“Hey, you,” Clara smiled as I came into their house, Kipling following me, “Did you two have fun?”

“Could have warned me it's a nightclub,” I muttered, stealing Fern from her, “We had a great time.”

“Ren is a natural. He danced for hours, had a few drinks, and just enjoyed himself,” Kipling smiled, kissing Clara on the top of her head, “I'm going to bring him and Fern to Atlanta during the weekends now and he was wondering if twice a month or so you'd take Fern so he can come to the club to hangout.”

“Duh, what kind of question is that?” Clara scoffed, “She was fine. Only woke up for a little bit last night, but Rian got her to sleep with no problem.”

“Oh good,” I laughed, kissing Fern on the nose as she stared at me.

“Your classes start tomorrow. Are you ready?”

I looked at Kipling, and he nodded, coming to hold my shoulder, “I'm not going. I've decided to take things in a different direction. I'll call in the morning to tell them I'm dropping.”

“Oh. Well, how will you ever take care of Fern? I won't stop you; it's your life, and we're proud of you regardless. I just don't want you to struggle. You're our kid, too.”

“Ren doesn't have to work. I'll take care of him,” Kipling smiled, “his dream is to be a stay-at-home Dad, and I can make it happen, so I will.”

“Kip, you plan to get married at some point,” Rian sighed as he came downstairs, giving us both a quick hug, “I'm just worried it'll leave Ren high and dry the way Dara tried to. I know how much you care about him, but if you get married, I highly doubt your husband will love having Ren and Fern there.”

“Oh, I hope he would! It would be weird to make him leave,” Kipling laughed as his parents looked at him confused, “Ah, I'm planning to marry Ren. In a year or two.”

“Excuse me?” Clara shouted, and Kipling ran his thumb on my upper back, “I'm sorry, but how can you just say that? What if Ren doesn't want it? What a weird thing to say, Kip!”

“Clara,” Rian started to laugh, “Honey, he's trying to tell you they're dating.”

“What! Wait, seriously?” She ran over and gripped my arms, and I nodded quickly, “Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God! I thought the hickies all over your neck were from some random guy! Jesus, you're rough, Kipling.”

“Mom,” Kipling rolled his eyes, accepting her hug, “we were gonna wait to tell you next weekend, but Ren thought it best to rip the band-aid off now. He's worried you won't accept this.”

“Why would we be against it?” Clara bopped my forehead, and I giggled, “We always assumed you'd end up with one of our kids.”

“Dara isn't bi?”

“Yeah, he is,” the three of them said at the same time, and I looked around, surprised.

“Wait, you didn't know?” Kipling gasped.

“Obviously! None of you even said anything when I brought up him being straight!”

“Well shit,” Rian laughed, “Sorry kid. We honestly thought you knew and were making a bad joke since he's with Emily.”

“Oh! I met her. I meant to tell you, I forgot. We randomly started talking at the grocery store, not realizing who the other person was. She's super beautiful and incredibly sweet. She's mad at Day for lying to her about none of us wanting to meet her. I think he was worried I'd steal her too,” I rolled my eyes, and Kipling scoffed, kissing my temple.

“He's just not good at controlling his stupid brain. He gets jealous over everything.”

“Oh, you're one to talk, Kip!” I hit his chest, and Kipling smiled, taking Fern from me and making her squeal happily.

There was a soft knock at the front door, and I ran over, opening the door to find Dara.

“Day!” I gasped, hugging him immediately without thought before shooting back, “Sorry! I'm sorry, I'm just so happy to see you.”

“You too,” he whispered before wiping his eyes on his sweater.

“You're crying,” I whispered, reaching up to clean a tear from his cheek, “What happened?”

“Emily is pregnant.”

“I know. I'm sure she told you we talked.”

“She did. Did she tell you it's not mine?”

“No! Oh, I'm so sorry. Come in,” I pulled him inside, and Dara squeezed my hand, looking at the floor as I walked us to his family, “Day is here. Emily cheated.”

“Ah shit,” Kipling sighed, “I'm sorry, man.”

“Yeah, you should be,” Dara scoffed, and I looked at him, surprised, “It's yours after all.”

My heart froze, and I took a step back, flicking my gaze between Kipling and Dara. Kipling narrowed his eyes before clearing his throat and reaching for me. I smacked his hand away, startling him, and Dara gripped my wrist tightly.

