(Now) Kinsley: Content

Part of what we had talked about in our three-hour marathon discussion was setting boundaries with his family.  We'd agreed on one set family dinner a week (Sunday nights) and anything beyond that we would decide on together.  And I was relieved when Damien informed me that Adrienne (his snotty step-sister, the one I didn't like) wouldn't be at the first dinner I was attending since we'd gotten back together.

Damien's father had died when he was 6, and his mom (Claire) had met Robert (Adrienne's dad) a couple years later.  Amongst other things, Claire loved that Robert had a daughter whose name was of French origin, just like her two children (Damien and his older sister, Elize).  Robert was also widowed, and Adrienne was really little when Robert and Claire started dating.  They had merged fairly seamlessly into a new family, but apparently Adrienne had always been a bit more...difficult than Damien and Elize.

I was really fucking nervous as Damien drove us out to his mom's house.  I fiddled with my phone, twisted my hair up into a bun, then took it down, then put it back up, fiddled with my phone some more, and was reaching for my hair again when Damien intercepted my hand and laced his fingers through  mine.  "Relax," he said soothingly.  "It's going to be fine.  My mom is excited to see you."

"I don't know if I believe you," I replied.  "You told me they hold grudges."

"Yeah, well that was before I threw myself under the bus in your honor to explain our brief breakup and your absence," he said wryly.  "Now I think they like you even more because you put up with my ridiculous bullshit."

Damien had decided the best way to fix his fuck-up of not telling his family why I'd suddenly disappeared was to take the majority of the responsibility for our breakup.  While we both recognized our parts, I had no problem with him taking the fall as far as his family was concerned.  I figured I could use all the help I could get to win some favor with his family.

"You are pretty ridiculous," I joked, relaxing a little.

It was a beautiful evening and Robert had the grill going in the back.  Claire's face lit up when she saw me as we walked through the kitchen and I relaxed a little more.  "Hi, Mrs. Landry," I said, hugging her.

She pulled away and gave me a stern look.  "You haven't even been gone for two months, don't you dare 'Mrs. Landry' me," she said.

"Sorry, Claire," I said sheepishly.

She grinned and hugged me again.  "We missed you, sweetheart.  The kids will be thrilled to see you."

Damien wrapped his arm around me as we continued outside.  "See?" he said, kissing the side of my head as we walked.  "She couldn't be happier."

"Yes, that went well," I agreed.  We paused near the grill to say hi to Robert, and he greeted me cheerfully as well.  We continued past the patio into the yard, where Damien's older sister Elize was watching her two kids, Luke (6) and Amelia (4) play in the grass.  Luke spotted us and came running over, barreling right into Damien's legs.

"Uncle Damien!" he yelled excitedly.  I laughed as I watched Damien grab Luke around the waist and flip him upside down before he carefully set the giggling boy down in the grass.

"Kinsley!  Look what I can do!"  Amelia screeched my name from several yards away, and when I looked over, she immediately turned a crooked somersault in the grass, tipping over sideways halfway through.

"Wow, that was great!" I called as she got up and ran over.  "Where did you learn how to do that?"

"In dimnastics class!" she yelled, leaping over Luke to throw herself at Damien.  He lifted her up as Elize walked over.

"She's still working on the 'g' sound," Elize said, chuckling.

"It's a tough one," I replied, smiling nervously.  Elize smiled back, but it lacked warmth.

"Kinsley?" came Amelia's little voice.  I looked over.  Damien had her up on his shoulders and she was looking down at me very seriously.  "I heard mommy tell daddy that Uncle Damien made you really mad, and that's why you weren't coming to play with us anymore.  Sometimes Luke calls me mean names and I get really mad and don't want to play with him.  Did Uncle Damien call you mean names?"  I froze, because I had no idea how to field this one.

Luckily, Elize broke in with, "Honey, don't you worry about that, it's not any of our business.  Why don't you show Kinsley more things you've learned in gymnastics class?"

"Okay!  Down, Uncle Damien!"  He easily lifted her over his head and set her gently on the ground.  She ran a few feet away and started doing all sorts of jumps and turning in circles, occasionally yelling, "look at me!  Kinsley!  Look at me!"

"I'm sorry," Elize said, looking embarrassed.  "I didn't realize that she--"

"Don't worry about it," I said quickly.  I was just as eager to put her out of her misery as she was to change the subject.  "How long has she been in gymnastics?"

"A couple months," Elize said.  "Oh, I'll be right back.  Can you guys keep an eye on them?"  Then she hurried away.

I turned and looked at Damien and said, "She hates me."

"She does not," he said.  "She'll warm up, and you're doing great."

"Kinsleeeeeeyyyyy!" Amelia shrieked.  "Come spin with meeeeee!"

I laughed.  "At least someone is excited to see me.  You'd better be nice to me, or Amelia is going to kick your butt."  See, even I can censor myself in the presence of children.

Damien and I played with Luke and Amelia until it was time to eat.  Elize called them in to wash their hands, and they quickly ran towards the house, leaving Damien and I alone together in the yard.  I looked at him nervously, and he pulled me towards him.  He kissed me quickly and said, "I hate that you're so nervous."

"I'm not really a fan either," I replied.

He wrapped an arm around me as we walked towards the house.  "We'll go right after dinner, okay?  And hey, if Elize was really that bothered by your presence, she wouldn't have left us alone with the kids.  I promise."

"I know," I said.  "I'm okay, it's just weird being back."  I smiled up at him.

Claire quickly ushered us in.  "I wanted to eat outside, but the wind picked up, so we're stuck in here," she said apologetically.  "Here, Kinsley."  She handed me a glass of wine and motioned to a seat.  I sat down and Damien sat next to me.  Claire sat down on my other side, and I was relieved to not be sitting next to Elize.  Her husband Jason greeted me with a friendly smile, then turned back to getting the kids into their chairs.

Dinner actually went well, and while she wasn't exactly friendly, Elize was perfectly polite.  I relaxed and loosened up as the meal went on, and by the time we were clearing our plates, I felt much more comfortable.  I insisted on helping Claire clean up, then excused myself to go to the bathroom.

On my way back from the bathroom, I ran into Elize in the empty hallway.  "Look," she said.  "I'm sorry about earlier.  About Amelia, and being so short with you.  It's just...Damien was kind of a mess while you guys were broken up.  We obviously knew something was going on but he wouldn't tell us, and it sucked to see it.  I don't really know what happened, but you both seem happy now, so if things are better, I'm glad you're back."  She smiled briefly and then slipped past me, not giving me a chance to respond.  Well, that was really fucking weird.

I continued back through the kitchen and out to the patio, where everyone was gathered, watching the kids play in the yard and enjoying a post-dinner drink.  I sat down in the seat next to Damien and he smiled at me, and I tried to imagine him as "kind of a mess" but I couldn't.  He was always so perfectly put together.  But I'm not going to lie, I selfishly felt a little glad that I wasn't the only mess during our breakup.

"Well," Damien said after we'd finished our drinks.  "We should probably head out.  I need to be at work early tomorrow."  I was relieved, because I didn't want to be the one to initiate us leaving, but I was definitely ready to go.  I was ready to have this first time back with his family be over so the next one could be better.  Hopefully.

From the yard, Luke saw Damien stand and came running over and threw himself at Damien.  Damien laughed and lifted him up, bear hugging him.  Amelia, who had followed behind Luke, wrapped herself around Damien's legs.  I laughed as I watched him tuck Luke under one arm and reach down for Amelia with the other.

I loved watching him with his niece and nephew.  He was so good with them, and I had to admit that it made think about having kids with him some day.  I'd always wanted kids, but since I hadn't planned on ever really being in a long term, serious relationship with anyone and didn't have any desire to be a single mom, I'd kind of just resigned myself to always being the cool "aunt" to my friends' kids.  But watching Damien with Luke and Amelia made thoughts of having my own creep into the back of my head.  Someday.  Maybe.

I turned my head and caught Damien's mom smiling as she watched me watch him.  I looked away quickly, my cheeks getting hot, and saw Amelia squirming to be put down.  Damien set her gently on the ground and she came over and climbed into my lap.  "When are you coming back?" she asked, balling her tiny fists up with handfuls of my shirt clutched between her fingers.

"Next week," I said brightly, smiling at her.

"Do you promise?" she asked, looking at my skeptically.

"I promise, unless I'm sick or something," I said.  She frowned at me, tipping her head down and glaring up at me through her blonde curls.

"Hey, Amelia," Damien said.  "You and Luke should leave your mom and dad at home and come hang out with me soon."

Amelia turned her pouty frown on him.  "Only if Kinsley's there," she declared, burrowing against me.  I stifled a laugh and gave Damien a smug look.

"I think we can make that happen," I agreed.  "If it's alright with your mom and dad."

"Take them," Jason said quickly.  "Whenever you want.  They're all yours."  We all laughed, and I carefully stood up, lifting Amelia as I did.

"Can we go now?" she asked, her frown gone.

I laughed.  "Sorry sweetpea, not today.  It's almost bedtime."  The frown returned and she immediately demanded to be put down.  I put her down and she ran out into the yard with Luke hot on her heels.

We said goodbye to Jason, Elize, Robert, and Claire, and walked back through the house towards Damien's car, which was parked in the driveway.   "Sorry, I really didn't mean for you to get roped into a family thing," he said, as soon as we were in the car.

I nodded.  "I know, I volunteered.  They're my favorite people in your family," I said, smiling.  "I'd love to hang out with them for the day sometime."

"She really missed you," Damien said.  "She asked about you every time you weren't there."

"As she should, I'm pretty fucking awesome," I said, smirking at him.  For some reason that reminded me of what Elize had said, and before I could think too hard about if it was a good topic of conversation or not, I said, "I ran into Elize in the hallway after I went to the bathroom."

"Oh?" Damien said.  He dropped his hand onto my thigh, just above my knee, and lightly stroked my bare skin with his fingertips as he drove.

"She said you were 'kind of a mess' while we were broken up.  I was trying to imagine it, and I just couldn't.  To me, 'kind of a mess' means maybe you got a little snippy with someone once."

He chuckled, then shook his head.  "I actually got really drunk one night when I was here," he admitted.  That surprised me.  I hadn't, in 11 months, seen him get even a little bit drunk.  He drank, but he usually had just one or two drinks, maaaaaybe 3 if we were wherever we were for longer than a couple hours, and then drove my drunk ass home.  I'd offered to drive many times but he always insisted.

