1. Roman

"Tell me it was safe sex at least, Ro."

My sister groans as we clean up the kitchen after our family dinner.

"Of course it was! I'm not that irresponsible, Josie."

My sister, the oldest of the three of us, rolls her eyes towards her wife. "Says the man who also forgot to water my plants for two entire weeks because his eyes hurt."

"They did! Have you ever been on the water for twelve hours straight without sunglasses? And trying not to squint? It's hard."

"Cut him some slack." My sister-in-law, Violet, comes to my defence.

"Thank you, Vi. I always knew you were my favourite."

She shakes her head with a smile and leaves me and Josie alone again.

"Seriously, Roman. I worry about you. You shouldn't go off on these dates by yourself like that. People know your face."

She's right. Much like my best friend Sasha, I'm recognizable whether I like it or not. My name suits my looks, too. With my chiselled cheekbones and full lips, I do have a classic Roman look. I'm the prettiest of pretty boys and I know it.

And I also love it when men like to tell me the same.

Am I vain? Yes. But I don't aim to make it my entire personality. It's just one of those things I use to my advantage occasionally.

"It's fine, Jo. Really. Please stop worrying. And I wouldn't really refer to them as dates. They don't last long enough to know each other with clothes on."

With a huff, she turns to me and the same ocean blue eyes I see in the mirror every day look back.

"I'll never stop worrying, Ro. It's who I am. You know this."

Softening, I reach for my sister, who, at fifteen, became my mother overnight when our parents didn't come home. She shouldered every stress and worry for me. I was only seven, and I often slept with her for comfort until she gently explained it wasn't good for me to keep doing that. She loved her little brother, but not when he wrapped himself around her like an octopus every night.

She ate ice cream with me when I suffered my first broken heart and she bought me my very first lipstick after discovering I liked to wear hers. She's the best big sister a person could ever have. Well, one anyway. I have two big sisters, but Josie and I have a special bond.

I know she always walks this tight line of fear that it could happen to me, too. That I might not come home one night and she usually does a better job of hiding it.

"I'm sorry, sis. I promise I'll be better." Kissing her temple, I wrap her in my arms, squeezing her tight. "I can only do so much about the bears, though. They're wild and don't speak English."

"Roman! Would you stop!"

She wipes at her eyes with a smile. "I'm not worried about you being mauled by a bear."

"Well, not that kind anyway. Sasha tells me it's a veritable buffet of lumber-snacks at the lodge. I'd let that kind of bear do whatever he wants to me."

"Your mouth is going to get you in trouble, I swear."

"They like my mouth! No trouble at all."

"Okay, gross. I don't need to know that."

"Yet you questioned if I was having safe sex. Honestly, Jo, be consistent. Do you want details or not? Because the guy I met last night was—"

"Roman! Can you be serious for once?" She grabs me by the hand and pulls me out of the kitchen where our sister, Camryn, the middle child, sits with Violet. Camyrn is the quiet one of us three, but she's smart as a whip, and I know if I ever got into a fight with the meanest animal alive, Cam would be there risking her life for me. Even if it was my smart-ass mouth that put me in the position.

My sisters are fierce. They don't let me get away with much, but they love me and I know they'll have my back. Even if I do something stupid.

Camryn moves off the spot next to Violet so Josie can sit with her wife while Cam and I squish into the oversized chair, just like we did when we were kids. Jo and Vi live here in our family home and sometimes it's strange when we all gather here. I remember so many moments in this house, all of them happy, even after mom and dad died. We gather no less than once a month for a family Sunday. We have for as long as I can remember, and it's one of my favourite days.

Before Jo met Violet, it was just the three of us. We didn't allow any significant others until Josie admitted she really wanted Violet to be a part of our family. And for the last few years, it's been the four of us. Violet married us all, God bless her. And I love her like my biological sisters.

"Violet and I have something we want to tell you two. We haven't talked about it much because we didn't want to jinx it. With Roman moving away, we wanted to tell you in person before you go." Josie smiles at her wife and my chest tightens. There's no greater love I've seen between a couple than my sister and her wife.

"We're going to have a baby!" Josie bursts out and immediately starts crying. "They're happy tears and hormones. I'm sorry." She sniffles and both Camryn and I bounce out of the chair to our older sister.

