The next few weeks flew by. I was healing quickly, and I was glad. My mom went back to Georgia a few days after I came home from the hospital, with promises to return around Memorial day. I‘m supposed to get this stupid cast removed tomorrow, and I was coming straight home to take a bubble bath. I was over it. There are a few days left before Valentine’s day, and I needed to do some shopping. “Hey Gee” I shouted down the stairs to Gena, who was in the living room with Val and Leana, we were having girl time while the kids spent a few hours at the daycare center. “Yeah babe?” she said, coming up to my room and laying across the bed. “Can we go shopping? I need to find something to wear for Valentine’s day. I feel like such a jackass, I need to go car shopping.” “Oh B, don’t feel like a jackass, I’d be more than happy to take you. You probably don’t need to be driving with that cast on anyway.” she said, motioning to the purple monstrosity. “Aw man, I bet the guys are going to miss my cast when it’s gone.” I said sarcastically. “Yeah right,” she said with a laugh, “they’re probably going to be overjoyed. Zack still has a bruise on his arm from you hitting him.” I had been using the cast as a weapon, beating the guys when they picked on one of us girls. I was dubbed the “gimpy shrimpy bodyguard.” Johnny got a beating with the cast for that one. I slipped my feet into my moccasins, which were the only things I could wear since I can’t really tug boots on or tie my tennis shoes. “Ugh, fucking cast.” I grumbled, trying to put a hoodie on. Once I finally got it on I grabbed my purse and Gena and I went downstairs to see the girls. “Hey, you guys wanna go shopping? I have to go get something for Brian.” I said, plopping down in my favorite chair. “Yes! Let’s go lingerie shopping!” Val said excitedly. “Uh, heller Valary,” I said, waving my cast, “I don’t think this monstrosity is going to look to sexy with some lingerie.” “Oh stop it. You’re supposed to get it taken off tomorrow.” Gena said, rolling her eyes. “And if you don’t, I’m sure he won’t even notice it’s there.” “Unless you accidentally hit him with it.” Leana said with a laugh, causing me to give her the finger. “Asshole.” I muttered. “Let’s go, before I beat Leana with my cast.” I said with a laugh, leading the girls out the door.

We were currently walking around the mall, looking at random stores, when we walked up to Victoria’s Secret. “Oh, I want new underwear.” I said, heading straight for the 5/$26 table, trying to avoid looking for lingerie with this ridiculous cast. “Oh come on Brook,” Val said, “It’s not going to be that bad.” “Okay, fine.” I huffed, “but I’m getting underwear first.” We walked over to the lingerie, and I found the perfect one, without even looking. It was a white satin with black lace baby doll. It had a plunging neckline, that went almost halfway down the front, and a deep-v back. “Oh, this is the one I want. I’m done.” I said with a laugh, while all the other girls were looking. “That’s gorgeous B, Brian is going to go nuts.” Gena said with a grin, “Oh, did you get the painting done?” “I did,” I said with a smile, “I have to go pick it up from Cam today. Oh, can I get a ride to do that?” I said with an embarrassed smile. “Of course, we can run by on our way home. Do you guys have special plans for Valentine’s day?” “Not really,” I explained, “Papa Gates and Suzy offered to watch the kids for the night, so I’m going to drop them off after work, and cook some really romantic meal. I didn’t want to go out, I felt it wasn’t as romantic, so I’m going to make our favorite meal - steak and shrimp.” “Aw that sounds like fun! You guys are so cute.” Val gushed. “What about you guys - oh, hang on a second.” I said, my phone interrupting my sentence. “Hello?” “Is this Brooklyn Jones?” A voice asked on the other end. “Yes mam, I’m Brooklyn Jones.” I said, confusion lacing my voice. “Mrs. Jones, my name is Veronica Davies, calling from the Cherokee county jail, we have your husband in custody. He told us to call you to be bailed out.” “My husband?” I asked, causing all the girls to look at me. “Yes mam, Andrew Dane Jones. He is your husband, correct?” she said, “No mam, he’s my ex husband, and as far as he’s concerned, he can stay there.” I said, causing her to laugh. “I understand Miss Jones, I’m sorry for the inconvenience, you enjoy the rest of your day.” “There’s no inconvenience, tell him to call his mom. You have a good day too mam, goodbye.” I disconnected and placed my phone back in my purse. “Who in the hell was that?” Leana asked. “Some lady from a jail back home. Apparently Drew got locked up, and called “his wife” to bail him out.” I explained, using air quotes. “I haven’t been his wife in over a year. He must have forgotten the divorce papers we signed, or the baby he wanted me to abort.” I said angrily. “Anyway, let’s get a move on, I still need to find a dress!” The girls laughed at my enthusiasm, and followed me to the registers.

