Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous

I was practically bouncing in place as I scanned the faces of those who had just arrived on the five-fifteen from Birmingham, Alabama. Excitement was humming in my veins and I couldn't stand still. I was eager to see the Lynam guys and a little nervous about the Big Announcement.

It had been two weeks since Brian proposed. I'd talked to Jacob, David, and Cody several times, but I hadn't yet told them because I wanted to do it in person. It had been hard to keep the news to myself. There had been many near misses. Somehow, though, I'd made it through the phone conversations without slipping up and now, I was finally getting to share the news.

Suddenly, Jacob stepped into view. He was immediately recognizable--there weren't any other guys in the airport that were 6'5" with pale skin and 80s hair. People were glancing at him curiously. I knew they were wondering if they should know who he was. I smiled to myself. He definitely had the image.

He shifted slightly and I could see David behind him, his hair sticking up untidily and dyed an interesting mix of pink and purple. Cody was further back in line, chatting with some young, pretty blond.

"Jesus," I muttered, rolling my eyes. The man had no "off" button.

Jacob made it through the security check. I wasn't surprised that his carry-on had been a guitar. He looked up as he moved away from the line and his eyes found mine. A smile brightened his features. I could no longer contain myself. Letting out a squeal of excitement and happiness, I darted forward. He caught me in his arms and lifted me.

"Hi!" I said.

"Hey." He set me down and studied my face intently for a second. "How are you?"

"I'm great!" I replied.

"What's up, slut?" David greeted, approaching us and pulling me into a hug.

"Uh, I'm not the slut," I said. "That would be your bassist." I pointed to the place where Cody was still talking to the blond. He was leaning very close to her and she was giggling and blushing faintly.

"Ugh." David made a face. "HEY! LET'S GO, PIMP DADDY!" he shouted, waving for Cody's attention. "OUR TAXI IS LEAVING STAT!"

Jacob and I laughed. Cody flipped David off.

"C'mon," David said, ushering Jacob and me towards the luggage carousel. "We can get our shit and go out to the car. He'll think we left him."

"That's mean, Dave," Jacob commented conversationally.

"It's not mean. It's hilarious!"

"You have a twisted sense of humor," I said. "My dad did this to me once at a grocery store. It wasn't even remotely humorous."

"Because you were a kid." David looked at me exasperatedly. "It's not funny when someone fucks with a kid that way."

"What about someone with the maturity level of a kid?" Jacob asked slyly.

David glared at him. "Ha ha, Bluegrass."

Jacob widened his eyes innocently. "Who says I meant you? Though, if the shoe fits..."

"Fuck you, man!" David shoved Jacob playfully. "We can't all be as old as you. Oops! I meant mature."

"Dave, you are ascending that hill right behind him," I pointed out.

"Watch it," David said threateningly. "I will hurt you."

Upon reaching the carousel, we got lucky. David's and Jacob's bags appeared almost immediately. They grabbed their luggage and the three of us headed for the exit.

We were halfway across the parking lot when we heard Cody calling after us. "VERY FUNNY, GUYS!"

Laughing, and reminding me forcefully of Jimmy, David seized my arm and broke into a run. "We can still leave him if we hurry!"

I popped the trunk of my new car. Jacob and David stowed their bags in the considerable space. Cody caught up to us and stashed his bags in as well.

"Fuck you, Dave," he said a bit breathlessly.

"What?" David said blankly.

"I know it was your idea to 'leave' me," Cody said.

"And you two can sit in the back and work out your problems on the ride home," I interjected. "So get in the car."

Jacob chuckled, climbing into the front. Grumbling, Cody and David plopped down in the backseat. I slid in behind the wheel and put on my sunglasses before starting the car.

"Music, please!?" David said, kicking the back of my seat.

I shot Jacob an exasperated look and switched on my CD player. Avenged Sevenfold's "Sidewinder" blasted from the speakers.

"Motley Crüe!" David yelled, kicking my seat again.

"Can't you do something about him?" I said to Jacob, ejecting the Avenged CD and handing it to him.

Jacob flipped down my visor and located Motley Crüe's greatest hits collection. "No one can do anything about him. He's an unstoppable force, like a hurricane or a tidal wave."

I slipped the Crüe CD into the player. As David and Cody sang along at the top of their lungs, I glanced at Jacob and shook my head. But I was smiling. Wow, how I'd missed these guys.