Cam hugs her long and hard with quiet whispers, but she's smiling bigger than I've ever seen.

"Well? How does it feel to know you're going to be an uncle?"

I'm going to be an uncle. Oh, my god.

"Uncle Ro," I whisper. "Holy shit."

I hug my sister tight and feel the familiar prick of tears in my eyes. No. I'm not fucking crying over a baby. No.

"Roman…tears are okay."

Releasing her, I hug Violet too, and all four of us have tear-stained cheeks by the time the hugging is done.

"I'm coming back as often as you need me. I'm not that useful at the whole babysitting thing, but I could learn. And I don't want to miss a minute of this kid's life. You hear me?"

My sister just smiles that loopy, happy smile because she knows me the best. She knows I love my family and adore the stability, but a free spirit like me can't stay. I mean every word. If my sister needs me, I'll drop everything, just like she did for me and Camryn.

"I'm not even three months yet, but I wanted to tell you before you left and have Cam here. We all have lives, but another one is coming. Our family is growing and Violet and I would like to know if you two are okay with us renovating the bedrooms. We'll still have a place for you both when you visit, but we want the baby to have their own room."

"This is your home first," Camryn says, and I nod in agreement. "Make it the baby's home, too. We'll work it out, won't we, Ro?"

"Of course. I'm not changing diapers though. That's above my pay grade."

"We were hoping you could do something else for us, Roman." Violet takes Josie's hand. "Would you make a going home outfit for the baby? Something special they'd wear home from the hospital for their first car ride and arriving home?"

My family has never stopped being my cheerleader. I designed dresses for my sisters as soon as I discovered I liked to sew. They were there when I graduated with my bachelor's degree in design, and now they tug at my heart with this kind of request.

"If you were trying to see how much you could make me cry today, mission fucking accomplished. I'd love to."

The rest of my last family Sunday afternoon get-together before I move continues with the four of us, remembering things from our childhood that we want the baby to experience. Violet gazes at my sister like she hung the moon and I know this baby will have the best damn family it could ever ask for.

Leaving them is more difficult than I expected, but they're all a short plane ride away. I won't be completely alone either. My best friend Sasha is the whole reason for this move. I love him like a brother and our bond rivals that of my sisters. If you're in my circle, I love hard. There's no other way I know. But the circle is small because, like my best friend, it's hard for me to trust.

When your entire world crumbles at the tender age of seven, you experience life with a different outlook than other kids.

But I still need to live the life I've carved for myself. I have an empire to build that my family supports. And it's waiting for me in the small town of Maple.

"It's a good thing I love you, Sasha."

The old pickup truck lurches along the dirt road and Sasha grins at me. He's so damn tiny behind the wheel he looks like a child playing at being an adult. Gone is the put-together friend I've known for half my life. No more fashionable clothes and perfect hair.

Nope, these days Sasha wears old clothes and ball caps and a smile you could see from space. The change from city fashion to country life with his lumberjack boyfriend, Leaf, has been good for Sasha. His spark is back, and he's moving forward in a new direction.

And here I am right beside him, just like I promised. I miss my sisters, but I can't work without Sasha. He's my friend and soulmate, and I'd follow him anywhere. He's also an amazing photographer.

He's the yin to my yang or some kind of shit like that. I just wish we had a more… refined mode of transportation. He advised me to leave my Mercedes roadster with my sisters. Now I understand why.

"Oh, you always talk such a big game, Ro. You're gonna love it here."

"I don't know, Sasha. There's still a lot of snow. And mud. Where's all the pretty stuff you kept texting me pics of?"

"Sitting right beside you." He snort laughs.

"That's my line!" I laugh along with him. "Seriously though, what the hell? You said this maple syrup thing is a festival. They do that in the mud?"

He's not that much further north of where I'm coming from. How is it possible for it to still be so… icky? The spring flowers are already starting back home.

"Well, sort of? I mean, the sugar shack is in the woods, and it gets muddy in the spring sometimes with the snowmelt and if it rains. But as long as you don't go there without your boots, you're fine."

"You're not exactly selling this to me, Sasha."

He laughs at me again and wrangles the big truck off the highway to a smaller dirt road.

