Brothers & Best Friends

by Rose, Ashley

  From the look on his face, Janine guessed that Jess's day hadn't been as pleasant as hers.

  "Wilma, where's my dinner?" she greeted.

  "Why are you so chipper?"

  She shrugged. "I guess Baby's in a good mood," she said as she sat her purse down. "I've decided that is clearly the key to my mood swings. When the baby's cranky, I'm cranky; when the baby's happy, I'm happy."

  "I see. So it has nothing to do with your hormones?"

  Janine grinned. "Absolutely not. I'm a peach. It's this one that's moody," she declared, pointing at her belly. "What's your excuse?"

  He glared at her for a second but then he couldn't help smiling. He pulled her against him, kissing her briefly. "No excuse. I've got the prettiest girl in the world right here in my arms. What more could I want?"

  She smiled up at him and wrapped her arms around his neck. "You're so good to me."

  She smiled and let go of him, backing up a step. "Did you have dinner yet?"

  "I just finished making it."

  "Really? I'm impressed. What did you make?"

  "An incredibly unhealthy meal of hot dogs, onion rings and macaroni and cheese."

  She flashed him a smile. "Sounds great. Want to watch a movie while we eat, or do we have plans again?"

  He shook his head. "No plans. You can pick the movie. I'll get our plates."

  She watched him walk to the kitchen with a little smile, then went to pick a movie.

  When dinner was over, Janine went in to take a shower and get ready for bed, leaving Jess to watch TV. Once her hair was wet, she reached for the shampoo only to find that there was none on the shelf. She sighed and stepped out of the shower, grabbing a towel and wrapping it around her. She was just about to call Jess in and ask him to find another bottle for her when she heard him in the hallway saying, "John," with a very irritated sigh.

  Her ears perked up, then back down. She really should get back in the shower. Listening would be eavesdropping, and eavesdropping would be wrong.

  She would have listened to her conscience had Jess's next words not been, "I know it's hard to accept what happened to her, but you need to—" John must have interrupted him, because Jess stopped talking and sighed again.

  Janine frowned and decided her conscience could wait. She needed to hear this if it was about her. John hadn't been saying a word to her about the rape, and she had pretty much assumed he had acknowledged it was out of his hands and there was nothing left to be done but welcome his new nephew into the world. Was he still upset about it? Jess never bothered to tell her, and John wouldn't want to worry her. She would have to take matters into her own hands if she wanted to find anything out, so she leaned closer to the door to listen to Jess's side of the conversation.

  Jess sighed, switching the phone to his other ear. "Why won't you just leave it alone, John? Why do you keep digging into this?"

  "Look, all I know is Janie's happy right now," he continued. "She's content with the pregnancy, she's content with her life; that's why we're moving forward. If you dredge all of this up—"

  Another pause.

  "I agree, John, he should pay. But can you please come back to earth? Even if you knew who this guy was, which you don't, what could you do about it?"

  Jess paused again, listening.

  "And make Janie file a report, upset her, bring all this up, so that the report can sit in a desk somewhere?"

  "That's exactly what would happen," Jess said. "You know it as well as I do. Remember when you worked at Burger King and that girl Clarissa was raped? Don't you remember all she went through? Before she killed herself?"

  Janine gasped, covering her hand with her mouth. She would never do that.

  "No, of course she wouldn't, but I don't see why she should have to suffer again."

  Jess's voice got louder.

  "Yes it could, but you know what, Janie does not know who the guy is, and her rapist is not too likely to step up and cop to it just because some guy's asking around. Just leave it alone, John. Janie's doing fine."

  Jess sighed. "John, stop watching SVU and start studying."

  Another sigh. "I do care, John, and you better believe if I knew who the guy was and if any good would come out of it I'd kick his ass until he couldn't tell which end was his face, but that wouldn't help anyone, would it?"

  Jess's frustration grew."Which is exactly why Janine didn't want to tell you she was raped in the first place. Leave it alone. Don't prove her right this time. Please, just move on and leave things be."