We spent a few more hours in the mall, where we all found the perfect outfits. I didn’t buy a dress, but bought a dark red skirt instead, which I would pair with my favorite black tube top and strappy heels. We were currently at Cam Rackam’s house, picking up my painting. Valary had taken a photo of me in just a pair of underwear, facing a wall with Brian’s black and white pinstriped guitar leaning against my back, my hands at the top of the neck. We turned the image into black and white, and brought it to Cam to see if he could make a huge painting out of it. I was really excited to see the results. We took a few more sexy shots of me and me and his guitars, wearing his favorite fedora. I think he’s going to love them. We pulled up at Cam’s house, and all got out. I knocked once, and he opened the door. “Hey girls, Brook how are you feeling? I heard about the accident.” he said, concern lacing his voice. “I’m great, thanks. Iget the cast taken off tomorrow.” I replied, holding up said cast. “I’m glad you’re okay. I finished the painting, want to see it?” he smiled, gesturing us to come inside. “Of course I want to see it! I’m so excited!” I said with a grin. I followed him to his studio, and in the center of the room was the painting I asked for. It was huge. It was at least the size of a window. “Oh my gosh,” Leana breathed, “Brook, that’s gorgeous. Brian is going to love it.” I nodded in agreement, momentarily speechless. “I think she likes it.” Gena laughed. “I absolutely love it.” I said softly. “Cam, thank you so very much.” I said, hugging him tightly. “Brian is going to love this.” “Hey, you’re welcome, anything for my Avenged girls. I’ll wrap it up for you, so you can get it home.” he said, walking over to his wrapping paper, and wrapping the piece of art up. After he finished he carried it to Gena’s SUV for us. “Okay girls, you’re all set. Enjoy your Valentine’s Day with the guys.” he said, hugging each of us. “Thank you again Cam, it means a lot.” I smiled. “Don’t mention it, just invite me to your wedding.” He grinned, and walked back into the house. “I..but..what.” I stuttered, getting into the car. “Oh B, it’s going to happen one of these days.” Val laughed as Gena put the car into drive and took us back to my house.

Once we got to my place I noticed Brian’s car in the driveway. “Shit.” I muttered. “Shit shit shit. How are we going to get this big ass picture past him?” “Calm down, Zack and I will bring it back by when you guys go pick up the kids.” Gena volunteered. “Just act normal, he has no idea” she reminded me. We all got out of the car and I grabbed my bags and headed toward the house. “Baby? I’m home.” I shouted, hoping he could hear me. “There you are, how’s my favorite girl?” he said, kissing me. “I’m fine, Bri. I was just going stir crazy, so I decided to go shopping.” I said, holding up my bags. “Oh, Victoria’s Secret. I’ll take that bag.” he said, reaching for the bag, only to have me pull it away, “You can’t see anything I bought, they’re for a special occasion.” I said with a smile, watching his face form into the cutest pout, “But baby please? You know the suspense kills me.” he said, trying to put the puppy dog eyes on me while the other girls laughed. “No babe. You can wait.” I said, standing on my tip toes to kiss his nose. “I need a car Brian, I can’t keep asking the girls for rides all the time. Can we go look?” I pleaded, using my own set of puppy dog eyes. “Well, that’s why I got off so early, I wanted to take you car shopping. I know you’re going nuts and you want your own set of wheels, let’s go look.” he said with a smile. “Yay! Okay, let me go put these bags up and I’ll be right back. I love love you!” I said excitedly, giving him a big kiss. “Okay eager beaver, I’ll wait outside, I wanted to smoke before we left anyway.” he laughed, walking out the front door. “Okay,” Gena said as the girls followed me up the stairs, “Here’s the plan. We’re going to leave with you guys, and drive around the block until we know you’re out of sight. Then we’re gonna come back and drop the picture off, we’re going to stick it in the very back of your closet, so make sure he doesn’t go into yours.” “Sounds good to me. Thanks so much for doing this girls.” I said, hugging each of them. “Now, if you all don’t mind, I’m going car shopping!” I said excitedly, rushing down the stairs. “Have fun! I’ll text you when we drop off the package!” Leana said, the girls following me back downstairs. “Okay, love you guys!” I shouted as I got into the passenger seat of Brian’s car. “Whoa babe, excited much?” he laughed, backing out of the driveway. “Yes, I am, thank you very much. I can finally afford a new car, and I don’t have to just settle for one. I can get whatever I want.” I replied, practically bouncing in my seat. “Okay, to the dealership.” he said with a grin.

