Courtney's POV

I was slowly drifting asleep like the rest of my kids. Ethan and Alex were asleep on the plush chocolate carpet forming an "X", Maddie was asleep on the love seat, and Dani was asleep in my lap, balled up and sucking his thumb.

I slowly fluttered my eyes open, hearing semi-heavy knocking at the door. I groaned and removed Dani from my lap. I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes, not anticipating Duncan's arrival at all.

"Coming!" I called out as I walked to the door.

I raked my hands through my messy hair and did a quick breath check before opening to the door to a pair or teal eyes greeting me.

"Hey Princess." Duncan said as he pulled me in for a hug. I quickly pulled away, as the hug lasted longer than intended.

"Hi. Duncan." I responded and quickly turned away from him.

"We were watching TV shortly after you called, they fell asleep." I pointed towards the living room where the kids were laid out, snoring.

"I don't mind. They'll wake up in a little bit." he shrugged. "Sooo…how's things been going?" he asked, changing the subject.

"Just fine." I replied smugly, flicking my hair.

"Well that's good..." he trailed awkwardly.

Duncan's POV

There was an awkward silence after my statement, Courtney standing there with the most oddest expression on her face, her eyes averted to the living room where the kids lie. My eyes traveled from her white, cropped tee that stopped just above her belly button, down to her pelvic bones that pertruded from her slim abdomin to her sweat capris that hugged her in all the right ways. I looked down at her slender legs, lotioned to perfection. I couldn't help but check Courtney out. She was 26 and hadn't aged facially since her Junior year at college.

Courtney must've felt the extra pair of eyes on her, for when I looked up at her face, I saw her bright pink cheeks that made her freckles stand out. I laughed.

She looked at me awkwardly before asking did I want to take a seat until the kids wake up. I responded yes, and watched her make her cute puffy cheeks to attempt to lower the hue of red that stood in her cheeks from me staring at her physique.

She walked over to the living room where there were two recliner chairs available. She took a seat in the one nearest to the TV and I followed suit, taking a seat in the one next to the couch.

As an awkward silence filled the room, Courtney attempted to make conversation.

"Umm, you don't have to watch this you know." she said to me.

I laughed. "No, actually, I like this show... The misadventures of pancake, corn fritter…no wait, Flapjack! That's it!"

Courtney smirked, "I don't know if the kids have you watching these cartoons or your immaturity just allows you to do so."

"Shut uppp." I said playfully, shooting her a glance. "I watch what I want. Regardless of the kids." I added. "And by the way, I am very mature, thank you queeny."

Courtney sneered before chuckling at me comment. "At least you know about the cartoons, I just sit here and watch them mindlessly." she said.

"Maddz has me hooked on some weird show with some purple bunny, cat, rabbit thingy. It's quite funny though. You have to pay attention." I said.

"Oh my, Duncan Michaels paying attention? I didn't think those 4 words would be together unless it had not in between the first two." she said chuckling.

"Haha, very funny." I said sarcastically an eye roll with . "Princess picking up some humor?"

"I've always been funny." Courtney said, now rolling her eyes.

"Yeah right." I scoffed, knowing Courtney was the worse of all worse at trying to be funny, or even making a comment people would actually laugh at.

"And what's that supposed to mean?"she said, now glaring at me.

"Oh nothing…" I lied with a smirk on my face.

"God, you look so much like that Maddie, it drives me crazy." she said.

"No, Maddie looks like me." I corrected.

She responded with an eye roll.

"Well lets hope her or the others don't go through a rebellious stage where they cut their hair into a mohawk and die it green." she said, peering over at my now jet black hair that's grown out over the years.

"At least I don't have it anymore!" I defended.

"I would hope you wouldn't. You're 27." she said.

"Yeah. Decided to ditch that yeeears ago." I said, rubbing my hands through it.

Daniel stirred in his sleep a bit and let out a tired yawn. I smiled to myself. "The little guy looks just like me." I said, smiling proudly.

"Yeah." Courtney sighed.

"You know, I really wish I would've stuck around to watch the kids grow up and all. I've been coming around for years and it still amazes me how much they change or I find something new everytime I see them." Duncan admitted. He rubbed the stud on his nose feeling a sensation of guilt overcome his body.

"Yeah, well you didn't." Courtney spat, rising up a bit from her chair, but then relaxing back into it.

I just sighed. It's been almost 6 years and she still has not forgiven me for leaving. It was to the point now that I didn't get offended by her rude comments or angry outbursts whenever the situation was brought up.

"No! No! No! NO! NOOOO!" Daniel cried in his sleep, viciously stirring.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Someone's having a bad dream." I said as I scooped his son out of the chair. Daniel peeked out of one of his eyes and felt around on my stomach and chest. He moved his hand up until he reached my nose and felt the coolness of my nose ring. Then, he felt around my ears.

"Daddy?" he questioned, sheepishly.

