For All The Right Reasons

by Brownell, Rachael

  "It’s a little funny."

  Rolling my eyes as we approach my door, I wave the magnetic card in front of the lock and wait for it to disarm. Once it does, I push my way into the room and turn to face Gabby.

  "Love you, Jade," she says, blowing me a kiss and walking across the hall to her room. The one where she can sleep next to her husband. Where she's free to get laid without the fear of someone interrupting.

  Tomorrow. Fifteen hours. I can wait that long to see him again, right?

  I don't really have a choice.

  This house has always felt a little like home. It's where I found the other half of my heart. The piece I didn't realize was missing. The place where this wild ride started.

  A ride I never intended to get on but now I'm glad I took the risk.

  It's been filled with twists and turns, highs and lows. But we've traversed them together, and we always will.

  There's a lot from that summer that I didn't appreciate until recently. Mainly, the way Nathan always took care of me.

  I may not have noticed it back then, but he was always there, constantly making sure I was okay. And he did it without making it obvious. From making sure I always had a stock of Pop-Tarts to changing the sheets on my bed so I was always sleeping on fresh linens. Bringing me little gifts and leaving them on my pillow for me.

  That man worked his way into my heart in less than three months, yet it's taken us almost five years to get married. It's amazing to think that all those years ago I found my soulmate. The one person I was meant to be with the rest of my life.

  I sure as hell didn't think that was going to happen that summer. I wasn't even looking for someone special. Yet Nathan waltzed into my life in true Nathan fashion, with flair, and opened my eyes to feelings I never knew existed.

  Now I get to spend the rest of my life with him. Building our future together. Raising our children. Making memories that we'll cherish forever.

  Like today.

  Though, I have to be honest, I kind of wish I had listened to him when he suggested we move the wedding. Not because I'm pregnant and feel like a beached whale, but because I'm exhausted. Always. And we can't exactly go anywhere for a honeymoon with me having just started my third trimester.

  So, like everything else in life, it'll have to wait.

  Maybe we'll go in five years. Ha!

  Not really funny. I hope it doesn't take us that long to take a honeymoon. I'm going to want some quality alone time with Nathan long before then. With two kids running around the house, it'll be almost impossible to have a moment to ourselves.

  "Are you ready?" Gabby asks, coming up behind me, our eyes meeting in the full-length mirror.

  The same mirror I used to sit in front of to put my makeup on every morning. It was all about black eyeliner and red lipstick back then. Today I went for a softer look but made sure to put on the same color lipstick I wore that summer just for my husband.

  "I need you to adjust my dress one more time. It's still a little tight, and I don't want to pop out in the middle of the ceremony and give everyone a free show, ya know?"

  My growing boobs look like they're about to spill over the top of my strapless white gown.

  Yes, white. I don't care about the stigma. I wanted white.

  When we went shopping, we took into consideration my belly getting bigger, but I didn't give my boobs a second thought. They've doubled in size, and even though the seamstress made a few adjustments, the dress is still tighter than I'd like it to be.

  Tucking and pulling on my dress, Gabby relieves some of the tension up top. One last long look in the mirror and I smile at my friend, ready to walk down the aisle toward the man that has become my past, present, and future.

  And that's exactly what I say during my vows.

  You see, I learned from Gabby's mistake. She let Quinn go first, so she was a hot mess when she said her vows. Not to mention, Quinn was a tough act to follow. He's a sappy fucker when it comes to her. So I tricked Nathan into letting me go first. Not that it was hard. A little striptease awarded me exactly what I wanted.

  From the moment we met, I knew you were going to be a challenge. To get along with. To stay away from. To keep from breaking my heart. I didn't want to let you in. The fear of falling too hard too fast was real.

  Not that I could stop that from happening. It did. In less than three months. I left this island the first time without a piece of myself. You owned my heart, Nathan. I didn't want to admit it, but there was no denying it. I was forever changed because I met you.