  "And didn't your mother call the police about that?" Jess asked.

  He paced as he listened to John on the other end. "See. Clearly that always works," he said, rolling his eyes. "Just don't be naïve, John. She couldn't even identify him, and you can't go asking every guy on campus for his DNA. Let it go. Janie's safe now. Nothing like that will ever happen to her again unless it happens over my cold, dead body. Just leave this alone."

  Janine was frowning as she backed away from the door, deciding she had heard enough. Her brother wasn't letting it go. Why wasn't he letting it go? The worst part was she couldn't even talk to him and tell him to let it go, because he hadn't said he was doing anything about it. Jess had made the remark about asking around campus. What was John doing, interrogating his friends?

  She would have to talk to him. She could just call him up and somehow she would ask him if he was still looking into it. He would say yes, and then she could tell him to stop, that she appreciated that he cared enough to pursue it, but she was fine, and she just wanted it to stay behind her. He would probably scowl at her but in the end, he would have to respect her wishes. After all, she had no idea what the guy looked like. Surely he would realize that without her being able to identify him, she really didn't have a case.

  Pleased with her plan, she nodded to herself and got back into the shower, shampoo momentarily forgotten.

  For all Janine's planning to wait and talk to John, that night when she was lying in bed, Jess's arms secured around her, her eyes popped open and she said, "Jess?"

  "Hmm," he murmured sleepily.

  "Are you awake?" she whispered.

  "No," he muttered.

  She smiled. "Then why did you answer me?"

  He sighed. "Do you have a good reason for me to stay awake, or is this another dumb Christmas idea?"

  Her smile faded and she sighed, glancing down guiltily. "I need to tell you something. And don't get mad at me," she hastened to add.

  He groaned. "Now what have you done?"

  "When I was in the shower I was about to wash my hair, but I realized I didn't have any shampoo, so I got out of the shower. I was just going to ask you to get me a bottle of shampoo, that's all. But...then I heard you on the phone, and I heard you say John's name...."

  He didn't say anything for a few very long seconds, which worried her.

  "Jess?" she said hesitantly.

  "What did you hear?" he finally asked, no longer sounding sleepy.

  She swallowed and tried to turn so she could see his face, but his grip tightened, not allowing the movement. "I- I just heard your side. It sounded like John hasn't really let this go. I didn't listen to the whole conversation or anything. I didn't even mean to hear any of it. But you never tell me anything, and I don't want my brother to keep digging into this, because I don't care who did it. That doesn't matter. Are you mad?" she asked, finally pausing long enough to breathe.

  He let up a little and turned her to face him, then shook his head and kissed her on the forehead, a slight smile on his face. "Is that all you heard?"

  She blinked. There was more? "Yeah," she said slowly.

  His smile widened a little and he shook his head again. "Why would I be mad at you about that?"

  Feeling utterly confused, she couldn't even find the words to respond.

  "Don't worry about John. I can handle him. You don't need any additional stress."

  She frowned a little. "But Jess, it isn't fair that you two are
sharing this, and I'm being left out. I know more about it than any of you. If you two are still trying to be Jason Bourne—"

  "Hey," he interrupted, "I'm not involved in this. It's your brother who won't leave well enough alone. I've been trying to get him to let it go, much to his irritation. I didn't tell you because I don't want you getting stressed about it. For all his detective work, he doesn't really have anything but his suspicions. If he had anything that seemed sensible I would have involved you."

  "Have you two been talking about this? I feel weird about that. I mean, I don't know, I just feel like that's something I should have known about."

  "I didn't plan to talk about this with him, he's just...talking to me about it."

  "So you guys secretly talk about this?"

  "Okay, why are you using your almost-mad face?"

  "I'm not mad, I'm just...I feel weird. I'm used to feeling left out by you two, but that was only before we're together. I expect to be part of the club sometimes now, at least where I'm involved. Obviously if you're talking about your guy things it's none of my business, but if you've been talking about me...well, I deserve to know that. And what is John doing? Is he terrorizing his friends?"

