Telling Miles had been a wonderful, fantastic thing that Jensen had been reaping the benefits of for a month. Benefits meaning more kisses, more hugs, Miles being in an elated move every moment he was home, and Jensen feeling like everything would be okay.

            Jensen, at the present, was applying cream to her breasts because of how sore they were. She was glad Beckett was old enough to stop breastfeeding at that point, unsure if she could take the tenderness.

            "Love of my life?" Miles yelled from downstairs.

            "One minute!" Jensen called. Pulling her shirt back on, a hoodie overtop of it. Crossing her arms over her chest—a universal signal for maybe I'm not wearing a bra, but I'll never admit it out loud—Jensen headed downstairs. Her eyes widened when she turned the corner and saw Scott and Maddox with him. That same moment, she became extremely aware of the white dots on her face. Jensen put her hands over her cheeks. "God, Miles, a little warning."

            "What?"

            "I have zit cream on."

            "Can I use some later?"

            "This domesticity is nauseating," Maddox said.

            Jensen let out a weak laugh. "Sorry."

            "J-Rhodes, if you can't have zits around friends, who can you have zits around?" Scott asked. He and Maddox had been switching from staying at Jensen and Miles' house to staying at the hotel room Scott had booked. She shouldn't have been shocked to see him there.

            Jensen pulled her hands away from her face. "Hi, all."

            Miles laid on the couch. One leg resting on the top, his pant leg rolled up to his knee. Arms behind his head. "Hello."

            "That's an..." Jensen paused, "That's an interesting way to sit on a couch."

            "You didn't tell her?" Maddox asked.

            "Tell me what?" Jensen asked.

            "Well, now it's not a surprise."

            "What?"

            "Don't be mad."

            "Miles, why would I be mad?"

            "You know that tattoo appointment we had for Beck's sign?"

            "The one I asked if you could cancel?"

            "I might have gone to it."

            "God, Miles, why would I be mad? It's your body," Jensen said. Her eyes darted to his rolled up pant leg. "What'd you get?"

            "It's pretty cool, J-Rhodes."

            "What did you get?" Jensen repeated.

            "It's not Beck's sign, I want to get that with you." Miles gently took his leg off the top of the couch. "So, I was thinking—"

            "God, here we go," Maddox said.

            "Let him talk, Mads," Scotty said.

            "You don't have to have a reason to get a tattoo, babe," Jensen said.

            "But I do," Miles said, fighting a smile. "And I'm really happy with it."

            "Carry on," Jensen said.

            "I was thinking. About everything that happened earlier this year. With Robert. And how I wasn't upset about that but I was upset about mom and that was confusing and it was weird," Miles said. "And I know I'll never not miss her, but I was thinking and just..."

            Miles rolled over, elbows tucked underneath him. Jensen could tell where the plastic wrap was on his leg, but moved a little closer to try and see what had been inked there. Though there was blood and ink blotches slightly obscuring the image, there was no denying what it was.

            "That's fucking rad," Jensen said.

            "Oh God, the skater girl came out," Maddox said.

            "She was a punk, he did ballet," Scott said.

            "I'm glad you like it." Miles grinned.

            Taking up three-quarters of his calf was a Russian nesting doll. The details of her face—eyes, lips, eyebrows—looked like the photos of Irina that Jensen had seen throughout her time with Miles. On the belly of the doll was dozens of tiny roses, her shawl shaded but not patterned. All focus on Irina and the roses.

            "It looks so good!" Jensen said.

            "Hurt like a motherfucker, it better look good."

            "How could you feel anything when you were so busy stuffing your face?" Maddox asked.

            "It was important."

            "Jensen, I swear, your damn husband filled both our arms with fucking snacks for this thing," Maddox said.

            "And juice boxes," Scott added.

            "It was a big tattoo," Miles said. A little too offended by their poking fun at his snack habits.

            "I've never seen you eat that much," Maddox said.

            Jensen had been to the tattoo parlour with him when he didn't have anything to eat with him. It wasn't good. She'd had to run next door to a corner store to get him something to ensure he wasn't going to pass out in the chair while the artist made sure he was okay. That had been the little zodiac signs on his arm, not something that he defined as big. At least he'd learned his lesson from the last time.

            "Better than having to carry him out," Jensen said.

            "You had to be carried out—" Maddox started.

            "No," Miles said. Jensen raised an eyebrow at him. "Almost."

            "I don't mind carrying the Kool Aid," Scott said. "Especially if that's the case."

            "I think you're drinking the Kool Aid," Maddox said.

            "He did drink one while you went outside," Miles said.

