by Tabatha Kiss
“Wait, no,” I say quickly. “That’s—”
His jaw drops as he snatches the paper off the board. “Is this a—”
“No!” I reach for it but he easily holds it over my head. “That’s not what it looks like!”
“Really?” He smirks. “Because it looks like a Botsford Plaza receipt from a year ago signed by me.”
I cringe. “Okay. Yeah. Sure. That is what it is, but…”
He studies the paper. “Don’t we shred these?”
“Every six months.” I let out a thick sigh. “Last year, Oli gave me a stack to shred and when I went to do it that was sitting on top and, I dunno, I kinda just… took it.”
His smile deepens. “So, that’s why you never asked for my autograph.”
I nod, ashamed. “Pretty much.”
“That’s so rock and roll.” He loops his arm around me again and pulls me in to kiss the edge of my mouth. “I love you.”
My breath catches. “What?”
“You heard me, Gorchinsky,” he whispers. “L-O-V-E. It might seem too soon to say that but it took me far too long to notice you. I’m not wasting any more time.”
I bite my bottom lip as the words I’ve dreamed of speaking out loud build on my tongue. “I love you, too,” I say.
Jonah kisses my brow. “I know. I’ve always known, in some way.” His expression shifts. “I hate myself for this, but… I wish I could remember the first time I met you.”
“You don’t remember?” I ask.
He shakes his head. “I don’t. I’m sorry.”
I chuckle. “I’m not surprised.”
“Why?”
“Because you were really wasted,” I say.
“I was?”
I think back, my smile growing. “It was just after midnight and you stumbled in off the tour bus. It was near the end of your second tour, I think. You told me you needed to check in and as I was getting your key ready, I noticed you staring at me. Like really hard.”
He winces. “Please tell me this ends well.”
“I gave you your key and then… you smiled and said that I had beautiful hair. I said thank you and then as you walked off toward the elevators, I could hear you singing. Down down baby…”
“Really?” he asks, laughing.
“With red lips, a red skirt, and bright red knees.” I pause, feeling the memory all over again. “It was a good night for me, obviously.”
Jonah’s arms wrap tighter around me. “Seemed pretty good for me, too.” He kisses my cheek. “You really do have beautiful hair.”
I chuckle as I tilt my head up. “Thank you.”
He kisses me again, slow and firm. “So, are you busy right now?” he asks. “Or can I steal you away for the night?”
“The whole night?” I ask.
“My bed ain’t gonna keep itself warm,” he says, smirking.
“Mom has a shift soon,” I answer, now with heavy regret. “I’m on little brothers duty tonight.”
“Hrm.” Jonah thinks for a moment before shaking his head. “No, that won’t do.”
He spins around with my hand clenched in his and bolts toward the door.
“Jonah—” I say, dragging behind him. “I can’t just—”
We reach the living room and I see the old woman sitting on the couch with my mother. They both go quiet, their laughter cut short as Jonah brings us to a stop beside them.
“We good to go?” he asks my mother.
She waves a hand. “Sure. Go have fun.”
“Wait—” I furrow my brow. “Who is this?”
“Marla,” Jonah says, “this is Milly. Milly was my nanny growing up and she’s gonna babysit the boys tonight for you.”
I look at my mother. “She is?”
“Yes, she is,” she confirms.
“Are you sure?” I ask Milly. “The twins can be… difficult sometimes.”
Milly chuckles. “Thirty years of taking care of Botsford boys.” She makes an okay symbol with her hand. “I can handle twins.”
Jonah squeezes my palm. “Trust me. Milly’s got this.”
My mother stands and gives me a tight hug. “Go,” she says as she pulls away. “And celebrate. You’ve earned this, kid.”
I’ve earned this.
The words sink in and I feel a little weight slide off my shoulders already. “Okay,” I say. “I’ll see you tonight, then.”
She snorts. “Tomorrow,” she says with a wink.