  Our path hasn't been the easiest. We seem to like to take the roads with the largest potholes. Ride the roller coasters that get stuck at the top of the peak only to race toward the bottom when you least expect it. And you know what? That's fine with me. As long as you're by my side, I'll follow you down any path. No matter how dark and scary it may look.

  You were my first love, and I'm so thankful you'll be my last. My past, present, and future. You're my everything.

  Gabby is sniffling behind me, but I'm not focused on her. I'm staring at Nathan, the sparkle in his eye telling me he's holding back tears of his own until Quinn clears his throat, signaling it's Nathan's turn to say his vows.

  I want to tell a little story about a princess. She was sassy, witty, and undeniably beautiful. A challenge for the prince because he knew he'd found his match. The one person that was created especially for him. She showed him what it meant to care for someone. To feel what it felt to be loved.

  He found his happiness in the princess and vowed to spend the rest of his life winning her over. The day he finally did, he knew what the rest of his life would look like. Marriage, a house, kids, growing old together. Only, the prince and princess didn't do things the traditional way. They forged their own path, but they did it together. They created their own version of happiness.

  And in the end, the got everything they ever wanted out of life. They get to spend it with each other. The stubborn and smart-mouth princess married the prince. And they lived happily ever after.

  Nathan leans in to kiss me when Quinn clears his throat again. As a best man, he would have let Nathan kiss me right then. As our officiant, he's by the book.

  Jade, you are and will always be my fairytale. My dream come true. My perfect match. I can't wait to spend the rest of our lives fighting over nothing, making up, and living happily ever after.

  "But Daddy, I'm the princess," Jenny yells from the front row where she's sitting between my parents.

  Everyone laughs except Nathan and me. I'm lost in his eyes. Eyes that are making promises I know he'll keep. Promises that I can't wait to challenge him on because if I don't, we can't fight and make up, right? Got to keep him on his toes.

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  NATHAN

  Five Years Later

  * * *

  "Jenny! Stop screaming at your sister!"

  Jade's voice travels down the hall, waking me from a sound sleep. The sun is streaming through the windows, and when I flip my phone over, I see it's a little after ten o'clock. I can't believe I slept in that late.

  Or that the kids didn't wake me up earlier.

  That's the one thing I miss about my pre-family life. The one thing I think all parents with three kids under eight years old misses. Sleep.

  There is no rhyme or reason to how much or how little you get. You sleep when they sleep. You wake up when they crawl in bed with you or start poking you in the face asking for breakfast.

  Not today.

  Today is my day to sleep in. Saturdays. The one day a week Jade will get up before the kids and distract, a.k.a. contain, them for as long as she can so I can catch a few extra hours.

  Tomorrow is her day.

  It works for us now that all three are sleeping through the night. No one requires a bottle at three am.

  We're even almost out of the potty training phase. I can't wait for that to be over. There are days I swear I smell like baby shit long after I've left the h
ouse for work.

  You know, they say babies have this amazing smell. Fresh powder.

  Yeah, sure they do. For about five minutes after you take them out of the bath they screamed through the entire time. Then they poop or puke, undoing all your hard work for a chance at the sweet smell of a baby.

  So why'd we have three?

  Hell, I don't know.

  Actually, yes, I do. I couldn't keep my hands off my wife. One thing led to another, and I came home from work one day to Jade with her head in the toilet. She looked up long enough to grab the pregnancy test off the floor next to her and fling it at me.

  Nolan, our second child, was only six months old. Jenny was almost three.

  We were about to embark on the wildest ride we'd been on yet.

  It's crazy around here. Nonstop. Someone is always causing havoc, most of the time Nolan. My little mini-me. If he's not making his mother pull her hair out, Jenny is bossing the other two around. That doesn't go over well at all. She thinks she's in charge because she's the oldest, but there's going to come a point when they put her in her place.

