JC stared at the bottom of his empty glass as he sat in the hotel lobby bar. The remnants of bourbon stuck to the ice, dripping off and falling to the next ice cube. He was shaken up after the argument with Aria. He couldn’t help but note the confusion on Beckett’s face as he trailed behind his sister to the elevator. Both of his children had, in their own ways, confessed to him they weren’t happy with the woman he was about to make his third wife. 

The bartender came up to him with the bourbon bottle. He held it up and said, “Another glass, sir?”

JC shook his head. Tomorrow was the rehearsal dinner and all day he’d need to be coherent and not hungover. He could handle his alcohol well, but two glasses of bourbon would probably not be the answer to a good night’s sleep. Especially since he knew he’d be restless with all that was going on with his family.

His family. He shook his head and let out a breath of air that he hadn’t realized he’d been holding in. His family that consisted of two ex-wives and two children that he loved more than anything. He tipped back the remaining drops of bourbon and winced as the liquid burned his throat. Even watered down, it was still strong and he was thankful he’d opted not to have a second glass. 

He’d never wanted to be the guy with two failed marriages. He’d always assumed once he married Sabrina that would be it for him. She was everything he’d ever wanted in a woman and in a soul mate. When Aria had been born, he felt something nearly explode inside of him because of the love he felt for his baby daughter. 

And then he’d met Kelsey, who was everything different from Sabrina. She was reckless, wild with abandon, and didn’t give a shit about much, especially the fact that she was seducing a married man. She’d come along at a time when he and Sabrina hadn’t been getting along but only because he’d been gone so much. The baby was colicky and kept Sabrina awake most nights and when he’d wanted to make love, she’d had no energy. 

That had been his excuse to sleep with Kelsey that first time. Well, that and the alcohol. But for some reason, she’d been different and he couldn’t stop. He wanted her every time he saw her. It was like he could put Sabrina in another compartment. She was his wife, yes, but….for some reason he wanted Kelsey more at that moment in time.

He knew this weekend had been rough on both of his ex-wives. He’d seen them forcing themselves to get along with one another. His mother had told him she’d even felt sorry for Kelsey earlier that day at the bridal luncheon because she’d more or less sat alone, occasionally talking to Aria. JC knew his mother had never cared for Kelsey because Sabrina had won his family over the minute they’d met her. Kelsey had never had a chance.

At that moment, he looked up and saw his two exes strolling into the lobby, arm and arm, and laughing with one another. He had to do a double take because of the fact that they were even together, much less acting like long lost best friends. He didn’t realize he was staring at them until they both were standing right in front of him.

“What?” Kelsey playfully pushed his arm. He eyed her and saw her lip was swollen and in her hand she was holding what appeared to be a melted bag of ice.

“What happened to you?” He pointed at her lip. “Why-“ He’d wanted to ask “Why are you together?” but he refrained and instead asked, “Why are you out so late?”

Sabrina looked at her watch. “ It’s nine-thirty. Is that late to you now?” 

“No, I just…seriously, what happened, Kelsey?” He was looking at her lip, which had turned slightly purple in color. 

“Sabrina punched me.” Kelsey shrugged, then looked at Sabrina and they both burst into giggles. 

“What?!” JC’s voice rose and a few people sitting at the bar turned to look at the threesome. He cleared his throat. “Sabrina punched you?!”

“We had to…air out some grievances,” Sabrina said, as though she was telling him this happened all the time and it was no big deal. 

“We actually got kicked out of the restaurant.” Kelsey took a seat at the empty bar stool next to JC. “Too bad, really. It’s one of my favorite places to eat in Savannah.”

“Oh, I’m sure they’ll let you back in.” Sabrina was trying to be reassuring and JC sat there, his eyes widening with every word.

“Stop. Go back. You got into a fight in a restaurant and they kicked you out and you two are acting like this is no big deal!” He was whispering loudly and Kelsey chuckled at him.

“Yep. Pretty much.” She looked over at the bar tender. “Hi, can I get a club soda with lime, please?”

“I…I didn’t even know you could punch!” JC looked at Sabrina. “What the hell. No paps followed you did they?”

“No, because this isn’t 1999 anymore.” Sabrina hopped on the stool on the other side of JC. “I don’t think anyone knew who we were. Well, they might have known Kelsey. She’s the hometown girl.”

“I’ll call my agent in the morning if he hasn’t already called by then.” Kelsey gratefully took the club soda from the bar tender and sipped her drink. “Anyway, we’re fine now. In fact, we might start hanging out more when we get back to New York. It would make it easier on the kids.” 