"So you really were kind of a mess," I replied.  "This should shock absolutely no one, but I also got really drunk one night.  Except I threw up and blacked out, which are probably not things you've ever done in your entire life."

He laughed.  "I went to college too, you know."

"I'm trying to figure out what drunk Damien is like.  You should get drunk sometime so I can experience it."

"I don't think you really want that," he said, shaking his head.  "I'm not a very fun drunk.  I just get quiet and moody."  He glanced over at me and said, "Sorry about Elize."

"She kind of apologized," I replied, shrugging.  "It went better than I was anticipating.  I won't be as nervous next time, but I don't know if I'll ever not be a little nervous.  It's just not what I'm used to, you know?  I love seeing you with Amelia and Luke, though," I admitted.  "They love spending time with you, and you're so good with them."

He glanced at me and smiled.  "It's easy with them," he replied.  "They're such good kids."  The conversation easily could have gotten very serious, very quickly, but neither of us took it there.  It wasn't time, we weren't ready.  We needed more time to figure everything out, and putting the pressure of "future" talks on ourselves wouldn't help.

We rode in silence for a few minutes, and then Damien asked, "Can I spend the night with you?"

"Of course," I responded.  We stopped at his house so he could get clothes for the next day, and then continued on to my house.  By the time we got to my house and climbed into bed, I realized that I wasn't really in the mood for sex.  It was weird for me to be able to enjoy laying next to someone without any intention of having sex.  Not bad weird, just different.

When Damien's hand left my back and wandered down to my ass, I reached for it and set it back down on my back.  "Is it okay if we don't tonight?" I asked sleepily.

"Of course," he replied, resuming stroking my lower back.  "Is everything okay?"  Apparently even he thought it was weird for me to not want to have sex.

"Yes," I said, pressing my face against his chest and inhaling deeply.  "I'm happy just being with you tonight."

"Well, I can't argue with that," he replied, tipping his head down to kiss my forehead.  "I love you, Kinsley."

"I love you," I replied.  I fought sleep for as long as I could, trying to prolong my contentment at just laying here, enjoying his fingers on my back and his chest rising and falling beneath my head.  Eventually, sleep won over my efforts to stay awake, and I rolled over onto my pillow.  My fingers found Damien's, and they twined together before I drifted into sleep.

Three's Company

Plan for the week:  Today's post, below.  Kinsley's final post tomorrow.  I'm going camping in the middle of nowhere on Thursday, so I promise one more post.  If I get both Lauren's first post and the next main storyline post written before I leave, you'll have main storyline on Wednesday and Lauren on Friday.  If I only get Lauren's written, you'll have Lauren's on Wednesday and then nothing until Sunday, unfortunately.  I'll do my best, but you'll at least have three posts this week with the Kinsley bonus!
__________________________________

When I got home, an unfamiliar car with Washington plates was parked in the middle of the driveway, so I parked in the street.  I grabbed the box containing our invitations and stopped at the mailbox to grab the mail.  Between the box, the mail, my purse, and my workbag, I was out of hands to get my keys to unlock the front door, so I rang the doorbell with my elbow.

Brody pulled open the door and grabbed the box from me, giving me a weird look.  Then he grimaced.  "He's still in the middle of the driveway, isn't he?  I'm sorry."

"It's okay," I said, smiling.  I was doing my best to put my bad attitude aside because I didn't want this to start on the wrong foot.  If it ended up being awful, it wasn't going to be because of me.

"What's in here?" Brody asked, looking curiously at the box.

"Our invitations," I said.  "I forgot all about them, but they turned out great!"

Brody opened the box and took one of the extra ones out and pulled it out of its envelope.  "They did," he agreed, looking at it.  He slipped it back into the envelope and put it back in the box, then smiled at me.  "Hi, beautiful," he said, kissing me lightly.  "How was lunch?"

"It was good," I said, sorting through the mail.  "Lauren was acting really normal, and her sister came too.  I haven't seen Amanda in ages."

I turned as I heard footsteps coming up the stairs.  "Oh, hi Olivia," Ken said.  "I was just coming up to move my car.  I'm sorry if it was in your way."

"That's okay," I said.  "How was the drive here?"

"Long, of course, but other than that it was good," he said.  "Look, thanks for being okay with me staying with you guys.  I'll be out of here as soon as I can, and I'll try not to get in your way.  Can I take you guys out to dinner tonight?"

Brody looked at me and I nodded.  "Works for us," Brody agreed.  Ken grinned and went outside to move his car.  Brody looked back at me.  "Keys?  I'll go put your car in the garage."  I pulled my keys out of my purse and handed them to him, and he started to walk out but then turned back, fishing in his pocket.  "That reminds me.  Here."  He handed me a key.

"What's this?" I asked.

"I put a lock on your library door.  I know how you feel about your space and I thought you might feel at least a little better about everything if your space was secure."

"I love you," I said.  "Thank you.  I do appreciate knowing my space is safe.  I really am okay with this though--he's family.  I just wish we would have had a little more notice.  That's what threw me off.  I was just really caught off guard."

"I know, me too," he agreed.  "And I love you too."  He kissed me and went to move my car, while I took my work bag and shoved it in the entry closet.  It was hard to believe that I was done with working Saturdays (and Fridays too, for that matter) for now.  I briefly wondered what I'd do with all my time, then rolled my eyes at myself.  Plan a wedding, of course.

I moved the box of invitations to the table.  They needed stamps and to be mailed this week.  And I needed to find a florist to go meet with.  Soon, preferably.

Brody and Ken walked back inside, laughing about something.  Ken said, "I'm going to go finish unpacking the things I brought and get settled.  What time should we leave?"  We debated a dinner time for a little while and once it was settled, Ken headed downstairs.

"What are your plans for the rest of the afternoon?" Brody asked me, raising an eyebrow suggestively.

"Changing out of my work clothes and then doing wedding stuff," I said, starting up the stairs.  He trailed after me, but I quickly shut him down.  "We can't have sex right now," I protested.  "What if Ken needs something and comes looking for you?"

"The bedroom door locks," he said, with a shrug.

"Later, please?" I asked.  He agreed, but he still tortured himself by laying on the bed and watching me change.

"Come here," he said, motioning to me once I was done.  I flopped on the bed next to him and let him pull me closer to him.  "What wedding stuff are you going to work on?" he asked, sliding his fingers up and down my arm.

"I need to find a florist, and we need to get stamps on the invitations so we can send them out," I told him.

"Sounds like fun," Brody said.

I laughed.  "I think I heard a little bit of sarcasm there.  Will you help me do the stamps?  There aren't that many invitations."

He agreed immediately to help, and we made our way downstairs and he sat on the couch with me, putting stamps on invitations while I looked for a florist.  With just 36 total invitations to send out, it only took him about 10 minutes.  He carefully stacked them back in the box, then said, "I'm going to go get some work done, unless you need me for more wedding stuff."

"Nope, I'm good," I said.  "Unless you've changed your mind about caring about the florist."  I smirked at him and he shook his head.

"No, not at all," he replied.  "That's all you."  He stood, kissed the top of my head, and wandered into the kitchen, then to his office.  I finished poring over reviews and picked the florist I wanted to meet with.  They were--miraculously--still open, and I called and made an appointment for Friday afternoon.  Then I called Brody's mom and invited her along.  She excitedly agreed to come and we ended up chatting for a few minutes as well.  We planned to meet for lunch first, then go to the florist.  I would never have wanted to spend an afternoon alone with John's mom, and she was a perfectly normal, nice woman, but I was excited to spend time with Thalia.  I had hit the future-mother-in-law jackpot, and I was grateful that she was so amazing.

I headed upstairs to get ready for dinner, and Brody came up to shower while I was running my flat iron through my hair.  "Ken is always late," he warned me, turning on the shower and pulling his shirt off.  "I don't know if living in the same house will change that, but I wouldn't plan on him being ready to go on time."

"Good to know," I said, my eyes on his chest.  They traveled lower as he pushed his shorts off and stepped out of them.

He smirked, watching my gaze.  "You had your chance," he said, stepping into the shower.  "Now you have to wait."

I finished getting ready and went back downstairs to do a little more random wedding-related research while I waited for the guys. Brody wandered down a few minutes later, and I showed him what I was doing.  I was surprised at how easy it was to get him involved in wedding planning stuff.  I only had Kendra's gripes about Christian's lack of interest, plus my brain full of stereotypes to go by, but I had expected it to be much harder to get him interested.

True to Brody's prediction, Ken didn't even appear upstairs until about 20 minutes after we were supposed to leave.  I wasn't worried, because I wasn't in a hurry at all.  He let us know he was going to be driving separately because he was meeting up with some old friends in town after we ate.  I'd almost forgotten that they'd lived here when they were younger, and hadn't realized that he'd probably still know a handful of people in the area.

Dinner was nice, and Ken insisted on paying, which was totally unnecessary but sweet.  I found out a little more about him and his job.  He was an IT project manager for a company with several locations, and had taken a promotion that had resulted in his transfer to the Boulder office.  He'd be doing some traveling to their other offices as part of this position as well.  Ken had the same dry sense of humor as Brody and the two of them had me laughing through most of the meal, as Ken told me stories about young Brody and Brody defended himself.

"I am so glad I don't have siblings to tell you embarrassing stories about my childhood," I commented to Brody as we walked out.

"Yeah, well, he should remember that he's still not firmly back in my favor," Brody said good-naturedly.

"I heard that," Ken called, a few steps behind us.

"I wasn't whispering!" Brody replied, laughing to himself.  I just shook my head.

Brody and I ended up headed somewhere else to meet up with Kendra, Christian, and Alex and have a drink.  I offered to drive, since Brody almost always did, and he actually took me up on it.  Brody went up to the bar to get a drink for himself and a soda for me, and I leaned over towards Kendra.  "I assume Lauren is hanging out with her family?"

Kendra nodded, then lowered her voice and said, "I'm not sure why Alex is here though.  He'd originally said he probably wouldn't be, but then he ended up texting Christian last minute and saying he wanted to come."  I gave her a weird look, and she shrugged.  I looked over at Alex.  He looked fine.  He was giving Christian a hard time about something and they were both laughing.

"Oh, before I forget!" Kendra said, changing the subject abruptly.  "Christian and I want to book our room for your wedding soon, do you guys have rooms blocked anywhere?"  When I grimaced, she laughed.

"I guess I should probably do that this week, huh?" I asked.  I pulled out my phone and added it to my list of wedding related tasks I needed to do sooner rather than later.

"Do what this week?" Brody asked, reappearing with drinks.

