I remember when Evan broke up with Oddball. We knew they had been through a rough patch. They hadn't married, but sharing a house with a rock star took it's toll on Evan.

While he was trying to finish his PhD. in History, Oddball was on tour.

When Oddball went to the ceremony to watch Evan give his doctoral lecture, the university lecture hall filled up with Obstruction fans mobbing Odd rather than listening to Evan's speech.

When Evan was assigned a class to lecture, students would sign up just because Dr. Evan Lewis shared a home and a bed with the sexy, bad ass drummer in the chart topping rock band Obstruction.

In the end Evan made a decision. He wanted his anonymity and the peace to do his own thing.

And Oddball accepted it.

Quietly.

By moving into the granny-flat above the garage and giving Evan the run of the house they had bought together. And this seemed to work quite well for a few months.

Until the day when Evan dressed up, left the house and returned laughing, smiling and slightly drunk a few hours later. Holding hands and sharing kisses with a scruffy, tall, dark haired, muscular guy. Not entirely unlike Oddball in looks and build.

Oddball was crushed.

He turned up at our house long after midnight, dissolved in tears. Ethan sat him down in the sofa and gave him a hug.

"I really thought it was temporary... That we'd fix it and get back together... And now he's dating?" Oddball sobbed.

Ethan and I saw no other option but to take him in.

Somehow, I found myself sharing our usually generously wide bed with not just my husband but also his best friend.

I woke in the middle of the night a few days after Odd's appearance, with my head on Oddball's chest and Ethan wrapped around my back.

The whole position was just absurd.

Slowly I wiggled around, away from Oddball's embrace, towards Ethan and found him already awake and looking at me.

"Never thought I'd have to share you with another man," he chuckled quietly.

"Not just any other man... Your best friend," I giggled back.

"It does put a bit of a break on things tho," My cute husband smirked and slid his hand along my side and further down so he could squeeze my ass.

I ran my fingers down along his stomach, stopping short of finding out if he was serious.

"Later. Okay?" I whispered

"We could try to be really quiet," he whispered with a cheeky grin.

"You're not being really quiet now!" Oddball mumbled from my other side.

I turned to see a familiar grin.

"So unless you're planning on inviting me to join your games, you could simply tell me to fuck off so you can make baby number three," Oddball chuckled.

Ethan laughed quietly.

"Sorry, Odd!" I giggled.

"Nah.. I'm sorry. I'm in your bed," he shrugged and stretched out taking up more than half of the bed.

"You needed us," I said.

"Yeah. And Ethan's not gonna let me have his ass, so my time here is done," Oddball grinned and rolled over and into a standing position on the floor.

Ethan wrapped his arms around me and smiled at his best friend.

"Good call... My ass is spoken for," Ethan laughed.

"Well... Izzy... It's been a pleasure snuggling with you, but I'll find my way into the guest room and sleep all on my own in there," Oddball said with a formal bow and left the room.

We heard the door to the guestroom close and turned to look at each other with a giggle.

"Well, then. That leaves us," Ethan smirked and lifted my t-shirt.

"You don't waste time do you?" I chuckled.

"Nope. Five days of a weepy, clingy, extra person in bed is enough," he smiled before latching his lips to the hollow between my collar bones.

The next day I drove to the university to see Evan.

Oddball had taken up permanent residence in our house and refused to even phone Evan to find the facts.

I entered the History department and knocked on the door into the tiny cubicle of an office he had.

He turned, surprised to see me rather than a student, but indicated the guest seat.

"So... Oddball is pretty crushed," I said.

Evan cringed.

"Yeah well... It hasn't been easy for either of us... Ten years is a long time," He started.

"But you're back on the dating scene," I said and observed the look of surprise on Evan's face.

His corkscrew curls were cut short and his glasses made him look more serious than what I knew he could be.

"I'm not telling you how to live your life or how to get over the break up, but Odd saw you return from your date on Saturday and has been living at ours since," I said.

Evan emitted a short, surprised "Oh!".

"Yeah... So... Basically... I don't think Odd living in that flat is a good idea anymore. He's not in a state of mind to deal with being that close to you," I said.

"He doesn't know you're here, eh?" Evan asked.

"Nope. But I see that you look rested and relaxed, so I'm assuming the heartbreak is all Odd," I shrugged.

