“You did good, Jane,” Matthew said, raising his glass to me. “I…” He looked nervous for a minute before my confident brother came back. “I know what JD said last night was rash, but I think we will always be worried about our baby sister, and I’m just glad to see you happy with… them.” He nodded at the guys.

“Thanks Matthew, I appreciate you saying that.” I grabbed his hand and squeezed it.

“Oh baby, I didn’t know you knew. Thank God, because I was worried I would slip up.” Sabrina laughed. “Look at you being emotionally mature about it.  Don’t worry, Jane, if he didn’t approve, he would have gone without sex until he was ok with it.”

The guys and I laughed.

“Damn woman, it’s my sister, not yours, but I appreciate you being nice about it with her. Spare me the dirty details.” Matthew laughed.

“I’m happy as long as you're happy, Janie.” I turned around to see JD and Katherine behind me.

“Thanks, JD. I am,” I said, reaching for his hand and squeezing it, feeling overwhelmed with emotion. I didn’t expect for them to handle it like this, but I am so grateful they did. It felt like my world was coming together little by little, and while I’m not the same person who I used to be, I was appreciating the woman I was blossoming into.

12. Nathan

TWELVE

Nathan

When we agreed to help Jane with her brother’s wedding, I was nervous, seeing as how I’ve only been to a few. I thought it was going to be this lavish event, but it was far from it. It was small, intimate, and very laid back. After meeting JD and Katherine, it was a great reflection of them. Jane’s mother and Paul couldn’t see that and it was amusing. In the few hours I had known them, they seemed to value money over a lot of things. Being around them before the wedding was enough to make me want to plug my ears up.

Now I understood what the girls said in the restroom. I almost doubted coming, that was, until Jane came out of the house looking like a fucking queen. She wore something similar to what she had worn to her brother’s wedding. This dress was black and the front barely showed her clavicle, and the opening in the back was so deep, it made me think I might see some crack.