“Mr. Kelly!” Gary exclaims as I walk into his office. He’s put together, as always, perfect pocket square and all. If anyone did suits better than me or Sully, it was Gary for sure.

“Gary, how’s it going with you?” I reach out and we shake hands.

“It’s been a trying week,” Gary says. “As they say in film, I’m getting too old for this shit.”

I laugh and shake my head. “Y’know, that might be the first time I’ve ever heard you swear.”

“Oh, well.” He smiles and rounds back to his side of the desk. “I was in the Navy for a few years out of high school. You pick up one or two curses in the line of duty.”

“I bet,” I say, still grinning.

“So! I understand you want to discuss the terms of the contract for Mr. Sullivan’s property,” Gary says, flipping open a folder on his desk.

“I do,” I say.

“Excellent. I’m certain we can find a buyer with no trouble at all, once everyone signs the appropriate paperwork.”

“Actually,” I start, “We’ve, uh, decided to keep the house.”

“Oh!” Gary exclaims, looking puzzled. “Forgive my surprise, Mr. Kelly, you just seemed so adamant before about wanting to sell.”

“Yeah, well, a lot’s changed since then.”

Christ, has it ever. So much. I know a ridiculous smile is stretching my cheeks, but can’t stop it.

“Very well,” Gary continues, nodding. “Then all I need to know is who we’re transferring the deed to, and I can have this sealed and delivered by courier in no time at all.”

“Perfect,” I say. “It’s going to be distributed equally between the three of us, so just let me know what I have to have all of us sign, and I can handle that on my end right away.”

“Oh,” Gary says, and I tense a little, because his tone of voice doesn’t sound good.

“What’s the problem, Gary?”

“Well, Mr. Kelly, per the terms and conditions of Mr. Sullivan’s will, it’s just not possible to put the house in everyone’s name. You’ve read it over?”

I did. I mean, I skimmed it. Like I’ve said, estate law is not my area, and now it sounds like maybe I missed something that I should have looked a little deeper into. Unless Gary just doesn’t get what I’m saying?

“No, see, we’re looking at joint tenancy here,” I explain. “We’re all okay with owning equal portions. Want it that way, so that no one person has power over anyone else.”

The slight tightening at the corners of his mouth tells me it ain’t gonna be that simple.

Shit.

“That’s just the problem, Mr. Kelly,” he says, folding his hands on top of the desk in front of him. “Joint tenancy, amongst other forms of ownership, are not options per the will.” He takes out a pair of small, round reading glasses, and flips through a couple of pages in the will. “Mr. Sullivan was quite thorough in his stipulations. He’s set it up so that your only viable option is for one single entity to retain sole ownership of the property. If that doesn’t happen by the specified deadline—” a couple of weeks, if I’m remembering it right, “—the property must be sold, and funds will be distributed equally amongst the three of you.”

I can’t believe what I’m hearing. Sully must’ve had a reason, but I don’t get it. One thing I do know, though, was that he knew his stuff. Unusual or not, if that’s the way he wanted it, the will is gonna be rock-solid. No loopholes available, and of course Gary will follow it to the letter.

I feel the office start to close in around me, and I shake my head, wanting him to tell me something different, even though I’m thinking that hope’s probably in vain.

“That can’t be right,” I say. “Why would Sully do that?”

“Well, obviously, I cannot speak directly as to Mr. Sullivan’s intentions,” Gary starts, taking his reading glasses off. “But I can only imagine that he wanted to ensure that the three of you really take your time with this decision, and determine who the best caretaker shall be. He hated seeing any of you fight. Maybe this was his way of trying to ensure that peace was to be made, in one form or another.”

“Alright, alright,” I say, holding my hands up. Gary’s got no more useful insight than I do, but the man is thorough. If this is the way it is, then this is the way it is, I just… “I just don’t know what I’m going to tell the others. I don’t think we’re comfortable having this in just one of our names.” I look Gary in the eye. “When do we have to make this decision by?”

Gary moves the folder aside to look at the large calendar blotter on his desk. “Today is Monday, July 17th, and it appears that the decision must be made in full by Tuesday, August 1st.”

I sigh, pinching the bridge of my nose. “We want to make this our family home, here,” I mumble.

Gary’s eyebrows shoot up in surprise. “Your… family home? For the three of you?”

I grimace. Yeah, probably sounds weird.

“It’s complicated,” I say, shaking my head, but he doesn’t press it. Doesn’t even look judgmental, even, which is refreshing.

“I am most sincerely sorry for all of this,” Gary says, looking genuinely sympathetic to how he sees me taking all of this. “For what it’s worth, I am very glad that the three of you seemed to work out your differences. I think Mr. Sullivan would have been very pleased about that. And, if I may—he considered all of you family. I know this for a fact. Whatever your arrangement, I have no doubt that he’d approve.”

“Goddamn, Gary, I just…” I shake my head. “I don’t know what I’m gonna do here. How do we work it out?”

He looks pained, and I know he hates not having an answer. “Well, perhaps—”

“No, no,” I say, cutting him off and standing up. It’s not his problem to solve. He’s doing what Sully asked of him. “It’s alright. This isn’t your fault, I know you’re just executing the will. I just gotta figure out how we’re going to deal with this.”

Gary stands up and nods sadly, holding out his hand. “Very well, Mr. Kelly. Again, my sincerest apologies; it’s not my intention to stand in the way of your wishes.”

“I know, bud,” I say, and shake his hand. “We’ll figure it out and be in touch.”

“Please take care,” Gary says as I walk out the door.

By the time I’m back on the street, my mind is already racing for solutions. I have no idea how I’m going to break this to them. Can I break this to them? After all we’ve done to get this far in our relationship? Things have been so good, so damn good, and I’m just not willing to do anything that will jeopardize this peace that we’ve all found with each other.

I mean, I guess we could just figure out one of us to put on the deed. We’re all pretty committed here. But all I can think about now is how much money I’m putting into the renovations, and how much work Cate has been doing to redecorate the entire house from the ground up. And Dylan, my God, he’s the one that makes it our home, a safe ground for all of us to coexist together.

It just won’t feel right unless it belongs to all of us. It wouldn’t be fair to any of us, not now, not when we just figured out our triad. But that’s not the kind of relationship—the kind of family—that gets recognized any way but in our hearts now, is it?

Shit.

Fucking shit.

I take a breath, pushing back my knee-jerk rage. No, I’ll figure something out. Cate and Dylan have done more than enough to make sure that the townhouse is transformed into our home.

It’s my turn to fix this.