  Rolling out of bed, I open the bedroom door just in time to see Nora, our youngest, sprint down the hall, Jenny stomping behind her with her hands on her hips. Peeking into the hallway, I find Jade standing outside Nora's bedroom with a defeated look on her face.

  "Eventful morning?" I ask, walking up and pulling my gorgeous wife into my arms where she practically collapses against my chest.

  "They hate me. All three of them." Her words are muffled against my shirt, but it's the same thing she always says when the kids are driving her crazy.

  "They don't hate you. You know that. They like to push your buttons and see how close they can get you to the edge before you threaten to jump off the cliff, that’s all."

  "Not funny," she replies, righting herself and slapping me across the chest. "You think you can do better? Have at it. Nolan is the only one not testing my patience this morning."

  At least one of them is giving her a break. He's usually the one—

  "Where is he?" I ask, my thoughts interrupted by the sudden silence in the house.

  Sharing a knowing look of dread, Jade and I sprint down the hall and into the living room. Jenny and Nora are sitting on the couch, guilty looks on their face. Nolan is in the chair with his hands behind his back avoiding eye contact.

  At almost five years old, he still hasn't mastered the skills to be less obvious.

  "Morning guys," I say, plopping on the couch between the girls as nonchalantly as possible. "I heard you two aren't listening to mom."

  "It's her fault," they both say in unison, the pitch in their voices like nails on a chalkboard.

  I'm suddenly wishing I had stayed in bed and ignored the chaos going on in the house. Nope. I had to rescue my wife. For the third Saturday in a row. Not because she can't handle it but because she shouldn't have to do it alone.

  "How about you both apologize to Mom and go give her a hug," I suggest. Begrudgingly they get up, mutter sorry to Jade as they hug her, and then crawl back onto the couch, cuddling into my side.

  Jade raises her eyebrows at me and nudges her head in Nolan's direction.

  Yeah, yeah. I'm getting to that.

  "Hey, bud. Why don't you come over here and hang out with us. We're gonna watch some cartoons."

  "I'm good," he says, his mouth clearly full of food.

  "Are you sure?"

  "Mm-hmm."

  Jade's tapping her foot on the carpet, clearly getting impatient with my parenting techniques.

  "Okay, but only the people sitting on this couch get to go out for ice cream after dinner tonight." The girls squeal with delight, having forgotten we already had plans to get ice cream later, while Nolan weighs his options with a look of concern on his face.

  If he moves, he's busting himself for getting a snack without asking. If he doesn't, he won't get ice cream later.

  Tough decision for a kid his age.

  Hanging his head in shame, he takes the package of chocolate cookies out from behind his back, hands them to Jade, and then hops up next to Jenny, who wraps her arm around him. I hear the crunch of a cookie, look at all my kids, and find them staring at their mother.

  "What? I skipped breakfast."

  I can't help but laugh. For as crazy as it can get around here, I absolutely love my life.

  Jade joins us on the couch, passes out cookies, and we sit and watch cartoons for the rest of the morning. As a family. Squished together.

  "You’re practically bouncing up and down," Jade notes as we sit in the ice cream parlor and wait for Gabby & Quinn to arrive. With a newborn and toddler in tow, they're never on time anymore. I'm pretty sure they quit trying a while ago. If we want to see them at six o'clock, we tell them to meet us at five thirty.

  "I'm good. I think I have a sugar buzz," I lie.

  Why am I lying to my beautiful wife? Because I have a secret. One that I've been keeping for the last three months. One that I know she's going to love me for when I tell her.

  But I can't do that until Quinn gets here. He has Jade's present. He's been hiding it for me. With three kids, someone was bound to find it at my house if I tried to hide it. They can't seem to find the things that are right in front of their faces, like their shoes, but they can find all the things we don't want them to find.

  Like Jade's lingerie.

  Or a box of old condoms I didn't realize we still owned.