JC sat there gaping at both of these women, who, for some reason, were talking as if this happened all the time. 

“I…I –“ He shook his head and glanced at Kelsey and then Sabrina. “Is this some sort of joke you’re playing on me for the wedding?”

“Um, no, because believe it or not, Josh, you aren’t the main focus of our lives anymore.” Kelsey rolled her eyes at him. “Look, we might as well be friends, right? It takes a lot more energy to be bitchy to each other than it does to just talk about how much we hated one another and then find out we have more in common besides just fucking you.”

Sabrina snorted and slapped JC on the back. “See? This can be a lot of fun!”

“Yeah, both of you suddenly BFF and making jokes at my expense.” JC muttered.

“Oh, stop it!” Kelsey spoke. “We’re not making jokes at your expense. But you are the one thing we have in common.  Or you have been up until now. Turns out there’s a lot of things we’ve missed out on because we’ve spent the last eighteen years hating each other.”

“My head hurts.” JC put his head in his hands. 

Sabrina looked over at Kelsey and they both shared a smile. “Get some Advil and chug water. It will do wonders.” She patted him on the back. “Where are the kids, by the way?”

“Aria got mad at me and took Beckett upstairs with her.” JC was talking into his hands. “I get the feeling they’re not too crazy about Tinsley.”

Kelsey bit her tongue because she wanted to say, “Can you blame them?” but instead cleared her throat. “Oh, that’s too bad. I’m, um, sure they’ll get used to her.”

JC turned and looked at Kelsey. “I don’t think they will.”

“I mean, obviously, nobody will take the place of their amazing mothers.” Kelsey winked at him and then looked at Sabrina. “But they’ll eventually come around.”

Sabrina hopped off the bar stool. “I’m going to find Aria. I’m sure she’ll want to talk to me.” Looking at Kelsey she said, “Are you coming?”

Kelsey shook her head. “Nah, I’m gonna finish my club soda.”

Sabrina nodded and then went around JC to hug Kelsey. “Good night. And thanks. I’m so glad we mended things,” she said into her ear.

Kelsey grinned and hugged Sabrina back. “Me too.” Then, “Hey, can you check on Beck and let me know if he’s ok? He’ll probably be in bed playing Roblox. Tell him I’ll be up soon.”

“Will do.” Sabrina hugged JC. “Good night, Josh. And don’t worry, it will all work out.”

JC watched Sabrina as she headed towards the elevator corridor. He let out a sigh and then turned to Kelsey, who was staring at him. “What?”

Kelsey bit her lip and hesitated before she answered. “I guess I’m just sorry I broke you two up. I’m pretty sure you’d still be together if it weren’t for me.”

JC nodded his head slowly. “Maybe. But if we were still together, I wouldn’t have Beckett. And I can’t imagine my life without him in it.”

“I know.” Kelsey smiled, more to herself than to him. “He’s a great kid.”

They were silent and the only sounds around them were the muffled conversations of the other bar patrons and the clinking of ice as Kelsey sipped her club soda. 

“I’m sorry,” she finally said. “I know we had Beckett, but…we weren’t in love. I mean, I loved you, but not….well, you know.” 

She’d wanted to say “Not the way Sabrina loved you. And not the way you loved Sabrina.”

JC put his arm around her shoulder. “I loved you. But…yeah. I think I was always in love with Sabrina and….” He trailed off, not knowing how to finish that statement. There foreheads were touching and Kelsey let him kiss her lips softly. She returned the kiss and then pulled away. 

“This is how we got in trouble before.” She whispered and stroked his cheek with her thumb. “A bar and bad judgment. And I don’t want to be the ‘other woman’ in this marriage you’re about to start.”

JC didn’t move. He’d kissed her because she was familiar and she was there, sitting next to him. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have kissed you.”

Kelsey bit her lip and smiled. “Well, if it makes you feel any better, I didn’t feel anything.”

JC chuckled. “Thanks a lot.”

“You know what I mean. You’re still a great kisser, but I didn’t feel anything other than ‘Damn he’s still got it!’.” 

JC had to laugh out loud at that. “I’m a fucked up mess.” He finally said after a few moments of silence.

“Why do you say that?” Kelsey rested her elbow on the bar, letting her head fall into her hand. 

“Because I don’t even know if I want to marry Tinsley because I love her. I think I’m marrying her because she’s young and she thought I was hot. And…I got caught up in all of that.” JC wasn’t talking to Kelsey, but to his glass. 

Kelsey watched him and remembered the man she had married, always so confused and lost in his thoughts, never really talking to her about much because he’d been a million miles away in his own world. She nodded, agreeing with him.