There was a dry chuckle as he rested back in his seat.

"I'm actually relieved. I'm not bound to anyone. It's sad that we're over, because we were good together, but I'm not going back to it," he said.

"I'm not expecting you to fall back in love with Oddball, but we need a better living situation," I said.

"I know. I've already put in an offer for a flat closer to the university. It's Odd's house. He bought it," Evan shrugged.

I studied the man in front of me. He had been a huge part of our lives.

"The end of Odds and Evens, huh?" I asked.

"Yeah. End of an era," he nodded.

I stood up again to let him continue his work.

As my hand touched the doorknob, he cleared his throat uncertainly.

"I really did love him, Izzy. Just... I need you to know that," He said.

"I know that, Evan," I nodded back.

"I just couldn't deal with the extras," he said carefully.

"You're still one of Ayame's godparents. So any time you feel like checking in on her, you're welcome," I replied.

"Thanks, Izzy. But I think I need a clean break," he shrugged.

Not too long after, Oddball had the house to himself. It never occurred to him to sell it or live in a smaller home. This was the house he had bought, the house he'd been happy in.

Evan's old study was made into headquarters for "Elsie's Obstruction", the charity we had set up for traffic injured children after Oddball's sister died in a car crash. It had grown into a large organisation and Oddball was planning to combine our next tour with a UNICEF collaboration project to focus on children growing up in extreme poverty around the world.

Obstruction's latest tour was over and the plan was to do a smaller charity focused tour before recording another album. Simon and Selma were expecting another child and Simon wanted time off for the baby. He feared Selma getting into another depression and wanted to be at home to let her rest. But first, charity tour. We were going to do smaller gigs in impoverished areas rather than large stadiums and our management had invited local bands to audition for the chance to record a song with us before we took another break.

In total we had ten songs lined up, each would be recorded with a different band. The money earned would go straight into the unicef campaign and fund schools and healthcare.

We had been around most of South America with a documentary film crew, and arrived in Brazil, ready to make the most of the favelas. We weren't there as tourists, but as UNICEF ambassadors. Every city was different. Every slum was different and every time, we left feeling we should be doing more for the people we met. In Brazil, we were warned that we would see more desolation and poverty than anywhere else.

The first day in Rio de Janeiro was set aside to visit the poorest Favela in the north end of the city. It was dangerous, full of crime and run by drug lords, so we had hired a couple of armed bodyguards and had a council appointed social worker with us.

We all headed there, leaving the children at the hotel with a pregnant Selma, my mum and Josh who had come along to babysit.

Most favelas were proper buildings with some form of organised structure, schools and even health clinics, populated by people in low income bracket of Brazilian society. We were however ignoring them in favour of the very poorest areas, populated by those with next to no income and in the claws of the drug cartels or somehow unable to build a better life.

After a stupidly steep climb up a ridiculous cliff face littered with shacks, we entered an area where the buildings didn't even resemble shacks anymore. Some had cardboard boxes for doors and the children we saw were filthy, skinny and serious.

God knows what the social worker's job was because she continued explaining how the child protection office was incapable of doing enough for these children. The documentary crew, a cameraman slash director and a sound guy stopped at a small plateau surrounded by tiny little lean-to, ramshackle piles of corrugated iron that I, to my shock, found out were actual homes. Several kids peaked out of one and I felt intensely guilty when I dug a water bottle out of my messenger bag to get a drink and saw their envious faces.

The cameraman filmed our reactions as we took in these poorest homes I had ever seen. I had to grab Ethan's hand for support as I took in the shocking sight ahead of me.

Oddball looked crestfallen.

"People live here?" He gasped.

"Yes," the social worker replied digging her census record from her bag.

"They raise children here?" Oddball asked again.

"Yes," She answered again in a disembodied voice.

Simon stood close to me staring at a pile of rags in a corner.

"There's a kid over there," he mumbled.

Oddball took two steps over and crouched down next to the rags with the camera closely behind him, filming it all for the documentary.

"Hey, little guy. Where's your mum?" Oddball asked the little child.

He looked about Nico and Seb's age so I nudged Ethan. Our Seb had recently turned two and was at the crazy running around age, babbling like a brook and testing the world. This little one was quiet, listless and so pale and skinny it looked like a mild breeze could carry him off.

