I laughed at the shocked gasps from my room. The kids really thought Mom had superpowers. They didn’t realize that the twins being about to break something was just an easy assumption.
Birdie was in the living room when I walked in, her hands on her hips as she stared first at Jack and then at me. She narrowed her eyes and I winced, because I knew that whatever she was thinking, it was going to be a doozy when it came out of her mouth. Maybe I was magical, too. “I can share Mom. I have Grandma and Gabe, and all Henry has is a couple of old guys. That’s not fair. Henry, Mom is yours now. Mom, Henry is yours now, too.”
Sawyer ignored the awkwardness in the room and frowned at Birdie. “We need to work on how mean you are if you’re going to be sticking around. Either that, or we’re going to start calling you Pterodactyl, because you’re way more vicious than a Birdie.”
Birdie stuck out her tongue at him before leaving the room.
39
Winnie
Thenextnight,insteadof Single Dad’s Club, the guys were all at my house. They’d each shown up as soon as they could, and we’d all christened multiple rooms of my house before settling on the bed to talk. We hadn’t touched any of the subjects from the night before, and I wanted it to stay that way. There was no point. Nothing had changed, no matter how I tried to make it different with any of the magic Mom may or may not have passed down to me.
It was late, and the guys would need to go soon. Birdie was with Mom for the night, but their nanny was with their kids, and she wouldn’t want to stay the entire night. I was having a hard time telling them to leave, though. I felt like our time together was coming to an end and I was too attached. I wanted to breathe in every moment with them and build our own version of Dad’s closet.
I was just starting to get tired when Jack stood up. Feeling clingy, I reached for him. “Five more minutes.”
“Someone’s knocking.” He frowned as he glanced out the bedroom window that looked out onto the front yard. “Some asshole in a Patriots hat?”
Sawyer stood up and pulled his pants on. “It’s late. Who is it?”
I forced myself out of bed and grabbed one of their shirts to cover up with. I knew who it was. There was only one person who would show up at my door and also be wearing a Patriots hat. I wrapped my arms around myself and shrugged, not wanting to deal with it in front of them. “They’ll go away.”
Beck scowled. “Winnie.”
I pouted. I hated when he said my name like that. “Fine. I’ll get the door.”
Jack pulled me to a stop by the back of my shirt, the same way he did so often with Birdie. “Not in just a T-shirt, you won’t. I’ll get it.”
“Um, that’s not a good plan.”
“Why not?”
Sawyer raised his eyebrow at me. “It’s your ex, isn’t it?”
Beck was out of bed in an instant. He yanked his pants on and frowned like the whole world had wronged him. “What the fuck is he doing here?”
“Winnie?” Sawyer's scowl annoyed me in that moment.
I scowled back at the three of them. “I don’t know why you’re acting suspicious. I spend every lunch break with you, Beck. I spend every afternoon with you, Jack. And you, Sawyer, sneak into my bedroom every single night. When do you three think I’d have time to do whatever it is you think I might be doing?”
Beck hit Sawyer. “Every night?”
Sawyer didn’t even look sheepish. “The boys have been with Stacey.”
Jack stomped out of the room towards the front door. It was then that we all heard the shouting coming from outside.
“Winnie! Just answer my calls! We were so good together before the kid. Just let me in and we can talk the way we used to.”
Jack’s face went red and he yanked the front door open. Matthew looked up and frowned when he saw Jack. He seemed confused instead of shocked. Under the Patriots hat, his light brown hair was matted to his head until he ran his hands through it. His dark brown eyes that matched Birdie’s sized Jack up and his frown deepened. He was handsome, but time and space had allowed me to see his flaws. Like the way his face looked more natural in a frown than a smile.
“Who are you?” Matthew looked around Jack and spotted me. “Winnie, hey! What’s going on?”
Jack stepped into his line of vision and growled. “Winnie isn’t interested in you, Matthew. Don’t come back here. You got it?”
“Dude, fuck off. I’m trying to talk to my wife.”
I scoffed, unable to stay quiet. “Ex-wife, Matthew. And Jack’s right. I’m not interested. You made your decision. Call if you’re ready and prepared to have a relationship with Birdie. Not me.”