"Yeah, that'd be me." I replied, smiling at him. He son giggled and cuddled into me.

"Daddy came?" he asked.

"As always." I said back.

When Alex heard his voice, her eyes popped open.

"Daddy!" she yelled happily, running over and throwing her arms around me.

"Hey baby girl." I said as I gave her a kiss on the forehead. Damn she looked so much like Courtney.

"I'm sorry…I went to sleep." Alex said, rubbing her arm.

"No problem sweetie. We all get tired sometimes." I said ruffling her bed-head.

"Heyyy!" she whined, giggling slightly. "Quit it!" Courtney giggled at the scene in front of her.

Ethan and Maddie still were asleep on the couch.

"Deep sleepers." I said, looking at them.

"Just like their dad." Courtney said, looking at me. I let out a small laugh.

"You know you can wake her up if you want." Courtney told me.

I smiled to himself. "Bet this'll get her up." he said to Courtney. "Maddie, they have quadruple stuffed chocolate chip icecream at Cold Stone!" I said in her ear. Her back stopped the movement it had from her breathing and her eyes popped open.

She gasped, "Really?!"

Me and Courtney burst out laughing. Alex soon joined, while Daniel kept a lost expression on his face.

"Aww dad! You suck!" Maddie said, a smile spreading across her face. She soon ran over to me, and embraced me in a warm hug.

"How's it goin Maddz?" I asked, as I kissed her on the cheek.

"Good." she replied, grasping onto my arm.

"Sooo…"she trailed. "Did you tell mom the secret?" she asked. My eyes widened and quickly shot over to Courtney.

I nudged Maddie, giving her the "hush-before-you-ruin-it" face. She comprehended and zipped her lips.

"What secret?" Courtney asked suspiciously, squinting her eyes.

"It's about…that…e-err icecream. Doh! I wasn't supposed to tell." Maddie said fakely, as she pressed her palm into her face dramatically.

I wanted to burst out laughing at her. She was a pro, just like her dad.

"Yeah Maddie. Now I know not to tell you anything." I played along as I secretly gave her a 'thumbs-up' from the hand that was drooped against the side of the chair.

"How is ice cream the secret?" Courtney asked, still skeptical.

"B-because I wasn't supposed to tell you, but dad was gonna uhh… take us all out for ice cream at 'Coldstone's Creamery'. I-I kinda spoiled it though." Maddie said, pretending to be sad.

"Well isn't that sweet." Courtney said, her face lightening up. "Don't feel bad baby, I hate secrets. They make me grouchy. Now would you want me to be grouchy?" Courtney asked.

"No way. No one likes the grouchy Courtney Besbarino." Maddie said.

I laughed.

"I didn't think so." Courtney said smugly.

Regular POV

It was around 6:00pm or so and Duncan felt more jittery than usual. For he knew in about the next hour, he would be normally leaving from his visit.

Daniel was on his belly on the floor, playing with his leapfrog while Ethan was playing with his WWE wrestling men toys. Alex on the other hand, was pouring water in a tea cup with her 4 little dollies sitting in front of her, and her crayons and coloring book by her side. Maddie was busy having a nonchalant conversation with her dad, who wasn't really paying any attention to her at the time.

"Dad are you listnening? Huh? Huh? Yeah, dad? Uhhh, dad? Duncan? Daddy? Daaaaaaaaaaaad? DAD!" Maddie shrieked. Courtney jumped out of her skin at her daughter's sudden outburst.

"Maddison! What's you're problem?" Courtney asked, her eyebrows furrowing together, as she began to rub her temples.

"Dad isn't paying me any attention. He's not even listening to what I'm saying!" Maddie said, with a pout on her face, and her arms crossed.

Duncan was interrupted from his thoughts when he saw Maddie's little blowfish cheeks in front of his face, pouting…hard.

"W-what's wrong honey?" Duncan said, with a slight chuckle from the look on his daughter's face. Courtney raised an eyebrow.

"Oh nothing dad. I was talking my head off and you totally ignored me." Maddie said, upset and pouting.

"Awww babe, don't be like that. I'll tell you what. I'll give you that little treat you like if you don't stay mad at me." Duncan bribed his daughter.

"Aww man, really?!" Maddie said, brightening up instantly. Duncan laughed at the sudden change in moods of his daughter.

"You know, your more like your mom than you know." he said. Courtney shot him a dirty look.

Maddie just smiled and said, "Dad, I can never stay mad at you." and then she ran off to her room.

There was a quick silence. All that was heard were the voices of the kids on the floor talking amongst themselves.

"Umm…it's getting late, and before Maddz gets back, I need to talk to you." Duncan said.

Courtney's body weakened. She hated having "talks" with Duncan. Anytime he wanted to "talk" about something it never turned out good.

"A-About what?" she asked, curiously.

"You'll find out soon enough. We're gonna have to talk out there." he said, pointing to the kitchen.