"Hotel blocks," I replied.  Brody looked at me blankly.  I explained it to him, and said, "We don't have a ton of people coming, but it still probably isn't a bad idea."

"Makes sense to me," he agreed.

We stayed out for a couple hours, then headed home.  I was pretty sure Brody was solidly buzzed, and he confirmed it when he grabbed my ass as we walked out of the bar.  "Try to keep it in your pants until we get home," I said, laughing and pulling his hand up to a more reasonable spot on my hip.

"Well that's no fun," he grumbled.

He barely managed, and spent most of the drive distracting me with his wandering hands.  He was out of the car before I'd even turned it off, and he pulled my door open for me, then grabbed the keys out of my hands and unlocked the door.  As soon as the door closed behind me, he had me up against the wall, kissing me hard.  I groaned as he nipped at my bottom lip and slid his hands roughly up my skirt.  "I love dresses," he said softly, grinning at me.  "Makes everything so easy."  I started to respond but lost my train of thought when his fingers pressed against me through my underwear.  I sucked in a sharp breath and leaned my head back against the wall, completely forgetting about everything except his fingers against me.

Brody's lips found mine as he moved my underwear aside and stroked me gently.  I moaned into our kiss and pressed my hips against his hand as he eased first one, then two fingers inside me, keeping his thumb pressed firmly against me.  He pushed the fingers of other hand through my hair, then moved it to wrap his arm around my waist when my legs started to shake.  I gripped his back, digging my fingers in desperately as I came.

I was--quite literally--mid-orgasm when the front door opened (which is in plain view of the garage door) and Ken walked in.  Brody and I both froze, my legs clamping shut against his hand, which did nothing helpful, as it just pushed it tighter against me.  Ken took one look at us and quickly looked away, saying, "I'm just going to go downstairs," as he disappeared

I pressed my face against Brody's chest as my cheeks burned.  "At least we're both fully clothed?" he said, sliding his hand out from under my dress and wrapping both arms around me.

"Damn you for making me forget that we have a roommate now," I mumbled, my voice muffled against his shirt.  Brody laughed gently, stroking my back.

"Yeah, that's not a show I want to put on again," he agreed.  "I've just confirmed that exhibitionism isn't my thing at all."  Despite my mortification, I laughed at that.    "Should we go upstairs?" he asked, nudging me gently away from his chest.

I nodded.  "Yes.  Upstairs...with the door locked!" Brody laughed and we headed upstairs, to the only safe place to have sex for the next month.

When Family Comes to Town

When we got home after having dinner with Brody's mom, I put the jewelry box directly into the top drawer of my dresser to keep it safe.  I had no idea what to do with such a beautiful and valuable heirloom.  Then I flopped facedown on the bed, worn out from getting up early and the long day.

"Tired?" Brody asked, sitting down next to me and rubbing my back.  

"Just a little," I replied, turning my heads towards him and smiling.  He began to massage my neck and I closed my eyes.  "I can't believe your mom gave me that jewelry," I said.  "It's beautiful.  Did you know she was going to?"

"I didn't," he said.  "Well, that's not entirely true.  She had three sets that are big family heirlooms.  Jen got one when she graduated from college, and she told me awhile ago that one would go to my future wife if I ever got my act together and settled down with someone.  But I'd forgotten about that conversation until today."  He shifted and brought his other hand up to massage my neck, working his way down to my shoulders.

"Do you think your mom is being weird about the guy she's seeing?" I asked.

"Yes!" Brody exclaimed.  "So weird.  I wonder why."

"Maybe he's 25 years old, or is missing an ear, or has a unicorn horn growing out of his forehead," I suggested, laughing.

"Of all those things, I'd be least okay with him being 25!" Brody laughed.  "I don't know if it's just because this is really the first man she's dated since my dad left her, at least as far as I know, or if it's something crazy like you said."  He was quiet for several seconds, then repeated, "I hope he's not 25.  That would be weird."

"I'm sure he's at least 30," I said.  

"Thanks, that makes me feel better," he said wryly.

I laughed.  "Glad I could help."

We talked a little more about the day and dinner, and eventually just ended up going to bed.  Brody was up early the next morning to get some work done, and we spent the afternoon hiking and unwinding.  It was nice to spend part of a day pretending we didn't have jobs or a wedding that needed to be planned.

On Monday, Lauren texted me that she still wasn't feeling well, and canceled our Monday "date".  I texted back asking if she wanted to reschedule, but she responded that we'd catch up next Monday.  Fed up with her avoidance act, I called her.

"What?  I'm working, can it wait?" she answered, sounded irritated.

"Lauren, what is going on with you?" I asked.  "First everything with Kinsley, then you storming out on me, not coming to happy hour, and now ditching me?  And don't tell me everything is fine."

She sighed heavily.  "I'm just really stressed out, and I've been a little off lately.  I'm sorry for ditching you last week and not responding to your calls and texts.  I don't know what my deal is, honestly. I just need to not be around other people for awhile."

"That I can understand," I said.  "Let me know if you change your mind, otherwise will I see you this weekend?  I want to see your mom while she's in town!"

"Yes, this weekend for sure.  I really do have to go now, sorry."  We said goodbye and I hung up.  I still wasn't sure what was going on with Lauren, but at least she answered the phone.

Since I wasn't going out with Lauren after work, I went to the gym then headed home, planning to make dinner.  When I got there, I was surprised to find Brody already there.  He was sitting on the couch eating a bowl of cereal.

"What are you doing home already?" we both said at the same time.  That made us both laugh.  Brody nodded, waiting for me to talk.  "Lauren didn't want to go out," I said, shrugging.

"Is she okay?" Brody asked.

"I don't know," I replied, shaking my head.  "She's been weird lately."

Brody agreed, then said, "It was a quiet day today, so I thought I'd take advantage of it."

"Well, I was going to make dinner, but since you've already had such an extravagant feast, maybe I'll just have some cereal too," I said, laughing.

"No you won't," Brody said, making a face.  "I used the last of the milk, sorry."

After a quick survey of the fridge and freezer, I ended up making myself some eggs and hashbrowns.  I sat on the couch and plopped my feet in Brody's lap while I ate, and he massaged them mindlessly as we talked about our days.  Eventually, he said, "So, I have a question for you."  I motioned for him to continue.  "I talked to my brother today.  Remember he told us he was moving out here?  Well, his company had originally agreed to a September transfer, but now they're asking for August 1st.  Or, I think that's a Saturday, so the 3rd."

"Oh," I said, confused.  "That's next week."

"Yes," Brody replied.  "So the problem is that he has a place all lined up, but he isn't going to be able to move in until September 1st, because that's what he originally had signed the lease for, and the apartment isn't available earlier."

"Sooo..." I urged him on, fearful of where this conversation was going.

"Sooo...what would you think about him staying with us for a month?"

I looked at him without speaking for several seconds, then said, "Seriously?"

"I wouldn't even ask if he didn't already have a place lined up," Brody said quickly.  "I'm not interested in my brother moving in indefinitely.  But it's just a month."

"When?"

Brody grimaced, then said, "This weekend?"

"Seriously?" I asked again.  Brody nodded.  He picked up one of my feet and started massaging it again.  I tugged it away.  "Nope, you're not winning me over with a foot massage, it's too late for that."

"Liv, I know the timing is shitty, and I know that my brother has a lot to prove to you.  I get that.  Like I said, I wouldn't have even asked if it wasn't time-limited.  But I really want my brother back in my life, and this is important to achieving that."

"Okay," I agreed, defeated.  "But I'm not cleaning up after him or cooking for him or entertaining him.  And I'm not canceling my plans for this weekend--Lauren's mom is in town."

"I'm not asking you to do any of those things," Brody assured me.  "And if he asks you to do any of those things, I'll kick his ass."

"I'm sorry, I'm not trying to be a brat, this is all just really sudden and quick and I still don't know how I feel about Ken, and now he's going to be our roommate, and..."  I trailed off, desperately hoping Brody understood what I was saying.

"I know," he said gently.  "Look, I'm not exactly thrilled about it myself.  You know how I feel about roommates."  I frowned, remembering one of the few fights we'd had, when I'd told him Lauren was maybe moving in with me.  "But he's my brother, and it's a month, and I don't really know how to say no."

I nodded and forced myself to say, "I get that.  I'm sure it will be fine."

"Thank you for agreeing to this even though you don't like anything about it.  I'll take care of getting him moved in; it should be pretty easy, he's putting all his furniture and stuff in storage.  I was thinking we could move my punching bag temporarily and give him that room downstairs.  There's a full bath and that extra living area down there too, so he could have his own space and not be in ours all the time.  What do you think?"

"I like that idea," I agreed.

"Okay," he said.  "I'll call him tomorrow and let him know."

The week went by quickly, and I was really busy at work getting ready to drop my hours down.  Everyone sort of bailed on Thursday's happy hour, but when I texted Lauren to make sure we were still on for having a late lunch with her mom after I finished work on Saturday, she confirmed.  I was relieved, because I had been looking forward to seeing Lauren's mom, and I really missed Lauren.  Also, to be completely honest, the longer I could put off going home on Saturday and having to deal with the fact that we had a brand new roommate that I had very mixed feelings about, the happier I was.

Brody had been extra nice to me all week.  He'd beaten me home a couple times and made dinner, did the dishes, and cleaned up.  He brought home flowers and my favorite wine one night, and on Friday night, he gave me oral sex without letting me reciprocate.  As I laid in bed in the dark, basking in my post-orgasm glow, I said, "If you need your brother to move in again next month, I think I could get used to this."

"This has nothing to do with my brother moving in," Brody said, snuggling up to me and planting a kiss on my shoulder.  "Can't I just show my beautiful, smart, wonderful fiancée how much I love her?"

I laughed.  "Now you're lying, knock it off."

"Mmmm, but I do love you," he said, pressing his face against my neck.

"I love you too," I said, shifting to get more comfortable.


Brody was up early on Saturday to get things ready for Ken to move in.  He took a break long enough to make me breakfast and coffee while I was getting ready for work.  I thanked him, kissed him, and said goodbye before heading out the door.

I was antsy all morning at work and was glad my Saturdays were shorter than the weekdays.  Aside from looking forward to seeing Lauren and her mom, I was also excited that it was my last Saturday, at least for the time being.  Luckily I had a full day of clients, which helped it go quickly.

When I was packing up my stuff to leave, I saw I had a text from Lauren.  "Hey, my sister is coming, sorry.  I tried to talk her out of it, but she wasn't having it."  I quickly texted her back that it was fine.  I hadn't seen Lauren's older sister Amanda in ages, and didn't mind that she'd be there.

I found parking kind of close to the restaurant where I was meeting Lauren and her family and hurried over, excited to see Lauren's mom, Jolene.   I spotted Lauren and Jolene right away when I got there.  "Hi, sweetpea!" Jolene called out, hugging me tightly.

"Hi, Jolene," I greeted her back.  "It's so good to see you!"

I turned my smile on Lauren and she greeted me cheerfully and then said, "Don't you dare hug me."

"Wasn't planning on it!" I assured her, snorting.  Amanda arrived shortly after, and she hugged me and spent some time exclaiming over my ring and the fact that I was "all grown up."  I tried hard not to roll my eyes; I hadn't seen her in years.

We got a table and sat down.  We sat, eating, talking, and laughing for almost two hours.  It was so nice to see Lauren's mom, who had been as much of a 'second mom' to me when I was growing up as Lynn's mom had been.  And Lauren was acting perfectly normal.  I couldn't wait to see her on Monday and find out what the hell had been going on lately.

When we finally vacated our table and walked out, Lynn said, "Walk with me to Lauren's car, Liv.  I have your invitations."

"Oh, I almost forgot about them!" I said, surprised.

When we got to the car, she handed me a box and said, "Everything is there and addressed.  Just need stamps and to be mailed.  I also put 10 extra ones with blank envelopes, just in case.  And I don't know if you scrapbook or will get a photo book, but I matted one of them for you to keep.  Also, my RSVP is in there--you don't have to mail the invitation!"

"Thank you so much," I said, excitedly.  "I'm excited to have our first RSVP back already!"  Lauren helped me open the box and pull out one of the invitations.  Jolene had sent me proofs of them, but I wanted to see them in person.  "They're beautiful," I said sincerely, holding one carefully in my hands.  "I love them.  Thank you again!"

I hugged her tightly once more, then we all said goodbye and I headed to my car.  I settled the box very carefully on my passenger seat and got in.  I started the car and headed for home--where my fiancée's brother would be in the process of moving into our house.  Hmph.

(Now) Kinsley: Say What You Need to Say

I couldn't quite get the main storyline post finished up in time, so here is Kinsley for your Wednesday.  Main storyline post will be up on Friday!  There is one more Kinsley post after this, which I will probably post early next week so we can do a Lauren post next Friday.
_______________________________

"It's not what it looks like," I insisted.  Ah,  yes...the tried and true line that never seems to work.

Damien was still standing 10 feet from my front door, frozen in place and staring at me.  "Well that's good," he said, a touch of hostility in his voice. "Because it looks like you left my house and called another man to come over."

"Please, Damien," I pleaded desperately.  "I know.  Nothing happened.  Just...will you come in?"

He stood there silently for several more seconds before finally moving towards me.  I breathed a sigh of relief, hoping that if I could at least get him inside, I could explain everything away.  I had gone through too damn much in the last few weeks to lose him again over a misunderstanding.  He walked past me in the doorway, not even looking at me.  This was the first time I had seen him not perfectly calm and in control, and it made me a little nervous because I had no idea how this was going to go.

I pushed the door shut and locked it and then trailed him into the living room.  "Do you want to sit?" I asked him.

"No, I want to know who that was and why he was here," he replied evenly.  I still hadn't gotten a good look at his face.

I sat down heavily on the couch and took a deep breath.  "His name is Cole.  He's a friend, he used to work with me.  And he was here because I needed to talk to someone."

"You needed to talk to a guy?  At your house?  At 11:00 on a Friday night?  After we argued?"

"I didn't have anyone else to call," I said miserably.  "He happened to be in the area and stopped over after he finished dinner with a friend.  It was stupid.  I...don't know.  I'm sorry."

"Jesus, Kinsley," he muttered.  He finally sat, and finally looked at me.  I couldn't even make sense of all the emotions I saw on his face.  As much as I hated his usual perma-calm, I didn't like this much either.  It made me uneasy, because it was different.

"I don't even know why I'm asking this, because I have a feeling I don't really want to know the answer, but have you ever slept with him?"

I looked down and nodded.  I couldn't even look at him when I confirmed his fear.

"Recently?"  I nodded again, knowing that we both knew that the only possible explanation for "recently" meant while were broken up.   "So, you left my house to calm down, came here, and invited the guy over that you'd slept with while we were broken up...and what?  Told him all the dirty details of our relationship?"

"That's a pretty accurate cliff's note version," I admitted, still not able to meet his eyes.  I tried to decide if it would make it better or worse to clarify that he wasn't the guy that I'd slept with while we were broken up.  Maybe it would make him less special.  Then again, he probably didn't want to hear that there were 4 guys I'd slept with while we were broken up.  And then there was the fact that he was the guy I'd slept with repeatedly and would be still be sleeping with if Damien and I hadn't gotten back together.  Okay, mouth shut.  God, I was an idiot.

"Jesus, Kinsley," he said again.

"But nothing else happened," I said, finally looking up at him.

He smiled wryly.  "For some reason, I do actually believe that.  I've never not trusted you when it comes to other men.  But I don't understand why it's so hard for you to tell me what you need."

"I did tell you what I needed," I insisted.  "I needed some space to cool down.  That wasn't a lie!  That's what I needed from you tonight."  Yet here you are, I thought bitterly.  "You couldn't give me what I needed from him, which was a second opinion on if I was being unreasonable.  And, you might like to know, he thought that I was being unreasonable.  He's actually pretty firmly on your side.  You might want to make friends with him, because he seems to think fairly highly of you."

Damien seemed to have gotten a grip, and his calm mask was back.  He rubbed his hand over his short hair and stifled a yawn.  "I don't know what to say," he said finally.  "I'm not happy, but I kind of understand why you did it.  And honestly, I'm glad that you talked to someone, instead of just shutting down and going with what I want.  But I'm still getting used to this, because it's really different than how things were before, and I have a problem with you inviting guys over in the middle of the night when you're pissed at me."

"That was a stupid thing that I shouldn't have done," I agreed.  "I'm sorry.  I'm still trying to figure out how to navigate this.  Half of what I thought I learned about how to function in a relationship was wrong, and I'm trying to work out how to do it right.  I'm probably going to fuck it up again, too."

We both sat silently for what seemed like forever.  Finally, Damien spoke.  "I was coming over to apologize.  I know you said you needed some space, but I just really needed to apologize.  And you weren't answering your phone.  I'm sorry I came, because I should have respected what you asked for."

"Oh," I replied.  It was late.  I was tired.  I didn't want to do this right now.

"And I should have told my family the truth," he admitted.  "It wouldn't have helped our cause any, but at least it would have been honest."

"They're going to hate me," I said, getting sucked into the conversation despite myself.

"No," Damien said.  "They're not going to hate you.  It just might take awhile for me to fix it.  But I will."

"Why?" I asked.  "Why are you going to fix it?  Do you really want me in your life badly enough to work that hard to get me back in favor with your family?  Your family that I don't want to spend every waking moment with and never will?  Is anything going to change anyway?  Why are we even doing this again?"  Maybe it was the late hour.  Maybe it was my frustration with the long evening of fighting, being vulnerable, explaining myself.  But I suddenly felt like the whole thing was hopeless and pointless and I just wanted to be alone.  And maybe the only way I could be alone was to lash out and piss him off enough that he would leave.

Damien looked up sharply.  "What are you doing, Kinsley?" he asked warily.

"We've been tiptoeing around this and each other for the last two weeks," I exploded.  "Well, you've been tiptoeing, and I've been avoiding it and demanding everything I want.  I don't want that!  It's like things are completely backwards from what they were, and that's still not right.  I don't like this.  I don't want it.  I just want...I just want..." I stopped.  What did I want?  Why was that such a hard question to answer?  I wanted it to be easy.  I wanted us both to be honest and open with each other.  I wanted to not feel like his family hated me because they thought I'd just up and stopped coming to things with them.  It was too late for all of that.

Damien watched me, and he didn't speak.  "I want to be with you, but I don't want to be with you like this," I said, finishing my thought the best that I could right now.  "I can't do this anymore tonight.  I don't care if you stay here or go home, but I need to sleep before I can finish this conversation."  This conversation that we should have had two weeks ago, but hadn't.  We'd avoided it, choosing instead to bask in the glow of our newly-back-togetherness.  Avoiding it had brought us here, to a fight that should never have happened, a stupid move by me, and another fight that shouldn't have happened.  I wasn't willing to have any more fights that should have been avoided by continuing this conversation.

"Okay," Damien agreed, surprising me.  "You're right, we're not going to get anywhere tonight.  It's late, I'm exhausted.  Can I stay?  I'll sleep in the guest room, if you want."  I nodded and went upstairs, checking to make sure the guest room had what he needed.  I didn't want him in my bed right now, because I knew it would be too easy to get up and avoid what happened if we spent the night together.

I didn't sleep well, though I didn't think I would.  Several times during the night I considered getting up and crawling into the guest bed with Damien.  It would have been so much easier to pretend none of this had happened, but that's what got us into this mess in the first place, and I was determined to get out, one way or the other.

I finally drifted off to sleep around 5 am.  When I woke up, I smelled bacon.  I groaned and rolled over, digging in the blankets for my phone.  I finally found it, and clicked the screen on.  It was 10:30.  I had a text from Cole that said, "Hope he wasn't too pissed.  Let me know if I can help."  How he thought he could help that situation was a mystery, but I appreciated the thought.  I think.  I deleted it though, because it seemed like a good idea.

I rolled out of bed and pulled on a pair of shorts and a t-shirt, then stumbled into my bathroom.  I yanked a comb through my disastrous hair and forced it into a ponytail, then brushed my teeth.  I looked fucking awful.  I was pale and the dark circles under my eyes could have used Liv's expert touch with a concealer brush.  Oh well.

I made my way downstairs, and apprehensively approached the kitchen.  "Hi," Damien said, smiling tiredly at me.  I'm ashamed to admit that I felt a tiny bit of satisfaction that he hadn't slept either.  "I hope you don't mind, I ran out to get some stuff for breakfast.  I thought we might need it."

"Thanks," I said softly.

"Coffee?" he asked, motioning to the pot on the counter.  I wrinkled my nose and shook my head, and instead took a Mountain Dew out of the fridge.  I hated coffee in the summer unless it was iced.  In the winter, I loved a good cup of disgusting black coffee, but not when it was hot outside.  He shrugged and poured himself another cup.  I got out a couple plates and some silverware, and we sat and quietly ate our breakfast together.  It was kind of awkward, but I didn't imagine the rest of today would get much better.

I washed the dishes right away when we were done, procrastinating just a little bit longer.  Then Damien poured himself the last cup of coffee, I grabbed a second Mountain Dew, and we both sat down on the couch.  I curled up in the corner, angling my body just enough towards him so that I could see him.  "Ladies first," Damien said.

I took a deep breath and said, "We jumped in too fast.  We didn't talk about all the things that happened that made us break up in the first place, and it came back to bite us.  We need to talk about those things."

"I agree," Damien replied.  "Say what you need to say."

So I did.  And he did.  We sat in my living room and we talked for three long hours.  I raised my voice, I cried, I said "fuck" too many times for it to qualify as an adult conversation, I paced, he paced, and he even said "fuck" once and "bullshit" twice, which should give you an idea of how intense the conversation was.  By the end of the three hours, I was laying on the floor and he was sprawled across my recliner, and we were clearly exhausted.

Despite how draining the conversation had been, I felt so much better than I had.  The feeling of vague unease that had tainted all our interactions for the past two weeks was gone.   We'd talked through everything that had contributed to our breakup.  We'd talked through issues we hadn't even realized were issues until the very moment we talked about them.  We both shared real, actual feelings--something neither of us were particularly good at.  We talked about setting boundaries with his family, and even came up with a plan that we both felt good about.  Finally, for the first time in over six weeks, everything felt right again.

"Damien?" I asked tentatively from my spot on the floor, stretched out in the sun like a cat.

"Yeah?"

"We're going to be okay."  It was a statement, not a question.

"We are now," he agreed.  He stood up and stretched, then sat on the floor with his back against the chair.  I shifted so I could put my head in his lap, and then I reached up and pulled the hair tie out of my hair.  Damien's hand immediately went to my head, rubbing my scalp and smoothing my hair out of my face.  It was so calming, and I shut my eyes.  "We should have had this conversation two weeks ago, but better late than never."  I nodded.

I laid there silently, enjoying Damien's fingers on my scalp and the relief I felt now that we'd finally had this conversation and it was over.  Finally, I said, "I'm starving, but I also desperately need a nap.  I don't know what to do first."

Damien laughed.  "We could order food, and then take a nap while we wait for it to be delivered," he suggested.

"That's the best idea ever," I said excitedly, sitting up.  I yawned and rubbed furiously at my eyes, which were heavy and felt like someone had tacked sandpaper onto the insides of my eyelids.  After a brief discussion about what to eat, we ordered pizza.  It was almost 2:30, and I hoped it would be here soon.  In the meantime, we moved our party of two up to the couch and I curled against his chest, content in a way I hadn't been in a month and a half.

"I feel like I'm going to have to peel you off of me on Monday to go to work," he joked.

"Fine, I'll move," I huffed, starting to sit up.

His arm snaked around me and pulled me back against him.  "I'm just teasing you," he said.  "I like it.  It's a nice change."  One of his hands rested on my shoulder, and he stroked the side of my neck and my jaw with his thumb.  I didn't think I would actually fall asleep while we waited for the pizza, but the next thing I knew, I was waking up to Damien gently shifting me off of him to go get the door.

We ate our pizza and then I put the rest in the fridge.  "Nap?" I asked yawning.  "This time you can sleep with me."

Damien laughed.  "I'd love to."

We went upstairs and climbed into my bed.  I rolled onto my side and Damien settled himself against me, wrapping his arm tightly around me from behind.  I settled against him and easily fell back to sleep.

(Now) Damien: Selfish

I didn't expect her to just leave.  You probably think that's stupid, and you're right.  Wild, impulsive Kinsley, who had refused to attach herself to anyone for her entire life...why wouldn't she just leave?  And that's where I fucked up.

I mean, not that moment right there (though, I certainly did screw that up too).  What I mean is that I fucked up by generally being complacent, confident that I finally got through Kinsley's walls and was in.  Apparently I hadn't, because she couldn't even tell me that spending so much time with my family was driving her nuts.  And, call me stupid again, but it never occurred to me that she was unhappy with it.  I know she's not family-oriented like I am, but she always seemed to enjoy herself playing with my niece and nephew--especially my niece, who was immediately drawn to Kinsley.  I knew that Adrienne drove her nuts, but Adrienne drives me nuts too.

I didn't stop to think about it, and that was another way I fucked up.  In fact, I suddenly understood why Beth, my ex-fiancée, repeatedly told me I was selfish when we were ending things.  I didn't understand at the time.  I didn't think I was selfish at all.  I was constantly thinking about her and how to make her happy.  But the problem was that I didn't think about what made her unhappy.  I trusted her to tell me what she didn't like, and when she didn't, I foolishly assumed that she wasn't unhappy.

I could see now that I'd made the same mistake with Kinsley--except I didn't even know I was doing it, because it wasn't until after Kinsley revealed how she felt about spending so much time with my family that I realized what Beth had meant.  It had hit me hard, and I couldn't believe that I'd been so stupid--and twice at that.  That's why it took me so long to sit back down to talk to Kinsley again.  I was busy wrestling with my new insight and trying to figure out what to do with it.

I thought we could talk about it, but it was harder than I thought it would be.  I didn't want to go through what I'd gone through with Beth, constantly trying to guess what she wanted because she wouldn't just tell me.  But I wanted to figure things out with Kinsley.  Kinsley wasn't Beth, and I knew things could be different.  But I said the wrong thing one too many times, and out the door she went.

She walked out so easily that I was fairly sure it was over with no chance of me changing her mind.  I'd blown it, and that was all there was to it.  I tried not to imagine what she was doing with herself, though I had a pretty good idea.  I was well aware of Kinsley's past and I knew she avoided her feelings by having sex.  She used sex to explain things, to avoid things, and to make sense of things.  So I knew what she was likely up to, and I was strangely okay with it.  It hurt less to think of her having a bunch of meaningless sex than to think of her snuggling up to someone else fully clothed.  I think that's why I was so hurt and confused when I pulled up to her house after our fight about me not telling my family and saw a strange man leaving.  I knew she wouldn't have sex with him while we were together, so I knew that it meant she had actually been talking to him.  I was so upset that she'd talk to him but not to me.

I really was trying to protect her by not telling my family.  A tiny part of me held out hope that we'd get back together, but even if we didn't, I didn't want to hear what my family had to say about the breakup.  They'd had many less than favorable things to say about Beth after we split, but then again, I could now see every point they made.  I wasn't ready to hear their no-holds-barred analysis of Kinsley, though I'm sure it wouldn't be as bad as Beth.

Even though I didn't tell them, I was sure they knew.  If they didn't know by my stuttered excuses when they questioned me about where she was, they certainly figured it out the night I got drunk at a family dinner.  Getting drunk isn't something that people in my family do.  Except Adrienne, but she's always the exception when it comes to my family.  My father died from complications of cirrhosis of the liver, caused by a lifetime of heavy drinking.  Heavy drinking was just not a thing we did.

But that day, I'd spent an hour putting some of the things Kinsley had left at my house into a box, to maybe give back to her when I could stand even calling her.  It had sucked, and I was already on edge when I arrived.  I grabbed a beer out of the fridge right away, before I even greeted anyone.  After I'd said hello to my mom, she said, "No Kinsley again?  Did we do something to upset her?  If so, you should really tell us because I want to apologize.  I like her."

"No, Mom, you didn't," I said, exasperated.  My poker face was hard to keep up around my family.  At least it had been these past couple weeks.  "She's just been really busy.  She picked up some special projects at work, and her mom has been sick."  The lies just slid right out.  Surprisingly enough, I didn't even feel bad lying to my mom anymore.  The first few times had been hard, but it had gotten easier and easier.

When my 4 year old niece Amelia saw me, she came running over.  She stopped short and frowned when she got close.  "Uncle Damien," she said, an adorable pout on her face, "Where's my Kinsley?"

I scooped her up and rubbed my stubble gently across her cheek, making her giggle.  "Your Kinsley is very busy, sweetheart, and she misses you a lot."

Amelia leaned away and put on her best pouty face, then let out a heavy, dramatic sigh.  "Will you give her something for me?" she asked.

"Of course," I replied, forcing a smile.  Lying to my mom was easy.  Lying to my 4 year old niece was a lot harder.

She threw her arms around my neck and squeezed tightly, then planted a big, wet kiss on my cheek.  "Give her those, okay?  Tell her I miss her."  Then she promptly demanded to be put down and she scampered away, and I was grateful that she couldn't see my face, because I was sure it would have given me away.

"I'd love to," I muttered to myself, taking a long drink of the beer in my hand.

"You'd love to what?" Elize asked, sidling up next to me.  I sighed.  I hadn't seen my older sister approach me and wondered how much she'd seen/heard.

"I'd love to go play with the kids in the yard," I said, grinning at her.  She cocked an eyebrow at my beer and I drained it and tossed the bottle at the recycling container on the deck.  "No beer for the kids, got it," I said.  Elize looked surprised at my sarcasm, but I just turned and jogged down the deck steps and out towards Amelia and my 6 year old nephew Luke.  Luke was pointing a finger gun at the trees and shooting imaginary intruders while Amelia turned crooked somersaults in the grass a few yards away.

"Amelia!" Luke yelled.  "Get out of the way!"

"I'm busy!" she screeched back.  "I'm doing my dimnastics!"  I chuckled.  One of these days she'd get that "g" sound.  Until then, it was pretty cute.

"No you're not!" Luke retorted.  "You're flopping around like a dummy!  That's not gymnastics.  That's being dumb!"  Amelia screwed up her face, looking like she was thinking about whether or not to cry at the insult.

"Hey," I scolded him.  "Be nice to your sister.  She's just learning, which is why she's practicing.  You didn't wake up one morning turning perfect somersaults either."

"Sorry, Amelia," Luke said, rebuked.  "Can I show you?"  The two of them happily rolled around in the grass after that, determined to come up with the most ridiculous "dimnastics" move.  It was all fun until Amelia accidentally kicked Luke in the head and he retaliated by stomping on her foot.  I ended up carrying a wailing Amelia back to the house while a grumbling Luke trailed behind me, insisting that Amelia did it on purpose.