“Josh, if you’d never met me…I mean, if we never…you know. Would you still be with Sabrina? Do you still love her?” Kelsey asked the question that had always plagued her, except this time she asked it out of love for her ex-husband and her new friend. 

He looked up from his glass and over at Kelsey. Without hesitation, he said, “Yes.”

When Sabrina walked into her hotel room, she found both Aria and Beckett on one of the double beds, each playing on their phones. Aria had one leg propped up, the other down, and she was looking intently at her screen. As predicted, Beckett was playing Roblox, sitting cross legged and moving his fingers quickly across his screen.

“Hello.” Sabrina greeted both of them as she placed her purse on the dresser next to the television. “Beckett, your mom will be up in a minute. But do you mind saying goodnight to your sister? I need to talk to her.”

Beckett looked up from his phone. “Oh, okay, sure.” He looked over at Aria. “Night, Sissy.” He leaned over and let Aria hug him with one arm before he hopped off the bed. “Night, Sabrina.” He smiled at her and Sabrina knew that every time Kelsey looked at her son, she saw JC Chasez looking right back at her.

Sabrina sat down on the edge of Aria’s bed. “Hey.” She tapped her daughter’s foot. “We need to talk.”

“Did Dad tell you?” Aria put her phone down and sat up straighter. “Mom, I’m sorry, he’s just…he’s making a big mistake with that girl!”

Sabrina nodded. “I know, baby. But it’s his mistake to make. And all we can do is let him do it. He’s a big boy. If it fails, it fails.” She sighed. “He told me and Kelsey that you guys weren’t too keen on her.”

“You and Dad and Kelsey were hanging out together?” Aria immediately sat up, suddenly intrigued. Sabrina couldn’t blame her. She knew how much Sabrina had loathed Kelsey just 24 hours ago. 

“Well…sort of.” Sabrina knew better than to tell her daughter about the punching incident. “Kelsey and I….we got to talk tonight. And we’re actually much better with each other now. But yeah, we ran into Dad when we got back from dinner. He told us you and Beckett hadn’t been too happy with him.”

“Dad’s just being stupid.” Aria muttered. “Do you know how embarrassing it is to be the future stepdaughter of Tinsley Shackelford? Mom, my friends even see right through her!”

Sabrina could only nod. “Your dad has never liked to be alone. He needs to be with someone. It’s just in his nature. It’s why it took him so long to divorce Kelsey, I think. He didn’t want two failed marriages.”

Aria looked at her mother for a second before she asked, “Mom, do you think you and Dad would still be together if…I mean, if he and Kelsey hadn’t happened?”

Sabrina chuckled. “Oh, gosh, Aria, I don’t know. That was a long time ago.” She shrugged. “But I’d like to think so. I’d like to think we’d have worked it out. But look, if he hadn’t been with Kelsey, you wouldn’t have a little brother and it’s been really sweet to watch you and Beckett interact this weekend. He adores you and you love him.”

“I know. I guess I just wonder if Dad ever thought about going back to the beginning and sorting it all out and forgetting Tinsley.” Aria looked at her mother, almost hopefully. She wanted Sabrina to tell her she agreed and that JC should leave Tinsley. 

“Honey, I don’t think there’s anything that can be changed right now. I think Dad’s made up his mind and he’s stubborn, you know that. The only thing you can do is show up at the wedding and show him you support him because he’s your family.” Sabrina reached over to smooth out Aria’s hair. “But I think you probably need to talk to him. He hates that you’re upset with him.”

“Fine.” Aria reached for her phone and began to text her father, asking him if they could talk. It didn’t take more than a second for JC to respond “Yes, I’m downstairs in the lobby bar.”

“Don’t forget your room key,” Sabrina said, as Aria was heading out the door. She watched her daughter leave and let out a sigh, proud of herself for not telling Aria what she really thought of this whole situation they were all in because of JC’s floozy fiancé.

JC was still sitting in the same spot when Aria got off the elevator. Kelsey had just told him goodnight and missed her stepdaughter by a few minutes. 

“Dad.” Aria walked up to him and JC smiled as he held out his arms to her. “I’m sorry, Dad. I shouldn’t have run off like that.”

“It’s ok, baby. I understand why you’re upset.” JC kissed the top of her head. “I think I understand more than you realize.”

“Yeah?” Aria took an empty stool next to her father. 

JC nodded. “Yeah. I think you can help me figure something out and make all of this a better weekend for everyone.” He paused and then glanced at her before he said, “Well, everyone except Tinsley.”