"I'll let you step in if there are any issues with them in the future that we can't avoid." Elliot thought about it all night and finally made up his mind.

Being affectionate toward Ruby and her baby would be an injustice to Avery and the three kids.

Avery did not make a fuss out of it because her children did not know about it and he still had time to remedy the situation.

If the situation escalated beyond control, Hayden and Layla would hate him to death.

His greatest fear, however, was not that the child hated him—he feared losing Avery.

Elliot had suffered so much that he lost sleep when all Avery did was give him the cold shoulder for one day. He could not even imagine how he could continue to live in the future if she disappeared from his world.

His answer gave her a heavy sigh of relief.

She would not have gotten angry at him on New Year's Eve if he had done that in the first place, and she would not continue to lose her temper with him if he gave her the same answer a da