*****

We were on the deck, sitting around a table in the shade of an umbrella. Jacob and Cody were drinking water; David and I were each nursing a beer. Pixie was purring contentedly in David's lap, having pegged him as an animal lover. I knew Pinkly was with Brian at Zacky's. Brian had decided he shouldn't be around when I gave the news to the Lynam guys. He didn't think the overall negative opinion of him would do anything for the atmosphere, so he was going to come home after they'd had time to digest the news and I'd had time to justify my decision to marry him. Brian didn't really think it was any of the Lynam guys' business what I did, but he knew they were important to me.

I wasn't worried about Cody's or David's reaction to the news. Only Jacob had me apprehensive. I definitely felt it was better that Brian wasn't here. I wasn't sure Jacob would have been able to get past his anger at Brian long enough for me to share the news and explain if the two of them had been in the same room.

Now or never, I thought. I took a deep breath. "I have something to tell y'all."

"What's that?" Jacob asked.

"Brian and I are engaged. Again."

The three of them stared at me, shocked.

"He was scared before, but he's not now. He let the world know he was taken and...well, y'all don't understand why that's such a big deal, but it is. It proved everything I needed to know--that the others were a mistake inspired by cold feet and that he's ready now to spend the rest of our lives together."

As usual, David accepted it with a calm bordering on indifference. "Congratulations."

"Just promise me one thing," Cody said.

I looked at him inquiringly.

"That if he ever cheats on you again, it's over for good."

"I promise," I said solemnly.

Cody nodded. "Then congratulations."

There was a silence. David glanced at Jacob before addressing Cody. "C'mon, man. We need to, uh..."

Cody drained his glass of water and jumped to his feet. "Refills."

"Yeah," David said, standing up. "That."

The two of them vanished inside. Nervous, I turned to Jacob. He wasn't looking at me, focused instead on his glass.

"Are you afraid I'm going to try to talk you out of it?" he queried, obviously sensing my trepidation. "I haven't managed to talk you out of anything else. Why would I even attempt it this time?"

"You think it's a mistake." I stated this matter-of-factly. I had known he would.

"I think that I care about you and want to protect you and that the only way to be absolutely certain Brian won't hurt you again is for you to let him go." Jacob raised his eyes to my face. "But I also think that you're in love with him and you know him better than anyone. If you believe he's ready, that means that he believes it as well. Whether it's true or not...no one can know that. Neither you nor he will know until he fucks up again, or doesn't. I personally hope it's the second one, that y'all live happily ever after."

I smiled and got up, climbing onto Jacob's lap. He wrapped his arms around me.

"I want you there," I said. "All of you. Liz and Lauren and David and Cody and Cam and Jason and Zach..."

"We'll see what we can do."

"But you'll be there, right? No matter what?"

Jacob kissed me on top of the head. "Of course, darlin'. I wouldn't miss it."

Brian showed up an hour later with Jimmy, Matt, and Dawn in tow. Jimmy greeted David as if David was his long lost brother. Cody and I exchanged a glance as Jacob approached Brian. Everybody was quiet and watchful.

"If she ever sheds brokenhearted tears over you again, I will cause you pain," Jacob said to Brian.

Brian nodded. He was taking Jacob very seriously, and I understood why. I'd never seen Jacob so set in his resolve. His words hadn't been a threat, they'd been a promise. Brian may have been bigger than Jacob, but I had no doubt--and neither, it seemed, did Brian--that Jacob would keep this promise.

Jacob came to my side. Another moment passed in tense, somewhat expectant, silence, then Jimmy spoke up. "I'm fucking hungry."

Dawn and I both burst out laughing.

"Anybody else hungry?" Brian questioned.

"Starved," Cody replied, and the rest of us agreed.

"So let's go eat," Brian suggested.

"God, Jordan," David said teasingly as we all headed for the door. "You don't feed your guests? You're going to suck as a wife!"

"I'll feed Brian," I retorted. "It's only the unimportant people I leave to starve."

"BURN!" Jimmy crowed.

Talking and laughing, our group divided up into Brian's car and Matt's SUV. Brian caught my hand briefly as I was going around to the passenger side. Our eyes met and I smiled. When I turned to open my door, I noticed Jacob watching Brian and me.

"Congratulations," he mouthed.

Finally, the one thing I'd really wanted him to say. I sank into the passenger seat with my fiancé at my side and two of my best friends in the back. All was right in my world.