by Pepper Paris
“Girl, it’s a good thing our graduation gowns cover up your dress because your subscription boys would be trying to tear that off of you in a heartbeat.”
“Again with the subscription boys.” I shook my head at her term for all of my guys.
Over the years she’d met and gotten to know all of my guys and I was going to miss her teasing me about them. They were going to miss her constant teasing as well.
“Are you sure you have to go back home and live with your family?” I moaned.
Sarah walked over and quickly zipped me up before bouncing onto my bed. “Yep. Now that I’m a finished product, they’re going to start trying to marry me off to some rich guy.”
“Eew, you know that you don’t have to do that right? They can’t force you to marry someone you don’t love.” I argued with her for the millionth time.
“Anyone I marry will only be for looks. Most of my parents set have their own side pieces so other than producing an heir, the rest is just for show.” She shrugged, “It’s normal. Why do you think I’ve been sowing my wild oats for so long?”
“You know it’s not the 1950’s anymore? I just hope that you can find someone who will love you like my guys do.”
“Girl, I’d take just one that would look at me as every one of the subscription boys looks at you. That’s more than I’ve ever expected to get really.”
I slid my shoes on and shook out the curls we’d put in so they looked fresh. “Just don’t settle. You deserve more than they’re going to try to give you. You’re not something that can be exchanged for more status.”
For a moment I could see she was thinking about my words before she blew off the serious moment.
She raised an eyebrow at me, “How are you going to fit four guys and you in this queen sized bed? Won’t it be a little squishy?”
“Only two of them are going to be here. I doubt I’ll ever get all four of them in the same room at this point. We’d need a huge bed and an even bigger bedroom. None of us has money for that kind of thing.”
“Hmpf, I’ll bet the guys will figure something out. You’re still moving to Denver with Wade and Jay, right?”
“Yep,” I sighed looking in the mirror at my reflection, “I start my new job in two weeks and Jay is going to start taking those cooking classes. Wade’s got to finish law school and is taking all the summer classes he can to catch up.”
“Carter may move back here in the fall, but that isn’t certain yet.”
“And Kelly?” She asked.
“He’s got three more years on this first tour and then he’ll get moved to a different place or he could even be deployed. It’s the army so we won’t know until it happens.”
“If we’re going to make it on time, I guess we should head over.” She stood and pulled her dress down so that it covered her underwear. Thankfully the gown went down to her knees, but it was obvious that her dress wasn’t made to cover much.
I handed her one of the graduation gowns we’d thrown over the back of the couch as I pulled mine carefully over my head.
We both squeezed in front of the hallway mirror, trying to pin our hats on tightly enough that the wind couldn’t blow them off until we were inside the building.
The line was already starting to form alphabetically. Sarah gave me an encouraging nod as I went toward the front of the line, while she stayed behind in the middle.
I’d just found my spot when my phone went off and I hurried to silence it as I read the messages that were stacking up.
Wade: You’re going to do great.
Jay: We’re sitting with your family on the right side of the stage.
Carter: So proud of you.
Kelly: Wishing you all the best. Can’t wait to see you again.
Wade: Hey, I made reservations at our favorite Italian restaurant and have invited your family to join us.
I was glad that Wade was the one who’d done the inviting because he was the one all of my family recognized as my boyfriend. I wasn’t sure what they would say if they realized that Jay was my boyfriend as well when we sat together at lunch.
There wasn’t much I could do about it now because they were giving instructions about how to make the proceedings work best for everyone.
Actually, sitting listening to all of the people talking about our accomplishments flew past in just seconds and now the part I was dreading the most—walking across the stage in front of all those people without tripping.
I ignored all of the people staring at us and simply concentrated on staying behind the person in front of me. As we walked up onto the platform, I paused when he moved away and then they were calling my name.
“Roxie Berry…” I moved toward the three people standing there holding out their hands. I shook their hands and smiled toward the crowd picturing them all naked while moving to the next person.
Yells along with a few whistles came from the right side and I paused on the stairs going down for the photographer before making the long walk back to my seat.
Now, that I was past the hard part and I could look for my family who were all yelling in encouragement. There they were all waving and my little brothers and sister were smiling as they stood next to Carter and Kelly.
They’d made it. My heart jumped just a bit and I was so excited. Even if they couldn’t stay for long, it would be wonderful to all be together again. Especially after the past few months surrounding the death of Jay’s dad.
I hadn’t realized there were so many people waiting to walk up there after me and it seemed to take forever until they pronounced us the class of 2019. I tossed my hat slightly in the air so I could easily catch it before grabbing my ‘fake’ diploma and hurrying out to meet up with everyone.
They had promised to send our diplomas with our names filled in by mail in the new few weeks. Honestly, I didn’t really care about anything, but seeing my guys after so long.
Searching for my family in the throngs of people, I was swept off my feet by a gorgeous blond man dressed in army green.
“Kelly.” I squealed before he dipped his head down so that our lips met. Instinctively, my hands inched up to curl behind his head as his tongue snuck inside with a promise of something more to come.
