“You can call me Eli, that works too,” the man said. He stood just shy of 6 feet, a thin frame but clearly worked out a bit.  His dark brown eyes sparkled behind his glasses. His cheekbones could cut glass, his skin a milk chocolate brown, darker than his brother. His hair was long enough that it hit his ears, parted off to the side. 

He wore a black leather jacket that was open, showing a small plaid patterned button down shirt that was white and a light blue. He had dark wash jeans and black boots. He was the perfect mix between preppy and dangerous, almost too good looking. 

Jackie had noticed Miranda’s husband at family gatherings, but seeing his brother, it was clear good looks ran in the family. Mikayla couldn’t help but smile at the interaction between them. 

“I’m Jackie,” she finally managed to squeak out, looking at Mikayla. She leaned close to Mikayla. “Thank you, so much…”

Mikayla smiled and left the two to talk a bit before dinner started. She helped get things finished for dinner, the twins helping put the silverware at each plate. 

“Dinner is ready,” Carolina announced, Justin turning the TV off. The twins and their cousins got their own little table, plates premade for the twins with everything they liked.  Mikayla was seated between Justin and JC, Jackie sitting opposite her date. Mikayla can’t help but notice the goofy smiles on their faces. If she didn’t know better, hadn’t been with her all day, Mikayla would swear they had sex.

“Whose bike is that in the driveway?” Eli asked. 

“Mine,” JC answered. 

“Nice.  I’ve got an older model, not quite as nice, but it gets me around.”

“Yeah, I didn’t have the twins today so I figured I might as well, easier to get around any traffic.”

“I rode mine to their house before we came together.”

Mikayla and Jackie exchanged glances, a smirk on Mikayla’s face.  JC squeezed Mikayla’s hand under the table, wishing her family wasn’t there so he could put his hand on her thigh.

Miguel prayed a blessing over the meal before they served up plates.  Silas woke up needing to eat about halfway through dinner, Mikayla wearing a cover so she could stay at the table while he ate, Justin and JC both giving her bites of her plate so she could eat.

“I still can’t believe you gave birth without medication, how did you do it?” Miranda marveled at her sister. 

“Well, it didn’t help that he came super quick compared to the twins… There wasn’t enough time to get an epidural.”

“We got her through it,” Justin smiled. 

“We?” Miranda asked curiously. 

“I had Justin call Josh. He’d missed me delivering the twins, so he was on FaceTime while I was delivering Silas. They helped me stay calm and focused on pushing, breathing, all of that. I couldn’t have done it without them.”

“Kids are such a blessing,” Eli smiled. “I want a couple of my own someday.”  He looked at Jackie, who was trying not to smile too widely and be too obvious. 

Dinner was over, the guys helping put food away and start dishes.  Miranda pulled Mikayla down the hall.

“Ok, something is up with you and JC…”

“Is that so bad?” Mikayla asked nervously.  “We have history, he’s the twins’ dad.”

“You’re married to Justin. Are you having an affair?”

Mikayla swallowed hard. “Is it an affair if your husband knows and is ok with it?”

“Kinda, yeah.”

“We’re getting married this summer. Well, symbolically anyway. He came back into my life and I just couldn’t help but falling in love with him all over again. I don’t really think I ever stopped…”  She looked at her sister.  “You hate me,” she sighed. 

Miranda pulled her into the closest room, closing the door. “What makes you think I hate you?”

“You’ve been disappointed in friends that had sex and got pregnant before getting married, so I figured with what I’m doing you must-“

“Be super jealous that you’re with two of the guys we fawned over as teens?  Sure, I’m definitely that. You know Stephen and I lived together before we got married, were sleeping together. Do I fully understand what you’re telling me?  No.  Do I judge you for wanting to be with two incredibly amazing men that are clearly head over heels in love with you?  No.  I don’t know what I’d do if it was me.  If my husband suddenly got amnesia and left us, and I found someone else that I loved just as much, then he came back, I don’t know what I’d do.  Them being best friends really helps the situation and being ok with it.  No, Kayla, I don’t judge you or hate you for wanting to have them both.  You have kids with both of them, you want them to be actively in your family that you’ve built.  I may be jealous, but that’s the worst of it.  You’re my sister, I will always love you.”

Mikayla felt a weight of relief off her shoulders, hoping the wedding would become more of what she had dreamed months earlier.  They walked back to the rest of the family, Silas stealing everyone’s attention.  Her heart felt full watching the scene before her.  They went to watch TV to let their stomachs rest before having dessert.  They found the Peanuts Thanksgiving Specials and watched, the kids feeling like they were getting something new, and the adults feeling a bit of nostalgia.

