CHAPTER SIXTY-FIVE

“Easy… Easy… Easy,” Angelo says as he and Matt set Matt’s television on its stand in the living room.

Jarel steps back. “Looks good, guys.”

Matt walks over to the small bedroom the previous owners used as an office. “What are we going to do with this space? Anyone got plans?”

“Actually, I do,” I tell him as the three of us join him. “What would you think about turning it into a bedroom for Jack, Jola, and Julie?”

Matt hugs me from behind, and I laugh as I grip his forearms. “That’s a ‘yes’ from Matt.”

Angelo smiles. “I love it.”

“Maybe the three of them could spend some time together,” Jarel says. “Val’s all for a big family. That’s three kids already.”

“Julie might like being the big kid in the group,” Matt says.

“And the twins have always wanted another sibling,” Angelo says. “Could be good for everyone.”

“Getting three beds in here might be a tight fit,” Matt says.

“That’s what bunk beds are for,” I say. “And when they’re older, maybe we can set up the basement or attic for them.”

I smile as I flashback to my dream of loud kids laughing.

This house really will be filled with love.

***

In an effort to help the kids bond, the four of us bring them along on a group date: ice skating.

“It’s been a long time for me,” I say. “It may take me a minute to get my ice legs.”

“I rented out the rink,” Jarel says with a shy smile. “No pressure not to run into others.”

“Julie’s gone a few times,” Matt says. “She’ll be fine.”

“The twins too,” Angelo says.

When we arrive, we rent our skates, and Angelo and I help the twins tighten their laces.

“Okay,” Matt says. “Everyone ready?”

All the kids nod enthusiastically, and we carefully step onto the ice.

Matt takes Julie’s hand, Angelo is holding the twins’ hands, and Jarel takes mine.

“It’s okay to fall,” Angelo tells them. “You can just get back up.”

Julie is the first to find her balance, and she lets go of Matt and skates off. Jack and Jola are impressed and eager to catch up. They carefully let go of Angelo and skate steadily, staying close to the edge.

Angelo winks at me before skating after them.

I’m still a bit wobbly, but Jarel holds my hand tightly and keeps me from falling. Seeing Julie is all right, Matt takes my other hand, and the three of us skate together.

“Look at this, Uncle Matt,” Julie calls, and she creates a figure eight with her skates.

“Cool!” Jack calls, finding his courage to skate closer.

“Teach us!” Jola says, skating after him.

“This is how you do it,” Julie says, and for the next twenty minutes, she teaches the twins how to make large loops. They’re certainly not perfect–not even as good as Julie–but all three of them are happy and laughing.

They each fall a couple of times, but they seem unfazed as they help each other up.

“Look at that,” Angelo says when he joins us.

“Quick bonding,” Matt says.

Jarel’s requested specific, kid-friendly music be played in the arena, and the kids–as well as Jarel and Angelo–try to show off dance moves.

When the Village People start singing “Y.M.C.A.”, we show the kids how to do the arm motions, and they laugh at us and one another.

We quickly learn that “Cha-Cha Slide” was a mistake. None of us are that coordinated on ice skates.

“When we move into the new house,” Matt says, “we’ll do it in the living room with the hardwood floor. You can definitely slide in there.”

That’s the first time that the kids have been invited to the new house, and they’re thrilled. The twins ask Angelo a million questions, and when he tells them that we’re setting up a room for the three of them, they shriek.

We skate and dance for nearly three hours. By the time we leave the ice, my thighs are shaking.

“Uncle Angelo always gets smoothies after he goes boxing,” Jack says.

“Yeah!” Jola says. “Can we get smoothies?”

“Matt?” Angelo asks.

My heart melts that he’s asking Matt’s permission for Julie before he commits to anything. How far those two have come.

“It’s good with me,” Matt says.

“Let’s do it,” Angelo says.

The kids clap and scream.