“Hey, it’s my turn.” Carter’s arms pulled me from Kelly and into his arms whispering. “Mouse, I’ve missed you.”
He didn’t kiss me, but I felt surrounded by love. He released me as the rest of my family caught up.
Little Adam gave me a questioning look as he surveyed all four guys standing next to me. “Are they all your boyfriends?”
Leave it to the youngest to bring the unspoken question out in the open. While I was hoping they would be okay with it, I wasn’t going to lie.
I bent down to his level, “Yes, they all love me. Kind of hard to imagine isn’t it?”
“Okay. When are we going to eat? I’m sooo hungry.” He groaned holding his stomach like it was going to fall off.
We all laughed at his exaggerated motions.
“I’ve made reservations at our favorite Italian restaurant for all of us.” Wade smile at Adam, “Think you can find something to eat there?”
“If we can leave now before my stomach starts to eat my insides because it needs to be feed, then yes.” Adam growled.
“Yes, we can leave in just a minute,” Wade agreed, “but we need to get a few pictures of your sister with her diploma first. If you can negotiate with your stomach to hang on just a little bit, I’ll make sure you get to pick whatever dessert you want. What do you say?”
Adam’s eyes grew large as he nodded yes.
Sarah arrived just then and volunteered to be the photographer for the rest of us.
We took one with just my biological family and then one with all of the guys.
“Sarah, you need a picture with Roxie.” Phillip took the phone from her and made her join me. “Smile.”
“Thanks, Dad.” I gave him a quick hug. “I think we’d better hurry and get some foo
d because Adam’s stomach is about to escape.”
Adam started giggling as everyone focused on him. “I can feel it, my liver isn’t feeling so good, guys.”
Everyone broke up to head to their own cars, but Kelly and Carter stayed on either side of me.
“After lunch we’re going to get you loaded up. It shouldn’t take us very long to get it all in the truck we rented. We want to spend one night together before we all have to return to our other lives.” Carter whispered to me.
“What about Sarah? I can’t leave early.” I protested, “She’s not leaving until tomorrow night.”
“We’ve already discussed it with Sarah and she’d perfectly okay with it.” Wade winked at me, his look full of suggestive ideas.
“Sarah,” I pleaded hoping she would back me up.
She shook her head, “Nope, they’re taking you tonight and that’s final. I told you that bed wasn’t big enough for all of you.”
“Ugh! I’m not even packed.” I groaned.
“Don’t worry. We took care of that too.” Jay laughed at me.
“The minute you walked out the front door, the three of us went over and packed a suitcase for you. All of the rest is being boxed up by a couple of students so when we get done, all you’ll have to do is change and get in the car.” Wade explained.
“Three of you?”
“Someone had to stay behind and save the seats for them.” Kelly pointed to his uniform.
“Guess, I’m not going to get a say in this, huh?” I pouted.
“Don’t think so, Rox. See we’re taking charge and you’re just going to have to get on board with it. Plus, you don’t want to ruin the surprise by not being there on time do you?” Jay’s tone took on a firmness that was still new to me.
“No, sir.” I agreed quickly maybe he had been doing some research when I’d been studying because I was liking this new attitude.
Jay was starting to get the hand of this being in charge thing and it was nice. Maybe we’d discover a few new things to try in the bedroom with him giving the others orders.
------
Lunch was amazing, but it held a bittersweet note because this was my last day at school. I was leaving everything behind and moving forward toward a new life that didn’t hold painful memories along with some good ones.
“Now, honey, if you need any help, we’re only a phone call away. It’s going to be nice to have you much closer to us.” Phillip encouraged.
“Yeah, you can come to my baseball games and cheer for me.” Adam pipped up.
I gave him a hug as I dropped a kiss on the top of his head while he tried to get away. “Eew, if you’re going to do things like that then I’m not going to let you watch me play. I’ve got a rep to protect and kisses from girls ruins that.”
“How about we just give high fives unless it’s a really special day?” I offered, willing to negotiate to protect his rep.
He tapped his chin thoughtfully, “I supposed that might work. Just none of that other stuff. It’s just not cool for us older guys.”
The guys were snickering behind me, but I glared at them which made them try to hide it at least.
“Kelly, played all the sports and I’m sure he can explain things to me so that I know when you’re winning.”
Adam eyed Kelly with suspicion. “Is she giving it to me straight?”
“Yep, I played baseball and football. I wasn’t very good at Basketball because I was shorter so I didn’t play it in high school. Now, I just play for fun when I’m not working for the army.”
I left Kelly answering questions as I hugged my grandparents goodbye.
“I’m so glad that you were able to come.”
“Us too, honey. We missed too many years with you. We can’t get those back, but we can certainly make the most of the future.” Grandma encouraged.
“We’re going to have to get you to call me what the others do, Grams.”
“I think I can handle that, Grams. Once, we’re settled I’ll be able to come over more often.”
