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I give him a minute to let that soak in.
“That’s before I fell in love with him. Now, I want to enjoy the love of the good man who I’ve fallen in love with. I want him and me together, to love one another and our child and future children. I want to be the center of his world, because he’s the center of mine. I want us to settle here and find a house that will support our growing family, and yes, I still want to host some family gatherings too.” I swallow over the lump of emotion clogging my throat.
He remains quiet, letting my words sink in.
I keep going. “Forrest, Roman is one of your best friends. He fought this connection that we have. He fought it because he didn’t want me to lose you. You know him, Forrest. He’s been your best friend since you were five years old. He’s your business partner. You trust him. I trust him. You love him, and he loves you. Roman and I… our love for one another grew. It changed and blossomed over time, and it’s a love that I feel deep inside my soul. We tried to stay away from one another. We took a break for five months, and the minute we were back in the same town, we couldn’t do it. My wish for you is that one day you find a love like ours. A love so consuming you don’t feel like yourself without the other person.”
Forrest has been so focused on taking care of me, he’s put his life on hold. He bought that huge house to give me a home, when I would have been just as happy in a house a quarter of the size. He wanted to give me everything we didn’t have with our parents growing up, but what he failed to realize is that he’s always given me that. He’s loved me unconditionally, and that’s more than I ever could have wanted.
“Rome?” Forrest’s voice cracks.
“Yeah, brother?” Roman answers. He too has a wobble in his voice.
Forrest stands and walks toward him. Roman stands too, but I remain seated. I can tell by my brother’s body language that no punches are being thrown today. He’s had some time to think about this.
“Welcome to the family. Officially,” Forrest says. He offers Roman his hand as a single tear slides down my cheek.
“Thank fuck.” Roman reaches out and pulls Forrest into a hug. “Love you, man.”
They pull apart, and Forrest comes to sit next to me on the couch. “I’m sorry. Both of you, I’m sorry. I was caught off guard, and the age difference, and you’re my baby sister, and he’s my best friend, and I couldn’t wrap my head around it all. Legend stopped by this morning, and he told me about your tattoo.”
Roman lifts his shirt and shows him the ink. My heart melts every time I see it. He wanted a piece of me with him always. Even when he wasn’t sure we would find our way back to one another.
“I’ve seen it, but I didn’t know the meaning behind it. He told me how torn up you were. How you tried to stay away from her, but it was literally eating you up inside. Then I got a call from Monroe. She told me how hard the last five months were for you at school because you missed him so much.”
“We have good friends.” I smile, fighting back tears.
“We do. I’m sorry it took them to help me see what’s been right in front of me. I see it now, the way you two look at each other. It’s going to take me some time to get used to it, but I won’t interfere.”
“We appreciate that, man,” Roman says.
“If you hurt her, we’re done,” Forrest adds. “She’s my sister.”
“She’s my heart. My heart that’s walking around this earth outside of my body, and she’s carrying a piece of the two of us. There is nothing in this world that can pull me away from my wife and child.”
“Wife?” Forrest chokes out.
Roman shrugs. “Not officially, but she will be. I figured I might as well give you time to get used to that too. She will be Mrs. Bailey.”
“And I live here now,” I tell my brother. “We’re starting our life together.”
That’s something that we agreed on last night after Legend dropped us off from the hospital. We’ve spent enough time hiding and being apart. It’s time to put that behind us and move forward.
“I figured.” Forrest laughs.
“You’re used to me being away at school. The transition should be easy for you.”
“Me and that big, old, empty house,” he jokes.
“You’re just going to have to find yourself a woman, fall in love, and have some babies,” I tease.
“Maybe.” He shakes his head. “At least I’ll have lots of room for my nieces and nephews.” He smiles.
“Let’s start with one.”
“I’m sure the other three will eventually have kids too,” Forrest tells me. He really does think of his four best friends as his brothers.
“You hungry? I just made sandwiches. I can whip you one up,” Roman offers.