"What have you got there?" Oddball asked and pointed to the child's lap.

It looked like he had a small baby doll in his arms.

Oddball reached out and the toddler drew the doll closer to him. I heard a whimper.

It was no doll. The little toddler was sat holding a very small baby.

From the next shack along a woman who looked about twenty years older than her actual age emerged and said something in a rapid portuguese.

"The lady here said the mum is dead. She's still inside the shack," the social services lady informed us cooly and looked through her census for more information.

Simon quickly poked his head into the shack nearest the children and drew back with a look of disgust and shock.

"How long have they been without a mum?" Odd asked and watched as the social worker exchanged words with the lady.

"A few days.... She's told the area boss but nobody's been to take her away yet," the social worker said.

"And the dad?" Ethan asked.

"Unknown," the social worker answered after conferring with the woman

"How have they survived?" I asked looking at the tiny baby and estimating her to be roughly a month old.

The woman spoke again and the social worker nodded.

"This woman said she's hardly got enough for her own family but she's given them what she could for the past week," the social worker informed me.

"And the baby?" Oddball asked.

"The boy feeds her whatever he gets," the social worker shrugged.

I stuck my hand into my bag and dug out a fresh, unopened bottle of water.

"See if you can get him to drink," I said handing it to Oddball.

He unscrewed it and gave it to the child who surprised us all by lifting the baby up slightly and pouring some into her mouth first.

"That's how she's alive!" Ethan said in awe.

I crouched in front of the boy who was staring at us with big, frightened eyes. Slowly I reached out and lifted the blanket from around the baby. She was so thin and the fontanelle at the top of her head had sunk to show she was severely dehydrated. From the look of the boy he was in a similar state. The blanket was dry. There was no diaper, but the neither of them had been fed sufficiently to need one.

I turned to the social worker.

"These children need medical attention," I said.

"There are no doctors up here," she shrugged.

"So... Are you saying these children will be left here to die?" Simon asked.

"No. Healthcare in Brazil is government run. We can take them to the hospital, but we don't have foster homes for all these kids up here and the orphanages are full. Usually it falls on kind neighbours like this one," The social worker said sadly.

Oddball looked at her.

"Well.. these two are going to hospital first of all!" he said firmly.

The woman in the next shack picked up on the word Hospital and said something.

"She said not to bring them back up here because she can't keep them," the social worker said.

"Well... then I will," Oddball muttered before turning to the small boy with a smile.

"Like how? You gonna adopt him?" Simon chuckled dryly.

Oddball straightened slightly before slowly turning to the social worker. His face was determined.

"Can I do that?" he asked.

"Dude! You can't just randomly adopt a kid off the street!" Simon laughed.

"Not one... Two..." Oddball said and pointed to the baby.

The social worker looked at Odd with a small smile.

"If you get the legal paperwork, I'll see what I can do about trying to track down any family," she smiled.

Within a few minutes, she had spoken to the woman in the next shack along and gone into the shack with the dead mother to look for any paperwork.

We could hear the social worker rummaging in the tiny shelter.

She emerged with what looked like a birth certificate and a couple of small objects. She handed me a braided bracelet and a small wooden carved horse. In addition there was a small metal tin with a hinged lid, I put it all into my bag.

"This is for a boy called Jalemo. The dad's name is unlisted. The mum's name wasn't listed for this area last time someone tried to register people up here, so she's a recent addition to this area," she said, looking at the paper in her hand.

The little boy said something ending in something sounding like "Halè".

"He said his name is Jalè. Unusual name, we don't normally find any paperwork either. He's born further down the hill almost three years ago," the social worker said.

The neighbour said something again and the social worker nodded.

"And the girl?" Ethan asked.

The woman next door looked at him with a smirk before saying something.

"She said she's not registered anywhere because the mum got sick and died, she was pregnant when she arrived here," the social worker said.

Oddball blinked a few times.

"She's unlisted? And his dad is unknown?" he asked.

The social worker nodded.

Oddball took a look into the shack.

"Well.. She certainly did look a lot more attractive, but right this moment I'm pretty sure I've had a couple of wild nights in Rio with a girl that looked just like her..." Oddball grinned.

