Three years later.
I don’t know that I’ll ever truly get used to winters in New York. I used to think that being cold involved slipping on a sweater or a light jacket. It’s December and I’m bundling myself up in a padded coat, scarf and knit hat. I call out to my colleague Alistair that I’m leaving. The office is quiet because it’s an hour after I should have gone home. I don’t care about working overtime though because my job at SuperStar Comics is the coolest.
Outside the street is dark and I look quickly from side to side. He’s there, waiting by a lamp post, hands pushed deep inside his pockets, mouth and chin buried in the tartan scarf I bought him our first winter in the city. His breath creates beautiful plumes of smoke, tinged yellow from the light above. Even after all this time I still get butterflies in my stomach just from looking at him.
He must hear my footsteps because he turns, and when he sees it’s me, his cheeks rise and his eyes crinkle into a smile.
“Katy,” Bryan says, striding towards me and cupping my cheek. “Good day?”
“Yeah,” I say. “I finished the layouts for this month’s edition.
“You happy with them?”
“They look great.”
He beams and I can see the pride in his eyes. He takes my hand and we start down the street towards Murphey’s. “You excited?” I ask him.
“Of course I am,” he says. “I feel like I haven’t seen everyone in forever.”
“It’s only been five months,” I remind him. We went home for a short vacation in the summer.
“It feels like five years.”
I know that Bryan misses home more than I do. Even though he has family in New York it’s still hard for him to have left all his plans behind. There are no regrets. I know that, but I think he was always more of a home body than me.
“How was your day?”
“Good,” he says, squeezing my hand. When he started his internship at Boyd and Boyd, it had been a hard slog. Corporations want something for nothing. They expect you to feel grateful for having a job, even a poorly paid one. It didn’t take long for him to get promoted though. I’m so happy that it worked out for him. Leaving his father and the business behind was probably the most difficult thing he has ever had to do, but it was the right decision. He’d been living in his dad’s controlling shadow for too long. Breaking free to find his own path has made him stronger. Crazily, even Doug seems proud of his son’s achievements. He might not like what happened, but he respects it.
Murphey’s is lit up like a Christmas tree, with multicolored lights around the sign and door. My heart skips because I know who’s inside and I’m so damn excited to see them.
Bryan opens the door and ushers me through. I look from left to right and catch sight of Carrie’s smiling face immediately. She stands and I make my way through the crowd until I’m in front of her and hugging her tightly. “You’re a sight for sore eyes,” I say. She looks so beautiful and vibrant. It’s been three years since she had the twins and went through the most harrowing near death experience. I hate that every time I see her I’m reminded of the fact that I almost lost her. I guess maybe she feels the same way about me. Maybe that’s why our hugs are now tight enough to hurt. She’s flanked by Ethan and Nathan who wait patiently to greet me and Bryan. There are kisses and manly hugs and then we all stand smiling at each other. Their arrival in New York is the best possible Christmas present I could ask for.
“Anyone else here yet?” Bryan asks.
“Nah…we’re the first.”
Just at that moment I hear a familiar voice shouting over the crowd. “Bryan, you fucker,” Harrison yells. His eyes are bright and he’s dragging Jenna behind him. She’s got a cute new bob haircut and the ever present grin on her face that she’s been sporting since she got together with her stepbrother.
There are whoops and cheers as everyone hugs. A bottle of beer is knocked over but nobody cares. Seeing old friends is like slipping on your favorite pair of shoes. You know, the ones that are a little bit worn out but are so comfortable that it’s like wearing slippers.
The girls slide into the booth Carrie had snagged while the men head to the bar to buy more drinks. For a moment I get a flashback to any number of nights at the Red Devil where we’d meet to sip sickly cocktails and watch the boys go by.
“Shame they don’t serve Red Devils here,” I grin.
“Probably a good thing,” Carrie laughs. “Those drinks have gotten us all into a whole heap of trouble.”
“True,” Jenna nods.
“I can’t believe you guys are here,” I say, taking hold of their hands across the table and squeezing.
“I know.” Jenna glances across to where Harrison is standing. “It was touch and go as to whether Harri was going to be able to get time off, but he managed it.”
“Work still tough?” I ask, feeling bad for her.
“Yeah. He puts in so many hours.”
“But you guys are good?”
“Yeah,” she says softly. “So good. Always.”
I smile because she still looks so in love, even though things haven’t been easy.
“And you?” Jenna asks. Carrie grins expectantly. We couldn’t wait to catch up with each other and spoke on the phone for an hour at the beginning of the week.
