Mrs Robinson?

I shrugged, hiding my burgeoning excitement,

"How long?"

Adam swallowed,

"Six years."

I snorted,

"You've been cheating on your wife with the same woman for six years?!"

"Pretty much."

"You love her?"

Adam shrugged, "I love Amy, but I don't love love her."

I snorted, Amy was perfect. How he didn't worship the ground she walked on was beyond me.

"I hear you Ty, Amy is awesome but we've been together for so long, we were kids when we met and got married and now... now I don't know her anymore or her me. I've been away from her too long. When I come home, it's like meeting up with a buddy. I miss her, but I don't ache for her anymore... I don't love her like I should."

"And this blonde girl... you love her?"

"I think so. I love being with her, love her laugh, her smile. I love that her body is growing with my kid inside her. And I hate that I've fucked up. Amy is amazing, we should have had a family but I was too engrossed in work. This should have been our kid, raising it together and now..."

I hugged him, sad for his dilemma but elated that now Amy didn't have to feel like the bad guy anymore.

"So now what Adam? Seems like you have a choice. Man up and be the father to your kid that we never really had or stay with an amazing woman you no longer love and be miserable together?"

Adam scowled but he laughed sadly, getting my point.

"She's too great to be sad for long Ty. We were married too young, and I often think I held her back. She outgrew me, I was away and she just took off, earning plaudits and money and kudos and I couldn't give her anything. Do you know how much it burns me that this house and everything in it was paid for by her? That she had to provide for us and not the other way around?"

I shook my head,

"If it's meant to be brother, the money and fame means nothing. If you really loved her, you wouldn't give a shit about her earning more than you, you'd just see her, not her bank statement."

He grimaced,

"Your nurse? When you look at her, what do you see?"

Adam shrugged sadly,

"Nancy. Her name is Nancy."

I rolled my eyes,

"Fuck it buddy, work with me here! With Nancy, what do you see? When you look at her?"

"Home." Adam sniffed and I hugged him in a manly sort of way, "I look at Nancy and see a home. A baby, a life, my woman waiting for me, waiting for me to come home and be her man."

I wanted to slap him, Amy had been the same way but I sort of understood. Adam felt threatened by her success, happy to be married to the Amy of old but not so much to the Amy who earned write ups in Vogue and had a wait list of 6 months for $3000 necklaces.

He wept in my arms, angry at his own behaviour yet excited for his future. He obviously loved this woman, this Nancy, desperately wanted to be her everything and raise their child together. He sobbed, tormented at what he'd done to Ames, and I'll admit, I cried a little too, hating how broken he was and sad that it had come down to this. Even if they divorced, Adam would never accept me and Ames as a couple, would find it outrageous. But I hoped, I ached for the one thing I truly desired, the one woman who made me whole again.

"You have to come clean bro. You need to tell her."

Adam sniffed, shaking his head with determination,

"No listen Adam. I get that this is fucked up and you don't want to hurt Amy but think of Nancy. She's pregnant. With your kid. She loves you. Each time you leave base and return to your wife it must rip her apart. Six years, for six years you've left her to come here and play happy families and now, now you need to get your priorities in place. You need to choose buddy. Nancy or Amy. Baby or no baby. Either way, one of them is gonna get hurt but you need to man up and make your decision."

Adam clung to me and I fought the urge to smack him. Our mutual father may have acted the part with both of us but he sure as shit hadn't imparted the skills to make us fathers in any way that counted. I knew he cared for Ames, but he didn't love her. And I was old fashioned enough to understand that if you made the baby, you raised the baby. Even at 19, some things you don't walk away from.

As as I held him, I wondered about Amy. She could be pregnant with my kid and I would rip Adam's heart from his chest without a second thought if it meant we would get to be a family. Not that I told him that. Ames and I, it had been mere months since we'd met and just one night in each other's arms. Adam and Nancy, six fucking years!

"Man up buddy! Make your choice. Do it fast so you can get on with your life!"

Adam sat back, his face wracked with sadness,

"I know what I need to do Ty. I need to talk to Amy. I need to explain."

I sat back, trying to channel a calmness I didn't feel,

"What are you thinking?"

Adam swallowed.

"I love Amy, " I cringed, "But I'm in love with Nancy. She's having our kid, she loves me back and she needs me. Amy doesn't. She's tough, she'll be okay on her own."

No way would I tell him that Ames would never be on her own again, not as long as I could draw breath. At least not right now.

"So do it Adam. Rip off the band aid. Call Nancy first, tell her you love her. Call Amy. Let her know what she's coming home too. You can't expect her to fly home happy and walk into a shit storm!"

"I wish I could tell her face to face. She'll be devastated Ty. I hate to think of her on her own after I tell her."

I shrugged as nonchalantly as I could.

"If it helps bro, I could fly to LA to check on her. She is family after all?"

Adam nodded gratefully, hugging me tight,

"You Ty are a real hero. Thank you buddy. That would be awesome. I'm so glad to have you in my life."

Not for one second did I feel like the bad guy.

...

SIX MONTHS LATER

AMY

Adam asked me to be Godmother to his daughter. I'll admit, I freaked out. Freaked out like a Kardashian told her credit cards had been cut off. That. That was a step too far.

