“Tyler, your phone won’t stop ringing,” I said and threw a pillow over my head to drown out the noise. Then I grew curious who had called so early, so I lifted one side to try and hear who was on the other line.

“What? Can’t we reschedule?” Tyler moaned and fell back onto the bed.

Now he was right beside me and I heard Anna’s voice. I snatched the phone from his hand. “Good morning,” I said with an obvious groggy voice. We stayed at the nightclub until closing time. Then because we all were so happy, Malik insisted we go to Peppermill for a late breakfast.

“Zoe. Hi sweetie. Did I wake you all up?”

“Not Stephen, he can sleep through anything.”

“Oh good. I’m sorry I called so early.” She sighed. “Tyler promised we would have brunch together today.”

“That’s today?” I sat up and threw my pillow on Ty. “Shit, give us thirty minutes.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, keep the stuff warm and re-chill the champagne.” I hung up and snuggled close to Stephen. “Hey, baby.” We all would be feeling the burn later from lack of sleep. “I forgot about our brunch date.”

Stephen rubbed his face into the pillow and turned to face me. “Brunch? Wait, at your parent’s place.” He glanced over my shoulder toward Tyler.

“Yeah.”

“How could you forget?” I hopped up and pulled the hair tie out. “This is a big day.” Then I stopped at the doorway and turned back toward the bed. “You didn’t forget.” Tyler was staring up at the ceiling, staying silent. I crawled across the bed and straddled his body. “Hey.” He finally looked in my direction. “Your parents love Stephen. