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“I love you,” Tristan whispered in my ear and then he leaned back so he could kiss me. He kept the kiss sweet and chaste, probably in deference to our family, but it set off a spark of need inside of me that made it hard to let him go.
“Hear him out, okay?” he said softly, motioning over his shoulder to Memphis who was watching us with open hunger. I nodded and dashed at the tears that were threatening to fall. Tristan released me and then went to hug both his fathers before making his way back to my side. But he didn’t touch me and I felt oddly alone as Memphis and I watched each other.
By this time, my entire family had gathered to watch what was happening and part of me wanted to tell them to go back inside because I knew their presence would be bothersome for Memphis. But before I could say anything, he was walking towards me. I could tell he’d lost weight and he looked pale despite his darker skin tone, but his eyes looked bright and alert.
And confident, just like Tristan.
He stopped several feet from me and I was actually disappointed that he hadn’t touched me like Tristan had. Because that was all I needed. For his arms to wrap around me and tell me we were okay. That we would always be okay.
I saw Memphis look at the group of smaller kids off to one side of the driveway. He knelt down and crooked his finger at one of them and I saw little Matty Travers separate from the group. I’d seen him earlier when I’d arrived and Zane had been the one to tell me he was between chemotherapy treatments, and that he was out of the hospital for a week before the next treatment started.
Matty reached Memphis who whispered something into his ear. Matty listened intently and then smiled and nodded. He held out his arms and Memphis carefully picked him up. Memphis finally came up to me and stopped just a foot from me. Close enough for me to touch.
His dark eyes held mine and I saw the vulnerability there. “Brennan,” he said softly, my name sounding like the sweetest of caresses on his lips. “I want a do-over, baby.”
I wasn’t sure I’d heard him right and I started to shake my head, but Matty piped up. “It’s a second chance,” he said matter-of-factly. “Papa says everyone deserves a second chance.”
“Memphis,” I began, completely confused.
“I want the fairy tale, Brennan,” Memphis said, not caring who heard him. “I want this,” he said as he motioned to the small crowd of people who’d gone completely silent. “I want the family dinners, the date nights, the hand-holding, the fights, the making up…I want to celebrate birthdays and anniversaries and all the other sh…” – he stumbled to a halt when he remembered Matty’s presence – “stuff that families do together. I’m not good at small talk, but I promise I’ll try to do better. I’d prefer to live in a house rather than an apartment, but I’ll be happy with whatever you and Tristan want.” Memphis took a breath and then looked kind of frantic. “What else?” he seemed to ask himself.
“Fairy tales have heroes,” Matty whispered. “You can be a superhero.”
Memphis laughed and I was stunned to see him wiping at his eyes. “I’d like that,” he whispered, though his eyes remained on me.
“Brennan, I love you so much and I’m sorry it took me so long to tell you.”
I was so taken aback from everything that had just fallen from Memphis’s mouth, that I couldn’t respond. But Memphis wasn’t done, because instead of grabbing me and kissing me like I so desperately wanted him to do, he turned to my brother.
“Zane, I don’t think we actually ever formally met. I’m Memphis Wheland. I know you probably hate me right now, but I love your brother with everything in me, and I’ll prove to you someday that I’m worthy of him,” Memphis said as he motioned to me.
“I think you just did, Memphis,” my brother said and then he held out his hand. Memphis shook it and then he moved on to my brother’s husband, Connor and introduced himself. But he didn’t stop there. In fact, he went up to every single person in the crowd and introduced himself. I finally realized why he still had Matty in his arms when he reached someone he clearly didn’t recognize. He gave Matty a quick look and then Matty whispered in his ear. I laughed as I realized Matty was his cheat sheet. It was a running family joke that Matty had helped Mav learn everyone’s names just before he’d been introduced to the family after he’d started dating Eli.
I felt Tristan’s arms come around me from behind as we watched Memphis make the rounds. I covered his hands with one of mine and then turned my head to kiss him. “I love you,” I whispered.
