“Right, well, let’s just get this over with, shall we?”

“Get what over with, exactly?”

“The matter of custody.” Rolling up the sleeves of his school shirt, Gerard glanced around your room before finally settling his heated gaze on you. “You can’t keep my kids from me. I have rights.”

“Are you serious?” You shook your head and gaped at him. “Oh my god, Gerard, I’m not going to keep the babies from you.”

“That’s what you say now,” he argued, moving for the basket in the corner of your room. “But I’ve been through this before, {{user}}.” Reaching inside, he gently scooped Dick into his arms. “I know how it goes when the mam gets a new partner.” Stroking him affectionately, he pressed a kiss to the top of his head. “I won’t be pushed out of their lives.”

“Gerard.” Your mouth fell open as your brain absorbed his words. “I would never do that to our family.”

“That’s what they all say, but I’m telling you now, if you even think about letting him meet our babies, I will lose my fucking mind,” he added. “I mean it. It’s bad enough that I had to watch him take you out tonight, but if I see him in this room with these cats, I will lose it.”

“Oh, calm down, will you?” You snapped, clambering off the bed. “I went to the cinema with Jamie, I didn’t accept a marriage proposal from him. I think one date is a little early for family introductions.”

“That’s what I thought, too,” Gerard agreed, hands on hips. “But then I walked into the kitchen and found him with your mother and brother.”

“Listen, I didn’t ask him to do that,” you heard yourself say. “I thought he would wait in the car. I mean, isn’t that what boys are supposed to do when they take girls out on dates?”

“I have no idea,” Gerard replied hotly, “because the only girl I’ve ever taken out is standing in front of me.”

“Gerard.”

“I can take you,” he blurted out. “If there’s a film you want to see, I’ll take you.”

“That’s not what tonight was about.”

“Then what was it about?”

“Gerard, you know why I went out with him tonight.”