STUCK in FATE

You can absolutely read this book even if you haven’t read the others. The previous books focus on the parents and how they first met and fell in love:

Tinius – POV

I wanted a dog.

Not just a little, and not in the “it would be nice someday” kind of way… I wanted a dog now.

I lay on my bed staring up at the ceiling, letting my thoughts spiral in every direction until I finally muttered quietly to myself, “If I don’t get a dog soon, I’m going to die.”

“You’re not getting a dog,” Iben said dryly, without even looking up from her phone.

I turned my head toward her, where she was lying on her bed, completely absorbed in whatever she was doing on her screen, as if this wasn’t the most important conversation we had ever had.

“Yes,” I said firmly, pushing myself up slightly. “I am getting a dog.”

She finally lifted her gaze to look at me, her long, curly brown hair spread out across the pillow, and in that moment, she looked exactly like Dad, with that same expression that basically said I was completely hopeless.

“You do know Dad, right?” she said. “He doesn’t even like me looking at boys.”

I snorted. “Relax.”

She rolled her eyes. “I was just scrolling on my phone one day, completely normal, nothing special, just TikTok or something… and then a video of a guy at the beach popped up.”

I smiled a little. “Okay?”

“He didn’t have a shirt on,” she continued.

“Wow. Crisis,” I said.

“Wait,” she said. “Dad walked past, stopped… and then slowly backed up.”

I was already starting to laugh.

“He just went, ‘What is that?’”

“No way.”

“YES. And I’m like, ‘It’s a video.’ And then he literally takes my phone out of my hand and just stares at the screen like he’s analyzing a crime scene.”

I leaned forward. “What did he say?”

She sat up slightly and changed her voice: “‘Why is he not wearing a shirt?’ And I’m like, ‘Because he’s at the beach?’”

“And then Dad says…” she had to stop because she started laughing, “‘You don’t need to be watching that.’”

I shook my head. “No…”

“And then he starts scrolling himself! Like he’s trying to check how bad it is, and every time another guy without a shirt shows up, he just goes, ‘No. No. No.’”

I laughed so hard I leaned back on the bed. “He’s actually impossible.”

“Yeah,” she said. “So if he can’t even handle a shirtless guy on my phone, do you seriously think he’s going to say yes to a dog that’s going to destroy the entire house?”

I smiled a little. “Uh… yeah?”

She just stared at me. “You’re insane...”

I sat all the way up and ran a hand through my dark blonde hair, which never stayed the way it was supposed to, no matter how much I tried.

“This time I’m serious,” I said, and I actually meant it. “I’ve thought everything through.”

“Oh? Have you?”

“Yeah,” I said, starting to count on my fingers as I spoke. “I’m going to wake up early every day, I’m going to walk it, I’m going to clean up after it, I’m going to... ”

“You can’t even keep our room clean,” she cut in.

I glanced around. Our room was… not exactly clean.

“Okay, fair,” I muttered. “But that’s because I don’t have a dog to motivate me.”

She stared at me for a second, and then she started laughing.

“You’re so dumb,” she said, though it wasn’t meant in a mean way.

“No, I’m smart,” I replied, shrugging. “I just… think ahead.”

“You don’t think at all,” she said, lying back down again. “I could help with the dog, but do you seriously think someone like Herman would be happy with a drooling animal in the house?”

I threw a pillow at her, and she threw it right back, hitting me straight in the face.

“You did that on purpose!”

“Prove it.”

I let out a loud sigh and dropped back onto my bed again, staring up at the ceiling for a moment before saying the one thing I had been thinking the entire time:

“Dad’s going to say yes.”

She slowly turned her head toward me.

“No.”

“Yes.”

“No.”

“Yes.”

“He’s going to say ‘absolutely not’,” she said, doing a pretty accurate imitation of his voice. “‘We already have enough with you three.’”

I sat up again. “He loves us.”

“Yeah,” she said. “And that’s exactly why he’ll say no.”

I opened my mouth to argue, but paused for a second instead. “…what about Mom?”

She smiled differently now... Smarter. “You mean Mom, who always says ‘ask Dad first’?”

I narrowed my eyes slightly. “You’re going to end up loving it.”

“Yeah, but I already know you’re the one who’s going to sleep with it and call it ‘baby.’”

“You’re exaggerating.”

“Not at all… because you are going to sleep with it.”

And then, we heard it. From the room next door. A sound we both knew far too well.

A loud guitar. Not just random strumming, but full-on playing, like someone was trying to drown out the entire house.

Like he always did...

We both went quiet for a moment.

“…seriously?” Iben muttered.

I tilted my head slightly, listening. “Herman.”

“Yeah, I can tell,” she said dryly. “He’s probably trying to impress himself again.”

I couldn’t help but smile. “He’s actually getting really good, though.”

“Yeah, but he doesn’t need to remind us every five minutes,” she replied, pulling a pillow over her head for a second before tossing it aside again. “God, it sounds like a concert.”