"Umm, okay?" Courtney said skeptically, rising from her seat on the couch.

"Come on." Duncan said as he stood up and began to walk to the kitchen.

"What is this all about?" Courtney asked, putting a hand on her hip.

"Umm, I was just wondering...well, you know. The kids miss me, and I don't have all the necessary stock back at my apartment to bring a kid in, so I was wondering if I could stay. I promise, promise, PROMISE, I'll cause no problem. You won't even know I'm here. All I want to do is spend more time with the kids, and Maddie really wanted me to stay with you all so can I? Please?" Duncan asked sincerely, giving Courtney the puppy dog look with praying hands.

"Are. You. Serious? Heck no! You can not stay here Duncan! Remember what happened last time you stayed here?" Courtney asked rhetorically, pursing her lips, and now putting both hands on her hips.

"Yeah, but I mean…it won't happen again. You can bet that...But that's besides the point! I just want to stay here. I can sleep on the couch, I can sleep on the floor. I can keep 5 feet behind you at all times. I promise, I'll be no nuisance! I swear." Duncan said. He gave her the best 'please-believe-me' look in the world, and she soon enough fell for it.

"Ugh, Duncan you are the pain to my existance. You know that?" she said. "Just make sure you keep your hands to yourself. And stay out of my room at all times." she scolded, folding her arms.

"Yes!" Duncan said, throwing up a successful arm. "Where will I sleep?" he asked.

"Guest room." Courtney responded.

"Dammit." Duncan mumbled under his breath. Courtney turned around and raised an eyebrow. "I mean suuuure. Anywhere you choose, I'll sleep. Anything for the kids." he said with a fake smile on his face.

He really was doing this for the kids, but that man deep down inside of him couldn't resist that lust he still had for Courtney.

They both walked back into the living room casually, where they saw Maddie, back, and sitting on the couch with a smile on her face.

"Guess what?!"she asked excitedly when she saw her parents coming from the kitchen.

"What?" Duncan and Courtney replied in unison.

"You sound like Allie n Ettie." Daniel said with a giggle. (A/N: Get it? They replied in unison so they sound like twins. In this case Alex and Ethan. Allie and Ettie are Daniel's nick names for them.)

"Yeah, well it's going on 8:00. You all know what that means." Courtney announced.

"Ugh, bath time." Ethan groaned, following routine by stop playing with his action figures and taking them upstairs to his room. Alex followed suit, and Daniel stood up and put his leap frog under his arm. He was about to begin up the stairs until a pair of strong arms swooped him up and ran him up the stairs; him flying like Superman. He let out a fit of laughter as the wind blew against him and his stomach filled with butterflies as his father let him down.

"Daddy that was cool!" Daniel said giving his dad a thumbs up and high five.

"Well that's because you have a cool dad." Duncan replied. Courtney sucked her teeth.

"Thanks for swelling up your dad's head Dani." Courtney said playfully, rolling her eyes.

"I didn't hit daddy. He can't schwell." Daniel replied with a questioned look on his face.

Courtney and Duncan laughed. "No honey, I didn't really mean that. You didn't hurt daddy." Courtney said, stooping down to his level and ruffling his hair.

"Oh, okay." Daniel said with a small smile as he tightly grabbed the leapfrog book still in his arms.

"Now go ahead into your room and wait for mommy. Don't forget to put your book away." she called out to him as his little socked feat scuffled to his room. (Ethan & Daniel share a room, Maddie and Alex have their own rooms).

She smiled, and walked behind him. "Maddie, shower or bath?" Courtney called out.

"Shower." Maddie answered .

"Shower or bath Ethan, Alex?" she asked to the next child.

"I want a shower." Ethan called out.

"I want a bath." Alex said.

"Me too." Daniel's little voice called.

"Okay, Alex, run your bath water. Ethan, you can use the shower after Maddie." Courtney called.

"Okay!" the children responded.

"Okay." Both twins' voices replied.

She then walked into Ethan and Daniel's room to pick out some night clothes for Daniel. She chose his green dinosaur shirt and black night pants with green dinosaurs on them.

"Alright Dani, come on honey." she said, as she walked with him to the bathroom.

"I'll take over." Duncan said, taking Daniel from her hands.

"You sure?" she asked.

"Positive." Duncan replied, with a smirk. "So what are you planning on being for the night little guy?" Duncan asked.

"A dinosuawa." Daniel said cutely.

"Alright!" Duncan said giving his son a high five.

"Come on, let's get you all washed up." Duncan said, as he began to run the bath water.

"Maddie, you okay?" Courtney called.

"Yeah, I'm picking out jammies." she replied.

"Okay." Courtney replied.

She walked back into Daniel & Ethan's room and picked out a night outfit for Ethan. She did the same for Alex in her room.

"Clothes are on the bed Ethan and Alex. "Courtney called out.

"Okay." they both replied.

And the night was only just beginning…