We spent a few hours at the dealership, when I found exactly what I was looking for. “Brian, that’s it.” I said, pointing to the Range Rover right in front of us. “You want a Range Rover?” he asked, raising an eyebrow. “Yes, I’ve always wanted one. I’m going to check it out.” It was gorgeous. “Range Rover Evoque” Brian read off the sticker. “Oh I’m in love.” I said dreamily, taking in the black metallic exterior and the black 20in rims. “Go ahead and check out the interior miss.” the salesman said with a laugh, opening the driver’s door for me. This SUV had everything I wanted: panoramic roof, push to start, black leather, touch screen radio. I wanted it - no needed it. “Okay, I’m done shopping. This is the one I want. Let’s go figure out payments.” I said, heading toward the building. “Whoa hey hey hang on a second. We’re not making payments.” Brian said, grabbing my arm. “You’re right babe, we aren’t making payments, I’m making payments.” I said, not understanding what he was getting at. “No need to babe, I’m buying. You need a dependable car, and I want to spoil you, so this is me spoiling you.” he said, gesturing to the car. “Brian, this is too much.” I argued, attempting to cross my arms over my chest, but failing when I couldn’t get my other arm over my cast. “No baby, it’s not. You deserve everything in the world. It’s just a car.” he replied. “Yeah, a fifty thousand dollar car. This is insane.” I said, getting flustered. “Okay baby, I tell you what, you pay whatever would have been the down payment, and I get the rest. Deal?” he asked, extending his hand. “Okay, fine. Deal.” I huffed, shaking his hand. We went inside and filled out paperwork and paid for the car, which we would be picking up tomorrow so the guys could detail it. We were walking back to Brian’s car when I realized that I just bought my first car. “Holy shit, I just bought a Range Rover.” I sighed. “Feels good doesn’t it?” Brian laughed. “Come on, let’s go get our babies.” He said, throwing an arm over my shoulder and walking me to the car. “Our babies? Bri you don’t have to do that.” “I want to do it. I love those kids like they’re my own. I’m never leaving you guys okay? I’m not doing that to them. You know Cam called me his dad the other morning?” he said cautiously. “Really? What did he say?” I asked, “He said, and I quote, “You’re the best daddy ever!” and he gave me a huge hug. It melted my heart, and I knew from that moment on I would never ever leave you guys. You’re it for me.” he said, kissing the side of my head. “Brian, I love you.” I said, stopping him in the middle of the parking lot to wrap my arms around him. “I love you too baby girl. I love you three so much.” he said, and pressed his lips to mine. “Come on, let’s go get the kids, I want to spend a nice night at home with my family.” We went and picked the babies up and had a fun night at home, playing with Madi and laughing at Cameron’s crazy antics. He’s been spending too much time with Jimmy, I swear. We all passed out on the couch, watching Finding Nemo for the second time that night.