"Yeah... Pretty sure that's not how it works..." Simon laughed.

"The authorities won't believe that," the social worker smiled.

"But he could potentially adopt them?" I asked.

"Well... yeah, There are always too many orphans," the social worker shrugged.

"Let's get them to the hospital first," Ethan sighed and shot Oddball a look of exasperation.

Oddball missed it completely as he reached out for the boy and somehow coaxed him to stand up.

"Will you let me carry you?" Oddball asked and reached for the boy. The little guy looked mystified, so Odd pointed to the baby and then to me.

"Izzy can carry your baby. She's a mum and will carry her carefully," Odd said.

The little one tucked the baby closer to himself.

"Okay... I'll just carry both of you," Oddball chatted and somehow managed to lift the little guy up while making sure the baby was safe.

The boy looked surprised and pointed to the shack where his dead mother was while saying something.

"We'll take care of your mum too, little dude," Oddball said and nodded.

The boy seemed to accept this and nodded back.

I caught Ethan and Simon throwing worried looks at the neighbour's skinny children. These ones were lucky enough to have a mother, but it didn't look like their lives were easy either. I quickly dug through my bag and found another bottle of water and the snacks I'd brought for ourselves. It wasn't much, but at least it was something.

"Thank you!" I said and handed her the snacks. The social worker told the woman something in Portuguese and the woman nodded with a lopsided smile at me.

"I said you wish you had brought more for her trouble and that you are grateful for her charity," The social worker smiled.

Two hours later, we were at the hospital closest to our hotel. The social worker had wanted to get the children to the favela hospital, but Oddball had insisted on one closer to us. Somehow he had bonded with the boy on the way down the mountain. Constantly chatting and talking nonsense.

"He's serious about this, huh?" Simon asked as we stood by the nurses station.

We were looking through the glass window at Oddball sitting next to the hospital bed coaxing Jalè to eat a high energy nutritional yoghurt.

In a cot next to them was the little girl. Jalè had become hysterical when they had tried separating him from his sister so Oddball had convinced the hospital staff to treat them together. Both had been washed. Jalè had been riddled with fleas and small insect bites all over his body. As a precaution he had been given medicine against intestinal worms and other common parasites. The baby had an IV of fluids. The doctor in charge of them had said it was a miracle that she was even alive.

Right now, Oddball was sat with a wide smile and a glow about him I hadn't seen before.

"I don't think we can stop him," I said.

"He's already called our legal team at the label," Ethan chuckled at his best friend's apparent madness.

A suited lady strode up the corridor and went into the room to sit opposite Oddball. The social worker who'd gone up the mountain with us closed the door but stayed with us.

"My boss. She'll be able to tell him what to do," She explained.

A few minutes later, Oddball came out of the room looking defeated. The lady in there was trying to talk to Jalè, who in turn shot a distressed look after Oddball before shaking his head.

There was a frightened look on Odd's face as he looked at us.

"Apparently my 'lifestyle' is a problem...." he sighed.

"Deny, deny, deny?" Simon suggested.

"Dude, Obstruction is kinda famous in Brazil..." Ethan chuckled.

"The lady in there is a fan and knew who I was. No point in denying. She said the only way I can get around it is if I have a mother for them," he mumbled.

"So? Someone to adopt with you?" Ethan asked?

"Not sure if it's adopt with me, but a female guardian, Yeah," Odd said and threw a look in through the window at the two children.

I exchanged a look with Ethan. He looked at Oddball's sad face before dragging me a few steps down the corridor.

"If there's one thing I know about Odd it's how loyal he is. Once he loves someone he'll never let them go," Ethan said.

"And he's completely sold on those two," I said.

"So... I'm volunteering you as a tribute. Cos he's not gonna just leave them," Ethan said.

"What? You mean...Me? As guardian?" I asked.

"Yeah. It makes sense. We're married, stable economy. If anything happens to Odd, the kids will have a home. He wants this so bad!" Ethan nodded.

I looked at his serious face before looking at Oddball who was stood staring into the hospital room. His face was so worried, but he brightened and smiled at the little kid whenever the boy looked at him. I nodded. It was the right thing to do.

"I'll do it Odd," I said once I'd gone back and was stood next to him.

