SAMMY

Nash opened the door and the smile on his face widened significantly when he noticed the ring on my hand. Maybe it was because I waved it in his face.

"Congratulations," he began, but I didn't hear the rest. I'd already walked past him, on a mission to find Kennedy. She was where I'd expected to find her, in the kitchen making breakfast.

"Look," I yelled, maybe a bit too loud because Ethan startled in his swing but didn't wake up. Kennedy's head snapped up. Her eyes went wide before they softened as she noticed my waving hand and the smile lit up her entire face.

"Oh, my god." She grabbed the hand I held out to her. "That's so beautiful, Sammy."

"I know. I love it."

I shifted my hand, so the sunlight hit the large solitaire diamond, and it was like magic. Little flashes of light sparkled out of it. Mitch had done such a wonderful job. The ring was gorgeous and so me. It wasn't a ring I would have picked on my own. I probably would have went for a simple solitaire, but somehow Mitch knew what would fit me better than I did.

"Wow," she said and dropped my hand so she could wrap her arms around my waist and hug me. "I'm so happy for you."

I gave her small body a tight squeeze. "Thank you. Me too."

The guys entered the kitchen in the midst of some home improvement discussion, but my only focus at the moment was on my best friend.

"Be my matron of honor, Kennedy?" I asked her.

I felt her swallow hard and then the tears came. "Yes," she whispered. "Yes, of course."

"Oh, here we go," Nash teased. "Are we blaming this on hormones too, babe?"

"Do you want me to smack him for you?" I asked her.

She shook her head and tightened her grip on me. "I'll get him later. I know where he sleeps."

And just like that, we were laughing again.

***

A few hours later, Mitch and I were at a home improvement store. We'd borrowed Howard's pickup truck and were on a mission.

We'd had breakfast with Nash and Kennedy and after a ridiculous amount of teasing all around, especially about Mitch and me breaking in the new house, they both promised to be our attendants at the wedding. Nash hadn't cried like Kennedy did when Mitch asked him to be his best man, but he was definitely emotional about having been asked.

Our meeting with Jose at the house went very well. It didn't take long until he felt like an old friend instead of a contractor we were hiring. We discussed the layout and style of how we wanted the kitchen since that was the biggest change and opened up most of the main floor. I showed him some ideas I had gotten from magazines and he told us it was doable.

I wanted a place that felt lived in that matched what the house itself, and not some stuffy showman place. I liked how Liz had the white kitchen that opened into the living room, but where her style was clean, with nautical and rustic elements, I wanted French country mixed with farmhouse.

Jose promised he'd get back to us with a more formal plan and drawings by the end of the week, but instructed us to select the materials since we'd be on a tight timeline.

So Mitch and I spent the rest of the day walking the aisles of the home improvement stores, picking out flooring, cabinets, countertops and tiles. His style was cleaner than mine, and by that I mean simple lines and muted colors. Nothing with bells and whistles, but we compromised.

"Do you think it's possible for Jose to make an island that's double the size of this?" I asked him. We stood in front of the largest island in the store. It was probably ten feet long and six to seven feet wide.

Mitch looked it over. "That's big, Sam. You think we need double that?"

"Maybe not need, but it would be awesome to have a sink in the middle and room for me to bake on one side and for you to food prep on the other."

I could tell from the look in his eyes that he liked that idea. "Let's tell him we want an island as big as he can make it," he suggested.

"Okay."

"Do you want granite countertops?"

"Maybe quartz?"

He nodded and gestured for me to follow him outside to where they had the stone materials.

By the end of the day, we'd settled for off-white cabinets, both for the kitchen and for the bathroom downstairs next to the office. The large kitchen island we wanted was going to have light blue cabinets with a light quartz countertop, and we wanted a wood floor throughout, and some rustic beams for the ceilings, if Jose could find any.

We hadn't been able to decide on paint or light fixtures yet, but when Mitch called Jose, he said that was okay. He just wanted to be able to order the material he needed to get started once we completed the plan.

Mitch's phone rang as we pulled into the Reeds driveway. He lowered the volume of the stereo and pressed answer. I think he was as surprised as I was when Maria's voice came over the phone.

"Are you alright?" was the first thing he asked. When she said she was, he visually relaxed next to me. I couldn't hear what she was saying, but Mitch had a small smile on his face, so I assumed it was a friendly call. I got out of the car while he remained in it.