The next morning I woke up with a groan and realized I was in bed with Brian. I sat up, looking around confused. “Babe” I said, waking him up, “How in the hell did I get into bed?” I questioned, causing him to laugh. “I carried you” he said with a shrug, “Madi woke up around midnight, so I changed and fed her, and carried everyone to bed.” “You could have woken me up babe. You didn’t have to do all of that by yourself.” I replied, laying down on his chest. “No, you needed to rest. We have a big day today, gonna get that damn cast off.” he said, knocking on the plaster. “I know, I’m gonna miss it. It’s been so good to me.” I laughed, “The guys were all talking about how excited they are that you’re getting it taken off, now they won’t be so afraid of you.” Brian said with a chuckle. “Oh, they should always be afraid, I’m lethal.” I said with a grin. “Come on baby, we have a huge breakfast with everyone, they want to sign your cast before you get it taken off.” He said, getting out of bed. We showered together and he helped me into my clothes and boots. “I can’t wait until I can actually pull on my shoes without assistance.” I said with a laugh. I blasted my hair with the hair dryer and ran the straightener over it, deciding to forgo makeup today. I walked into Madelyn’s room to pick out her outfit, when I saw that Brian had already dressed her and was buckling her into her car seat. “Jeeze, it’s like I’m not even needed anymore.” I joked “Of course you’re needed baby, I just wanted to help out.” he said, giving me a kiss. Cameron walked into the room saying “Brian! I’m ready!” and ready he was. He was dressed in jeans and a skateboard shirt, with his favorite pair of DC shoes on his feet. A fedora sat on top of his head. “Nice hat, Doodlebug.” I said, squatting down to try and tie his shoes. “Thanks mom. Brian bought it for me, he said we could be awesome and match together.” My son replied proudly. “Is that so?” I asked, pulling him closer so I could kiss his cheek. “Yup. He’s the greatest dad ever. I’m going to go grab my MobiGo so I don’t get bored.” he said, turning around and walking out of the room. “Geeze. He really loves you.” I said with a laugh. “You sound surprised.” Brian said, feigning hurt. “Oh good grief, let’s go whiner.” I joked, kissing his cheek.

We all met up at Gena and Zack’s house, where there was a huge array of food waiting. “Jesus Christ did you guys make every breakfast food known to man?” I asked in amazement. “Actually, it’s Johnny, but you can call me whatever you want.” Johnny said, walking through the door. “Oh shut up JC” I said, smacking him playfully. “Holy shit, I thought I was gonna get the cast there for a minute.” he said with a hand over his heart. “You guys are such wimps.” Lacey said with a laugh. After we all sat down to eat, Jimmy broke out a silver Sharpie marker. “Okay,” he started, “we’re all going to sign it, and then once Brook gets it removed we’re putting it in a shadow box and hanging it in Brian’s studio.” “What? Why are we doing that?” I asked. “Because B,” Matt started, “We want to document our lives from this year, what better way than to sign your cast, since you’re a huge part of our lives now? You’re our sister, and we love you.” “Aw, thanks Matt.” I said, wiping a fake tear from my eye. I sat on the couch in the living room, and Jimmy came to sign my cast first. “Okay, you can’t look until everyone is done.” he explained, opening the lid of the marker. One by one, everyone came and signed the cast, Brian even helped Cam sign it. “Okay, we’re done. You can look.” Brian said and kissed my cheek. I smiled as soon as I looked down. There was a huge deathbat on my cast, and everyone had signed their names around it. I turned it over and my smile grew even wider. The underside was covered in words, “I love yous,” and “The Knife Master!” was from Jimmy. I felt a tear roll down my face. “Why are you crying?!” Zack asked, wrapping an arm around my shoulder. “Guys, this is awesome. I’ve never had many friends, and now I have eight of the best friends on the planet. I love each and every one of you.” I said, wiping the tear off my face.” We love you too B, now go to the doctor and get that shit taken off so we can hang it!” Jimmy said excitedly. “We’ll bring the kids home later, go grab some lunch or something.” Val said, walking over and kissing my cheek. “I really, seriously love you guys. I don’t know what I’d do without any of you.” I said with a smile. “Come on baby girl, we’re gonna be late.” Brian said, grabbing my hand and pulling me toward the door.

Notes

I am SO SO SO sorry that it’s been so long! I have no excuses, I just got caught up in life and job hunting. Hopefully this chapter will make up for it! Thanks so much for reading and reviewing :]