“So good,” I say and glance over at Bryan. He’s deep in conversation with Ethan, then they both burst out laughing.
“Life’s sweet, huh?” Carrie puts her hand over her belly when she says it. If it was anyone else I’d wonder if she might be pregnant, but after what she went through, Ethan and Nathan insisted on getting sterilized. There was no way they were going to risk losing her again. I guess her unconscious action is her way of remembering to be grateful for every day that she’s gifted.
“Life is sweet,” I say. It’s three and a half years since Austin found the lump in my breast and made me take it seriously. It’s been three and a half years since Dr. Abbott delivered the news that I’d known deep down was inevitable. The lump was malignant. I was going to have to fight for my life.
And I did.
It was because of my family history that Dr. Abbott recommended radical surgery. I had a double mastectomy with reconstruction two weeks after diagnosis. Bryan and the twins were by my side the whole time, through the good days and the bad.
I glance up at the doorway just at the right moment to see Jason and Austin coming into the bar. Jason immediately unwraps his scarf and Austin pulls off the black woolen hat I bought him last week. Their hair is messy and their cheeks reddened from the cold. They look absolutely perfect. There are more shouts as the men greet each other. All the back slapping and testosterone makes me roll my eyes. It’s going to be a struggle to get a word in edgeways when they finally get their asses over here to the booth.
That’s fine with me, though. I find now that the things that used to bug me in the past are just not that important. Every day that I’m in remission is another day to be thankful for. Every day I get to live with my boys is another day to weep with gratitude about. Seriously. Could I be any luckier?
It hasn’t been an easy journey for any of us. My mom and Doug were really against our budding relationship but the fact that I was dealing with so much and needed the support meant they had to get over it pretty quickly. The twins could only stay in town for a few weeks, then they had to get back to the city. It was strange for a while, for it to be just me and Bryan. I guess the fact that I was sick meant that everyone had to be a whole lot more patient and understanding than under normal circumstances.
We almost melted our cell phones keeping in touch with Austin and Jason through messages and skype, and I really hope that no one at skype intercepts video conversations, because I think our frantic group skype sex sessions might have blown their minds! It took another year for us to all be in a place where we could be together and it was worth the wait.
“I can’t believe you are hosting us all this weekend,” Jenna says.
“What’s the point of coming all this way and then staying in a hotel? Blowing up all the air beds is half the fun.”
She wrinkles her nose. “I hope you left the men to do that job.”
“Hell to the yeah,” I laugh. “What’s the point of having three boyfriends if you’re going to have to blow up your own air beds?”
Carrie giggles. “Look at them all.”
We all turn and stare as our men make their way over to the booth with three trays of drinks. I can see women’s heads turning as they pass. The six of them are a veritable feast of sexiness.
I get up so Ethan and Nathan can slip into the booth next to Carrie. Harrison slides in on the other side and gives Jenna a kiss. Austin grabs my hand for his customary burst of chivalry. It gets me wet every time. I stand on my tip toes to give him a kiss on the lips, then do the same to Jason. I know we’re probably being watched but if there’s one thing I’ve learned not to care about, it’s the judgements of others. You’d think after so many months of the most amazing sex that I might be a little over the honeymoon period. Sometimes I think it’s a miracle that I haven’t had an aneurism from all the pleasure. I can never get enough of them.
As everyone chats, I sit back in the booth, sipping my drink and enjoying the company of my friends. Even though life can be harsh and the world can be a tough place, I couldn’t be happier. Would I be this happy if I hadn’t gone through those dark days? Probably not. Facing the possibility of dying has brought me a whole new perspective. Life’s too short to make the safe and sensible decisions. It’s too short to worry about what might go wrong if you dare to dream. Every mistake we make teaches us a little more about how to live our lives better in the future. I’ve learned to trust myself and to value myself and what I think, above the opinions of others.
I remember on that first night that I met the twins – the night that changed my life forever – that Jason told me ‘three’s a charm.’ I would never have believed that I could be so happy in a polygamous relationship, but I am. Hugely!
They say three is the magic number.
When it comes to lovers, I know that for absolute sure!
Three’s a charm, baby.
And what can I tell you? If you get a chance to live out your fantasies like I did, take it! Seize it by the balls and ride the hell out of it, because you never know what’s around the corner, and you’re only young once!
We all have a Wonder Woman inside us, and whatever the universe has in store for us, making brave decisions to follow our dreams is what matters the most.
And as my idol would say, “the adventure continues.”