"So?" Kennedy asked when I entered the living room, where she was sitting with a book. Nash was lying on the other couch watching a baseball game. I'm pretty sure it was Isaac's team. "How did it go?"

I sighed and sunk down on the couch next to her. "Exhausting, but so much fun. I had no idea how many different types of cabinets there were."

Kennedy laughed. "I bet."

"Where's Mitch?" Nash asked.

"He's talking to Maria."

Kennedy's eyebrows went up in surprise while Nash's narrowed. "Is everything okay?" he asked and sat up.

"I think so. He was smiling."

Nash exhaled, and with a nod of the head, he laid back down.

"Did you start looking at materials yet?" I asked Kennedy.

"Just on the internet. We're gonna wait until Liz and Howard are back."

"Oh," I giggled. "That makes sense, babysitter and contractor. Good move."

She laughed and nodded. "Yeah, that's the plan."

There was a little whimper from where Ethan was sleeping in some kind of portable bassinet. Nash and Kennedy exchanged a look, but it was she that said, "I think he's hungry. I got him."

Nash nodded and turned back to the tv as Kennedy went and picked up Ethan. I busied myself with my phone until Mitch walked in a few minutes later.

"Is everything okay?" I asked.

"Yeah. She was good. She actually sounded happy."

"Yeah?"

Mitch took the seat next to me and nodded. "Yeah. She said that she was watching Neil because Marshall was out."

"Okay?" I was a bit surprised that he didn't seem aggravated about his brother taking advantage of his sisters generosity again, or just taking advantage of her, period.

"He'd supposedly been doing some digging and talked to some of the men our dad used to play cards with. It turns out he wasn't very good at playing."

"Damn," Nash groaned from the other couch which startled me. I'd almost forgotten that he was there.

"Yeah," Mitch nodded.

"That's where all your money went? To pay for gambling debts?" I asked when I caught onto what Nash had already figured out.

"Looks like it."

"Shit," Nash said at the same time as I muttered a "wow."

We all got quiet for a minute as we thought about what that meant and then Kennedy walked in with Ethan in her arms.

"What happened?" she asked.

"Gimme," I said and reached my arms out for Ethan. She giggled and placed him in my arms. Mitch gave her the quick summary of what he told us so far as she took a seat next to Nash.

"So, does that mean he's coming around?" she asked, always the optimist.

"I wouldn't go that far, but maybe he's realizing that our father lied to him."

"That's gotta suck," Nash said. He rubbed a hand over his face and looked up and met Mitch's eyes. "Imagine having been told something all your life, to the point where you blindly follow whatever he you're instructed to do, just to find out all that was lies. And from your father, no less." Nash shook his head, most likely thinking of his own father.

We all knew Howard would never do anything like that, but Mitch and I didn't grow up with the kind of father figure Nash had, and unfortunately we both could - and did- imagine what it was like.

Kennedy rubbed his shoulder as he continued to shake his head. "I'm sorry, Mitch, but what a fucking piece of shit your dad was! Lied to his entire family. For what?"

Mitch shrugged his shoulders. There really was no response to that.

"So why was Maria babysitting tonight?" I asked.

"Marshall was supposedly on a date."

"What?" we all asked at the same time.

Mitch chuckled. "I'm not sure if it's a date, date, but he was meeting up with Sandy. Neil's mom," he clarified when we all frowned.

"Ohhh..."

"Yeah." Mitch nodded his head slowly. "Don't know if it's just to discuss finances or whatever, but Maria said he's been in a better mood lately. They've supposedly met a couple of times already."

"Wow."

"I hope he can figure his shit out," Nash said with a growl. "Doesn't make up for what an ass he's been to you, but at least he might treat Maria better."

"I hope so."

I hoped so too, but not just for Maria. I really wished he'd come around for Mitch's sake, too.

I snuggled Ethan closer to me and inhaled his clean baby smell. Both Mitch and Maria deserved so much better than what they'd been given by both their parents and Marshall.

Maybe this was what Marshall needed to change?

Ethan blinked as he struggled to stay awake in my arms. I began to rock him, slowly him from side to side, watching how his eyelids got heavier and heavier.

"Aunt Sammy's got this baby thing down," Kennedy commented from the other couch.

I looked up and met her eyes. There was a soft smile on her face, and then I glanced at Mitch. The expression on his face was pure love and I felt my heart grow underneath his stare. I wanted this. A home, and a baby with him.