  After we found out we were pregnant with Nora, knowing we weren't going to want more kids, I made a trip to the doctor. A quick snip later and my little swimmers are no longer a threat to our sanity. We won't be having any more babies. And now that ours are getting older and easier for grandma and grandpa to take care of for a long weekend...

  Quinn and Gabby burst through the door with more flair than any two people need in this lifetime. Quinn has the car seat in one hand and a diaper bag on the opposite shoulder. Gabby has little Dawson tucked against her chest, fast asleep.

  "Hey," Quinn greets us, bending down to kiss Jade on the cheek as Jenny wraps her little arms around him.

  He's still her favorite person. In fact, they all love him. Bastard.

  That's okay because I plan to make his children love me as much as mine love him. If I could get Dawson to like me first, that would be a good start. He's skeptical of people. That's not true. He loves Jade and the kids, but he gives me the weirdest looks. Like he doesn't trust me.

  He's only three. He shouldn't be doubting me just yet.

  Settling in, Quinn digs around in Annabelle's bright pink diaper bag and slyly hands me the wrapped box I asked him to hold on to for me. He's not as sly as he thinks, though. Little eyes call us out.

  "What's that, Daddy?" Jenny asks, reaching under the table and snagging the box from my hands before I can get a tight enough grip.

  "That's for Mommy," I practically holler as she's about to rip it open.

  "It is, huh?" Jade eyes me skeptically as Jenny thrusts the box in her direction.

  "Happy Anniversary, babe."

  Our anniversary is in two weeks. Five years married. Almost nine years together. Well, not nine years straight. There was that little hiatus we took before making things official and not just a summer fling. I don't count those months apart as us being apart, though. I was still in love with her during that time. She was all that was on my mind. So, in a way, I was still dating her, only she didn't know it.

  And she felt the same, so I don't think of that as creepy. Even though it kind of is.

  "A little early, don't you think?" she asks, slowly slipping her finger under the tape and peeling back the paper. She knows how much it drives me nuts when she unwraps presents slowly. She's doing this on purpose. Christmas morning used to be torture for me until I wised up and stopped wrapping her gifts, leaving them under the tree like Santa does for the kids after everyone is asleep.

  As soon as she lifts the lid on the box, she understands why she’s gettin
g her gift today. Because in thirteen days we'll be sitting on a beach in Aruba, sipping cocktails and soaking in the sun.

  We're finally taking the honeymoon we never had. A much-needed break. Time alone to reconnect.

  And I promise her with a look that it will be worth all the years she's waited for this trip.

  Epilogue

  JADE

  "I'm going to kill him," I say to Gabby as we finish loading the kids’ things into the back of my SUV.

  "There has to be a good reason. Nathan's not the kind of guy to keep secrets..."

  Her voice trails off when she realizes what she's saying.

  Yes, yes, he is. My husband is notorious for keeping secrets. From me especially. Hell, we started out as a secret. Here we are, almost ten years to the day we first met, and he's still keeping secrets from me.

  "All I'm saying is he better have a good explanation or I'm going to need your help burying him somewhere on the island before we leave."

  And I'm not kidding.

  Ten thousand dollars is missing from our savings account. Ten fucking thousand. One huge withdrawal in cash yesterday. It took us five years to save that money. Five years of working our assess off so we had savings in case we ever needed to tap into it. That was every tax return, every bonus check. Gone.

  The worst part... if the bank hadn't sent me an alert that the transaction had been made, I never would have known.

  And now, he and Quinn are missing. Well, not actually missing, but they took the boys for a playdate two hours ago and aren't back yet. We're supposed to leave for vacation in thirty minutes so we can catch the last ferry to the island, and they're still not here, leaving Gabby and me to pack the car.

  "I say we leave without them," I state firmly, slamming the hatch.

  "Quinn just texted me. They're almost here."

  "I'm not sure it's a good idea for me to be in the same car as Nathan right now. Ride with me instead?" I ask, a plan forming in my mind.