I got ice for both of them (and a beer for myself--unopened until I was done tending to the kids, of course) and waited until they were both calm before I explained that if you accidentally hurt someone, you should apologize, not laugh at them.  And then if someone hurts you, you shouldn't hurt them back if you can avoid it, regardless of if it's an accident or on purpose.  My little lesson finished with, "It doesn't matter whose fault it is, you both hurt each other in the end and neither of you are happy."  They seemed to understand that on a superficial level at least, and they both apologized unprompted, then went back outside when I dismissed them.

My words were echoing in my head and I took a long drink of my beer, thinking about how applicable it was to my life right now.  "You know," someone said, and my head snapped up.  My sister's husband (and Amelia and Luke's dad), Jason, was leaning against the doorway and I didn't even know he was there.  "I would have just told them to keep their hands and feet to themselves, but I think your way was a little more effective."

I laughed bitterly.  "We'll see."

We watched the kids play in the backyard for a bit, then Jason clapped me on the back and said, "Wouldn't it be nice if everything was as easy to fix with an icepack and an apology?"  He gave me a knowing look, and without waiting for my reply, he walked out onto the deck, leaving me alone in the kitchen with my thoughts and my beer.

My thoughts made me finish my beer and grab a new one.  I drank about half of that one before I went outside to see if my step-dad Robert wanted any help with the grill.  He declined my offer but asked me to grab him a beer.  I figured I'd get myself one while I was in there, so I finished mine off and grabbed another.  My fourth?  I don't even know.  I delivered Robert's beer and then bit the bullet and went to go sit with my mom, Elize, and Jason.  Luckily no one asked me any more questions about Kinsley, asking instead about work and my house, which I had just finished doing some remodeling work on. Really, though, I just wanted them all to leave me alone.

I was 6 (or maybe 7?) beers in by the time dinner was ready.  My mom gave me a sharp look when I came back with another.  "What?" I asked irritably.

"I'm just worried about you, honey," my mom said softly.  "You don't normally drink like this.  Is everything okay?"

"Everything's fine," I said.  I turned and walked to the table, sitting down heavily.  I was quiet through dinner, which prompted a lot of concerned looks from my mom and Elize.

After dinner I had another beer, and then another one.  When Elize and Jason started getting the kids ready to go home, Robert stopped me in the hall.  "I think you'd better stay here tonight, Damien," he said.  I didn't argue with him, just looked at him through my heavy eyelids.  "Your mom is getting the guest room ready."  I nodded, then moved past him to go to the bathroom.

I spent the night and woke up late the next morning, which was thankfully a Sunday.  I felt awful.  Really ridiculously awful.  I groaned and rolled over, pressing my eyes shut again.  But try as I might, I couldn't fall back to sleep.  So I hauled myself out of bed, stopped in the bathroom, and then continued into the kitchen.

The sun streaming through the windows was agony on my throbbing head.  My mom took one look at me and without a word, she filled a glass with water and handed it to me, then took a bottle of advil out of her purse and handed that over as well.  I swallowed three of them and drank the glass of water, then sat down on the couch.    "Do you want to talk about it?" my mom asked from the kitchen.

"No," I replied.

"Alright, then get your stuff together and get home, Robert and I have things to do today."  I was a little surprised at being dismissed so unceremoniously, but when I walked past the kitchen to go get my shoes out of the guest room, my mom said, "We love you, Damien.  Remember that."

"I know, Mom," I replied.  "I love you too."

Three days later, I ran into Lauren at the grocery store.  Why can't I go anywhere without running into someone I know?  This is not a small town.  "Hi," I said awkwardly.

She frowned, then said, "Hey."  We were both silent for a second, and then we both reached for the same container of strawberries.

"Sorry," we said at the same time.

Lauren took a deep breath and said, "Kinsley's a mess.  A complete disaster.  You broke her, you bastard."  Then she snatched the strawberries we'd both reached for, put them in her basket, and walked away without another word.

I was so distracted after that that I forgot half of the things I needed.  I wondered what that meant.  Kinsley was always kind of a mess.  A beautiful mess that I loved, but still a mess.  Always late, unorganized, reactive, impulsive.  I wondered what "complete disaster" Kinsley was like.  Maybe the opposite.  Organized, quiet, thoughtful.  That would be a sight to see.  I didn't think I'd like it though.

Lauren's words had a huge impact on me.  Kinsley had seemed so sure, so together, when she walked out of my house the last time I saw her.  It made it easy to believe that we weren't getting back together, even though I hoped against hope that maybe we could.  But hearing Lauren say that Kinsley was a mess...I didn't want her to be a mess, of course, but maybe that meant she'd be open to hearing my apology.  Open to hearing me acknowledge that I messed this up and I would do things differently, and I could do things differently, now that I understood what I'd done wrong in the first place.

It took me two days to gather the courage to call her.  I was surprised that she answered, but I wasn't surprised at her anger.  I deserved it.  She surprised me again when she said she'd be over in half an hour.  I had figured if she did decide to see me, she'd exert some sort of control over it by saying we could meet tomorrow, or another time and place of her choosing.

When I opened my door and she immediately started yelling at me, I almost laughed.  I'm glad I didn't, because that wouldn't have helped.  It was so good to see her, even if she was yelling and swearing and making a scene.  Plus, if she was yelling, that meant she still felt some way about me.  If she was indifferent, it was over.

I had to change my tack and skip most of my planned apology.  I wouldn't have gotten anywhere with her anger where it was.  Instead, I addressed her anger and her feelings in the way that would make the most sense to her.  We still needed to talk, of course...maybe tomorrow.  For tonight, I had her in my bed and she was spending the night, and that was enough for now.

(Now) Kinsley: Good Luck

Come back tomorrow for Damien's perspective!
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I guess it's my lack of relationship experience in general, but I thought that once Damien and I were back together, things would be easy.  That's what we both wanted, right?  Wrong.  Well, right, that is what we both wanted, but wrong...it wasn't easy.

We were both wary of each other.  We were both also struggling to find a compromise on the things that had caused our first breakup, even though we'd never actually had a conversation about it since we got back together.  Damien didn't mention his family at all, which was just weird.  And I had realized that not only did it hurt our relationship when I stayed quiet about things I didn't like, but I didn't like myself like that.  I had been so scared to lose everything we worked so hard for in our relationship that I lost my ability to say what I really thought.  Well, I was no longer scared to lose everything, because I'd done it once and been okay, but I lacked experience in moderating myself so that my thoughts came out honest but respectful.

We were only 2 weeks into Relationship Round Two when we had our first Relationship Round Two fight.  It started innocently, with me trying to extend a family-focused olive branch.  "So, we haven't done anything with your family since we got back together," I started.  "Do you want to?"

He watched me carefully, then thought for several seconds before he spoke.  Finally, he said, "We could."

"We could?"

"Well, yeah.  What would you want to do?"

"I don't know, Damien.  They're your family.  Don't they have family things happening every day of the week?  Pick one."  I take full responsibility for being a brat, but he was being so weird about it.  So weird.  "Hey...what did you tell them about us breaking up, anyway?"

He looked away briefly, and then looked back at me.  "I didn't."

"You didn't?"  I swear, having a conversation with this man could be like pulling teeth sometimes.  And he was definitely acting strangely.  He had been since I mentioned his family.

"No, I didn't tell them.  I couldn't.  I didn't know what to say, and I didn't want to hear what they had to say.  At least not until I was sure it was over."  He shrugged, and I looked at him in surprise.

"You don't think that they thought it was weird that we were going to family things as a couple, and then I just all of a sudden stopped going?"

"They asked a couple times, and I just said you couldn't make it."

I stared at him.  "Seriously?  So you let them think that I was completely refusing to come to anything with you for how long?  Let's see, counting the week before we broke up, the three weeks we were broken up, and the last two weeks...six weeks?!  Do you realize how terrible that makes me look?"

"Yes," he said carefully.  "I didn't know what else to do, Kinsley.  My family is not very forgiving, so if I would have told them we broke up, that would have messed things up for you if we did get back together, which I was hoping we would."

"Not if you had made things sound like a mutual decision, or not made me out to be the bad guy," I retorted.  "I'd say you messed things up for me pretty damn well this way too."

"It wouldn't have mattered.  My sisters...they're protective.  And I'm my mom's only son.  I promise that I was actually trying to protect you.  You don't understand."

"I don't," I agreed.  I was getting mad.  Really mad.  I knew that I was going to say things I would regret if I stayed here much longer.  I sucked in a deep breath, and attempted to be an adult for once.  "Okay," I said.  "I need to go home.  Can we figure this out tomorrow?"

He made a face.  "I'd rather we figured it out tonight," he replied.

I pressed my lips together and closed my eyes briefly.  "I promise you that this will get really ugly if we do that.  I'm pissed off.  I don't want to fight with you but I can't have a grown up discussion now.  Please let me walk away so we can have a grown up discussion tomorrow."  He looked at me placidly and didn't respond.  "Damien, please.  This is going against every fucking instinct I have and it's hard and I have about 30 seconds of it left in me before I say 'fuck it, let's fight all goddamned night then.'  I'm trying to do this right this time and I'm telling you what I need.  That's what you wanted, right?"

"Yes," he said, his face softening.  "It is.  Go.  We'll talk about it later."

Relieved, I stood up and looked for my purse, not remembering where I left it.  I spotted it on the kitchen table and I grabbed it.  "Hey," Damien said, as I started to put my shoes on.  I looked up.  "I love you."

"I love you too," I replied.  I walked over to him, standing by the couch, and hugged him.  Is this what people who know how to relationship do?  It was weird.  But it was strangely reassuring.

I got in my car and drove home.  When I got there, I felt restless.  I needed a second opinion on this.  I worried that this shit was going to keep happening and his family was going to indirectly tear us apart, over and over.  I didn't know if my worry was legitimate or leftover anxiety from the breakup or just me being completely ridiculous.  I looked at my phone.  I thought about calling Liv, but it was after 10, and she and Brody were pretty much an old married couple at this point, plus she lived so far out of town now.  I would have called Lauren, except things were still weird between us.  So, knowing that it was probably a bad choice, I called the only person I knew I could get away with calling at 10pm on a Friday.

"Broken up again already, huh?" Cole said when he answered.

"This isn't a booty call," I snapped back.

"Whoa, easy.  What is it then?"

"This is a probably highly inappropriate plea for a second opinion and guy's perspective all at once," I replied, even though I felt like what I should be doing was hanging up the phone and going to bed.

He chuckled.  "You want my opinion on your relationship issues?" he asked.

"Don't make me regret calling you," I warned him.