Our divorce was pending, irreconcilable differences, and he'd been kind enough to not ask for spousal support. He could have, a junior MD didn't earn a quarter of what I did. But he would. He'd probably end up earning more than me soon, giving him, Nancy and baby Anna the life they all deserved. Good for them.

I liked Nancy. Okay, so meeting her at a restaurant, her belly swollen to the point of pain maybe wasn't the ideal introduction but I figured it hurt her more than it hurt me. She loved him. I could see it in her face, her eyes never leaving him, her hands touching him at every opportunity. She'd been fearful, probably expected me to kick off but having Ty next to me, his warmth taming me, I'd been nothing but accepting. Hugging her blossoming body, calming her fears.

Adam... Now I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to kick him in the nuts. Yes, I'd fucked around majorly but almost all of my hook ups were quick emotionless escapades. He'd kept Nancy on the backburner for six damn years! No wonder I'd felt the distance between us, every time he kissed me he had to be thinking of her. I glared at him, catching her eye as I did so and feeling the love she felt for him diminish my anger. Shit happened. So the baby she carried in her stomach could have been mine but really, it was a blessing that it wasn't.

So we chatted, uncomfortably at first, a burgeoning friendship forming as we discovered a mutual love of chocolate, Sylvia Day novels and Jason Statham.

Adam laughed uncomfortably as we bonded and Nancy surprised me by slapping his arm, telling him to get used to it,

"I like her Ad, I like her a lot. Amy and I are going to be friends so you better get used to it!"

I'd never spoken to him like that in all of our years together and as Adams's face softened and the wealth of love for her encompassed him like a halo, I knew two things. One, he and I were never meant to be as he loved her too much and Two, she and I were destined to be BFF for a very long time.

We ordered, Adam sneaking glances at Nancy as she shovelled her salad into her mouth eagerly like a snowplough. I felt Ty's tremors of laughter against my side, his nearness giving me the courage to sit through this.

Since the second I'd opened the door to him that fateful night... the next one, the one in my hotel room after Adam's admission, we had barely been apart. He'd held me, kissed my tears away, warming me up outside as I burned inside for him. And we'd made love, gorging on cold fries between interludes, sating ourselves on each other as we whispered words of love into the universe.

Returning home with Ty next to me made me feel I could conquer anything yet even as his pleas to come clean to Adam rang in my ears, I couldn't do it. I wanted Ty to myself, not wanting to feel Adam's disgust wash over us and honestly, I wanted Adam to wallow in his own guilt for a while.

He moved out before my return and Ty and I made love in our marital bed, over and over again, tirelessly and passionately until I couldn't form a sentence, let alone feel remorse for my behaviour. Each time we climaxed together, I cared less and less for the life I had before and yearned only for the man in my arms. I knew I'd have to tell Adam about us, Ty was a part of me and I didn't want to keep him my dirty little secret forever, but for now, I was happy to let Adam feel guilty.

...

Holding Nancy's hand as she gave birth changed my opinions on babies forever. Her sweet face, tortured in the agony of childbirth gave me chills, desperate to calm her yet unable to anything more than huff oxygen into my lungs. Knowing our baby, Ty's and mine, grew in my belly, well, it made me want to turn back time and use a condom. No way could I be as brave as Nancy, clasping Adam's hand and my own as she gasped and pushed like it was nothing. Even the clench of her hand in mine made me squeal aloud, how she did it... I'd find out soon enough.

A single cry echoed out, Nancy's heavy breathing fractured as a dulcet wail joined hers. We stared, four pairs of eyes as the Doctor lifted the squealing newborn onto Nancy's breast. Perfect. A daughter. A perfect girl, ten fingers, ten toes, healthy and strong. Nancy sobbed, her exhaustion apparent yet she looked so beautiful and I watched Adam as he gazed at her, never once in our years having seen him look so absorbed. Ty stroked my fingers, anchoring me and I turned to him, determined to be as strong when our time came as Nancy had been for Adam.

But still. Godmother? Isn't that a step too far?!

TY

Life was awesome. I welcomed my son into the world on my twentieth birthday, my beautiful Ames giving me the greatest gift I could ever have asked for. Her body shuddered with each contraction and I wanted to stop her pain, but she just smiled through it all, gasping and crying out, her hand clasped in mine.

Adam and Nancy were there. Adam hadn't been pleased that Ames and I were a couple, screaming the house down and calling me a son of a bitch over and over. Ames had screamed back, I had hit him, Adam hitting me back until it took Nancy, her pregnant belly looming over us as we writhed on the floor, to put it all into focus.

"For heavens sake! You're brothers! You have love! You feel love! Let it go!"

Pulling apart we gazed at our women, Nancy, almost full term and iridescent in her hormone soaked body, glaring at Adam like a fallen angel.

And Ames, the subtle bloom of her stomach, housing a child made of our love, making her even more alluring to me than ever before.