I blush. “Mom…”
“Don’t question your mother, Marla,” Jonah playfully scolds me as he pulls me toward the door. “Bye, Angie. Bye, Milly.”
They wave us goodbye, wishing us a good night as we step down onto the porch. Jonah raises my hand to his mouth as we walk and he kisses my knuckles with a sly smile before we make it to his car. He opens the door for me and I duck inside, gleefully happy to see it. I wasn’t sure I’d get the chance to feel this fancy again.
Jonah lowers into the driver’s seat. “Do you have a music preference?” he asks as he turns the ignition.
“Yes,” I say, bursting with happiness. “I do.”
Epilogue
Jonah
I park the car in front of Botsford Manor. There are two other cars ahead of us in the circle drive, one bright red and the other a dark gray. The first one is obviously one of Hayden’s sports cars. The second is a little too small for Ira’s growing family, so it must be Graham’s or Jennifer’s.
“Are we late?” Marla asks from the passenger seat beside me.
I shake my head. “I don’t think so.”
“Good.” She cranks the radio up. “Because I want to finish this song.”
I laugh and relax into my seat, more than happy to put off the family gathering for a little bit to rock out with my woman. It’s a great choice of song, too. We’d know.
We wrote it.
It was our third song, actually. After Marla’s Song topped the charts, she and I got right to work on a follow-up track (whenever we weren’t working on each other, that is). Marla continued her studies and Criminal Records kept getting better and better. Oliver kept his word and rehired Marla once the first royalty check came in and she and her mother could afford extra help for her brothers. She’s been a rising star at the hotel ever since.
Lather, rinse, repeat for two years and here we are.
We mime air guitars, strumming and headbanging through the final chorus. By the end of it, Marla’s laughing so hard her cheeks turn as red as her hair and I feel yet another piece of myself fall madly in love with her.
Marla lowers the volume and sighs. “All right,” she says. “We can go in now.”
We walk toward the front door hand-in-hand. As I reach for the doorknob, Marla pushes forward and rings the doorbell instead. She casts me a playful glance, her smirk twitching as I roll my eyes and lower my hand.
After a few moments, the door opens on Milly’s wide grin. “Marla!”
“Hi, Milly!” Marla steps forward and Milly throws her arms around her neck.
“It has been too long,” Milly says, glaring at me over her shoulder.
I turn up my hands. “How is that my fault?” I ask.
“You don’t bring her home enough.”
Marla laughs. “That might be my fault, actually,” she says, taking the hit for me. “I’ve been drowning in finals.”
“See?” I say. “Blame the schools, not me.”
“But they were my final finals, so I’m officially yours more often, Milly.”
I pout. “I thought you were gonna be mine more often.”
Milly takes her arm and escorts her through the foyer, leaving me standing alone in the open doorway. “Oh, you get her enough,” she says over her shoulder at me. “Tell me about those adorable brothers of yours...”
I let her drag Marla away while I close the door.
“They’re great,” Marla answers as they head toward the kitchen. “They start kindergarten in the fall.”
“Wond
erful! And your mother?”
“I think she’s a little too advanced for kindergarten.”
I smile as I lag behind them. Milly cackles loudly and lightly slaps Marla on her arm.
“You know what I meant!”
“Mom’s just fine,” Marla says. “She’s actually thinking about going back to school.”
“To study what?”
“Business.”
“Good choice!”
Other voices overpower theirs as they pass into the kitchen. When I finally make it, I see Marla in a three-way hug with my sisters-in-law, Jennifer and Penelope, across the kitchen. This is the first time they’ve all been together since Hayden and Penelope’s wedding this summer and Marla’s been looking forward to this for weeks. Milly rejoins my mother by the stove, the source of multiple delicious smells that immediately turn on my empty stomach.
A hand slaps my shoulder and I smile at Hayden as he offers me a beer with the other.
“How goes it, baby brother?” he asks.
I gladly take the bottle. “Going good. You?”
