Epilogue Bjorn

Two years later

“Hey everyone. I’m Easton McCormick, and we’re Pride of Place. On behalf of the bride and groom, we’d like to thank you all for being here. We hope you’re enjoying our music and this beautiful evening. At the request of the bride’s brothers, we’re gonna make a small change to the set list and slow things down for a bit.”

Astrid pins me with a look. “Bjorn, what did you three do?”

Easton’s voice interrupts whatever she was going to say after that. “If everyone could clear the dance floor for just a few minutes, we’d appreciate it.”

With her hands on her hips, Astrid glares at me. “Tell me you’re not doing any kind of choreographed dance number with Erik and Gunnar.”

I burst out laughing and shake my head because the image is too ridiculous. No one needs to see the three lumbering giants attempt anything like that. “Hell no.” She tilts her chin down and glares harder, so I hold up my hands in surrender. “I swear! It’s not anything bad. Promise.”

“Pinky swear?” She holds up her pinky, and just like that, my baby sister is seven again, making me promise she can hang out with me and my friends after school.

Blinking away the sting in my eyes, I wrap my pinky around hers and squeeze. “Pinky swear.”

The strum on the guitar pulls everyone’s attention back to the band. “This one’s for you, Bean.”

Astrid glares at me again, but I grin while I can and wait for the music to start. When the first few chords of Lee Ann Womack’s I Hope You Dance start to play, her glare disappears and her eyes go all soft. “Bjorn.”

I hold out my hand to her. “May I have this dance?”

My baby sister, the most put together human I know, the one who never loses her cool and truly is the glue that keeps our family together, gets teary-eyed, and I second- and third-guess this plan. If she cries, I’m going to cry, and then everyone will be crying. She punches me in the shoulder. “You’re such a fucking jerk. I can’t believe you did this.” Her grin, and her hand in mine, belay her words.

“This is not news.” We walk out to the middle of the dance floor, and I pull her into my arms, slowly swaying to one of our parents’ favorite songs. “You look beautiful, Bean.”

She sniffs and clears her throat. “Thank you. And I’m so glad I wore waterproof mascara. I can’t believe you’re making me cry on my wedding day.”

I pull back a bit and look at her. “Are you angry?”

“No, you big jerk. It’s so damned sweet that I’m going to need a dentist.”

She laughs, and I relax. “Okay, good. Gary said you wouldn’t mind.”

“He knew about this? That jerk!” She scans the crowd for her husband, and when she finds him, she wags her finger at him. He laughs and blows her a kiss, which she catches and presses to her cheek. They’re so damned cute. And absolutely perfect for each other.

“I’m really proud of you, Astrid. You’re doing it. You’re living the dream. Great job, great guy. He’s lucky to have you.”

She pushes my shoulder. “Like I don’t already know all that.” Her smug grin morphs back into a soft smile. “You finally have all that, too.”

It’s true, I absolutely do. I went from almost dying to having two wonderful partners and a job I adore. “Who’d have thought it, huh?”

“Seriously, though, I’m just as happy for you. All of you. We’ve been through so much. We all deserve our happiness.”

I pull her a little closer and rest my cheek against her temple. “There were a few times I really didn’t think we all would make it.”

“I know. But we did.”

I kiss her hair. “We certainly did.”

She sniffs loudly and gives me a little squeeze. “Subject change before I cry. Do you still love the new job?”

“I do. Being a cop was great, but it wasn’t like I woke up every day eager to get to the precinct. There was so much crap, both human and bureaucratic, to deal with. But now I wake up and can’t wait to get to work.” I laugh. “It’s an odd feeling, but I love it.”

She gives me another squeeze. “I’m sure working with dogs helps. You’re a sucker for a good puppy dog look.” We both chuckle, because yeah, it’s true. “I still can’t believe that, with all the work you did with Pita, none of us thought about service dog training as a career for you.”

“Probably because I was too busy being a cop. It’s not like I hated the job. It was exciting, and I felt like I was doing some good. It wasn’t all negative, and I wasn’t looking to change careers, so I never considered it.” Now that I’m doing something that directly impacts individual people’s lives—lives I can see improving before my eyes—I can’t imagine doing anything else. I glance at my brother Erik, his husband Jules, and the newest addition to their family.

Astrid follows my gaze. “Frode has been so good for Jules.”

Frode is Jules’ service dog, a beautiful black and white border collie with the brightest blue eyes and the sweetest temperament. He’s wickedly smart, too. “He has. And so far, no episodes for Jules since they graduated from the program.” Just after Xander moved in with me, Jules had a massive episode while his sibling, Stef, was out of town and Erik was guiding a hiking tour. Jules managed to call me, and we resolved the situation, but it scared the shit out of all of us. After he recovered, Erik convinced him to apply for a service dog. I guess they’d been talking about it for a while. It took a little over sixteen months to be approved, and then another few months of training for him and Frode to work efficiently together. I’m incredibly grateful I got to be a part of that training. “Good thing I was still between jobs when they were matched.”