"Okay, okay.  Look, I'm out having dinner with a friend, but I'm in your neighborhood.  Can I stop by?  We're almost done."

I pushed away the red flag that popped up in my head and agreed.  20 minutes later, Cole knocked on my door and I let him in.  He kicked his shoes off and made himself comfortable on my couch.  "Alright, spill it."

I sat down in the chair across from him. Apparently I was okay with having a guy that I was fucking for 3 weeks come over at 10:30 on a Friday night after I argued with my boyfriend, but I drew an arbitrary line at sitting next to him on the couch.   And then I told him everything.  I mean, seriously everything.  I have no idea why, because I had no reason to let myself be vulnerable in front of this guy, aside from the fact that he really knows his way around the female body.

He listened silently while I word-vomited all over the carpet in front of him, and then he crossed his arms and leaned back.  "This is weird," he admitted, saying what we were both thinking.  "I'm not sure what to make of you sitting here spilling your guts to me."

I glared at him.  "Okay, okay," he said, "I'll ignore the weirdness.  Here's what I think:  From a man's perspective, knowing what you told me about him and about how hard he worked to get past some of your walls, I truly think that he was doing what he thought would best protect you.  I think he's maybe a little clueless, but I believe he thought that what he was doing was the best option."

I sighed.  I still wasn't sure I agreed.  "Kinsley, be logical for once in your life.  Taming you is not an easy feat.  Neither is getting you to open up.  He did both.  And it took him months, and he kept at it, because for some reason he saw something in you that literally no one else sees.  And don't look at me like that.  You brought me here for a reason, and you're getting what you paid for.  Speaking on behalf of men everywhere, you are intimidating as hell.  For all appearances, you don't give a fuck about anything, you're gorgeous, you're impulsive, and you're impossible to read.  That will send 98% of us running for the hills.  I loved fucking you--and would be happy to do it again anytime, by the way--but I wouldn't in a million years date you.  He saw something that not many people get to see, and he stuck around and made it work.  And I don't think you should settle for anything less than you deserve, but I think you're making a big mistake if you don't try to work this out."

"So you think I should just let him keep putting his family before me?  That because very few men are stupid enough to date me, I should settle for this one?" I asked wryly.

He shook his head.  "That's not what I said, and it's certainly not what I meant," he said patiently.  "I pointed that out to make a point that anyone willing to work that hard is not going to do something to be deliberately malicious to you.  You need to advocate for yourself and tell him what you need.  You said yourself that you haven't been doing that, and I promise you that the guy cannot read your mind.  Now, if you tell him what you need and he can't or won't give it to you, that's another story and you need to go.  But if you love him, tell him what you need from him and give him a chance to make it happen."

"You are blowing my mind right now, and I now take back my skepticism at you being 'full of surprises'," I said.

He laughed.  "Anything else I can help you with, then?"  He couldn't help suggestively raising his eyebrows, and I threw a throw pillow at him.  "Don't you remember what happened the last time you threw something at me?" he asked.  My cheeks got hot as I remembered the day I threw the napkin at him, which turned into a water fight into my kitchen, which turned into him fucking my brains out on my kitchen table.  He stood.  "I have to get out of here because you're making it too easy for my mind to go places it shouldn't be going right now."

"That's a good idea," I agreed.  I stood and walked to the door with him.

"As much as it pains me to say this," he said, as he shoved his feet into his shoes, "Don't fuck this up, okay?"

"I'll try," I agreed.

I pulled the front door open for him to leave then froze, because Damien was walking up the sidewalk towards my house.

"Oh shit," Cole whispered.  "Good luck."  He didn't even look at me as he walked through the door and down the sidewalk, greeting Damien briefly when they passed.  Damien turned to watch him walk away, and then turned back to me.  Even in the dark, I could see the confusion, anger, and hurt on his face.

Good luck, indeed.  I was going to need it.

Pass it Down

Happy Sunday, readers!  As promised on Friday (if you didn't check back on Friday to see my Kinsley bonus, make sure you don't miss it!), I've got some Kinsley bonuses up my sleeve so that we can wrap this part of her story up and hear from Lauren.  I had a request for a post from Damien's perspective, so I'm working on that too!  I love when you guys give me an awesome, challenging request.  Those end up being some of my favorite posts to write.  

The plan for this week is: Today's post, below.  Tomorrow (Monday), a Kinsley post.  Wednesday and Friday will be a Kinsley post and a main storyline post--not sure yet which will be which.  Ideally, I'd like Wednesday to be main storyline and Friday to be Kinsley, but the Kinsley post is written and the next main storyline post is not, so that might mean that Kinsley happens on Wednesday and main storyline on Friday.  Either way, there will be posts today, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.  

One last thing:  I'm loving all the discussion on the Kinsley storyline, and I'm glad that you're all enjoying her posts so much.  Kinsley has a special place in my heart, so I love that you all love her too.
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Lauren skipped out on Thursday's happy hour, and Brody was stuck at work late, so it ended up being me, Alex, Kendra, and Christian.  According to Alex, Lauren had claimed that she wasn't feeling well.  It was sort of a weird evening, and ended up being mostly Kendra and I talking wedding while Alex and Christian talked about...whatever they talked about.

I left after a little over an hour and stopped to drop off some food to Brody.  Arlene was still parked at the desk and barely looked at me as she waved me back.  I knocked lightly on Brody's office door, which was ajar.  "Yeah?" he said.  He looked up as I pushed the door open a little more and slipped in.  "Oh! Hi, baby," he said, smiling.  "Sorry, I thought you were Pete."

"Nope, definitely not!" I replied.

"You're a lot prettier than Pete," Brody said, laughing.  He stood and kissed me.  "And you brought food.  You're far superior to Pete in every way."

"That was in order of importance, right?" I joked.

"Absolutely," he said with a grin.  Then he yawned.  I looked at the clock and saw it was a little after 8.  Judging by what time his alarm went off this morning, I estimated he'd already been at work for 14 hours today.

"Do you have much left?" I asked sympathetically, reaching up to rub his neck.

He frowned.  "Unfortunately, yes.  I'll probably be here a couple more hours.  I'd like to finish tonight so I can sleep in and come in a little later tomorrow morning and still be done by a reasonable time."

"Okay, I'll go so you can get back to work then," I said.

"I'll give you an update when there's an end in sight," he promised, kissing me.  I turned to go, and he caught my hand and pulled me back.  "One more kiss," he said, tugging me close to him.  I laughed and kissed him, gripping his arms and then sliding my hands up to his face.  "Mmm," he said, finally pulling away.  "Maybe that will motivate me to get shit done so I can get home."

"If that's the case, then how about one more?" I asked, smirking and standing on my toes to kiss him again.  He wrapped his arm around my lower back and pulled me against him, then buried his other hand in my hair, gently gripping a handful.

"Ummm," a male voice said, clearing his throat.  "Sorry, I'll...come back."

Brody and I broke apart sheepishly, and Brody called, "No, Pete, it's okay.  Sorry."

Pete turned and came back in, looking embarrassed.  "I knocked..." he said, shrugging.  "The door was open.  I can wait though..."

"No, I was just leaving," I said hastily, my face hot.  Brody offered to walk me out but I waved him off and left, hurrying past Pete without making eye contact.  I wasn't sure if it was for his benefit or mine.

When I got to my car, before I set off for home, I sent a quick text to Lauren that said, "Hope you feel better.  I miss you.  Call me when you get a chance."  I was a little frustrated with the whole situation and hoped that Lauren would actually call me.  At this point, I didn't even know if we were on for Monday.

When I got home I washed the couple of dishes that were in the sink, wiped down the counters, and then decided to soak in the bath for awhile.  I dumped some lavender bath salt in while the tub filled up and grabbed a glass of wine and my Kindle.  I laid in the tub reading for almost an hour before I got out.  I dried off and got dressed and grabbed my phone--I had a text from Brody saying, "Don't wait up.  Midnight maybe?  Sorry :("   I decided to just head to bed, and I was glad I didn't have to work the next day.

I tossed and turned for awhile before settling into a restless sleep.  I never slept well here when Brody was gone.  Finally, I heard footsteps coming up the stairs.  Brody came in, headed for the bathroom, and emerged a few minutes later.  I rolled over as he climbed into bed.  "Hi," I said sleepily.

"Hi," he replied, settling next to me and wrapping his arm around me.  "Sorry I woke you."

"You didn't, really," I said, finding his hand and weaving my fingers between his.  "I'm sorry your day sucked."

"It's better now," he said, pressing his face against my neck.  "I'm going to work from home tomorrow, I think.  It's been a long week."

"I like that idea," I said.  There was no chance of him getting stuck late in town if he didn't leave the house.

I finally fell asleep, not waking until Brody's alarm went off in the morning.  Next to me, he groaned and I felt his arm lift off my body as he rolled over to silence his phone.  He grumbled something unintelligible as he rolled back towards me, wrapping his arm back around me and nestling his face between my neck and shoulder.

I had just drifted back to sleep when his alarm went off again.  Once again he groaned, rolled over, silenced it, and rolled back towards me.  Figuring he must have actually shut it off this time, I shut my eyes again.  When the alarm went off a third time, I rolled away from him and said, "If you don't either shut that fucking thing off or get up, you can go sleep in the other room and listen to it repeatedly by yourself."

"It's off," he said chuckling.  "Come back, please?"    Grumbling to myself, I rolled back over onto my side and let him snuggle up against my back again.  But now I couldn't get comfortable enough to fall back asleep.  "Sorry," Brody said, his breath tickling my neck.  "I can try to help you fall back asleep if you want..."  When I didn't grumble at him, he pressed his lips against the back of my neck.  Getting no negative response, he moved them a little and sucked gently.  Despite my grumpiness at having been woken up three times, I couldn't help but sigh contentedly and press my hips back against his.

He kept kissing and sucking on the back of my neck while one hand slipped up my tank top and brushed lightly across my breasts.  Then he pushed my shorts down over my hips and I wiggled out of them, kicking them off.  His hand found its way between my legs and began moving gently against me until I was moaning and pressing my hips against his hand.  Then he eased himself into me and rocked his hips slowly against mine, keeping his fingers pressed against my skin.

He got me close, then paused the movement of his fingers and his hips, nipping gently at my shoulder as I moved my hips desperately against his.  Then he resumed, and this time he didn't stop.  I cried out and gripped his forearm tightly as I came, locking my leg around his.  His fingers continued moving against me as he thrust harder and I soon had a second orgasm.  He finished shortly after and we stayed pressed together, breathless.