“I wouldn’t rule out use of the word blissful just yet,” he says, smiling at Penelope across the kitchen as he taps his wedding band against his bottle twice.
“Honeymoon period still in full swing?”
He mimes a swing of a baseball bat. “Very much so.”
I raise my drink to him. “Happy for you.”
“Thank you.” He looks at the girls again. “You and Marla still heavy casual?”
“We were never casual, man.”
“I know.” He takes a swig. “It’s just fun to tease.”
I smile. “Where’s Graham?” I ask, changing the subject.
“Dunno. He and Dad snuck off after they got here. Work talk most likely.”
“Can’t clock off for one night,” I say, shaking my head.
“Botsfords gonna Botsford,” he quips.
A blender whirs loudly in the corner and I finally notice what’s got the girls so excited over there.
“Margaritas tonight?” I ask with a smile.
Hayden nods. “Looks like.”
“Well, this’ll be fun.”
The doorbell rings and the air shifts in the room. Milly rushes from the kitchen to go and answer it. Even I feel a surge of excitement as we all glance around in anticipation of who it might be. There’s only one of us left to get here and that means…
The door opens and Milly lets out a happy squeal.
The babies have arrived.
Mom sets down her glass of wine and charges into the hallway to greet them. Marla detaches from the others and comes to stand by me out of the way with her margarita and I loop my arm around her shoulders to pull her in and kiss her forehead.
“You good?” I ask, checking in.
Marla smiles, clenching her full glass. “Very good.”
Mom and Milly return from the front hall. Milly leads Michelle by the hand but the toddler quickly detaches the second she sees me and Hayden lingering in the corner.
“Unca Hayden!” she says. “Unca Jonah!”
Hayden drops to a knee. “C’mere, girl!”
She races toward us and hops up into Hayden’s wide open arms. He lifts her up and she barely puts up a fight as the two of us smother her with kisses and tickles.
“Hi, Aunt Marla,” Michelle says, reaching for her beside me.
Marla instantly swoons and sidles closer. “Hey, Michelle! You up for another playdate with Sammy and Dave soon?”
Michelle nods.
“All right. I’ll have my people contact your people.”
My mother follows into the kitchen with a swaddled bundle in her arms and Ira and Veronica hovering close behind her. “Hello, baby boy,” she coos, happy and smiling from ear-to-ear. “Perfect little Remy.”
Remy. The first Botsford boy in the generation. Ira and Veronica adopted him six months ago but there’s not a single person in this house who holds that against him. From the moment Ira brought him home wrapped in a blue and gold blanket, the kid was family. He fits in well enough with his big brown eyes and dark hair but it’s the smirk that really sells it.
Jennifer gasps. “He’s gotten so big!”
Veronica nods as she beelines for the blender for a drink. “Yeah, they do that,” she says.
Mom sighs. “Especially in this family. The boys grow and grow and the next thing you know they never come to see you anymore…”
Hayden, Ira, and I each let out a collective groan.
She smirks. “Wouldn’t be so bad if we had a few more of these to pass around,” she says, playfully poking Remy’s nose.
The room goes quiet while footsteps echo in from the hallway and Marla and I share a wink as we tap our drinks together. We’ve talked about kids before. It’s a hard no at the moment. In the early days of our relationship, it was a hell no. Down the line a decade? Might be a yes. Might still be a no. Who knows for sure but we’ve got plenty of kids in our lives and we’re happy with the idea of being the cool aunt and uncle forever if that’s what happens.
Dad and Graham walk in from the path to his study. Graham’s eyes widen at the giant group now formed around Remy and he chuckles.
“Where’s my wife?” he asks.
Jennifer’s hand shoots up from the crowd. “Over here!” she says.
He smiles, quickly picking her out and making his way over to admire the baby as well. “So, what’d we miss?” he asks.
“Oh, nothing,” Mom says. “Just talking about future babies.”
Graham glares at Jennifer. “You told them without me?”
