“I really appreciate you both sitting down for this tonight,” I say, nervous as Cate and Dylan join me at the dining room table.

“No worries, babe,” Dylan says. “But I haven’t prepped dinner yet, sorry, I didn’t expect my shift to run so late.”

“Oh, no,” Cate jokes. “You mean the perfect chef didn’t make us another perfect dinner, one night out of… months now?”

“What can I say,” Dylan says, smiling at Cate. “I’m a sucker for the faces you two make when you eat my food.”

I don’t know about me, but he’s right when it comes to Cate. Christ, half the time just watching her enjoy Dylan’s food makes me hard. But right now, even that thought can’t distract me.

I hope I’m hiding it well, but inside, I’m terrified.

It’s July 31st, one day before our decision on the townhouse is due. Once we all agreed to go in equally on the house, the two of them put their faith in me to handle the legalese. I’ve been digging through that contract every single day for the last two weeks, ever since Gary dropped his bomb about the transfer requirements on me. I’ve been trying to figure out some sort of solution to the stipulation that it can only transfer to a single owner, and—thank fuck—I think I finally have one.

It was so simple that I’m just amazed that I didn’t think of it sooner, although I’m still not a hundred percent they’ll see it the way I do. Cate’s right, though, I put myself through so much damn stress that it’s easy to miss the small things. Gotta work on that still. That said, I still haven’t told them about my conversation with Gary.

That’s a big one, a huge lie of omission.

I could get off on a technicality, but what if the way I handled it—kept it from them for a bit—hurts them? They’ve both said they love me, together and separately, a whole bunch of times now, and I’ve said it back to both of them just the same. I know we all mean it, but there’s no denying that this is still a new thing for all of us.

What if my lie—my delay, let’s say—breaks us apart? Will that just prove that I didn’t deserve this all along?

Christ, I’m spinning myself up so much. I swear, if I can just get through this, I’ll never lie about anything again to either of them, so help me. I can’t lose them now.

I can’t.

They’re both looking at me, and the teasing light has faded from their eyes, telling me they see right through me… as always.

“What is it, Jack?” Cate finally asks, looking downright concerned.

Do they even know how much they mean to me? I try to say it. Try to show it. But it’s so big… I don’t know if they can possibly understand that they’re everything to me.

“Let us in on that secret,” Dylan says, his tone calm and reassuring even though I can see the same concern in his eyes, too. His lips quirk up a bit, and he adds a teasing, “I promise it’ll be okay.”

Here goes nothing.

“Alright, so,” I start briskly, pressing my palms against the table and going for a confidence I don’t feel. “Got an update on the house for you.”

They both look excited. I really hope I don’t burn it out of them. I mean, my solution is pretty fucking perfect, if you ask me, but it’s also sort of… a commitment. One I’m not sure they’d want to make, given that it’s only been, what, three months? Insane. ’Course, we’ve all known each other half our lives, but crazy to think that all of this—us—has only been brewing since Cate came back to Boston in the spring.

I don’t want it to end… did I come up with this answer just to try to tie them to me? Will they want it?

“Stop overthinking,” Dylan says, reaching over to squeeze my hand. “Spill, Jack.”

Right. Okay. I’ve got this.

“So, I spoke to Gary a couple weeks back,” I start, swallowing past the lump in my throat. “And, uh, I let him know that we all decided to go in on the house in equal shares, joint tenancy. You know, like we talked about.”

“Right,” Cate says, the upward lilt she gives the word prompting me to continue.

“So, yeah. Uh, the thing is… there was a problem with that.” The flash of apprehension that goes across both their faces just about kills me, but I rush on before they can interrupt. “The terms of the will state that only one entity can own the property. Gary’s prohibited from transferring the title any other way, so joint tenancy is not an option for us. Given those parameters, we’ve got to decide how we want to handle this by tomorrow, or else the deed will be transferred back to the estate. And if we let that happen, well, Gary’s gonna have no choice but to follow through with Sully’s directive and put the house up for sale.”

“What?” Cate looks horrified. “When were you going to tell us this, Jack?”

