I slowly began to help Juniper prepare for the wedding, her nerves causing her to shake as she attempted to put her makeup on.

“Do you want me to do it?” I whispered as I finished curling her hair.

“Do you know how?” she laughed.

“No, but I have to be better at it than you right now. You’re getting mascara everywhere.”

“Um… please,” she nodded.

I pulled a chair over and was about to start before an idea popped into my head, “hang on,” jumping up, I ran into the living room where I found my mother helping Charlotte into her flower girl dress, “Ma.”

“What’s up Shi?” Joanna smiled at me.

Leaning down, I quickly whispered something in her ear and she smiled brightly, nodding.

“I’ll be right there.”

Going back to the room that Juniper was in, I started to get undressed and she threw a makeup brush at me.

“Stop it! The bathroom is right there!”

“You have literally seen me naked more than Kai,” I snorted, “shut up, I don’t want to leave the room.”

“Kai's barely seen you naked? You’ve been together for months!”

“I… Juni, I’m a virgin. The most I’ve had is… a hand job and like one blow job. All from Kai. I know he’s your brother so don’t say it.”

“You were with Will for 5 years and… never?” she whispered.

“I wasn’t comfortable enough for that,” I sighed, doing my best to balance on my prosthetic before giving up and sitting down, pulling my pants up, “I also stopped being attracted to him the minute I realized he was cheating on me.”

“With Iz right?”

“No. With so many people. So fucking many people,” I laughed bitterly, “I didn’t trust that I wouldn’t get a disease. So I started sleeping in the spare bedroom, never kissed him, and rarely spent any time with him. I was only there until I figured out how to get to Oregon.”

“I am… so fucking sorry, Shiloh,” Juniper sniffled and I jumped up, pulling my shirt on before kissing the side of her head with a smile.

“Without that happening, I would never have come to Oregon, never met you and Kai. I never would have become a baker. Never fallen in love with your brother, gained a baby sister and brother. I have no regrets. I gained a family.”

“You have a family.”

“A bigger family. With the absolute most beautiful little sister in the world who is about to get married to a fantastic man.”

“Not if you don’t finish my makeup,” she laughed and when I wrapped my arms around her shoulders from behind, she patted my hands softly.

“I wanted to ask you a favor, Juni,” I whispered, “my Ma has a long-held wish in her heart that we never thought would come true. She dreamed of doing her daughter's makeup before her wedding. She was so excited when they found out about Penny being a girl. But… well you know what happened. So… would you allow Ma to get you ready for the wedding?”

Juniper’s eyes grew wide and she quickly turned her head to look at me, “are you serious?”

“Mhm. I can finish doing Charlie’s hair while you and Ma have some private time. She would love it. She might cry,” I laughed softly, “but it would mean a lot to her.”

“I… would love nothing more,” Juniper sniffled, a tear rolling down her cheek and I wiped it away before kissing her cheek softly.

“Okay. I’ll go tell her.”

After grabbing my suit jacket and shoes, I let Joanna know that Juniper had agreed and she giddily ran upstairs to grab something before rushing past me and closing the door to the guestroom.

“Ma you’ll have to help her into her dress,” I shouted through the door.

“I know I know I was going to anyway,” Joanna shouted back, “go away!”

Laughing, I went into the living room and began to braid Charlotte’s hair, adding small fake flowers as I went. We talked about the children's book I had written and illustrated for her specifically about a little girl named Charlie who meets a puppy that needs her help. Charlie helps the puppy and then the rest of the book is simply their adventures through the pastures and fields.

“Uncle Shi I love your book! You should let other kids read it,” Charlotte giggled as I placed the crown of flowers on her head.

“Yeah? I could do that. Maybe I’ll sell it at the bookstore.”

“Oh, Nagyi Kamilla’s?”

“Oh. No! Kai and I own it now and Papa Thaddeus’ cafe. We’re going to open it again.”

“Can I come help?” she wiggled.

“Well you can certainly help us paint,” Kai called from the doorway.

Turning my head, I gasped softly as I got to my feet to go over to him.

Kai had left his hair loose, all of it wavy, and pulled it around his left shoulder. There were small silver gems clipped throughout his hair, sparkling in the light. The emerald of the suit looked wonderful with his eyes, but it was clear his shirt was too big for him.

“First, honey. Wow you look fantastic,” I kissed him softly, “but your shirt is obviously too big and you,” my breath caught in my throat, “your lip is so swollen. What happened?”

“William happened,” he whispered softly.

“What… what do you…” I stuttered before looking at Charlotte, “pretty girl. Can you go make sure your mom is okay?”

“Mhm,” Charlotte nodded quickly and ran upstairs and I turned back to Kai, grabbing a tissue from the table and pressing it to his lip.

