that I could do it anymore.
Eventually, we decided that the best course of action was to leave Matthew with the bear council. While we had done some things wrong as well, it seemed like his crimes were greater. So we filed an official report and then booked a plane to go see Nick.
I didn’t personally blame Nick for harboring Jenny. I was certain that she had begged him and Anna had convinced him that he just needed to keep it on the down-low for a little bit longer.
It had been a while since the three of us were together on a plane. Normally, when there was a business trip, we at least leave someone in the office.
“What if she just chooses one of us?” Johnathan asked as we waited for our plane. “Are we going to be all right with that?”
I couldn’t answer that. My heart was still torn on the issue, and I didn’t speak. Frances spoke up.
“I didn't know if I could take it,” he said. “If she was with one of you and not me.”
I raised an eyebrow.
“Weren't you the one who didn’t want to be with her to begin with?” I asked.
“I think Johnathan was the one,” he said. “I was neutral on the issue.”
“Well, it appears you are not neutral on the issue now,” I said. “Will you really not be OK with it? I think we are going to all have a problem if she chooses one over the other, and I do not think it’s going to be easy...but we cannot let her be the end of us.”
“What if she chooses none of us?” Johnathan asked.
“I am more frightened of that,” I said. “I think I could maybe handle it if she was with one of you...but I do not think I could handle it if she just left our lives.”
“You do not think that she would choose Matthew, do you?” Frances asked. I sucked in a breath.
“I don’t think so,” I said. “I mean...he’s sort of hard to get to right now.”
“Yes…” Johnathan said. “But there is a possibility that she could be terrorized by us and just choose otherwise.”
“I don’t know,” I replied. “I don’t want to think that way...but I suppose it could happen.”
“No,” Frances said. “I don’t think so. Things couldn't have been that good, just to have them...suck all of a sudden.”
“You think it was real?” I asked. “The things we felt for her?”
“What are you saying?” Johnathan asked me in confusion. “You think that she was just faking everything? Why would she do that?”
“Maybe because she didn’t want to be victimized?” I asked. “Or maybe she figured out the truth a long time again and decided that she didn’t want any more drama?”
“I don’t know what to believe anymore, now that you are saying those things,” Johnathan said with a sigh. “This sucks.”
“This does suck,” I said. “But boys...we are the ones who created this situation.”
“Do you think that she would have come with us, regardless?” Frances asked. I sighed.
“I don't know,” I said. “If I had it to do again, I think I might have done it a little differently.”
“Me too,” the other two said, and I smiled.
“Well, we can’t change the past,” I said as they called our plane to board. It had been such short notice that finding a private plane hadn’t really been a thing. So, I had bought us three first-class tickets and just crossed our fingers that everything was going to be all right.
We boarded in the plane in relative silence. I didn’t know whether that was the right thing to say.
“Arianna just gave birth,” Johnathan said as he looked at his phone before he turned it off. I stopped as I was about to sit down.
“So soon?” I asked. “Is she all right?”
Arrianna was our brother Justin’s wife. They had met in a strange way, but like the others, they were completely happy these days. I knew she had been expecting her second child, but I thought it wasn't for another month or two.
“I mean, Justin sent a happy announcement, so I’m going to go with yes,” Johnathan said as he sat beside me.
“Is it a boy or a girl?” I asked.
“A girl,” he said, and I smiled.
“Well, that’s nice for Justin,” I said. “He must be pretty happy.”
“Do you think we’ll ever have heirs?” Frances asked. “Or is this our one chance to sort everything out?”
“I don't know,” I answered honestly. “But I do know that I want them.”
“So