            "Damn, Scotty," Maddox said.

            "It's Kool Aid, Mads," Scott said.

            "It's called betrayal," Maddox said. "And it's not cool."

            "Are you okay?" Scott asked.

            "Fine."

            "You've been a pain in the ass all day, Mads," Miles said.

            "Is this about—" Scott started.

            "No." Maddox cleared his throat. "I'm getting a drink. Are you staying? Do you want anything?"

            "Um."

            "I'll grab you one anyway. I'll be right back."

            Maddox walked away before anyone else could say anything. Jensen frowned, looking between Miles and Scott.

            "Well?"

            Miles pushed himself to sit up and shrugged. "Beats me."

            Scott sighed. "I should go talk to him."

            "That depends on what you said to him," Miles said.

            "Hey," Scott said, "Why'd you automatically assume it was me?"

            "Guys," Jensen said, "This isn't helping."

            "It's... It's a thing," Scott said. "A thing we'll get through. Let him cool off."

            "I'm going to talk to him."

            "That sounds like letting him cool off, Rhodes."

            "He can't be mad at me," Jensen said.

            "I think he can," Miles said.

            "I'm growing a baby," Jensen said, "very most is I get a sigh."

            "That's..." Scott started.

            "You're using our kid before they're even out of the womb?"

            "Not using," Jensen said, "working with."

            "Christ," Miles said.

            Scott scoffed a laugh. "Good luck."

            Jensen bowed. "You can thank me later."

            Jensen walked toward their kitchen, not looking back at Miles and Scott. She hoped he'd take the initiative to talk to Scott about whatever was going on—but she wasn't sure who they were together when Maddox and her were their mutual friend. Then again, Miles was her and Maddox's mutual before she got to know him. And look where she was headed then. She'd even danced with him at her second wedding. Friendship formed in weird circumstances.

            "Hey," Jensen said, seeing Maddox drinking from his glass as she walked into the room.

            "Jensen," Maddox said, eyes widening but he recovered quickly. "Hi."

            "Everything okay?"

            Maddox looked at Jensen for a moment. Pressed his lips together. Shook his head.

            "Anything we can talk about?"

            "Can I ask you something?"

            "Course." Jensen put her palms on the island counter, flat against the marble.

            Maddox swallowed hard. "You said you'd had a pregnancy scare before, right?"

            Jensen's eyes widened. "I thought you'd had a hysterectomy. Are you okay?"

            "Oh, God, no, that's not what I meant," Maddox said. "And I did. That was years ago."

            "I'm sorry," Jensen said.

            "No, that's fine," Maddox said, "It's... I... Can we play what if for a minute?"

            Jensen nodded.

            "So, pregnancy scare. How old were you?"

            "The most serious time? Twenty-two."

            "Can I ask what happened?"

            "Turns out undiagnosed anxiety can lead to skipped periods. Add a boyfriend into that," Jensen said, shrugging. "It was a possibility."

            "Can we pretend it wasn't anxiety?" Maddox asked. "That it actually happened?"

            "Sure."

            "Say you had that kid," Maddox said. "That you had a ten year old when you met Miles."

            "Oh," Jensen said softly, her mouth forming the shape of the word. "Did Scott—"

            "How would you have reacted?" Maddox asked, looking at his hands. "Or... do you... how do you think Milo would've reacted?"

            "It might've been a little awkward," Jensen said, "but I think after a couple times that they met, they would've gotten along great. Miles is good with kids."

            "He wouldn't have freaked out?"

            "Maybe a little. Probably internally."

            "Shit."

            "Are we still talking about alternate timeline Miles?"

            "Yes."

            Jensen crossed her arms across her chest. Hands gripping the sides of the hoodie. "Miles probably would've met the kid, panicked the slightest bit. Pretended he wasn't panicking. Realized that he liked the kid, and that he loved me. Loved the kid after a lot of time spent together. And we would've ended up exactly the same as we are now; except the third kid would've been Beckett. Not this little ass-kicker."

            "Ass-kicker?"

            "I haven't been able to keep a meal down since they decided they were a thing to be," Jensen said. "They're kicking my ass, for sure."

            "You're sure he would've been okay with it?"

            "I can't think of any timeline where Miles and I didn't end up together," Jensen said.

            "Are you sure?"

            "Did Scott ask—"

            "This isn't about..." Maddox sighed. "Yeah it is."

            "Can we stop the what if?"

            Maddox nodded.

            "Did Scott ask if you wanted to meet his son?"

            "Apparently his name's Colton," Maddox said.

            "I've met him," Jensen said.

