Chapter 1

Do you want to take a chance by seeing your grandmother, Baby Leo? I grumbled as I saw my six-month-old baby, who had gray eyes that matched those of his father.

Mashed carrots, which covered his bottom lip, chin, and cheeks.

Leo disliked his vegetables. As I skillfully scraped the carrot off of him like a pro and attempted to put it in his mouth, he cooed at me and waved his hands to reach the baby spoon.

He grinned as he opened up after I made the train sound, and I shoved. Nearly as if he were accusing me of the sneak attack, his eyes widened, but then he began to eat.

I rubbed his under-chin with a "See" grin. It is excellent.

The other half began to shoot out of his mouth and drip down his chin as soon as I finished speaking.

 I chuckled. He was the most priceless thing ever, my goodness. But as soon as I had that thought, I felt depressed.

His father would never be aware of his uniqueness.

The latest conundrum is whether or not to visit home.

Nobody at home was aware that I was pregnant and had given birth. 

Given the circumstances at the time I originally discovered I was pregnant, I had made the decision that I would never see my family again. I wouldn't because I couldn't, not with the baby.

Even giving them up didn't bother me. There was just my mom and stepdad, and I'm not really near to. 

Of course, the one member of my family I would never be able to see again would be my stepbrother Jason, and that would break my heart. But I even tore myself away from him for my infant.

I gave Leo his after-lunch bottle of juice while multitasking and gazing out my house's window onto the Gulf of Texas. I would turn to if I couldn't get any more vegetables down him.

Fruit in liquid form. Before beginning to succomb to the bottle, Leo chewed its nipple.His eyes had a slight sag. Oh, how I missed nursing him. 

I was only able to do it for six weeks before I had to return to my job. I still spoke, but not in the same way. 

Since I was the only provider for my small family of two, I had to devote all of my time to my business.

I was thankful for the business and how well it had done after I had to leave my hometown in order to conceal my pregnancy. But that was before my mom and my stepdad split up, which made room for me to perhaps enter.

It's not like I imagined my mother becoming a great grandmother because I couldn't image her in that role.

She had never been the type of mother to insist that her children get married. 

You must provide me with grandchildren. I mumbled, toying with my phone on top of the kitchen table in my kitchen nook overlooking the gulf, "But a kid deserves a grandmother."

When Leo grew up, he would have a fantastic place to play there, and for that reason.

I had chosen the location. I had been able to use some money my grandmother had left me to make a down payment on it. 

She belonged to my family and would have adored Leo.

Being a single mother alone is difficult, so maybe I was just lonely.

Or maybe it was my guilt at work. Leo deserved to have some other extended family if he couldn't have his father.

I gazed at my child and pondered whether anyone could identify the father. Not unless they were side by side, in which case I would never take the chance.

***

I was driving like I was trying to crawl back into bed during the four-day holiday weekend.

My neighborhood. I had listened to every upbeat kids song I knew during the six hour drive and Leoie was asleep in the backseat.

I believe I was a little hoarse at the time, but I was chuffed to think that my son had begun to hum along to some of my recital in the car.

My automobile was moving slowly, and I felt as though someone was about to pounce on us and say the worst about us.

Kept a townwide secret. I shook my head and unclenched my shoulders in an effort to relax.

 I was acting suspiciously. The biggest challenge I had was surprising my mother with a grandchild she was unaware of.

However, given how busy she was all the time, I bet my mom gave it, at most, a second of her attention. However, as I approached her house, I took a closer look.

She looked to make sure her car was in the driveway.

Three months prior, mother had told me that she and my stepdad Murray had broken up because of his poor financial situation.

She had also expressed it in that way, as if they had been living together as a couple when single and their finances were separate.

Mom had displayed an attitude of helplessness. But regardless, Murray was my favorite out of the two.

I mumbled, "Don't think about him," and gripped the wheel tightly as I came to a stop in front of my mother's house. Even just gazing at the brick ranch house brought up unpleasant emotions for me.

Fighting it is futile. Maybe if we do it, the wild forbidden urge will go away. 

That was still being said in Jason's deep voice as

our home, which is now my mother's home because she and Murray divorced, had us sitting by ourselves in the den in the basement. 

He had been mistaken, though, as it had not vanished.

Not at all for me, yet it was still painful. I turned to face Leo, who was dozing. hat hurt a lot.

I pushed the memories away with force since I had not returned home for that. I had to leave something behind, but I wouldn't even say it aloud.

I mused to myself that I still had daily, infuriating thoughts of Jason.

I was returning home, but it wasn't for myself; it was for Leo. I parked my car and went to retrieve my infant.

