I nod. “Would you?”

“Yeah, Jules. Of course I will.”

We head back out of the apartment and down to the complex playground. I immediately see Dwayne, pushing Annabelle on a swing, while Rocco and Levy play on the monkey bars.

Rocco sees me first as we walk up behind Dwayne and jumps off the equipment, running to me with a big grin on his face. For a moment my heart sinks, thinking that happiness emanating from him has everything to do with his father being here, but then he yells, “Aunt Jules . . . we had the best time with Max today. We got to see the wolves and some bears, and then he took us for ice cream, although we promise we’ll eat dinner.”

Rocco slams into me, his arms coming around me and his face pressing into my stomach. My arms immediately wrap around him and I sigh with utter relief that he doesn’t seem to be taken in by Dwayne. Annabelle jumps off the swing and also runs up to me. She looks up at me with bright shining eyes and says, “And I know a secret that Max told me but I can’t tell you.”

“You do, huh?” I ask with a smile as I run my fingers through her curls.

She nods enthusiastically. Levy jumps down from the equipment and walks over to us, not as enthused, but he gives me a bright smile before turning to look at his dad with a measure of confusion.

And that’s when I turn to Dwayne. I keep my tone light but I get to the point. “What are you doing here?”

Dwayne reaches a hand up, scratches at the back of his head and shrugs his shoulders. “Wanted to see the kids.”

“You could have called first,” I tell him point-blank.

“Didn’t think you’d let me come if I did that,” he snaps, and I immediately turn to look at Max, as I sense this isn’t going to be pretty and I don’t want the kids to see it.

“Will you take the kids back up and maybe get dinner ordered?”

Max’s gaze burns into me and I can see him warring with wanting to stay there to have my back and wanting to protect the kids. Finally he nods, shoots a hard glare at Dwayne that clearly conveys he doesn’t like him. He then reaches into his pocket and pulls Dwayne’s wallet and keys out, handing them to him. Max turns to the kids and says, “Come on, little minions. Let’s go order pizza.”

They all herd around Max and he swings Annabelle up and over his shoulder. She shrieks with delight and I watch them all walk away for a moment before I turn back to Dwayne.

“Seriously . . . why now?” I ask him. “You couldn’t even bother to come to Melody’s funeral. Couldn’t even be there for your kids when they were grieving.”

“Did you ever think it was hard on me, Julianne?” he asks, and of course he calls me by my full name because he’s never really been a friend of mine in all the years I’ve known him. He barely tolerated me when he and Melody first got together, and after he started his cheating and abandoning ways, I made no secret that I didn’t like him.

“Not as hard as it was on me, Dwayne,” I hiss at him. “I’m the one that held her hand when she took her last breath, you asshole, and you know what really burns me up . . . she fucking loved you until the end.”

If I thought that might touch him in some way and make him feel guilty, I would have been sadly mistaken. He doesn’t look sorry or apologetic.

“Look,” he says brusquely. “I didn’t come here to fight.”

“And we’re back to the start,” I say sarcastically. “Why are you here?”

“I’m thinking about taking the kids back,” he says without looking me in the eye. “You know . . . take them off your hands.”

“You cannot be fucking serious,” I growl at him, some mama grizzly bear rage filling me up.

“I met someone,” he says, still refusing to look me in the eye. “She wants to get married but she doesn’t want that damn child support payment hanging over me. And she wants kids . . . so you know . . . I figured I’d take the kids back.”

I swear, for a moment I think I might stroke out as my vision goes dim, and then a red pulse of light obscures his shameful face before me. I’m so angry, I’m seeing fucking red.

I advance toward him a step and poke him in the chest, “You do not just get to decide you want your kids after years of not being there for them, just because you fucking met a woman that wants kids and you don’t want to pay child support. That’s not how it works.”

“They’re my kids,” he snarls at me, pushing his body against my finger and causing me to go back a step. “And if I want to take them, I’ll take them.”

“You better be prepared to deal with the law then,” I warn him. “Because I have legal custody and you signed off on that, or have you forgotten, Dwayne? Those kids are mine in the eyes of the law and if you take them that’s kidnapping.”

“Then I’ll fight you for them in court,” he says darkly, and my insides turn to Jell-O at the thought.

Still, I tilt my chin up and tell him, “I’ll fight you every step of the way. I’ll spend every dime I have fighting it.”

“They’re my kids,” he says angrily.

“Come on, Dwayne,” I say softly, hoping to appeal to his common sense. “You’ve been out of their life far more than you’ve been in it. They’re excited to see you when you first get here because you do something fun with them or bring them a toy, but then that wears off. They don’t know you. And more importantly, you weren’t there when their mother died . . . when they needed you the most.”

He doesn’t say anything for a moment, but just looks at the ground.

Finally, he looks up to me and says, “That’s how it’s gonna be?”

I sigh. “Look . . . if you want some visitation, we can work things out, but you’ll have to catch up on the child support. You know the court requires that, and you’ll have to pay it going forward. It’s not cheap raising three kids, Dwayne, and I’ve been busting my ass to give them a good life.”

If I expected that to shame him, I’d be wrong about that too, and instead his eyes shimmer with something I can’t quite put my finger on. “I see you’re fairly cozy with your man.”

My body stiffens but I don’t say a word.

“Max Fournier,” Dwayne taunts, and it’s clear to me he knows who Max is. “That guy’s rolling in dough. I’m quite sure you’re not suffering taking care of the kids.”