He slowly turned to look at me as if he thought he's heard something else.

"I'll mother your kids," I confirmed with a smile.

Odd froze for a second before he launched himself at me and lifted me up from the floor pouring out noises that could be either laughter or crying. Something wet was dampening my hair and I heard him whisper a series of Thank you's and muffled promises of sainthood into my hair.

"Thank Ethan... It was his idea!" I giggled and was released before my husband was clamped into an Oddball-hug.

Next to me Simon rolled his eyes, but there was a smile on his face that told me he was ready to jump in at a moment's notice.

Oddball bounced over to the door and opened it before walking over to the caseworker with a wide grin.

"We have a Mama... Izzy's onboard," he told her.

The caseworker smiled and nodded at me before looking over at Ethan.

"Are they adopting them?" she asked.

"No.. I am. But they are my backup family," Odd nodded.

"Selma and I are in too," Simon shot in.

I looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Well... I'm sure we'll be once she sees them.. I mean... That kid is cute!" Simon shrugged with a dismissive smile.

The caseworker chuckled.

"Obstruction-babies!" She said.

"Oh... We have a few already. Two more won't hurt," Simon smirked.

"So?" Oddball asked.

"No promises..." the caseworker said with a conspiratorial smile.

A few days later they were declared healthy enough to leave the hospital, but all the orphanages nearby were full. Somehow Oddball was able to convince the social services to let them stay with us at the hotel. His room was suddenly turned into a chaos of diapers, formula, bottles and clothes.

The four of us were in the suite with all three of the obstruction kids when the door opened and a beaming Odd entered. Simon had almost forced Selma into their room for some much needed last trimester rest and my mum and stepdad were sightseeing.

Oddball arrived with Jalè holding his hand and the baby on his arm.

Seb and Nico stopped their mad running around to look at the similarly sized child hiding behind Odd's leg.

"Who's that?" Seb asked.

"His name is Jalè and he's gonna be staying with Uncle Oddball for a while," Ethan explained.

"Hale!" Nico announced, studying the boy.

Seb ran over and picked up the ukulele we'd brought as a toy.

"Look Hale! I can play music!" he said and strummed the little instrument completely out of tune.

"Hale," Oddball said carefully testing the sound before crouching down with the child.

"I'll look after your sister, all right? You go play," he smiled and pointed to the two mini rock-stars currently singing "twinkle twinkle" at full volume.

The now renamed Hale, smiled at Odd, patted the baby's head and stepped up to the two other boys.

They stopped singing and looked at him. With a smile he started singing the same song, only in Portuguese and with a lot better tonality than the other two.

"I guess we have another rock star," Simon chuckled.

"Yeah," Odd grinned and sat down holding the baby girl. She had been fed and looked a lot better than a week earlier. She was looking up at Oddball who was smiling back down at her.

"Right then... So your brother will be Hale Harris. I guess it's only appropriate to ask if you wanna be Elsie Harris," He said.

The baby made a "Gaaa" noise and waved her arms.

"I take that as a yes," Oddball said and looked at us who were mostly looking at him with smiles.

"You are completely and utterly out of your mind... But we've got your back!" Ethan said.

Oddball grinned and reached into his back pocket, pulling out an envelope which he threw at Ethan.

Inside was a letter from the child protection authorities stating that Oddball had been granted temporary custody over two orphan children, with an option to adopt them if biological family could not be found within a set date.

"I'm gonna take care of you!" He told the little girl before wrinkling his nose.

"And by the smell of it, you're gonna make me work for it," he said and stood up.

Hale looked at him with a worried expression as he went to the door leading into his room. The suite had a common room and several bedrooms joined to it.

"You're safe here, Hale. I'll be right back with Elsie," Odd told him and made a smelly nappy wave with his hand under his nose.

Hale giggled and made the same motion before turning back to Nico and Seb to continue playing.

When Oddball returned a few minutes later with a sleepy, clean baby and a bottle of milk, Hale only threw a quick smile at him before returning to the two other boys. Oddball placed the baby in my arms. I was sat with Ayame, teaching her to read.

"A baby?" my five year old asked as I grabbed the bottle.

"Her name is Elsie Louisa," Oddball said.

"Louisa?" I asked.

"Their mum was Louisa. It's only right to keep the name," he shrugged.