  "He isn't terrorizing them, he's just being vaguely annoying."

  "Does everyone know now? I don't see how it could be kept quiet if he's asking everyone," she said, unable to keep the irritation out of her voice.

  "Janie, he's only trying to help."

  "I know that, Jess, but it's still embarrassing. Did anyone think of that? I don't want to be treated differently by anyone."

  There was a pause."Who has he told?" she demanded.

  "No one, Janie. Chill out. He isn't going around telling people. This is why I didn't tell you, I didn't want you to get upset."

  She shook her head slightly, looking at his arm. "I just want him to leave it alone. I have put it behind me, and that's where I want it to stay."

  "I know," he agreed, pulling her closer. "Don't worry about it, Janie. I'll talk to him."

  She sighed and hid her face in his shoulder, closing her eyes. "I don't like having to think about it," she finally whispered.

  "I know," he replied, gently rubbing her back.

  She nodded against him. "Okay."

  ***

  Jess was gone before Janine could pull herself out of bed on Tuesday morning.

  She waddled into the kitchen to get a bowl of cereal, then walked over to the desk and sat down at the computer to check her email. A browser window was open to craigslist. Someone had been looking at apartments for rent.

  Apartments.

  Her eyebrows shot up in surprise. Jess was looking at other apartments?

  She realized they didn't have room for anyone else, certainly not a tiny little person who required several large pieces of furniture to be comfortable. For now, the things they had were still in boxes in a corner, and they were already taking up too much room. Where would the baby swing go, on Todd's bed? For that matter, where would the baby sleep? There was certainly no room for a crib in their bedroom, and even if they put it in the living room, which she didn't want to do, they would never actually be able to walk in the living room.

  How could she possibly have not thought of these things?

  She grimaced, looking at her stomach. "Sorry, baby. Mommy isn't used to worrying about living arrangements." Sighing, she clicked the "back" button, so she could see what she thought about the places Jess had been looking at.

  Before she knew it, she'd been looking at apartments for an hour. She knew she needed to get in a few hours of studying, so she devoted the rest of her morning to schoolwork. Then she went to the store and spent the afternoon making dinner: baked chicken legs, peas, rolls, and mashed potatoes.

  When Jess came home with Karen, Chad, and Hope, she found herself glad she had made so much.

  "Rosie, we're home," Karen called out, handing Hope off to Chad.

  Janine had found herself back at the computer looking at apartments again, so she looked up, startled. "Hey."

  Karen grinned. "Surprised?"

  Janine smiled and nodded, standing up from the desk. "Yeah. Are you staying for dinner? I made plenty."

  "She cooks?" Chad asked, looking brightly at Jess.

  Jess nodded. "She's been known to do that."

  "What did you make?" Karen asked, looking over Janine's shoulder at the computer screen.

  "Baked chicken, mashed potatoes, all that good stuff. It's done. I'll get some plates," she said, standing up.

  Karen gasped, sitting down at the desk. "Are you looking for an apartment?"

  Janine glanced past her to Jess. "Uh, I think so. I was just looking at what Jess was looking at."

  Karen raised an eyebrow and looked at Jess. "Harlem? Seriously?"

  He shot her a dry look, walking past her toward Janine. "I have to be willing to lower my standards now that I'm playing the Family Man."

  Karen grinned at Janine. "We've tried to get Jess to move to Harlem for a hundred years, but he doesn't seem to think it's Manhattan enough for him."

  "It's not my Manhattan," he mumbled. Then, "Hey," to Janine as he leaned in for a kiss.

  Chad covered Hope's eyes, causing her to grin and grab his hands. "There are impressionable children in the room," he mock lectured.

  "So," Karen said when they sat down to eat, "Janine, I have a couple questions for you."

  Janine looked up at Karen, raising an eyebrow. "Okay."

  "I like to plan ahead, so assume for a minute you were getting married."