I leaned back on my bed and laughed quietly to myself, but then I fell silent again. “…do you really think he’d get mad if we got a dog?”

“Yeah,” she said without hesitation. “He would lose it the first time it chewed on something he owned.”

I shrugged. “But… maybe he’d grow to like it eventually?”

She looked at me for a few seconds, like she was actually considering it. “You really don’t give up, do you?” she said at last.

“No.”

It went quiet for a moment, except for the guitar still filling the room through the wall, and I felt that familiar tight feeling in my stomach, the one that always showed up when I wanted something this badly.

“…I just want something that’s… mine,” I muttered more quietly. “Something I can take care of… and I’ve already picked out a breed.”

“Which one?”

“A whippet.”

She sat up fast. “Seriously?! A whippet?! Tinius?!”

It stung a little when she said it like that, but it was the breed I really wanted. They were loyal, calm, basically professional couch potatoes, but still playful. Perfect.

“…okay,” she said after a moment.

I barely had time to react. “What?”

“…I can help you,” she said. “Ask.”

I sat straight up. “Are you serious?”

“Yeah, but only because you’re going to ask anyway and somehow make it ten times worse on your own,” she said quickly. “So I might as well be there and try to save it.”

I just stared at her for a moment. “…you’re the best,” I said.

She rolled her eyes. “Relax.” But I could see the small smile she tried to hide.

And before I could stop myself, I leaned over and gave her a quick hug.

“Ugh, Tinius!” she said, pushing me away. “Don’t do that.”

“You said you’d help me!”

“Yeah, not hug me!”

I laughed a little, but let go. “…thanks,” I said more quietly, already starting to form a plan in my head. “What’s Dad’s biggest weakness?”

She just shrugged. “Uh… Mom?”

And in that moment, we both stood up almost at the same time.

We looked at each other with the same thought and the same plan.

“…now?” I whispered.

She gave a small nod. “Now.”

We moved toward the door, both of us, like we were about to do something illegal and not just… ask our dad for a dog. I opened it slowly, so slowly it barely made a sound, and we stuck our heads out into the hallway.

Quiet.

No Dad... Mom wasn’t there either. Perfect.

They were probably still outside, talking with Uncle Inge and Aunt Minda, which meant we had time to get downstairs and be ready when they came back in, with a solid plan.

Iben and I walked almost on our toes down the hallway until Herman’s door suddenly flew open.

BANG.

We both jumped and turned around immediately. And there he stood. Our older brother, Herman.

His hair stuck out in every direction, long and curly, like he’d been electrocuted in the middle of a concert, and he was wearing ripped black jeans and an oversized T-shirt with a band name I couldn’t even read, his guitar still hanging over his shoulder like it was part of him.

He looked at us with suspicion.

“…what are you doing?” he asked slowly.

I felt my pulse spike. “Uh…” I said.

Iben stepped forward. “Nothing.”

He raised an eyebrow. “You don’t sneak around like that for ‘nothing.’”

His gaze shifted between us before his eyes narrowed slightly.

“…what’s going on.”

“Not... ” I started.

“You’re a terrible liar,” he cut in, pointing straight at me before taking a step closer. “…what. is. going. on.”

I looked at Iben, and she looked back. Neither of us seemed to have a plan for this.

“…I…” I started again.

He leaned in slightly. “Yeah?”

“…I was just going to ask Dad something,” I said finally. “Nothing serious.”

“Oh?” he said. “Like what?”

I hesitated. “…nothing big.”

He just stared at me. And I could already feel it, that there was no way out of this.

“…a dog,” I muttered.

Total silence.

Herman just stood there, blinking, like he was both surprised and not surprised at the same time.

“…what?”

I took a breath. “I’m getting a dog.”

It took exactly one second, and then all hell broke loose.

He completely lost it.

He started laughing, not normal laughing, but the kind that was completely out of control, loud and unfiltered, like it took over his entire body.

He doubled over, clutching his stomach, laughing so hard it echoed through the hallway.

“YOU... ” he choked out. “YOU’RE GOING TO... ”

He couldn’t even finish the sentence and had to grab the wall to stay upright.

“…ask Dad,” he tried again, before bursting into even louder laughter. “FOR A DOG?!”

I just stared at him, and so did Iben. He laughed so hard he actually slid down onto the floor.

“THAT,” he gasped between breaths, “THAT IS THE STUPIDEST THING I’VE EVER HEARD!”

“It’s not stupid!” I shot back, offended.

He pointed at me, still laughing. “You’ve lost it! You’ve actually lost it for real!”

“No, I haven’t!”

“Dad is going to say no before you even finish the sentence!” he said. “He’s going to say no before you even open your mouth!”

I crossed my arms. “You don’t know that… have you ever even asked for a dog?”

He looked at me and then started laughing again. “Oh my God…” he choked out. “…I have to see this!”

I frowned. “What?”

He slowly pushed himself back up, still grinning, still shaking his head. “I’m not missing this,” he said.