Retiring from the force meant I was free to go with Jules to his service dog training sessions as a human buffer. He knew and trusted me, so my being there eased his anxiety until he was comfortable with the staff. Watching the whole process, from introductions to graduation, was fascinating and incredibly moving. I asked a million questions about the training process as well as how to become a trainer, and I knew pretty early in the process that I’d found what I wanted to do with the rest of my life. My certification training started soon after, and now I get to help dogs and people form life-changing partnerships. I wouldn’t trade my job for the world.

There’s a tap on my shoulder, and I turn to see Erik smiling at us. “Mind if I cut in?”

The music changes to Lean on Me, by Bill Withers, and I kiss Astrid’s cheek. “Love you, Bean.”

She smiles as Erik takes her hand. “Love you too, Bear.” Unfortunately, once my siblings heard Kaino call me that, they latched onto the nickname, and now they all use it. Astrid and Erik whirl away, and I look for the white-blond hair of the person in question, knowing I’ll most likely find both loves of my life together.

As expected, they’re side by side, in conversation with Quinn and Tadhg MacDougall, so I wander in that direction. ‘...not surprised. She and Gary are relationship goals.’

Tadhg side-eyes his husband. ‘I think we’ve done pretty well.’

Quinn grins and shrugs. ‘You have to admit, we had a rocky start. As far as I know, those two never even had an argument.’

I wave to get their attention, and everyone signs hello. ‘Trust me, they argue. It’s just lightning fast and usually over characters in Gary’s books.’ That earns a group laugh.

Xander slips an arm around my waist and kisses my cheek. ‘You made it through the whole song and didn’t cry. I told you not to worry.’

I lean into him, appreciating his support, both emotionally and physically. ‘It was close, especially when the song started. But Astrid and I stayed strong.’ I grin to lighten the mood. ‘And now it’s Erik’s turn.’

We glance over to see both Erik and Astrid, glassy-eyed but laughing. Yeah, that’s kind of the vibe we were going for with this, so I suppose we achieved our goal. Kaino leans in and kisses my other cheek, placing their hand over the munter knots I had tattooed onto my forearm. They give a light squeeze. The tattoo is there to remind me to stay focused and present, and Kaino’s light touch reinforces that message when I can’t see the image through my clothing. I lace our fingers together and squeeze. “I’m okay. Love you for thinking of me, though.”

“I just wanted to make sure you knew.”

Gunnar strolls over, hand in hand with Jocelin. They’ll be the next to get married, leaving me the only remaining unmarried Osouf sibling. Not that I’ll be changing that anytime soon. Marriage to more than one person is still not legal in most countries. But I am happily secure in my committed polyamorous relationship, with no plans to change that. At least until polygamy becomes legal. ‘How’s everyone doing?’

There are several responses of ‘fine’ and ’good’ before we all turn to look at Astrid and Erik again. I nod to the dance floor. ‘You’re up next.’

Gunnar grins. ‘Wait until you figure out the song I picked. There won’t be a dry eye here.’

‘Fantastic.’ I roll my eyes.

‘Hey! What’s a wedding without tears?’ He looks all too pleased with himself and practically beams as the final chorus of Lean on Me plays. ‘I’m up. Pull out your tissues if you have ’em.’ He kisses his fiancé and hands his beer to me. ‘You look like you need one.’ Then he saunters off to dance with his twin.

We all wait expectantly, and I wince as the guitarist strums the first chords of Dave Matthews’s Sister . Gunnar might be right. It’ll be a miracle if I make it through this song without openly weeping. The fucker. Quinn tells Tadhg what song is playing and why I’m frowning as Erik and Jules tuck themselves into our growing cluster. Tadhg asks Kaino to interpret the song, and I watch, rapt, as the lyrics are conveyed in flowing ASL. In that moment, I couldn’t love them more.

It’s not lost on me that the people I’ve chosen to spend my life with also have a strong commitment to bettering our world, to improving people’s lives. Kaino gives the gift of language and communication, Xander gives the gift of knowledge and the power of words, and I do my best to give people mental and physical security through canine companionship. On the surface, we’re so different that people who don’t know us wonder how we stay together. Well, after they wonder about all the other ridiculous things people imagine about polyamory. For those who have the balls to ask, my answer is quick and easy. We stay together because we love each other. Because underneath, we’re fundamentally the same. Yeah, we have unique and wildly different ways of living our lives, but we support and bring out the best in each other. We complete each other.

Always.