  Jess shot her a quelling look, so she quickly added, "Calm down, I don't mean tomorrow or anything. But eventually it's probably safe to assume that you might possibly get married. Now, who do you want to be at this hypothetical wedding? Is a small wedding okay? What about a smallish reception? And what kind of food would you want?"

  Janine blinked. "Um...yeah, sure, a small wedding is fine. As long as I'm wearing a dress and it's white and Jess is there, it's pretty much a good wedding. Cake is good, too. I like cake."

  Karen nodded. "What kind?"

  "Chocolate. Now, why all the wedding related questions?"

  "Because you're going to have a little Rosie, so one has to assume that eventually Big Rosie will make an honest woman out of you."

  Janine smiled. "You're going to terrify Big Rosie if you don't stop talking about weddings."

  Karen waved her hand dismissively as she took a bite of her chicken. "He's fine. Okay, so, small wedding, check. White dress. Does it have to be big and fancy?"

  Janine shook her head. "I guess not."

  "The reception. Is it a must that you have a big wedding reception? And do you have any specific place in mind?"

  "No," Janine said with a confused smile. "I don't even know where any wedding reception sites would be in New York City. I think I saw a castle or something online one time, but that was for, like, 300 guests."

  Karen nodded. "As long as I have plenty of drunk friends to embarrass my mother, I don't care where my reception is either."

  "Hey now, wait a minute," Chad said, holding his hands up to halt their conversation.

  "Yeah," Jess agreed with a nod. "Why don't we stop talking about weddings for now?"

  "I think I'm breaking out," Chad stated, itching his side.

  Jess smirked at Chad and shook his head, loading up a forkful of food.

  "Men," Karen said in disgust, rolling her eyes.

  Janine grinned in response and shared a secret, amused look with Jess before turning her attention back to her own plate.

  ***

  Janine was less than pleased when Jess's kisses woke her up the following morning. Normally his kisses were welcome, but when her eyes hurt to open, she could survive until he got home from work.

  "You have to go to work," she murmured, rolling over.

  He chuckled, kissing her on the shoulder. "I still have a few minutes before I have to get up."

  "Congratulations," she mutter
ed.

  "Cranky," he remarked.

  "Sleepy. I'll see you after work."

  "No, because you have to work."

  She groaned, rolling back over into his arms and closed her eyes. "Let me sleep. Baby's tired."

  "You blame Baby for everything. We really need to give it a name, by the way."

  "Alfred," she stated.

  "Wow, you're cruel when you're tired. I don't recall you putting that name on the list."

  "Jess," she whined.

  "Okay, okay. Close your eyes."

  "Thank you," she murmured, wiggling until she was comfortable and preparing to go back to sleep.

  She would have succeeded, too, but Jess lifted up her hand and kissed her knuckles. Then he gently pried her left ring finger out of the fist she had it curled up in and slid something decidedly round and hard on it.

  Janine's eyes snapped open and she jerked her hand up, her jaw unintentionally dropping as she looked at the modest diamond ring on her finger. She gaped before she finally said, "Jess?"

  "Yes?"

  "That's a ring," she said needlessly.

  "You're kidding me," he said, frowning and grabbing her hand with a mock sigh. "They told me it was a necklace."

  She pushed herself up, staring at him. "Why did you give me a ring?"

  He smiled, running his fingers lightly over her knuckles. "Well, I thought it was probably time to make an honest woman out of you, as Karen so eloquently put it."

  Her eyes widened again. "Are you...?"

  "Proposing? Yes, and considering the arrogant way I'm going about it, it would be pretty embarrassing if you said no."

  She grinned. "It would also mean someone removed my brain. Are you serious?"

  He nodded, looking up at her. "Will you?"

  She let out a high-pitched squeal and launched herself at him, knocking him back on the mattress and kissing him. "Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes," she said as she scattered butterfly kisses all over his face.

  Jess beamed, raising up on his elbows to give his bride-to-be a soft kiss. Janine moaned quietly, prompting him to continue. He trailed kisses down her jawline, to her neck, and across her collarbone.

  “Wait just a second, mister,” Janine said, mock sternness in her voice as she pushed him back.