“Juniper Evelyn Winters… will you marry me?” Connor pulled a small ring box from his pocket and opened it, showing her a tiny gold band with a diamond on the top.

Juniper gasped softly, staring at Connor before she started to cry happily and nodded, holding out her left hand, “duh. You didn’t have to ask!”

Connor slipped the ring onto her finger before kissing her deeply, wrapping his hand around the back of her head as he cried, kissing her rapidly.

“Ew,” Kai whispered, “but I’m happy so,” he shrugged.

“I’m guessing he was asking permission?” I whispered back.

“Yes. As the closest thing to Juni’s parent, he wanted permission to marry my sister. I love them together, even if Connor is the loudest person on the planet. So of course I said yes.”

“We have planning to do.”

“I don’t want a wedding,” Juniper called and we looked at her, “at least not some big, grand ceremony. As long as I marry Connor, it doesn’t matter.”

“Oh!” I gasped softly, “oh my God hang on I just had an idea.”

Pulling my phone from my pocket, I quickly scrolled through my contacts before I found the one I was looking for and called on speaker.

“Shiloh I swear to fucking God you always call at the worse time,” my cousin Alder answered, “what do you need?”

“I love you too, oh favorite cousin of mine. I’m coming at Christmas with my boyfriend, his sister, and his sister's new fiance. If I talk to my Ma about setting up the farm for it… can you marry Connor and Juniper?”

“Duh,” he snorted, “I’m a Pastor after all.”

“Next question. Because I never remember. We aren’t religious. Connor is trans. Is that okay?”

“I literally don’t give a flying fuck. As long as they truly love each other, I’ll marry them.”

“Great. I’ll call Ma and give you a date.”

“Fine. Bye bubs.”

“Bye Al.”

Hanging up, I smiled at Connor and Juniper, “is 2 months too fast? We can have it at the farm. My Ma is wonderful at setting up weddings, parties, and things. We were already going to Idaho for Christmas after all.”

“Oh! Oh, a Christmas wedding! Connor?” Juniper smiled at him and he nodded excitedly.

“Sure. I’d love nothing more.”

“Let me call my Ma.”

I dialed Joanna’s number and she answered quickly.

“Shiloh Jasper Hartley, if you keep going weeks with only texting me, I’m shipping you to Timbuktu.”

“No, you’re not.”

“No, I’m not. What’s up, babe?”

“First. Everyone say hi.”

“Hi Mrs. Hartley,” Connor and Juniper yelled.

“Hi ma’am,” Kai smiled.

“Oh hello! Just call me Ma or Joanna. No need for all that,” Joanna laughed.

“So. Big news time. Connor and Juniper are engaged and I wanted to ask you if we can use the farm when we come to visit in two months to have a small wedding. Alder already agreed to officiate, but I’m thinking it’s just going to be us 4, you and Pa, and Alder, Cora, and Charlie.”

“A wedding! Oh my God! I can do that! Congrats you two!”

“Thank you, Ma,” Juniper smiled, playing with her ring.

“What colors?”

“Forest green and silver,” Connor called.

“That’s easy enough. You got it. I’ll make sure everything is ready. Can we do Christmas Eve? Or do you want it the day after Christmas?”

“Hm,” Connor looked at Juniper.

“Christmas Eve,” Juniper shrugged, “that would be perfect.”

“Got it. I’ll make sure everything is ready. Shiloh can help you find a dress that won’t mess up your wheelchair but also won’t make you freeze. It is Idaho.”

“Wait Ma,” I laughed, “what about that huge tent we used when Alder got married? The one that fits all of the chairs and tables as well as the dance floor? We had heaters.”

“Oh! Yes, I think Auntie Lola still has it. I’ll call her. Are you two okay if we invite our family? I mean you’re our family now, so if you’d like to have more guests, we can do that.”

“Will I get any hate for being trans, Joanna?” Connor chewed his lip.

“Huh? No, of course not. Did Shiloh never tell any of you?”

“No?”

“My husband Thatcher is as well.”

“Huh?” the three of them gasped and looked at me and I shrugged.