***

Buying seven smoothies isn’t cheap, but no one cares, and we all pile into Angelo’s SUV. Matt is in the very back with Julie in her booster seat, and Angelo sits between the twins in their car seats. Jarel drives, and I’m in the front passenger seat.

The kids are yammering and recounting their day, and Jarel glances at me. “This is what you wanted, yeah?”

“I feel like my heart might burst.”

“It is pretty amazing,” he says, looking in the rearview mirror. “Imagine three kids of our own and these three kids all together.”

“Oh, I do,” I say. “I imagine it all the time.”

“One kid each?” Jarel asks.

“I mean, at least, right?”

He laughs, then lowers his voice. “What is this? A Yours-Mine-and-Ours situation?”

I grin. “Would that be so bad?”

“What’s going on up there?” Matt calls from the back.

Jarel glances in the rearview. “Val was just telling me how great Yours, Mine, and Ours is.”

I turn around, and Angelo laughs, placing his hands on the twins’ heads. “It kind of is, isn’t it?”

***

We drop off Julie first, and when Matt gets back in the car, Jack says. “Julie’s cool.”

“Yeah,” Jola agrees. “I liked her. Can we have a sleepover sometime?”

“As soon as your room’s ready,” Angelo says.

“Does it have a bookcase?” Jola asks. “We need a bookcase so Ramona can live there.”

“Ramona lives at Gram’s house,” Angelo says.

“She can live in two places,” Jola corrects him.

“Val and I will have to stock the bookcase with awesome books,” Matt says.

“Why you?” Jack asks.

“I’m a fourth grade teacher,” he tells them.

“Where?”

“Park Elementary.”

“That’s where we go!” Jola yells.

“You’ll have Matt as a teacher in a couple of years,” Angelo tells them.

“That’ll be interesting,” Jarel says under his breath.

The kids talk about the upcoming school year until we pull into their driveway.

I’ve never been to their house, and although I know Andre and Latrice both have high-paying jobs, the place looks a little worn down, certainly not as nice as Angelo’s childhood home.

I glance at Angelo, but he subtly shakes his head. “Okay, let’s get you guys inside. It’s almost dinnertime!”

“Mama’s gonna be mad you got us smoothies,” Jack says.

“No, she’s not,” Jola says. “It was a treat. Uncle Angelo was just being benevolent.”

I choke down my laughter as Angelo shuts the door and winks at me.

“How’d you like the outing, Matt?” Jarel asks while we wait for Angelo to return.

“Loved it. I’ve never seen Julie get along with someone that well. It’s like it was destiny for them to meet.”

“Maybe it was destiny for all of us,” I say.

***

When the kids’ room is finished, the three of them come for a sleepover. Thankfully, their families don’t ask too many questions, avoiding awkward conversations about our living situation.

Jarel turns on “Cha-Cha Slide”, and all seven of us slide in our colorful socks. The kids love the sleek hardwood so much that they dance to the song nine times before they let us change it to “Happy”.

All three of the guys are patient and easygoing with the kids, and everyone has a fantastic time. I have no doubt that they’ll make amazing fathers.

When the kids go to bed, the guys wrap me in a hug; I think we’re all wonderfully overwhelmed by the love in our home.

And when I look into my lovers’ eyes, all I see are the good times that are waiting for us in our future.

The End.

***

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS.

Thank you to everyone who was patient with me while I wrote this book, and a special, sincere thank you to Mona for her advice and insight. This book would not be what it is without her support.

Thanks to Jarel and Val speaking in lyrics, it’s important to me to acknowledge the singers of those quoted lines as well as those in the final chapters: Nelly Furtado and Timbaland, Usher, Aaliyah, Tavares, Brian McKnight, Joe, Marie Digby, Ella Fitzgerald, Paramore, Idina Menzel, Prince, Village People, DJ Casper, and Pharrell Williams.

There may be no greater indicator of love than the vulnerability that these characters showed one another.

I hope that we all find the heroes and heroines with whom we can be that much in love.