Page 91 of Triplet Babies for my Ex's Best Friend

I choose retreat.

“Different,” I finish.

Her eyebrow lifts. “Different?”

“Yes.”

She studies me, and I can see the exact moment she decides to let it go instead of pushing.

“Thank you,” she says lightly.

Oliver appears behind her then, already in pajamas, holding one of his toy planes as part of the conversation.

“You’re going out?” he asks.

“Yes,” Addy says, turning toward him immediately. Her whole expression softens in a way I’ve started noticing far too often. “Just for a little while.”

“Why?”

“To see a friend.”

Oliver considers this carefully. “Can I come?”

She smiles. “Not this time.”

“Why not?”

“Because it’s a grown-up thing.”

He thinks about that, gripping the toy plane in both hands. “Will there be planes?”

Addy snorts softly. “Tragically, no.”

“Then I don’t want to come anyway.”

She smirks, “That feels like a strong stance.”

He nods once, satisfied, then wanders off again.

Addy watches him go, a gentleness settling in her expression before she looks back at me. “I shouldn’t be late. But if I'm?—”

“I’ll be here,” I cut in. “There’s no issue.”

She nods.

There’s one of those unnecessary, loaded pauses that didn’t exist before that night in the kitchen and now seems to exist everywhere.

Her hand shifts against her side, as if she’s about to say more.

Then she doesn’t.

“Okay,” she says.

I nod once. “Have a good evening.”

“You too.”

She turns toward the door.