“What happened, Kai?”

“We were in the living room at Connor and Juni’s house,” he hissed softly when I squeezed his lip, grabbing my wrist, “fuck that hurt. Anyway, there was a loud banging on the door right after we got there and got everything set up. Some guy was there and I was doing what I could to shield Connor and Isaac because I didn’t recognize him. Isaac started to cry and hid behind Connor, screaming at Will to go away. But he refused and tried to push past me so I punched him in the side. We kept exchanging blows until we were in the front yard and,” Kai lifted his shirt and I realized that he was covered in bruising, “he kicked my ass but I’m apparently stronger. That’s when the police showed up. Connor had called them. Will had been let out on bail, I’m not really sure why, but he’ll go back now. He didn’t hurt me badly, but did we bring any more of my gauges for my monitor?”

“The one in your arm? Yeah of course I told you I panic over everything so I brought two.”

“Good. William ripped the other one out. I’ll have to put it on the other side.”

“Do you need my help? I need to adjust your shirt anyway.”

“Please.”

I led Kai back to my bedroom and he took his shirt off, sitting on the side of the bed, his back to me. I softly kissed the nape of his neck, my concern choking me and slowly wrapped my arms around his shoulders, “Kai…”

“I’m okay,” he whispered, looking at me in the mirror, “Shi… baby I’m fine.”

“I don’t like thinking of you hurt,” I sniffled, “I don’t like seeing you covered in bruising. I just got used to these,” slowly, I ran my fingers across the scars on his back, “now you’re purple and blue, your arm is all wrapped to stop you from bleeding and I hate it.”

“I know,” he whispered again, rubbing my arm softly, “but William deserved it. He’s been stalking you, Shi. Sending letters from prison to the shop. I’ve been hiding them from you so it wouldn’t upset you and I’m sorry. I know that wasn’t the way to go about it. You’re mature enough to handle it, I just panicked. Then they let him out on bail, and knowing he can’t come here, followed me and Iz to the other house. Probably to hurt him again. So, as much as I don’t enjoy your brother, I also wasn’t going to let William hurt him again.”

“But you got hurt,” I nuzzled the back of his head gently.

“It was worth it.”

“Not to me,” sighing, I slowly let him go and grabbed the first aid kit in my bathroom, sitting down behind Kai to clean his arm so that I could put the new gauge in, “it’s not worth it to me, Kai.”

“Would you rather Isaac was hurt again?”

“No… no of course not. But I…”

“You’re caught between your love for your brother and your devotion to me. I know. But I will never let any of you get hurt. Even if it’s at the expense of myself.”

“No more pain,” I finished what I was doing and wrapped my arms around his waist, pressing my forehead between his shoulders, “why can’t we just be happy?”

“We are happy, Shiloh. I’m happy. I get to be with you. I’ve gained a lovely supportive future mother-in-law and a… absolutely terrifying but sweet father-in-law. Two new brothers-in-law, even if I don’t like one of them. We have a new home, money, new businesses. Shiloh, our life is great. Yeah… yeah William keeps popping up but we can handle him. Together. I told you, I will never let anything hurt you. I’m keeping my promise.”

“I know you are… I know,” I kissed his back gently as I held him.

There was a soft knock at the door and Joanna came into the room, dropping the small bag she was holding.

“Kai… what the fuck happened to you?” she rushed over, looking over his bruises before noticing the wrap on his arm, “oh Kai…”

“William showed up at Connor and Juni’s house. He was let out on bail, flew here which violates that, all to get to Isaac or Shiloh I think. He wouldn’t stop knocking and as soon as I opened the door he hit me. So I kept them safe until the police arrived. He did rip out my monitor though. Shiloh had to give me a new one. Then, I had to borrow a button-up from Thatcher because the other had blood on it. That’s why it’s too big for me.”

“I’m grateful to you for keeping them safe. But not at the expense of yourself,” she softly kissed his forehead, “Shi. Do you have any of those black collared shirts from band still?”

“Yeah but Kai is taller than me. It might be too short,” shrugging, I went into my closet and grabbed a few different black button-ups, tossing them onto the bed.

“I know. But I can fix that. Let’s see,” she looked through the shirts before stopping, her head tilted to the side, “this isn’t yours.”

“Oh. No, it’s not. It was William’s. For the one week he was in band. He never even wore it.”

“Put it on, Kai,” she handed him the shirt and he slipped it on, buttoning it quickly, “hm. Still a little big but,” she spun him around after grabbing her bag from the floor and pinched the excess fabric in the back of his shirt, grabbing a few safety pins and fixing the shirt, “there we go. Just don’t lean back until I take them out.”