Jackie pulled Mikayla aside.  “Thank you for including me in today.”

“You’re part of our family.  So, how are things going?” Mikayla asked enthusiastically.

“Eli and I have a date on Saturday.  Not sure where he’s taking me, but he said to wear something like this, that I look good in dresses.”

“I’m excited for you two.  You deserve to have the life you want for yourself, Jackie.  We’ll have you as long as we can, but when it’s time to end one chapter and begin another, we understand.”

“It’s a bit early on to be thinking quite like that, but I haven’t felt anything like this in a long time.  This could be it, but I also don’t wanna jump too deep too fast, you know?”

“Honey, in a month I went from dating JC to engaged to Justin, I know exactly what you mean. Just trust yourself, how things feel.”

“That was very different though.  I’m excited to see where this could lead.  I’ll be needing nights off, at least to go on dates.  Not sure on other stuff…”

“You’re allowed to have a life, Jackie.  We’ll figure things out.  I think we can manage.  Go back to talking to him, hopefully things go well the rest of tonight and on Saturday. You deserve to be happy, Jackie.  We love you being part of our family, but I’d be totally ok if you left us because you had your own family to start.”

“Again, a bit early, but eventually, yeah, I’d like that.”  Jackie sat next to Eli, immediately engaged in conversation.

“You doing ok, Kay?” Justin asked, wrapping his arms around her.

“Great.  I think things with Jackie and Justin- sorry, Eli- are going well. They have a date set for Saturday.  My sister is ok with stuff for the wedding, so is mom.  I’d been so nervous about today on so many levels, but everything turned out ok.  I’m surrounded with people I love that support me fully.  What more could I need?”

“Thank you for letting me be part of your life, Kay.  It’s been a crazy ride so far, but this is just the beginning of the rest of our lives.”

…

“Why am I getting all dressed up?” Mikayla wondered as she did her hair in the bathroom.

“I can’t just take my wife out to dinner?” Justin chuckled.

“I’d say it’s the first time since Silas was born, but we went to the premiere…”

“It’s just dinner, Kay.”

“It’s been 8 weeks and we still haven’t-”

“I have a plan.  Just trust me.”

“Warn me first?”

‘Warn you?  What the fuck do you think is gonna happen that I need to warn you about?”

“So I know it’s coming. I want that to be special.”

“It’s you, it’s always special.”

“I hate surprises, you know that.”

“I do, but I think you’ll appreciate it when the time comes.”

“What am I wearing tonight?  I feel like that night should be the green dress…”

“I bought you a dress I think you’ll look fantastic in.”

“Why am I not surprised?”

“Cuz you don’t splurge on yourself, only for me or the kids.”

She smiled at the garment bag, the memories of other moments like this one, dresses he’d night her over the years.  She pulled the zipper down, a breathtaking little black dress within the bag. It was a long sleeved lace overlay that covered the black body of the dress, stopping at mid thigh.  

“I’ll freeze in this, Justin…”

“You have long, warm jackets you can wear with it. You’ll look amazing.  You’ve worked hard losing what little baby weight you had.”

“I’m nursing a two month old and running after twin four year olds. Who has time to eat?” she laughed. 

“We deserve a night out.  Finish getting ready and we’ll be on our way.”  He was already dressed, wearing a light gray button down shirt and black dress slacks, grabbing a black sport coat to wear with it. He was perfect, Mikayla wondering what she’d done to deserve such an amazingly loving man in her life. Her mind flitted to JC, even more curious how she could have two great men in her life. 

They were soon in the car, Justin driving them to dinner. It was early December, the weather mild but cooling as night set in. It was dark at 7:00, Mikayla not recognizing where they were going until they were right by the restaurant. 

“Justin, you didn’t need to…”

“I know it’s your favorite place.  It’s been a while, I thought it would be special.”

“Thank you.”

They entered the restaurant, the staff greeting her as if no time had passed. They asked about the twins, Mikayla eagerly showed them pictures of the twins and Silas. They walked the couple to her old table, the fabric of the curtains closing as the staff left with a smirk to let them peruse the menu.

Mikayla looked at the menu, deep in contemplation of what she wanted to order that she didn’t see the back curtain shift a bit. 

“I’m thinking maybe we should get the olives and meatballs to start? I’m going to have the mushroom pappardelle.”

“I’m torn between the salmon and the pork belly,” Justin said, doing his best to not give anything away, see how long it took her to notice. 

She eventually saw something out of the corner of her eye, a familiar scent hitting her nose. She looked up, her jaw dropping and eyes widening.

