The Truth Between The Lies       

By Rachel

Copyright 2012

Epilogue

Aspen

I couldn’t believe I was getting married tomorrow. I was excited and nervous at the same time, but I tried not to let it show. Jade was on cloud nine, as she and Nick were also getting married.  We decided on a double wedding since we had grown so close.

Tonight the guys decided to babysit for us, so the Grey sisters could have an evening together. It had been almost a year since we saw each other. We still had a few things we needed to talk about after all this time.

“Lilly, I have to say little Adam John is adorable. He’s looks so much like his daddy.” I was happy for Lilly. She and Brian were the parents of a three month old.

“Thanks!” She beamed. Lilly always wanted to be a mother, and now she was living her dream.

“He’s the first male in the Grey family. That makes him pretty special.” Jade commented.

Jade was somewhat hesitant when it came to Lilly. She never did regain full trust of Lilly after what happened at the engagement party. It wasn’t as bad when Nick was out of the picture.

After rehab, Lilly and Brian had moved to Kentucky. Brian mentioned that he wanted to be closer to his family. I think he wanted Lilly to be as far away from Nick as possible. Why tempt fate?

I finished placing the cupcakes on the coffee table and sat down. Each of my sisters grabbed their favorite cupcake and began eating. I picked up a red velvet one and slowly started nibbling.

“Is everything okay, Red?” Jade put her cupcake down.

“Yeah. Sort of. I guess.” I really wasn’t sure how I was feeling at the moment. Maybe a little overwhelmed.

“You want to talk about it?” Lilly moved closer to me.

“I’m selling the cupcake shop, AJ and I are trying to have a baby, Reese starts preschool.” I said in one breath.

“Why are you selling the cupcake shop?”

“When did you start trying to have a baby?”

My sisters were throwing out questions left and right.  I guess I had to answer them. I turned toward Lilly first. “I want to be a stay at home mom. I love the shop, but I only opened it to provide for me and Reese.” Then, I looked at Jade. “Umm…about two months, but we’ve had no luck. I think it’s because I’m stressed. Reese is getting so big. She asks every day when she’s getting a brother or sister. AJ is ready to buy her a cat, so she stops asking.”

“It will happen. Just think how relaxed the two of you will be on your honeymoon. You’re going to be able to have sex all day long for two weeks.” Lilly teased.

“So, how much sex are you having with an infant in the house?” Jade questioned with a smile.

“You’d be surprised. Brian is great at finding all these little moments in the day to fuck.” She started to laugh. “We even did it once when his parents were visiting.”

“Mr. Goody Two Shoes?” Jade shook her head. She didn’t dare make a comment about her sex life with Nick. It made things easier between her and Lilly if she kept quiet about Nick.

“He’s really a bad boy. I’m sure your sex life is wonderful.”

“I have no complaints. So, where did Nick decide to take me on our honeymoon?” Jade changed the subject quickly.

“I’ll tell you, if you tell me. I was kind of worried when AJ came down with the smallest suitcase this afternoon.” I relaxed on the couch. I was enjoying the time with my sisters. I didn’t know if we would ever have this chance again.

I wanted things to work out with my sisters. We had been close as kids and teenagers. Things were difficult now. We all had our own lives to live. I guess marrying Backstreet Boys would help us remain close. I was going to stay optimistic.

“Why the hell would you let AJ pack for you?” Lilly fell to the floor laughing. AJ and I were polar opposites on pretty much everything. Somehow we managed to make things work.

“Because he planned the honeymoon and won’t tell me a damn thing.” I threw a pillow at her.

“Well, he’s taking you to Fregate Island.”

“Where the fuck is that?” Why would AJ take me to some place I never heard of?

“It’s a private island in the republic of Seychelles. It’s an island area around Africa.”  Jade explained, sounding like a travel agent.

I don’t know whether to be shocked or pissed. I grabbed another cupcake and started stuffing it in my mouth.  Both of my sisters stared at me. I pretended to ignore them. This was not something I wanted to talk about.

“So Twig. You are going to love what Nick has planned for you.” I gave her a huge smile, as I tried to forget about being pissed at my hubby to be. “You are spending two weeks in a private cabin in the Pocono Mountains. I think it’s going to be romantic.”

Jade had tears in her eyes as she gave me the biggest smile. “Damn, I love him so much. I can’t believe he remembered.”

“Tell us.” Lilly demanded. It was nice to see her and Jade getting along.

“Well, that one summer after college, I worked at that summer camp in Pennsylvania. Nick visited me on one of my long weekends off.  He rented a cabin and we spent the whole time making love.” She sighed dreamily.

“That's so romantic. Kind of makes me wish I was marrying Nick instead of the bastard I’m getting hitched to.”

“Hands off my man.” Jade retorted. “Why is AJ such a bastard?”

“He loves you so much, Red.” Lilly moved on the couch next to me.

“I know he does. Why does he feel the need to impress me with such over-the-top shit?” I knew I was angry because all I wanted to do was cuss.

“He just wants to give you everything you’ve never had.” Lilly explained. I wasn’t buying it.

Jade scooted over to sit next to me on the couch. “I just think that is AJ’s way. He wants to make you happy and goes about it in a big way. You better get used to it. I don’t think he’s going to change.”

“Then maybe he doesn’t know me like I thought he did.” I pouted. “I would have been happy going to the local Holiday Inn with him.”

Jade patted my leg. “Give it a chance. I’m sure you will love it. He just wants to make you happy. I think you’ll end up loving it.

“I guess.” I turned the conversation to Lilly. “So you never told us about your honeymoon.”

“It was lovely, especially the nudist beach in Crete.” She giggled.

“You got Saint Brian Thomas Littrell on a nudist beach! Did he take all his clothes off and run around in the buff?” Jade started howling with laughter. I pictured Brian running down the beach naked and started giggling.

“Hell yes. We ended up staying there for three days instead of heading to Greece.” Lilly blushed. I think that was the first time I ever saw her blush.

“I don’t believe you. I want to see pictures.” I took a drink of my water.

“You will never see my hubby naked.”

All three of us cracked up. It was nice hanging out with my sisters. This is what I had wanted the last few years. Would it last, I wasn’t sure. Lilly was so far away from us. I knew it was probably for the best as least for now.

My sisters were the only family I had. I stopped talking to my mom and dad when I left for college. I didn’t even know if they were still alive. Jade hadn’t talked to them in years. I wasn’t sure about Lilly since she never mentioned our parents. Would they have been proud of us?  There was no sense in dwelling on it because I’d never know.

Lilly and Jade were two of the most important people in my life. Without them I wouldn’t be who I was today. Lilly Blue was the mother I never had. She made sure I was clean, fed, and knew right from wrong. It was a lot for her to take on at such a young age. Jade was my best friend. We shared our dolls and secrets since we were little. Deep down I knew I could count on both of them for whatever happened in my life.

Sure, we had our share of fights and disagreements. What sisters didn’t? When it came down to everything; it didn’t matter that we had kept secrets from each other all these years. Sometimes secrets were needed to make sure we were taken care of. I don’t think we kept them to hurt one another. Down the road, I believe we will still hide things from one another, but we all have a wonderful man to share our secrets with. As long as my sisters were happy, I would be happy, too.

“So does anyone have any secrets they want to share?” Jade asked as she took a sip of her wine.

“I’m good.” I smiled.

“I think I’m all out of secrets.” Lilly shrugged with a smile.

“You two are no fun.” She stuck her tongue out at us.

We spent the rest of the night talking and eating. I will remember this night with my sisters for the rest of my life. For once we were all truly happy.