My mother screamed out of her opened front door two minutes later. "A baby!

How did I not know you had a baby? I scowled as I scanned the area, believing that everyone would now be aware.

However, I was aware that it was unexpected, so I lied as planned.

Murray was giving you problems, and I just couldn't throw more on you, mom.

My mother caught me completely off guard when she shot through the open front doorway to take the baby from me. 

She drooled at Leo as she held him out in front of her. My mouth opened wide. My mom? Leoie chuckled when she jiggled him.

My mother turned her head toward the interior of the home and yelled, "Murray! ", which lead me to believe I was on an alien planet.

At that point, my world came to a halt and I felt a cosmic heartbeat. We have a grandchild, which I know you won't believe.

My mother was carrying Leo inside, holding him expertly on her hip, and I believe my heart may have stopped for a complete second.

As he pulled at her hair. "Murray," I said. "But I figured"

Mom yelled "Murray!" once again before moving further inside the home. "Look at this with me!" Oh my goodness, this was very nasty.

The only thing that could have made it worse was when I overheard "You have a baby, Jane?"

My half-brother I was strolling by the living room when I heard Jason's loud voice.

I was definitely not a dying flower. I had never before in my life ever felt lightheaded, but all of a sudden the hallway began to spin and I found it difficult to breathe. 

I needed to be able to time travel backward in order to stop everything that was occurring too quickly.

Before I approached my old home, so that I could simply drive past and none of this would have happened.

Jason said, "Whoa, baby."

His arm was across my back when everything went black and I felt as though I couldn't support my head.

***

Jason took his stepsister into his arms and noticed that she had gained a lot of weight since he last held her.

His stepmom and the child had vanished down the hallway, and his black gaze followed them. 

She pressed her loose face on his upper chest, and he whispered, "Is that baby why you have such tits and ass now, baby sister."arm.

 I'm taking Jane upstairs, she's wiped out, he said out loud.

While Jason began to ascend the stairs, their parents made some affirmative noises indicating that they had received the message from a location farther inside the house. 

The shock of seeing him at home had likely caused Jane to pass out, he realized. Then he realized that he was more irate than ever before. That was it.

Saying a lot considering the last time he saw Jane, he experienced anger unlike anything he had ever experienced. She prevented them from remaining together, and it was all because of this.

This however surpassed it.because observing her infant implied that his sister had been fucked by another man.

She fainted, and he was surprised that he wasn't more disturbed about it, but he knew she hadn't expected to see him.or his father at their previous home.

Obviously, she had to be in for a huge and stunning surprise. When his dad showed up when he went to see his stepmom at her request and they both claimed they had reconciled, he was taken aback.

As he placed Jane on his bed with her blonde hair fanning across the pillow, Jason looked down at her.

in his previous room, on his bed. She couldn't possibly be any prettier, but she was, and just by gazing at her, a tiny piece of his rage subsided.

It was simple to understand how another man may have developed a strong yearning for her and moved so swiftly. Despite his best efforts, seeing her again hit him like a blow in the gut. When he saw her at the door and knew it was her, he almost left the house.

the entrance. However, the birth of the child had stopped him.

Jason gently stroked her smooth face with his knuckles. It appeared as though being pregnant had enhanced her beauty, and the idea that another man had fathered her turned his stomach to acid.

When it should have been— "Oh," Jane muttered— "Put a baby in her." He removed his fingers from her as her big lips pursed.

One of her most alluring features, her black eyes, finally became visible when her long lashes lifted and fluttered. They always had the ability to draw him in like a black pool.

As he looked down at her and their eyes met, he was aware that he appeared fierce.

You must have slept with another man the day after we broke up, little sister. He’d

"Sister" was stressed with unpleasant depth. His fury was touched by Jane's troubled expression and twisted look, but it was unabated. She muttered, "It's not like that. The whispers from God tore at him.

Jason, please work more diligently. Jason sounded angrily, stood up, turned, and marched out of the room.

If his rage wasn't contained

When he was in control, he was going to do something regrettable.

He grabbed out his phone as soon as he reached the stairs and saw the email he had received regarding counseling the new owners of the billion dollar firm he had just sold to them.

He had been able to avoid thinking about Jane constantly through work. He'd put in so much effort and so many damn

He could never have imagined it would have paid off so beautifully after hours. However, he had built a business that a larger organization and player in the industry wanted, so they made him an offer he couldn't refuse.

He therefore took the decision that, if fucking work had previously enabled him to exist without her, he would hope that it would do so once more and enable him to calm his rage at Jane's taking

a second man enters her bed. He held his phone up and snarled, "Fuck her," as he rounded the corner into the open space that contained the kitchen, den, and dining room