The future was starting to look amazing and I was going to be able to be with my family.
“We’ve got a long drive back so we’re going to get on the road.” Phillip started herding everyone toward the cars.
The guys stood there with me while everyone drove away.
“Ready to go make sure it’s all packed up?” Wade asked rubbing his hands together in excitement.
“I guess, I don’t have a choice now do I?”
“Nope.” Carter placed an arm around me.
Sarah gave me a mischievous look, “I know what their taking you to see and you are going to be blown away. Go forth and be loved.”
Even as we divided up into the truck and two cars, I felt really nervous. This was the end of an era. Most of my life had been spent first with these guys in our home town and now college where so many things had changed for me.
My freedom had finally been granted to me, but it was at the price of losing my mom and aunt. That had been bittersweet for me in that I didn’t want to lose my mom, but I’d gained an entirely new family with aunts and uncles, cousins, brothers and a sister, and most importantly, a dad.
Jay was the first guy to drive with me and while we’d spent a lot of time together this past year so it was a companionable silence.
-----
I had just been following the truck and car in front of me so I hadn’t really been paying attention when we left the main road toward Wade’s house and went off the path.
A wooded area appeared and we drove down a narrow road into a small clearing.
“Put the car in park and close your eyes.” Wade commanded.
The car door opened and someone took my hand to help me out of the car.
We walked a few steps over uneven ground as I heard the guys whispering ahead of us.
I could feel them surrounding me as Wade slipped an arm around my waist.
“Open your eyes.”
A gasp escaped as I took in the scene before me. Everything was covered with trees, but placed in strategic spots were cabins built into the trees.
“Guys, what’s going on?” My hand flew to cover my mouth as I noticed the lights pointing the way up the winding staircase.
“We’ve discussed what we were going to do when we all got together. I’d started looking about the time I was able to gain access to my family accounts and told the guys what I’d found. It had to be remodeled and we added on a few extra parts to make it work for us.” Wade beamed at me.
A treehouse home wasn’t something that I’d ever imagined, but now that I was standing at the foot of this large master piece, it was the perfect thing for our family to make into a home.
“Can we go up?” I was itching to see the inside of these branches holding different parts of the house.
“Of course, none of us have seen it except for Wade, who has been sending pictures to us and asking for insight.” Carter grabbed my free hand, “Jay and Wade have been getting colors and ideas about stuff you like or hate for a while now so we didn’t make any mistakes on the design.”
As we walked up the winding staircase to the front door, Kelly became the tour guide.
“The original house was built into the tree. Due to years of neglect and the small size, Wade had them build down toward the ground and then built up and around to keep the tree house look.”
“This main floor contains the living room, kitchen and another large room that can be used for whatever we need it for. Each one of those extra buildings are all connected, but are like mini apartments so that we can each have our own space when we need a little space.” Jay opened the door for us to walk into the large room with huge ceilings.
The room was covered with windows that showed an amazing view of the trees and woods. Treetrunks were at each of the rooms corners and gave it a very rustic vibe.
Couches faced the fireplace and the kitchen looked like a chef’s kitchen showing that Jay had a huge hand in making sure
that it would be somewhere we could cook together.
“I had Wade make sure that all the windows were insulated and we’ve added drapes that will provide that extra warmth in the winter. When I’m back here next spring, then we’re going to work on the landscape plus add a garden so we’ll have fresh vegetables for Jay when he cooks.” Carter pointed to the clearing where the truck and cars were parked.
“Not everything could be furnished before we brought you here because we wanted you to be a large part of it, but there is one place that had extra special requirements and it couldn’t wait for you.” Wade pointed toward the set of stairs at the back off the room that lead downstairs.
From the front it had a few windows, but the back was open out toward a huge patio and porch area.
“This is simply amazing and we’ll find ways to have lots of dinners cooked out here.” I gazed around in wonderment.
“While this part is wonderful,” Kelly went straight to the double doors pushing them inward to reveal the bedroom. “We had the bed special made to fit all five of us and give us a little room to roll over without hitting each other.”
I could feel a blush creeping up my cheeks, “Did they ask why it needed to be that large?”
“Nah, athletes and many others have such tall bodies that they have to have custom beds made. I just ordered it and then the delivery guys set it up.” Wade explained, “I had a few things delivered food wise so we can stay in tomorrow and get your stuff unloaded.”
“You said that not everything was decorated yet, but can we walk over and see some of the extra rooms?” I wanted to explore every inch of this amazing place and since I’d been sitting in a car for hours, it was good to stretch my legs.
“We can,” Jay agreed, “and then I want to explore every inch of you with the guys while they’re here.”
“Maybe exploring the house can wait,” I murmured as Kelly nibbled on my ear.
Carter took my hand and lightly traced his fingers up my arm as I leaned against Kelly.
Wade moved closer and slid his fingers underneath my t-shirt lifting it just enough so that he could place kisses along my stomach.
“Kelly, take her shirt off.” Jay commanded from the sideline.
