me in the middle of the night, high and dry, and pregnant!"
"That wasn't our fault! And we're here now!"
"Oh goodie, you're here! Tell me something, Nathan. You wanna know me and the kids? When's their birthday, huh? What's their favorite color? What's their favorite toys? Huh? T.V. shows? What do they want to be when they grow up?"
"I don't know, ok!"
"Because you haven't tried to know! You haven't been here, to know!"
"Who's to say they're even our kids!?"
"Nathan!" Owen orders.
But by then it's too late. In the kitchen, I hear the worst sound known to parents everywhere. Their children crying.
"Get out," I grit out.
"Gladly," he sneers as he walks past me.
"Anyone else care to join him?" Axel asks, deceptively calm.
No one else moves, and the sound of the door being slammed behind Nathan echos in my head as my heart cracks before freezing over completely.
Say goodbye to the nice Sang.
A/N: Put down the pitch forks and step away from the torches, this was not my fault!!! I didn't want it to go down this way, but I had no choice! Blame the plot bunnies!! They tied me up and forced me to write it this way, but I promise there's a resolution....I just haven't written it yet...Please don't kill me!!! *runs to go into hiding for the foreseeable future*