“Josh, what are you doing here?”

“He’s joining us for dinner,” Justin whispered matter of factly. 

“By coming in through the back of our little area?”

“I feel there’s a joke or metaphor in here somewhere,” JC laughed quietly.

“Been there, and it’s a hard no,” Justin quipped back.  

Mikayla rolled her eyes. “Are you sitting or not?” she huffed.

“Not very nice for a big date,” JC whispered in her ear.

“I’m still surprised that you’re here.  I thought we weren’t going to do this kind of thing.  Someone could see you…”  Mikayla spoke quietly but with anger clear in her voice.

“The restaurant knows, even gave me a menu on my way in.  I’m leaving the same way I came in so I’m not seen.”

“Not too much to drink, someone might see you needing to piss,” Justin teased.

“Justin, this is serious.”

“Kay, this is why I brought you here.  They don’t know about our specific situation, but that I wanted the three of us to have dinner is secluded privacy.  As far as they know, we’re just having a nice dinner together, getting along as friends.  As long as the curtains are closed, we could fuck you and no one would know.”

“They can’t see, but they aren’t deaf,” Mikayla laughed.

“Then we’d better be quiet,” JC teased.  “You know we wouldn’t do that here, nothing comfortable enough for you.”

“I dunno, I could think of a couple ways this could work…” Mikayla smiled.

“Let’s just order,” Justin said.

Their server opened the curtain enough to slide in, trying not to give people a glance inside.  They ordered their drinks and food, appetizers and entrees.  Mikayla getting the pasta, Justin getting the pork belly and JC getting filet mignon.

“A little bit of everything for our girl,” Justin smiled.

“Guys, no, we don’t need to do this…”

“We like taking care of you, you should know this by now,” JC sighed.  “You loved this when we were together before.”

“Every now and then.  You would do this every time we were here, I knew roughly what I was eating every time I came here…”

“I wouldn’t do that at home when you’d cook.  Just when we were out.  You always seemed like you could never make up your mind, so I;d do it so you could see if you wanted something different the next time,” JC explained.

“You’d never get anything different, it became so routine.”

“You never got anything different, either.  Seriously, Kay, it’s just a couple bites off our plates.  It’s not that big a deal.  If you don’t want to, you don’t have to.”

“Sorry, I guess I was just reverting back to when we were together before.  I felt stuck back then.  Everything was predictable with you.”

“Now you have 3 kids and nothing is predictable,” Justin replied.  

“I liked how things were back then.  We had a good thing going, but yeah, I see your point.  I wanted more, I was just too afraid of going for it, and then, well, you know the rest.”

“You were stuck, too,” Mikayla sighed.  “I was pushing too hard for things, I needed something to change.”

“I know.  I’m sorry I never gave you that.  Not the way you deserved.”

“We got the twins, and we’re getting married now, though not the way we imagined back then.  At least not how I imagined it,” Mikayla sighed.

“I thought about it, believe me.  Then, before I messed everything up, and in the years since then.  I’m just glad it’s happening, even just symbolically.”

They ate dinner, each of the guys stealing glances at Mikayla as they talked about the twins, projects the guys were working on. Justin had started his next album in earnest, not just playing around with ideas. 

It was time to leave, JC ducking out through the back curtain a few minutes before Justin and Mikayla walked out through the front. Justin got Mikayla into the car before getting into the drivers seat. 

At one point on their drive, Mikayla thought they were heading home, until Justin kept going past where he should have turned to get home. She was curious what else he had planned as it was past 9 and she was wanting to get home to Silas. 

She finally got her answer as Justin pulled his car into a parking garage for the Four Seasons, a valet taking his keys. 

“We didn’t bring anything for staying overnight,” Mikayla said. “Are we here for something special?”

“You could say that,” Justin said.  "Go wait by the elevators, I’ll get things sorted.”

Mikayla did as she was told, curious if they were going to a rooftop bar or something for drinks and dancing. Justin soon led her into the elevator, pressing a button. 

They rode in silence, Mikayla trying to figure out what was going on.  The doors opened, Justin walking her down a short hallway. He tapped the room key into the slot. 

“I thought we were going to a bar or something, this is a hotel room, Justin. Again, we have no bags, no extra clothes.”

“I’ve made arrangements,” Justin smiled. 

“You and your surprises,” Mikayla muttered. 

She looked around the suite, the fireplace already going, music coming from the bedroom. “Justin, we just got here… What’s going on?”

“Go in for a final surprise,” Justin said, nodding towards the bedroom. 

She slowly opened the door, seeing the room empty of anything besides music.  “Justin, this isn’t funny, what’s going on?”