Adam was mad. Hauling me away to smack me senseless, Ames clinging to me as he did so, pleading with him to be reasonable. Nancy just stood there, her hands on her blossoming hips and shouted out,

"This is who we are now! This is our lives." She turned to Adam, her face pink and her eyes blazing, "So your soon to be ex wife is in love with your brother... so what! Do you not think she's allowed to be happy? After what we did to Amy it's a miracle she didn't punch you herself!"

Adam huffed and loosened his hold on me.

"Now honey, don't get yourself worked up. You have to be careful."

Nancy glared at him,

"Really? As a nine months pregnant nurse I had no idea!"

I'd laughed and Adam grunted at me, obviously desperate to smack the grin off my face but one more look at Nancy and he let me go, sagging down on the couch,

"I didn't mean that honey. I'm just... it's just..." He gestured to me and Ames as she tenderly stroked my hair from my face and grimaced,

"Adam Robinson! Sometimes you are just totally full of it! We're all grown ups, we've all done things we wish we'd handled differently but this is what we have to deal with. Pull yourself together and get used to it! We have the rest of our lives to bicker about what's happened if that's what you want to do instead of being happy and grateful for what we all now have. Geez man! Sometimes I wonder what I see in you!"

Her grin lit up her face and it was obvious she was joking. Adam beamed at her,

"You're right honey. What's past is past. It'll take a while to get used to things but..."

Nancy was now red faced and practically hissing,

"Dammit Adam!!! This isn't just about you! We're done talking about it! Amy and Ty are together, you and I are engaged and this is our new family unit! There is no time to get used to it, this is it! So your ex will soon be your sister in law... my best friend used to have sex with my fiancé. I'm not throwing punches at her! I was sleeping with you for 6 years! Amy isn't pulling my hair out! Men... honestly... brawling like idiots!"

Adam looked sheepish and I joined him on the couch, softly punching his arm in jest.

"We good bro?"

Adam shrugged, Nancy's face softening as he nodded,

"We're good Ty. Take good care of her you hear me, Ames is one of a kind."

"I know buddy, so is Nancy. We lucked out pretty good didn't we?"

Nancy grunted,

"The time for talking is over boys, the bromance is going to have to wait. I have more important things to contend with so you'll have to hug it out later!"

And just like that her waters broke and everything was forgotten, at least temporarily.

Having Anna calmed him, holding his daughter in his arms took the sting away. As Nancy healed and Ames bloomed, we worked together as a team to keep our ladies comfortable.

He was still mad, kept asking me for details. When had it started? Did I love her? Had she cheated? I just shook my head, not wanting to put it all into words. I just smiled at her, turning my head to look at my brother, "I love her more than life, isn't that enough?"

Ames pregnancy wasn't calm waters, high blood pressure had her on constant bed rest and if it hadn't been for Nancy's calmness I would have broken. Adam was always there, still unhappy, but weakening as I held Ames hand in my own, running around to calm her, wanting to make her happy.

Our Doctor decided a C Section would be for the best and despite Ames pleas for a natural birth, she listened as Nancy talked her through it all. If a caesarean was the recommendation, we had to accept it as fact. Ames cried, sobbing hard as she held me close, apologising for letting me down. I just looked at the woman I loved and prayed she'd be okay, nothing she could ever do aside from walk away from me would hurt me.

Nancy was a dream come true, her knowledge a balm to our frayed nerves. She comforted us all, smacking Adam regularly and telling him to shut the hell up. Our baby was his future niece or nephew and he needed to man up. Nancy laughed as she informed him his new relative would be told he was a pussy at the earliest opportunity and he kissed her, hard and passionately as I held my girl in my arms.

...

The birth was hard, worse for her but still pretty traumatic for me. Ames was as white as a sheet, the intravenous needle in her tiny hand, the surgical screen hiding the surgeon as her stomach was sliced open. It seemed to happen so fast, within minutes our son was lifted crowing loudly into the air before they whisked him away to check him out. Now that, that seemed to take forever and with each passing minute I began to fear that something was wrong.

As they handed him to me I released the breath I'd been holding and stared down at his perfect little face. Adam hugged my shoulders, Nancy clinging to us both as I sobbed, my arms almost too weak to hold my boy. Ames was barely cohesive, yet as I dropped our son onto her chest I felt her body strengthen. She wrapped her arms around him, arching up to meet my lips and I kissed her, restraining myself to a demure kiss when all I wanted to do was consume her.

James.

Our son.

Even now, months after his birth, every time I lay eyes on him I ache. Ache to hold him in my arms, yearn to keep him safe. Dark hair and green eyes like me, he rules our lives completely. Both Ames and I are wrapped around his tiny fingers.

She is fully healed now. The day we got the all clear we rushed home and I buried myself inside her honeyed folds, crying out all the love and passion I felt for her, now more so than ever.

James is so not going to be an only child.

Just goes to show, no matter what stands before you, love is love. Age, circumstance, nothing... nothing can stop the heart claiming what it really wants. Ames still tells me she is too old for me but there is less enthusiasm in her voice now. I know she feels bad still for what we did, but as I hold my son in my arms and watch my brother cling to his daughter, his love alive in his face, well fuck it. Life has a habit of giving what you really deserve.

PS Both Nancy and Ames are pregnant again. We Robinson men are insatiable.