“Yeah? Pa is trans. That’s why Isaac and I don’t look like him. He and Ma used a donor for us, as well as Penny. Well her name is Penelope but whatever, I call her Penny. Anyway, we didn’t know until I came out as gay and Isaac told us he’s pansexual. So Pa helped us through that. He had experienced a lot of discrimination growing up, so he shielded us from that. We don’t look like Pa but we sure as hell look like Ma,” I laughed.

“Oh!” Joanna giggled, “Thatcher! Shiloh is on the phone.”

There was a rustling sound on the other end and my father's gentle voice came through.

“Hi, kiddo.”

“Hi, Pa. How was work?”

“It was fine. Why are you calling?”

I shared what I had told Joanna and Thatcher laughed loudly.

“Well fuck. Jo, we got so much work to do if we’re having Christmas and a wedding in two months.”

“I know I know it’s fine,” Joanna giggled, “you know I love being busy now that the boys are out of the house.”

“I know.”

“Oh… Ma, Pa,” I smiled at Kai and he kissed my nose, “I’m dating Kai.”

“Finally!” Joanna sighed annoyed, “you never shut up about him when you text me.”

“Ma!” my cheeks flared.

“What? He’s pretty from the photos of you two that you keep sending me. I’m glad you’re together.”

“Me too,” I sighed, “don’t embarrass me like that, woman.”

“So I shouldn’t tell Kai that when you were little you used to run around with fairy wings and-”

“Oh, I swear to God if you finish that I will hang up on you,” I snarled.

“Fine. I’ll just show them all the pictures when you come for Christmas.”

“Ma!”

“Bye we love you,” she laughed as she hung up the phone.

I shoved it in my pocket, feeling embarrassed and Kai started laughing as hard as he could before kissing my temple.

“Aw, babe you’re adorable.”

“Shut up,” I groaned.

“Never.”

The door opened behind us and Dr. Mills came in, staring at Kai and me surprised.

“Dr. Mills,” I gasped.

“Hello, Shiloh. Kai,” she nodded politely before going over to Juniper, “how are you feeling, Juniper?”

“I’m really tired but I don’t feel disorientated anymore.”

“Good. Good, I’m glad. So. I have news. Really good news actually.”

“What is it?” Kai called, gripping my hip.

“We did another MRI on Juniper and found the reason she’s been seizing so regularly and why we assumed she only had a few years to live. It’s also why you feel so tired all the time. It has nothing to do with the condition that leaves her paralyzed. It’s this,” she turned the computer on and clicked a few times before turning the screen to us and pointing to a small circle on a scan of Juniper’s brain, “you have a brain tumor. It’s in an incredibly easy spot to remove. As soon as we do, you’ll no longer have the seizures, the fatigue. Any of the neurological symptoms. It also means that, while we will still need to give you monthly MRIs, you aren’t going to die anytime soon, Juniper.”

We stared at her in shock before Juniper started to cry happily, clutching onto Connor.

“Holy shit,” Connor laughed happily, tears rolling down his face, “oh my God I’m… I’m so happy.”

Kai was silent, staring at the MRI as tears rolled down his cheeks. Squeezing tightly, I laid my head on his chest and he wrapped me in his arms, burying his face in my hair.

“We’ll schedule you for the procedure in the morning. It’ll take about 5 hours, and we need someone on standby.”

“Am I allowed? We aren’t married yet but I am her partner,” Connor held his breath.

“Sure. We’ll have you listed as the person who will be here when she wakes up. Kai, you’re her emergency contact and the one who can make decisions on her behalf during the surgery. We would also like you to be here if possible.”

“Absolutely,” he croaked out, “we’ll all be here.”

“Who is going to stay with her tonight?” Dr. Mills looked around.

“I am,” Connor nodded.

“Perfect. Okay,” she signed a few pieces of paper on Juniper’s chart, “I’ll have a nurse bring a chair bed from the maternity ward. Someone needs to be with Juniper at all times for the first 72 hours after she goes home. If there are any changes, or any worries, no matter how small they may seem, call us. The brain isn’t something to mess around with or write off any changes.”

“I’ll be with her,” Connor smiled.

“We all will,” Kai shook his head, “we can close down the cafe for 4 days. It’s not the end of the world.”