“Ren. It’s not true,” Kipling whispered, “I don’t even know Emily. I would never have slept with her, regardless, I don’t like women. Only men.”

“She told me! That someone in your shop knocked her up and she decided to keep it to keep me!” Dara shouted.

“So you immediately jump to me!” Kipling scoffed, “I like men. Men! Do I have to spell it out for you? Fucks sake, Dara, I’d never do that to you!”

“Well I don’t know who the fuck else to blame! Only five of us work at that damn place. You, me, Josh, Nick, and Mario!”

“So you didn’t think it could be one of them? Josh is whore, dude. He’ll fuck anyone that gives him a bit of attention. Did you even bother to ask Emily who it was, or come over here, barrels loaded, to try and throw me under the bus? Ren, baby, I swear to you I never slept with her. I’ll swear on anything you need if it’ll help you believe me.”

“Swear on Fern,” I whispered, my heart racing.

“I swear on Fern that I never slept with Emily,” Kipling held his hand out, and I took it, lacing our fingers and squeezing.

“I believe you. Dara, why would you assume it was Kipling? Emily isn’t far along, and he’s with me every night. There’s no way it was him.”

“I just… shit,” Dara lowered his head, “I jumped to conclusions. I’m sorry.”

“It’s all you ever do, we’re used to it. I actually have her number, let me call and see who it was.”

I kissed Kipling’s shoulder and walked into the backyard, quickly calling Emily.

“Ren? Is Dara there? He ran out on me!” She gasped as soon as the call connected, “I didn’t mean to cheat, it just happened.”

“That’s not how it works, Em. Trust me. You’d have wanted to, even if you regretted it after it happened. We’re just trying to figure out who it was. Dara is here yelling at his brother. I guess he assumed it was Kip since it was someone at the shop.”

“Huh? No, it wasn’t Kipling,” she gasped, and I felt my heart settle, “He’s not my type. It was Josh. I want Dara to come home. I feel horrible.”

“I’ve known Dara long enough to know a few things are sacrosanct to him. Cheating isn’t something he can forgive. He won’t come home. You’ve lost him, Emily. I’m sorry. You seem like a nice person and I can tell you’re genuinely remorseful, but he’s not going to come back. I’ll have Kipling come get his things. I’m sure his parents will let him come home. I was really excited at the idea of Fern having a cousin, so this hurts me too.”

“I’m sorry… I’m sure Kipling will have kids soon, and then she’ll have cousins.”

“No, she’ll have siblings. I’m dating Kipling as of last night. I’ll tell Dara the truth. Goodbye, Emily.”

“Bye,” she whispered before I ended the call and headed into the house.

Dara was holding Fern as Kipling and Rian stared at him, Clara nervously puttering around and cleaning the kitchen.

“It’s Josh’s baby,” I called softly, and Dara ran over to me, “She told me herself. I made it clear I was disappointed in her and that Dara won’t be back. I know how you really feel about cheaters.”

“You can come home,” Rian muttered, and Dara started to cry, “We wouldn’t leave you high and dry like that.”

“I can’t hire you back, Day. Not after you stole from me,” Kipling sighed, “But I know plenty of shop owners around the area. I’ll put in a good word for you if you swear to change. No more being mean to Ren, trying to ruin his life. He misses you. No more stealing or overcharging clients. Fern needs her uncle, and we need our brother. I get that you felt jaded and got jealous that Eddie dated Ren, but Ren loves you, and I do too. Come back.”

“I’m sorry. I… I am so sorry,” Dara continued to cry, and I wrapped him in a hug, rubbing his back.

“Hey,” Kipling pouted, and I stuck my tongue out at him, “Bad.”

“Why is he being weird?” Dara whispered in my ear, “All possessive over you.”

“Because we’re together,” I whispered back, and Dara shot away, “We decided last night.”

“Is that why your throat is all covered? Jesus, Kip, control yourself.”

“Never been good at that,” Kipling shrugged, “I want total honesty when I ask this. Are you comfortable with us being together?”

“Yes,” Dara answered immediately, “I know I said and did some bad things to you, Ren. But I really mean it when all I ever wanted was for you to be happy and cared for. Kipling will take care of you, and that’s all I ever wanted.”

“I believe you,” I patted his cheek, and Dara finally smiled, “Welcome home, Day. We missed you.”

“I missed all of you, too.”