Page 123 of Triplet Babies for my Ex's Best Friend

I sit back in my chair, closing my eyes briefly.

This is inefficient. Distraction has no place here. And yet…

I can’t get her out of my mind, no matter what I do. And soon, her sister will be in my home, and that might be the moment everything implodes.

I open my eyes.

No.

This is solvable. Structure is the solution to most things. It should apply here as well.

I shut down the screen, stand, and reach for my jacket. If I leave it, it becomes undefined.

Undefined things escalate.

That’s not acceptable.

The apartment’s quiet when I return.

Midday quiet. The kind that exists when the city is fully awake but the interior space is held in suspension between morning and evening.

I set my keys down and loosen my tie as I move through the entryway. “Addy?”

Her voice carries from the living room. “In here.”

I step into the space.

She’s on the floor with Oliver, building something that appears to involve blocks, a small plane, and a level of structural ambition that will almost certainly collapse within minutes.

Captain is supervising.

Addy looks up first. “Hi.”

“Hello.”

Oliver glances up. “Dad, we’re building an airport.”

“I can see that.”

“It has a runway,” he adds, as if this is the critical feature.

“Of course it does.”

Addy brushes her hands together and stands. “We also have a control tower situation that’s evolving.”

“That’s one way to describe it.”

She hesitates for a fraction of a second. “Do you need something?”

“Yes.”

Oliver looks between us. “Are you in trouble?”

“No,” I say.

Addy smiles faintly. “Yet.”

I ignore that. “I need to speak with you.”