“Th… thank you,” Kai smiled, his cheeks pink.

“Oh,” Joanna giggled and patted his cheek softly, “oh sweet boy. You’re not used to this, are you? Motherly love.”

“My mom was affectionate but she wasn’t around. She never went to any of our events because she was working. She never fixed my clothes, helped me get dressed. She just never had time. I don’t hate that. I understand now as an adult. But… I don’t know. I hope, that if I’m ever a parent, I can be there. I want to be the kind of parent you and Thatcher are.”

“But you were,” Joanna smiled, tucking Kai’s hair behind his ear, “you were Juni’s parent. You shouldn’t have been, but you were. It’s not easy to raise a child. But it’s even more difficult when you’re growing up yourself. You did a phenomenal job. She’s a fantastic woman and I’m proud of you. I want you to know that. I’m so very proud of you.”

“C… can I hug you?” Kai sniffled.

“You never have to ask,” she smiled and held her arms open and Kai rushed forward, hugging her tightly as he quietly cried, “shh. You’re okay. You’re absolutely okay,” she whispered, rubbing his back softly, “you’re a wonderful, incredible man. I am so happy my Shiloh found you. Thank you, for coming into our lives.”

“Thank you… for letting me,” he hiccuped.

“Always.”

I hugged both of them tightly, trying not to cry, “I… I hate to interrupt this beautiful moment, but I can hear people arriving. We have to finish getting dressed.”

“R… right I know,” Kai nodded, letting go of Joanna before pulling me to him, “thank you, Shiloh,” he kissed me softly and I blushed.

“Babe… Ma is right there!” I laughed.

“You literally told me I can be affectionate with you in front of your parents. I wanted to kiss you. So,” he kissed me again, a bit deeper than before, “hush.”

“Whatever,” I laughed, pushing at him, “seriously. Get your jacket on. I have to head to Connor now.”

“Fine,” Kai groaned as Joanna laughed softly from her new spot near the door.

“What Ma,” I huffed, adjusting my jacket.

“Nothing. You just remind me of Pa and me. It’s sweet,” she shrugged.

“I like your dress by the way,” Kai smiled, going over to Joanna.

She was wearing a floor-length sage green dress, the back panel entirely lace that buttoned up her spine. The collar was high, wrapping around her throat, and her beautiful strawberry blonde curls were braided around her shoulder.

“Thank you. Juniper picked it out,” Joanna nodded politely, “I wanted to match Charlotte without actually matching if that makes sense.”

“It does.”

There was a second knock at the door and Thatcher popped his head in.

“God there you are,” he huffed, looking at me, “Connor is panicking. He asked for you.”

“Oh no, okay,” I finished fixing my outfit and walked over to the door  to follow him out.

“Jo?” he stopped for a moment, looking at my mother.

“Yes?” Joanna smiled brightly.

“You look beautiful,” he spanked her softly making her giggle and I gagged which made Kai snort.

“Shut up,” I glared at him before blowing a kiss and following Thatcher outside to the tent we had set up for the wedding.

Connor was standing in his spot, staring at his hands and I froze for a moment, barely recognizing the man standing in front of me.

Connor always wore loud colors, using fashion as a barrier to keep people from getting too close to him by making his outer appearance as loud as he was. Today, he was wearing a cream-colored button-up with matching pants, and over that was a cream-colored corset-style suit jacket, the back reaching his ankles, the chest clipped, and the back tied tightly. It was beautiful, with silver and emerald green accents.

“Whoa,” I whispered and his head snapped up, “Connor you look amazing.”

“You too,” he nodded, chewing his lip nervously, “I’m scared, Shi.”

“I know,” walking closer, I pushed a piece of his hair back that had fallen from the rest before hugging him tightly, “but you’re gaining a beautiful wife! We all know how much you and Juniper love each other.”

“But… I’m scared I won’t be able to provide for her. To take care of her and our… and…”

“Your baby,” I whispered and he looked at me shocked, “Juniper told me this morning. You’ll be fine. You already work remotely, Pa is working on the papers so you guys can transfer here. You have the house so your bills will be low. You’ll have plenty of money for your life. Juniper got the money from Haru. Everything is falling into place, Connor. I know we’re all kinda young. You’re nearly 21 but I mean… I can understand it feeling early to be a husband and father. But it’s okay. You’re not doing it alone. You have me. Kai. My parents. Isaac loves babies and I promise you he’s good with them. He used to take care of Charlie. Alder and Cora can give you tips. My parents will dote on the baby. My mom is so excited and already offered Kai and Juni to step into the role of their mother. Which makes her your mother-in-law. You’re home, Connor. Okay?”

“Okay… thank you, Shi,” he nodded.

“Ready now?”

“Yes.”