            Maddox looked up at Jensen. "Really?"

            "He's a sweet kid, Mads," Jensen said, "I think he'd love you."

            "I don't want to be an explanation, Jensen," Maddox said, shaking his head. "I don't want to have Scott sit there and explain that men can like men because he decided that he wanted to date me."

            "You know Colton hung out with Rocky while we filmed a gay superhero movie, right?" Jensen asked. "If he even cared in the first place, which I doubt he does, he would already understand that gay people exist."

            "I should let him hang out with Liberty and Dayna for a day."

            "Trial by fire." Jensen laughed.

            "I'd be like aloe vera to that burn," Maddox said. Scoffed out a laugh.

            "Mads," Jensen said, "Scott wouldn't have offered if he didn't want you to be part of his life for a while."

            "Are you sure?"

            "If I had that kid at twenty-two and I was still dating people," Jensen said, "you can bet your ass I'd really have to see a future with someone to introduce them."

            "But are you sure?"

            "Colton's part of him," Jensen said. "And to bring someone into that big part of your life is a big thing."

            "Can you please stop saying big?" Maddox asked. "It's freaking me out even more."

            "Sorry."

            "You're not making this up to make me feel better, are you?"

            "I mean," Jensen started, "Technically I am making it up. I was anxious, not pregnant."

            "That's not what I meant."

            "How I think it would've happened is real. Do you want me to get Miles and you can ask him?"

            Maddox shook his head. "You know Miles better than he knows himself."

            "Colton's going to think you're fantastic," Jensen said. "All you have to do is be you."

            "Colton's not a little brat like your husband, is he?"

            Jensen laughed. "He's ten. They're probably about the same."

            "God, if that kid eats as much as Milo does, I'm going to be broke trying to make him happy."

            "Hey, you keep Colton happy, it'll keep Scott happy, and I'll keep making Miles happy so you don't have to," Jensen said, "and it's going to be perfectly fine."

            "How do you know?"

            "Because even when I felt suffocated by my own existence—"

            "God, I feel that."

            "—I had Miles," Jensen said.

            "That's disgusting." Maddox waved his hand in her direction half-heartedly. "Thanks."

            "For what it's worth," Jensen said, "you're you and he's Scott and there's going to be weird things because that's how relationships are."

            "When does the weird wear off?"

            "Miles walked into this house ten minutes ago with a massive tattoo on his leg that he didn't tell me about so it could be a surprise and then got worried I'd be mad as if he's not a forty-one year old man who can make his own decisions about his body," Jensen said.

            "So it never wears off," Maddox said. "Fantastic."

            "You learn to live with it," Jensen said, "and it makes you love them a little more every time you unlock a little weird."

            "You married your weird," Maddox said.

            "And I love him dearly."

            "Gross."

            "You and Scott go the distance, you'll get your weird too," Jensen said.

            "And I thought waking up next to someone in my boxers was as weird as it got."

            "Wait until you wear his boxers to do laundry in the morning before kids wake up."

            "God," Maddox said, "that becomes my life and I'm officially domestic."

            Jensen grinned. "You can put it in your book. In the it gets better."

            Maddox laughed and took another sip from his glass. "Probably will. Already signed the deal."

            "Shut up," Jensen said, "really?"

            "I didn't tell you?"

            "No."

            "Yeah," Maddox said, "it's coming out end of next year."

            "Oh my God, that's huge!" Jensen ran around the island and buried him in a hug. "Congratulations!"

            "I'll get you an advance copy, J-Rhodes." Maddox's arms wrapped around her too.

            "No way," Jensen said, "I'm buying a copy. Or two. Or five."

            Maddox laughed. "Thank you."

            "You can't stop me from buying your book every time I see it."

            "That's not what I'm thanking you for."

            Jensen squeezed him a little tighter. "Anytime."

            "God, I hope that kid likes my company," Maddox said, "I really like Scott."

            "Buy him a pack of TimTams. He'll be on your side like—" Jensen snapped her fingers.

            Maddox laughed softly. "Thanks for the pro-tip."

            "Question," Jensen said, pulling away from Maddox.

            "Shoot," Maddox said, resting a hand on the counter.

            "How much did Miles actually eat in snacks?" Jensen laughed. "I have to start dinner soon."

            Maddox laughed. "Let's say that he's probably good until dinner tomorrow."

            "Oh, man," Jensen said.

            "But he's also Miles."

            "That's true."

            "That kid could be hungry ten minutes after he ate a full deep dish pizza in the dorm."

            Jensen laughed with Maddox. Everything was going to beokay.