“Agreed,” I smiled, “we'll be with her.”

“Alright. I’m going to go let the operating room know to schedule you for a 7 am procedure. You’ll be free to go the day after,” Dr. Mills gently patted Juniper’s hand, “I’m so happy we found the source. You’ve been here too many times with me, Juni. I don’t like it.”

“I know,” Juniper wiped a happy tear away, “thank you so much, Dr. Mills.”

“Always.”

With a small wave, Dr. Mills left the room and I walked over to the bed, hugging Connor and Juniper.

“Should I cancel the wedding?” I laughed.

“God no,” Juniper answered immediately, “No. We’re getting married in December.”

“Good,” I kissed the side of her head, “now that we know the truth, no more threatening to haunt us, got it?”

“Got it, got it,” she laughed.

My phone started to ring and I sighed annoyed before I realized it was my apartment manager.

“This is Shiloh,” I answered confused.

“Shiloh? Hi, this is Ms. Brandt. Are you in your unit?”

“No not currently.”

“There’s been a massive pipe burst. All apartments on the bottom floor are entirely flooded. We’re asking that everyone come by and save what they can then we need to shut them down. Unfortunately, we’ll have to ask that you leave until it’s clear, the carpets are changed, walls repainted, and things like that. You won’t have to pay rent for as long as it takes and anything that’s been ruined we will reimburse you for.”

My jaw fell open and I sniffled a few times, my heart clenching, “v… very well I’ll figure something out… thank you. I can be there in an hour to start looking through the apartment.”

“Thank you. Bring me a list of things that were ruined and I’ll write you a check. I need photo evidence okay?”

“O… okay,” hanging up the phone, I flopped into a chair near me and started to cry, burying my face in my hands.

“Baby?” Kai squatted down, rubbing my thighs softly, “baby what happened?”

“My apartment flooded. I have no idea what can be salvaged. It’s every apartment on the bottom floor. I have to leave… for however long it takes to clean it out. Thank God I didn't leave my leg, wheelchair, or crutches behind but I just bought all that stuff and…”

“And we can replace it,” he took my hand and softly kissed my palm, “you have me silly. Rent the apartment downstairs at my house. Well not rent it, but how much do you pay for your apartment?”

“1600 for everything. Rent, electricity, internet.”

“That's… Shiloh that’s what I pay you every month,” his eyes grew wide.

“I know.”

“That’s also how much I pay every month for my own bills, plus Juni’s medical stuff and my own. My mortgage is only 600. So, babe. Move into the apartment at my house. Instead of 1600 a month for a tiny apartment, help pay for the house. 800 a month. That’s all. Or don’t pay and save your money until… we follow through on our plan okay? I’ll take care of us. I’ll still make sure you’re being paid, obviously, we own the cafe together, but I’m your boyfriend. It’s my job to be here when you need me. It’ll be easier too. You already come over every day anyway, there’s no reason for you to look for somewhere else. My plan for the trip was to bring up you moving in with us. We love having you around. I wasn’t expecting you to become my partner but I am so happy you are. So, stay with us.”

My eyes grew wide and I hugged him tightly, burying my face into his neck.

“Actually,” Juniper called softly and we turned to look at her, “don’t move into the apartment. I wanted to talk to Kai about moving in there myself with Connor. The walkway off the back is easy for my wheelchair so I’ll be able to use the backyard to come into the main part of the house if I need to for dinner and stuff. Take my room. We can move everything around. I think the color in my room is far more fitting for you than the deep navy of the apartment.”

“Juni,” I whispered.

“It just makes more sense. It keeps us all together but gives us separation. We don’t need to be on top of each other, and with Connor and I getting married, he’ll want to move in. His dorm is incredibly expensive and I can’t live there. I’m not going to be away from my husband.”

“Juni…” Kai smiled, “Juniper there’s something Shiloh and I want to talk to you about. Would you rather wait until after the surgery? I want to make sure you’re okay before we decide this.”

“Sure. We can talk in a week,” she smiled back.

Juniper will be okay.

She’s not going to leave us.

She acts exactly like I pictured Penny would.

I’m so glad to have a baby sister finally.