"Named for two dead girls," Simon shuddered.

"Two girls who should have had longer, better lives. Louisa was 18, grew up as a street urchin, never knew her family and never saw the world outside the slum. This one will grow up safe and healthy," Oddball nodded.

"How do you know this?" I asked.

"I went back up the other day with some rice and beans and other food for the neighbour. Brought Louisa down for a funeral. Oh... and I put a private detective on the case of tracing her family. She had none," he said.

"A funeral?" I asked, latching on to the one piece of info I could make sense of.

"Yeah. Figured she should have a decent farewell," he shrugged.

We all stared at him shaking our heads at his impulsive behaviour. It was the right thing to do, but he was doing it so sudden.

"The trinkets from their hut are on the table," I said.

Oddball picked up the wooden horse and studied it carefully. He picked up the metal box and unsnapped the lid. From inside he pulled a couple of photos. One was of a young girl at the Rio carnival, dressed in a colourful hula skirt, the other was a polaroid of the same girl, a bit older, holding a baby. Oddball turned the first photo over to read a short message on the back.

"Louisa. So this is what you looked like," Oddball whispered and put the photos back into the box, saved for later.

"You okay holding her?" he asked.

I nodded and let Aya try to have a conversation with the small baby.

Oddball walked over to a seat where he got his phone up to his ear.

"Hey mum... Sorry. Forgot about the time thing. Look... could you do me a favour? You know the two guest rooms that never gets any use... could you kinda make them into nurseries?" he said into the phone with a grin.

"Yeah.. they are here, at the hotel," Odd smiled into the phone.

While Ayame was chatting with little Elsie, I looked up at Ethan who was stood grinning and watching me hold her.

"It suits you, you know," he said quietly with a small smile.

I noticed his eyes on the baby before he looked at me again.

He didn't push it, but I knew he wanted us to have more kids.

"Maybe we can convince Oddball to let us have this one?" I said.

Ethan tilted his head, ready to push me a little bit.

"Mum. Can we have a baby too?" Aya suddenly asked next to me, her finger clutched in the baby's grip.

There was a quiet laughter from my husband as he sat next to her.

"Maybe. If we work together, we can convince Mum!" he stage whispered.

I tried shooting him a stern look, but met a grin so full of mischief that my grumbles died. Once he saw my face change, he winked at me.

"Mutiny!" I said on a half chuckle.

"I told you. .. as many as you want," he whispered.

"And, my dear... It seems I have gone from two to four in a few days," I replied.

"So... another one won't make any difference!" Ethan shrugged.

I studied his cheeky smile before looking down at the baby who was cooing and smiling.

Another look at Seb and Aya had me sighing. And when I looked back at Ethan, he looked ready to burst with excitement.

"You won't regret it!" he promised with a shine in his eyes.

I looked up to see Oddball, still on the phone with his mum and a happy glow that I'd not seen since before Evan broke up with him. His eyes were fixed on Hale, who was studying a toy train, trying to work out how it was supposed to function.

I looked back at Ethan.

Seeing the look of pure adoration as he ran his hand through Aya's hair. I felt the memory of pregnancy in my body and the weight of the baby in my arms.

He looked at me again and I found myself nodding.

"Thank you!" He whispered and leaned over Ayame to kiss me.

"Will you two ever get out of the honeymoon phase?" Simon teased looking at us.

"Never!" Ethan smiled, kissing me again.

***

First: If anybody find any faults in how I've described Brazil and the favelas, please let me know so I can correct it! Sometimes Google is not my friend, but Brazil seemed like the logical choice with all the publicity around orphans lately.

You know... they are doing sports and stuff this year...

(Also: a massive thanks to Casa de Caminho orphanage for taking in as many orphans as possible and giving them the best schooling and upbringing they can outside of the crime and violence of the favela! The work they do is immense!)

Also: the picture in the banner is not mine, but it was so cute I had to borrow it.

What did you think of the chapter?

Did Oddball do the right thing in picking up these random kids off the street?

What would you have done in this situation?

Please vote and comment! Your feedback gives me the motivation to continue writing!

Teaser: The next chapter is back to "the present" Simon's press conference is coming up, Ethan and Izzy have to answer some difficult questions from the journalists.