Marshall walked into the living room where Madelyn was reading a news article. He glanced over at her. She looked up at him and gave him a small smile.
"What's up?" he asked.
"Are you really worried about what she will say about you?" she asked him.
"What are you talking about?"
"The Mariah book coming out. These claim you are worried about what she will say about you in them."
He shook his head. She watched him for a moment. He sat down next to her on the couch.
"If she says anything, she admits that we dated and I don't see her doing that. If she does though, I don't really care because I can't be too bad of you have stuck with me this long and had five kids with me," he said.
She nodded. He pulled her against his chest and kissed her forehead. She relaxed into him for a moment.
"What do you want to know?" he asked.
"Nothing. That was the one relationship you had that I never wanted to know about and I still don't want to know anything," she said.
"You sure?"
She nodded.
"All right babe." he said.
She lay snuggled against his chest for a while. He rested his cheek against her head. She smiled.
"I love you Madelyn," he said quietly.
"I love you too Marshall," she replied.
The two older boys came running into the room. Marshall looked at his boys.
"Daddy, can we have ice cream?" their oldest asked.
"After lunch maybe," Marshall said.
"Mommy."
Madelyn shook her head. She and Marshall always stayed on the same page when it came to their kids. She looked at her husband. He smirked at her and got up from the couch. He looked at her. She kissed his lips before he got all the way up.
"Let's get some lunch," he said.
Madelyn got up from the couch. They went to the kitchen to get something to eat. The babies were already napping because they were teething.
It was a few weeks later that all hell broke loose surrounding comments made by Royce and Snoop. Marshall did as he always did and remained quiet on social media. He spent the time with his family and ignoring the drama.
"Baby, this is insane," Madelyn said.
She was reading comments online and making Marshall a bit crazy. He pulled her into his arms.
"Let it go," he said.
"Baby," she began.
"Stop, Mads. I don't want to hear about it. All right?"
She sighed heavily but nodded. He took her phone and set it on the couch to press his lips to hers. He wasn't getting involved in the drama.
"The Stan's are ripping him apart babe," she said.
"Nothin I can do about that. He has to deal with it," he replied.
She nodded. He and Ryan had gone back and forth every now and again as they always had. Marshall wasn't remotely concerned with any of it. He just wanted to live his day to day life and the fans sometimes made that impossible. He needed and craved some normalcy that the quarantine had provided him with in a weird way. He was able to be that father with his kids. The one that was working on teaching Maverick how to catch a ball. The father that was teaching both his older boys how to swim. The father that got up with his triplets to allow his wife a bit of extra sleep.
He was that father that he had always wanted in his life but never had. He knew that life would get more and more chaotic as things went on. He just didn't have the energy to stop it.
"Daddy, can we go swimming?" his oldest boy asked.
"We sure can buddy," he replied.
The two boys changed into their swim trunks and followed their dad outside to the pool. Madelyn watched him from the back door as he got in the pool with the boys. She couldn't get enough of her man and him with the boys just made him even hotter. She loved it.
He looked up at her as she stepped out the door. He smiled. She didn't care what anyone else had to say. He was her man and he loved her. He took care of their family. He had avoided the drama and ignored the ignorance.
"Baby, what are you thinking?" he asked.
"Just trying to figure out why everyone has your name in their mouth lately," she said.
"It tastes good."
She rolled her eyes at him and laughed. He shrugged his shoulders and tossed their five-year-old in the air. Maverick laughed as he hit the water. He took in a lot of water and came up coughing. Marshall grabbed him and sat him on the side.
"You ok bud?" he asked.
Maverick nodded.
"You aren't supposed to drink my pool man," Marshall joked with his son.
Maverick laughed and started coughing again. Madelyn pulled his arms up above his head and he calmed down.
"Daddy throw me again," Maverick said.
"No way lil man, you just swallowed a lot of water," he said.
"Daddy."
"Don't whine at me."
Maverick made a face. Madelyn shook her head. Marshall rolled his eyes as Malakai climbed into his back.
"Are you going to respond to anything that is being said?" Madelyn asked.
He shook his head. He didn't feel the need. People were going to say what they wanted and do as they pleased so it wasn't worth it anymore.
"I'm too old for this drama," he said.
"You ain't that old," she replied.
"Old enough."
She laughed at him. He winked at her as one of the triplets began screaming over the monitor in her hands. She went back in the house to get her daughter.