We shifted around so Brody was laying on his back and I had my head on his chest.  Brody pushed my hair behind my ear, then dragged his fingers lightly down my jaw.  Up, around my ear, down my jaw, over and over.  I yawned and my eyelids drooped shut, and I soon fell back asleep.

I woke again about an hour later, and I could tell from the slow, steady rise and fall of Brody's chest that he was still sleeping.  I carefully slipped out of bed without waking him, found my shorts, and crept downstairs.   By the time Brody came downstairs, I was almost finished making eggs, pancakes, and sausage.

"You're making me breakfast?  That's new!" Brody teased me as he came into the kitchen, pushing his hand through his already tousled hair.

"Weird, huh?" I replied, laughing.  "Don't get used to it."  We sat and ate together, then cleaned up together.  After that, Brody disappeared into his office to work.  I spent my Friday going to the gym, getting groceries and running a couple errands, doing some laundry, and doing some more wedding stuff.  We had gotten just about all the addresses we needed (having a short guest list helped!) and I needed to compile them into one list to send to Lauren's mom.  Then I made lists of questions to ask the people we were meeting with tomorrow (a couple photographers, a couple DJs, and an officiant), and started looking for florists in Colorado Springs.

I was still Googling when Brody wandered in.  I showed him a few things I was looking at, then gladly shut the laptop so we could make dinner together.  We ate out on the deck and spent a good portion of the evening out there, splitting a bottle of wine and talking.

We went to bed early, and we were up early on Saturday to head down to Colorado Springs.  We played bad 90s and early 2000s music the whole ride down, singing along to boy bands and Britney Spears.  It was a long day of running around and asking questions and taking notes and being inundated with information, and by the end of our appointments we were both a little crabby.  I really, really wanted to just go home, but we were having dinner with Brody's mom.

"We have some time, do you mind if we make one more stop?" Brody asked.

I frowned.  "Can that stop be preceded by one more for some caffeine?"

Brody chuckled.  "Absolutely.  There's actually a great coffee shop not to far away from where I want to go, will that work?"  I nodded, and a few minutes later Brody parked.  We walked into a coffee shop and I got a large iced mocha.  I might not sleep tonight, but at least I'd be awake for dinner.  "Up for a 5 minute walk?" Brody asked.  I agreed and he guided us down the sidewalk.

We stopped in front of a jewelry store.  "This is where I got your necklace and your ring," he explained.  "My mom has known the owner for a long time.  I thought you could meet him, and we could look at wedding bands if you want."  Looking at diamonds was always something I was okay with, so I happily followed him into the store.

We were greeted by an attractive woman who looked like she was in her mid-30s.  "Is Don here?" Brody asked her.  She nodded and said he was in the back, then excused herself to go get him.  I wandered around, looking at all the pretty things in the cases.

"Brody!" boomed an unfamiliar male voice.  I looked up and saw a tall, heavyset man approaching us.  "Hello, son!"  He shook Brody's hand vigorously, then his sparkling eyes turned to me.  "And you must be Olivia," he said, holding out his hand to me.

"Yes, that would be me," I said, smiling and shaking his outstretched hand.

"Let's see that beautiful ring on your hand there, dear," Don said, motioning to my left hand.  I held it out to him and he gently took my fingers and tilted the ring this way and that way, so the diamond caught the light and glittered.  "Perfect," he said.  "It looks even better on your hand than it did in my display case.  If you can part with it for a minute or two, Kathryn will clean it for you."  Perking up at the mention of her name, Kathryn scurried over, carefully taking the ring from me and walking towards the back of the store.  My hand felt weird without the ring.  "The necklace is stunning on you as well," he said.  Then he turned back to Brody.  "You did good, kid."

Brody grinned, then asked if we could look at wedding bands.  Don led us to a different section of the store as Kathryn returned with my ring.  I tried on several bands, but nothing was quite what I wanted.  The band I liked didn't fit right with my ring.  "We might just have customize something for you, my dear," Don said, after I'd tried on half the store.

I frowned.  "I'm sure I'll find something," I replied.  Brody tried on a few rings and found a couple that he liked.  We had to leave, but we assured Don that we'd be back, probably in a few weeks.  We said goodbye, and headed back towards the car, walking hand in hand.

Brody drove us to the restaurant we were meeting Thalia at, and we were a few minutes early.  We sat in the car and went over our notes from all of our meetings.  We had ended up really liking one of the photographers and signed a contract and put a deposit down.  Both the DJs were fine and we would have been okay with either one, but Brody really wanted to look at some live music options first.  The officiant wasn't our style at all, and that stressed me out the most, because if we didn't have someone to marry us, we wouldn't be able to have a wedding.  Brody assured me that it would be okay and we'd find someone, but his laid-back attitude just added to my stress. I wanted him to feel the same sense of urgency that I did, even though I logically knew that wouldn't happen.

I shoved my notes into the backseat and grabbed my purse and we headed to inside to meet his mom.  We waited for her inside, and she walked in just a couple minutes after we had.  She greeted us both cheerfully with a hug.  Once we were seated, she asked how the day of wedding planning had gone.  Brody smiled and said, "I think it went great," at the same time that I shrugged and said, "It was okay, I guess."  We looked at each other and laughed, then I clarified, "I think I'm feeling the time crunch a little bit more than he is."

"Brody's never been troubled by timelines," Thalia agreed, smiling.   "But please, let me know if you need any help.  I'd be happy to do whatever I can."

"Thank you," I said sincerely.  "I might take you up on that!"  I thought for a second and then said, "Actually, if you don't mind, I could really use someone to go meet with a florist with me when I pick one out.  I don't really know much about flowers, and Brody doesn't care.  It would be nice to have someone there that was a little more knowledgeable."  I knew that Thalia loved flowers and gardening, and Brody had given me a "do I have to?" look when I asked him about meeting with florists.

"I'd love to!" she said happily.  After a little discussion, we agreed that I'd try to set something up on one of the Fridays I was off.  Brody looked relieved that he wouldn't have to do anything flower-related with me.

"So, Mom," Brody started, once we were almost finished eating.  "Are we going to get to meet this man in your life before the wedding?"

Thalia looked surprised, as if it hadn't occurred to her that Brody would want to meet him.  Or maybe that we'd invite him to the wedding (which we were, of course).  "Well, I guess, if you want to," she said, stuttering a little.

"I do," he confirmed.  I nodded.

She shrugged.  "Okay, well we can set something up for another time that you guys are down here doing wedding stuff, if you'd like.  Just let me know."  We promised to let her know the next time we'd be down.

Our server appeared at that moment, saving Thalia from any further discussion of her love life.  We debated if we wanted to get dessert, and finally selected something to share.  Once our server disappeared, Thalia turned to me.  Her eyes sparkled as she said, "Olivia, dear, I have something for you."

"For me?" I asked, surprised.  I looked at Brody, who looked just as surprised as I did.  I looked back at Thalia and she smiled as she reached into her purse and drew out a large velvet jewelry box.  I cocked my head and took it tentatively when she held it out to me.

"This was my grandmother's, then my mother's, then mine, and now I want it to be yours," she said.  "Consider it an engagement gift, but please don't feel pressure to wear it for your wedding if it doesn't go with your dress or if you have something else already.  I just want you to have it."

I glanced at Brody again before I opened it, and he just smiled at me.  I opened the box and gasped.  "Oh my god, Thalia, this is gorgeous," I breathed, looking down at an amazing diamond and pearl necklace with matching earrings.  "I can't possibly--"

"You can, and you will," she said simply and firmly.  "You don't have to wear it if you don't like it; all I ask is that if you and my son have children, you'll continue to pass it down."

"No, I love it," I said sincerely.  "And I will!  It's beautiful.  I...don't know what to say."  I looked up at her, blinking furiously because I felt tears welling up at the gesture.  "Thank you."  Brody slipped an arm around my shoulders and quickly kissed my cheek, then smiled at me.

"You're welcome, dear.  Welcome to our family."

That was enough to send me over the edge, and the tears I'd been trying to hold back spilled out.  Our server stopped by with our dessert, saw me crying, and hurriedly set the plate down and backed away.  "Hey," Brody said, laughing gently.  "Don't do that."  He tightened his arm around me and stroked my shoulder with his thumb.  Thalia reached across the table and patted my hand gently, and I laced my fingers with hers and squeezed them.  She squeezed back, and I stood and excused myself.

I hurried to the bathroom, where I managed to get a hold of myself.  I cursed myself for my tendency to cry at the drop of a hat, and quickly cleaned up my smudged eye makeup and took several deep breaths.  When I came out of the bathroom, I found Brody leaning against the wall.  He pulled me into a hug.  "Are you okay?" he asked.

"I'm fine.  I just got a little overwhelmed by the gesture and the thought behind it," I said, smiling at him.  "Thanks for coming to check on me."

He kissed my forehead, then brushed his lips gently against mine.  "Alright, I'm going to the bathroom then, I'll be back shortly."  I nodded and turned to head back to the table.

I felt my face get warm as I sat back down, and I smiled shyly at Thalia.  "Sorry," I said.  "Thank you, it means so much to me that you'd give me this beautiful heirloom.  And actually, if you don't mind, I'd love to wear it on our wedding day.  It will go perfectly with my dress."

Thalia's face lit up.  "Of course!" she said.  "It's yours, you can wear it when you want.  That means you've purchased a dress?"

"Yes, want to see it?" I asked.  She nodded excitedly.  I checked to make sure Brody wasn't coming back yet, and pulled my phone out.  I scrolled through my pictures until I found the one of me in the dress that Amy had taken and sent to me.  I handed her my phone, and her eyes got wide.

"Oh, Olivia, it's beautiful," she said.  "You look wonderful, and so happy.  And you're right, that jewelry will be perfect with it."  She smiled at me and handed the phone back, motioning with her head to the right.  I saw Brody coming, so I quickly clicked my screen off and shoved my phone back in my purse.  I had originally wanted to go dress shopping with him, but when I had found the perfect dress without him, I decided I wanted to keep it a surprise.

We ate our dessert and stayed for a bit longer.  I was so grateful to be marrying into Brody's family, even with the family-related bumps we'd had along the way.  Brody's mom and sister were wonderful enough to make up for the rocky start, and I was hopeful that our relationship with Ken would end up being neutral at worst.

Finally, we stood, freeing up our table for the next guests.  Outside the restaurant we both hugged Thalia, promising to let her know when we'd be down again.  We parted, and Brody and I walked to our car with my first family heirloom tucked safely into my purse.