Page 181 of Twins for Three Bad Boys

She looks between us, and there’s an intensity in that look. She’s bracing for impact and hoping we don’t give her one.

I move first because I always do when something’s sitting unfinished.

“We’re not here to push you, June,” I tell her.

Her shoulders drop a fraction, not fully relaxed, but enough to show she heard it.

“Good,” she says. “Because I’m already a little overwhelmed.”

“Yeah,” I answer. “We know.”

“You don’t have to decide anything tonight,” I say. “Not about the baby. Not about us. None of it.”

She swallows, and I can see the argument forming before she even speaks it. “I feel like I should be making all my decisions, like, yesterday.”

“You shouldn’t,” Wayne says.

She glances at him, searching for anything in his face. He doesn’t look away.

“Nothing that matters gets decided under pressure,” he adds. “Not if we’re doing it right.”

Rex folds his arms loosely, watching her the way he does when he’s reading a situation instead of steering it.

“We meant what we said,” he adds. “We’re not going anywhere.”

She exhales, and it shakes on the way out. “Even if it’s complicated?”

“It is complicated,” I say. “That doesn’t make it something we walk away from.”

Her eyes come back to mine. “For all of you?”

“For me,” I answer. “Yeah.”

Rex nods without hesitation. “Same.”

Wayne takes a second longer, but not because he’s unsure. Because he doesn’t say things lightly. “You already know where I stand.”

She does. It shows in the way her posture softens, just enough to notice. There’s still tension in her. Still fear. But it’s not sitting as uneasily as before.

“There’s something else,” I say.

Her brows draw together slightly. “More?”

“The school,” I tell her. “What happened. The accusations.”

She stills completely.

“I know,” she says. “Wayne told me.”

“Then you know there’s nothing behind it,” I continue. “No real reports. No incidents. Same source pushing it.”

Her gaze drops, and I can see the part of her that expected there to be something anyway.

“There’s still someone behind it,” she says quietly.

“Yeah,” I agree. “And we’ll deal with that.”

She looks back up, tension tightening her voice. “What if people believe it anyway?”