She jabs his ribs as jaws drop around the room. “No,” she says through clenched teeth. “I didn’t.”
Everyone freezes in place. Milly gasps loudly and slaps a hand over her while but Mom’s knowing expression never drops.
“You’re pregnant,” she says, not a question. Of course. Fiona Botsford knows everything.
Jennifer hesitates with an infectious smile as Graham grimaces beside her. “Yes,” she finally says. “I am.”
“We are,” he says.
“Eh,” she cants her head at him, “it’s mostly a me thing.”
He smiles. “I was there, at least.”
Her eyes roll as Penelope throws her arms around her. Veronica rushes toward her to do the same and I flinch as Marla hands me her drink and bolts in their direction. The three-way hug from before becomes a four-way as they all come together and bounce with glee.
“I’m so happy for you!”
“How are you feeling?”
“If it’s a girl, I still have plenty of Michelle’s baby stuff you can have!”
“I can’t breathe!”
They laugh and pull away to give Jennifer some air while my brothers and I take turns patting Graham as hard as possible on the back.
My father lingers over Mom’s shoulder to admire his grandson still snoozing in her arms and he smiles. “Fiona,” he says, “I think we’re gonna need a bigger kitchen.”
Thankfully, the dinner table seems just big enough.
My father sits in his usual place at the head of the table with my mother directly on his right and Graham to his left. That’s where the usual ends.
Jennifer sits next to Graham with Hayden and Penelope on her left. Milly and I have traded places, putting her next to Mom so Marla can sit next to me. Veronica and Ira are beyond her with two spots between them for their little ones.
One giant happy family.
And just as loud as you’d expect us to be.
The table is alive with conversations big and small. We talk over and under each other as we enjoy our meal and take turns passing Remy around the table. Michelle quickly starts to feel left out but Marla gladly scoops her up into her lap to give Veronica a chance to clear her plate in peace.
After an hour, my father rises from his chair — a move that only means one thing in this house. “I have an announcement to make,” he says. “This won’t go public for anoth
er few months, so be sure to keep this to yourselves for now.”
We all fall silent and I glance at Marla beside me, wondering if she’s heard whispers of something around the hotel but she discreetly shakes her head in confusion. Fortunately, Mom doesn’t look too worried. Nor does Graham. In fact, he smiles.
Dad takes a slow look around the table before speaking. “Next year, I plan to retire.”
Marla’s jaw drops, along with everyone else’s.
“What?” Ira asks. “Already?”
“It’s early on paper,” Dad replies, “but yes. My father worked himself to death at the company. My grandfather, too. But I never saw that end for myself, especially not when I have more than a few capable hands on deck to do the work. Also, my mother and grandmother urged them to leave when it was time but they didn’t listen. I don’t plan on making that mistake. Fiona and I still have plenty of living left to do and I’ve got more than a few promises to her left to keep, so… I’m going to do that.”
My mother smiles. He notices and reaches for her hand before continuing.
“When I step down, Graham will officially take my place as CEO of Botsford Incorporated,” he says.
“Shocking,” Hayden says, faking surprise.
Graham raises his glass and we laugh. “Perfect timing, too,” he says as he looks at Jennifer. “We’ll need to cut back on traveling so much once the baby arrives.”
Mom snickers. “More like eliminate it entirely,” she says.
Ira and Veronica nod their heads and a little more reality sinks into Graham and Jennifer.
Dad clears his throat and retakes the floor. “As for Graham’s current position, Oliver has applied to take it and we honestly see no problem with offering it to him on the spot unless any of you boys feel up to the task of—”
“Nope,” Hayden says first.
Ira snorts. “I’m good.”
I shake my head. “No, thanks.”
“I figured,” Dad says with a light sigh, though he doesn’t seem at all disappointed. “So, come Monday morning we’ll give Oliver the good news.”
Marla leans forward an inch. “Then, who is gonna run the Vegas branch?” she asks.