Oh, I’ve fucked it up now, haven’t I? A heavy weight settles on my chest, and it’s only when Dylan squeezes my hand again—didn’t realize he was still holding it, but glad he hasn’t dropped me yet—that I start breathing again.

He reaches across the table and grabs Cate’s hand, too.

“Hey, it’s okay,” he says to her, even though I can see the worry in his eyes, too. “Let’s hear the rest of this, okay? Jack, please go on. We have to have alternatives, right?”

I nod, exhaling. “I’ve been digging into this for the past two weeks on my own, trying to find a solution. Didn’t want to worry you guys, and figured there had to be something, right?” Isn’t that what we attorneys did? Found ways to make the shit we wanted work? “I think… I think I finally found one.”

“Well, what is it?” Cate presses me, leaning forward eagerly. “I can’t lose this house, Jack. We can’t. It’s ours now. If we have to put it under one name, I don’t care. I just want this, and I just want both of you.”

“I agree,” Dylan chimes in. “I know it’s not what we talked about, but if we need to put just one of us on the title, we might as well just draw straws and get it done with. I know it’s scary, but we’ll learn how to adapt to it, just like we’ve been learning this relationship along the way.”

“Well, I think we can avoid doing that,” I say, suddenly feeling emboldened, feeling full and warm inside from their commitment to me, to us. I can do this. I can fix this. “That’s why,” I start, pulling a manila folder out of my briefcase and throwing it on the table, “I’m proposing this.”

Cate reaches for it first, opening it up. Inside is a small pile of documentation, a good solid day’s worth of write-up on my end. “Transfer of Title from the Estate of Hendricks Sullivan, Esquire…” Cate reads aloud. “To the Smith Family Trust.”

Dylan looks confused. “So, we’re putting it under my name?”

“Not exactly,” I say, pulling out another folder, setting it in front of Cate. “This is paperwork that would allow Cate and me to legally change our last names. If it’s alright by you…” I pause, feeling my face flush. Christ, I’m blushing like a schoolboy, but I mean, I’m kinda asking him—them—to, well, let’s just say it’s probably the closest the three of us will get to a proposal. I clear my throat, powering on. “We could both become Smiths as well. You know, all of us. If you… if you’ll have us, Dylan. Cate, if you want—”

“Yes,” she cuts me off, her whole face lighting up like the sun. “Oh my God, yes. Please. Can I just kill the MacMillan name forever?”

Believe me, I can relate to that feeling. I’ve carried the Kelly name for my whole life, and all it meant is that I just keep getting shit on for it, over and over. I’m the first one to make a name for myself out of all my family, and they just don’t deserve it. This name doesn’t deserve it. It hangs around my neck every day like a lead weight, and I’m just so tired of it. I know Cate being a MacMillan is kind of different—from the outside, probably looks worlds different—but now that I really know her? I can see that it’s also the same.

Exactly the same.

“Yeah, Duchess,” I say, “No more MacMillans under this roof.”

She snort-laughs, and I’m grinning so hard it hurts, relief almost making me feel drunk.

“We do this,” I go on, “And I’d be Jack Smith, you’d be Cate Smith, and, well…” I look at Dylan. “We can’t legally marry into a triad, obviously, but that’s where the trust comes in. Making the Smith Family Trust would tie us all together, equally, as partners, and we’d put the home in the name of the trust.”

“Ours,” Cate says, and she’s fucking glowing.

“You know names have never meant as much to me as they do to your families,” Dylan says, grinning from ear to ear. “But will I have you? You two are already mine. Sharing my name with you…”

He gets choked up, and that has me blinking hard. I fucking love this man. And Cate, God, Cate, too. I love her like I didn’t know I could. Both of them. Forever.

And they want this. I’m on cloud fucking nine. They ain’t just humoring me; I can see it. Hear it in their voices. Feel it. They really want it, too. The three of us, we’re a forever thing, and never having rings—I mean, not unless the laws change a hell of a lot more than I expect them to in our lifetimes—that don’t mean shit.

They’re mine, and I’m theirs. And from now on?

We’ll be the Smiths. The Smith Family.