"You'll be fine. You're free to move back or even into town if you don't like it out here. There's not much for entertainment that you'd like and it's a huge change and—"

"Sasha. I'll deal with it. You said the town has amazing coffee and a bar with lumberjacks. I'll find something to pass the time. Or someone. I'll make it work."

"I mean…I know you were concerned when I first came here for a month and you like to be social. I just don't want you unhappy."

And that's why Sasha is my best friend. He'd sacrifice his own happiness for me and, unlike myself, he often puts himself last.

"I'll be too busy working to go out. Since you left, all I've been doing is sketch after sketch. I'll need to make some samples and photographs and start planning how best to fulfill orders." Looking out the truck window, a man dressed in plaid on a bicycle waves at us. Sasha waves back. "It'll be fine, Sash."

When I came up with the crazy idea to branch out on my own and start a business designing bespoke lingerie for men, I didn't anticipate how quickly my designs would take off. What began as hand-making six to twelve orders a month in the corner of my bedroom quickly morphed to over a hundred a month and I called on friends to help.

Now I've paused them all to concentrate on the new line I've been playing with and revamp the online purchasing and catalogue. With Sasha's help, we're almost ready to get the company rolling again.

"Well, it can't be all work and no play, Ro."

"Oh, I'll play. Don't you worry about that. It just might not be as often."

I've already searched the area and there's a decent gay bar in the city ninety minutes away. Not to mention a handful of potential partners on the hookup apps nearby. Oh, and I can"t forget the bar he told me about that's overflowing with beards and brawn. I have faith that I'll find a balance between work and… fun… easily enough.

"But I'll need to get another vehicle. Thanks for the heads up on leaving the car behind."

"Oh, about that. I know I said I'd take you to the dealership, but Leaf suggested he go with you. Would you mind? Leaf said he doesn't want you to be taken advantage of."

"Nobody takes advantage of me, Sasha. Do you even know me?"

His eyebrows scrunch together as he huffs.

"You know what I mean. You know nothing about cars except what kind you look good in." He raises an eyebrow when I protest. "Leaf can help you choose something more functional."

"I'm sure it will be fine. If you want me to go with Leaf, I will."

Sasha chatters away about his life at the lodge as we drive through the patchy snow-covered area. It's hard for me to visualize the beauty of the place with all the melting and general filth of spring, but Sasha seems to love it.

"Your delivery was supposed to show up today, too. So really, you just have to get unpacked and settled. Leaf expanded the suite to accommodate you and before you object, it was in his plans. He just never got to it. He wants to make it a two-bedroom rental."

"Your man sure is sweet, isn't he? You're sure I'm not imposing? I know we have a rental agreement, but if I'm in the way—"

"Absolutely not. Don't even think that."

He steers the mammoth truck onto another side road that's dirt and gravel and it's rather muddy the farther we go up. My friend pauses and pushes a button on the dash that says 4x4 high. He glances my way and laughs when I question him.

"It's so we don't get stuck. There was a washout earlier this spring and they haven't repaired the soft spot yet. It's usually fine, but I never want to take any chances with it."

"Listen to you. Did you ever think this would be you? Driving a giant truck in the bush, using a four-by-four and just… loving everything about it?"

Sasha steers the truck as the low growl of the engine fills the cab along with his contented sigh.

"Fuck, Ro…I've never been happier. Now that you're here, I hope you like it as much as I do. But don't be afraid to tell me if you don't!" He rushes on, "Because we'll make it work for both of us, okay? You try it like this and if it's a no-go, then we find something else."

"I'll be fine, Sasha. Don't worry."

He pulls up in front of the rustic lodge he sent me pictures of before and while it's still early spring, it's not as pretty and definitely more dirty. But I gingerly step out of his truck and avoid all the puddles to join him on the quaint wooden porch.

"Is there someone to get my bags? Like a porter or something? I don't want to keep walking through the mud."

Sasha snorts and loops his arm through mine.

"First, you're coming to the kitchen to meet Millie. I'll ask someone to help. There're no porters, Ro. It's a wilderness lodge, not the Ritz."

"Right." I'm not good at rustic… at all. "I'm still adjusting."

Perhaps it might be harder than I thought for this transition, but when my best friend is sunshine and happy to see me, pulling me into a kitchen that smells like maple heaven, I'm going to go along with it.