42

Jess fixed herself one of the bagels and a coffee and moved into the living room while I put the fruit together on a plate before getting my own breakfast ready. Kelli had put on a robe as well, and made her way in to see who had arrived.

"Oh! Hi Jessica. Umm, how are you this morning?"

"Please, just call me Jess, and I just stopped by to bring some breakfast and to thank you both for last night."

"Why thank me for last night," Kelli asked as she grabbed her own food and sat with us. "It was Myka's plan, not mine."

"I just wanted to say thank you to Myka for going out with me, but I need to thank you for letting her do so. I know she is your girlfriend and I just didn't want to feel like I was poaching."

"Pffttt..." Kelli replied and waved Jess of without hesitation. "It was the right thing to do, and it meant that I got to have a terrific time with your brother."

"Speaking of. Where is the great lump that is my brother? Is he still in bed," and we all had a laugh at poor Paul's expense.

"No, he's in the shower," I replied. "He'll probably be out in a little while. I'm sure he is worn out."

It was nice spending time just talking with Jess, and I could see the bond between us growing ever stronger as we enjoyed each other's company. We discussed the two dates from the night before, with only slightly edited details, and it didn't take long for Kelli and me to have Jess blushing like a maiden. Talk turned to how school was going, and what we were planning on over the summer, and then she brought up spring break.

"So I was thinking," Jess began, still working on her coffee. "What are you guys doing for break next week?"

Kelli and I had not really thought about it much and we just looked at each other and shrugged. We both had talked about trying to work with Cassandra or one of the other members of the Circle to see if we could get some help opening the box on our bookshelf so that we could complete the bond at the equinox in two weeks. Other than that we hadn't made plans at all.

"I don't think that we really had any plans Jess," I answered.

"Well, two of my friends, Lana and Erika, were going to join me, Jaz and Matt on a spring break trip to Scotland. They both just came down with a really nasty stomach bug, and can't go so I thought I would find out if you two wanted to go instead."

"We'd love to go," I replied in an instant, and Kelli looked at me like I was crazy. "I just don't think we could afford the trip on such short notice."

"Don't worry about that," Jess answered and she was grinning like a kid at Christmas. "I actually have a meeting for our business in London next Monday, and dad is letting me take the company plane and use the corporate housing account to go. It was to celebrate Jaz graduating this semester. So other than what you want to spend on yourselves, we've got everything covered."

"Then we would be thrilled to go with you," I gushed, and jumped up to give Jess a hug.

I turned and sat back down with Kelli, who looked both confused and concerned, and I whispered to her that I would explain everything later. Finally, Paul came into the room wearing only his towel, and it was clear that he was hunting the smell of coffee.

"Hey sis," Paul said as he briefly looked into the living room to see us all sitting there, and then his head made a nearly audible sound as it snapped back in a classic double take.

"Hi Peanut," Jess replied and Kelli and I laughed at the grin on her face. "There's coffee and bagels on the table for you, and when you are ready I'll take you home."

"What the hell are you doing here Jess," he managed to get out before looking down and realizing he was still in his towel. "Umm, just a minute. I'll be right back."

The three of us couldn't help but cackle like little girls at Paul's embarrassment, and the next few minutes were spent discussing the sisterly secrets that Jess had collected about her brother. Eventually, though, Paul came back with his clothes on and we had to move on to other topics. He grabbed some food and joined us for a while and we continued to just enjoy the morning together. Soon, Jess had to get going so she could make an appointment that she had across town, so we got up and walked both Paul and her to the door.

"Ok, so...," Paul said, looking at his sister. "You still haven't told me why you came here this morning."

"No, I haven't," Jess replied and she sighed and seemed to come to a decision. "I was here this morning for a couple of things. I wanted to thank Myka for a lovely date last night, and I also wanted to invite them to Scotland next week since the others are sick."

I watched the gears begin to turn in Paul's head while he was trying to comprehend what his sister had said, and the shocked widening of his eyes indicated that he had figured things out. For her part, Jess just stood there looking at him with the beginnings of tears in her worried eyes. If only she could have seen what I could, she would not have needed to worry because the increase of love that seemed to pulse over their familial bond was quite powerful. Paul hesitated for only a moment before he rushed forward and pulled Jess into his arms and crushed her in a rib creaking hug.

"You thought I'd be mad, or disgusted didn't you," he whispered as he kept her pulled tight. "You thought we wouldn't understand. God Jess, I love you. Mom and dad love you, and to be perfectly honest all of us have wondered if you were figuring things out about yourself."

Jess could do nothing at that point but cling to her brother as silent sobs shook through her. Paul, however was a rock as he stood there for his sister, caressing her hair, shushing her in his kind and loving way, and making sure she knew that she was the most important person to him for that moment. Kelli and I stood there, holding hands and wiping the tears from our own eyes, proud to bear witness to the unconditional love that existed between our friends. It only took a few minutes before Jess seemed to calm down, and she pulled back from her brother a little bit so that she could wipe her eyes.

"You all knew," she asked of her brother with a note of pleading in her voice. "How long have you known? Myka got me to actually admit it to myself at the bar the other night, but right up until she did I still wasn't sure I felt this way."

"Hey Jess," he responded, and lifted her face so she would have to look at him. "We had suspicions. Some things didn't fit right, you hadn't had any sort of major long term relationships, and we noticed. We all talked about it a couple of times and everyone agreed that either you just weren't ready for a relationship commitment, or that perhaps you might not be into men. And whatever it was, we decided to let you figure it out and then tell us when you felt you were ready. Simple as that."

"Paul, you are perhaps the most wonderful man that exists right now," I exclaimed, and I pushed forward and joined them in their hug, followed almost immediately by Kelli.

We stood there for a while longer, doing nothing but laughing, crying, and sharing in the emotions of the moment. After a time, though, Jess began to panic some because she had realized that she was now close to being quite late. It was hard to separate ourselves, but we did so that she could get going, but not before one last round of goodbye hugs.

"Ok, I think I can keep it together now," she sighed. "Paul, we can keep talking about this on the ride home, but we have to go now."

"You got it sis," he answered as he opened the door for her, but she turned back to Kelli and I first.

"Ok, thanks again for everything Myka, Kelli. You both are great. And don't forget, I will be by at five on Friday to get you both so that we don't make the pilot late. He gets cranky when we make him late."

"Yeah he does," Paul mumbled, which caused everyone to laugh. "And thanks for last night ladies. It was... It was memorable."

Kelli and I both stepped up and gave him an extra soft kiss and I grinned as I replied, "It was memorable wasn't it? Oh, and Paul, you should ask Kassidy out sooner rather than later. You won't regret it."

And with that I closed the door with a wink, listening to Jess' mirthful giggling at the utterly confused look on her brother's face. I turned around, however, to find Kelli staring at the box we were supposed to figure out how to open with the concern plain on her face. Now I had to tell her what was up.