Pained.

Forty-Two.

A year had passed since Arthur's death and Aiden being placed in a psychiatric hospital. Malik hadn't seen Aiden since he had walked out of his hospital room and quite frankly he was glad. Today he would be seeing Aiden for the first time in a year and to say he was nervous was an understatement. He had gotten divorce papers drawn up and he hoped Aiden would sign them. He wanted to move on and start a new life, this was the first step.

Malik's hands shook as he attempted to button up his trench coat.

"Do you need help?" Micah asked as he stood in the doorway, zipping the twins' diaper bag.

"Yes please." Micah placed the diaper bags by the door and walked over to assist Malik. Malik stared down at Micah as he buttoned his coat, "Do you think he'll notice?"

"It's not obvious so I don't think so."

Malik glanced down at his naked ring finger nervously.

"What if he doesn't want to sign them? What if-"

"Malik." He locked eyes with Micah, "Stop overthinking, okay? You'll be fine."

"Okay. You're right." Malik nodded in agreement. He smoothed his coat down once more, "I'm ready."

"Let's go get the twins."

They exited Malik's bedroom and headed towards the twin's room. They sat on the floor playing with their toys, making babbling noises as they smashed their toys together.

"Mally and Toot." Micah called them by their nicknames that their Uncle Kane had given them.

Their attention went to Micah who was crouched down in the doorway with a big smile on his face. They both shakily stood to their feet and speed walked towards Micah with their arms raised.

"Dada, dada, dada!" They both chanted excitedly as they walked into Micah's arms, planting slobbery kisses on his face. Malik stood behind him watching as he interacted with his sons.

Over the course of a year, Micah had become a father figure to the twins. At first, Malik was skeptical about Micah being a part of the twins' lives, fearing that Aiden would somehow find out and have him killed. Even after Aiden was sent to a psychiatric facility, Malik had been terrified to do anything. He didn't resume his relationship with Micah until seven months ago, wanting to make sure he didn't put Micah at risk.

"Are you ready to go munchkins?" Malik laughed as he scooped Malachi into his arms, who immediately began squirming to get back to Micah and his brother. The twins were daddy's boys when it came to Micah. Malik huffed, "I didn't go through nine months of torture, seventeen hours of labor, and a c-section just for you to have a favorite person besides me."

Micah only chuckled as he grabbed the twins' bags and put them on his shoulder. He strapped them into their carseats and began carrying them downstairs with Malik not too far behind. Micah placed the twins in the backseat of the truck and helped Malik get in before they left towards their destination. As they rode, Micah made small talk.

"Jiani called you again."

"We talked. I forgave her, we have nothing else to hash out." Malik shrugged nonchalantly.

"She told me to inform you that you can continue to be involved in Maliah's life if you wish. She hopes that the things she's told you doesn't change your feelings towards Maliah." Micah glanced at Malik before turning his attention back to the road.

"It's too late for that. My feelings changed the minute she told me that she had stepped out on me and that Maliah was not my daughter. I can't be involved in Maliah's life no matter how much I want to. Every time I look at her, I just think about Jiani stepping out on me and I don't want to constantly be reminded of that. I don't want a constant reminder that while I was fighting for my sanity and my life, she was allowing some man to take her on our bed. To prevent Maliah and myself from hurting, I'll prefer to just stay away until I can get over it."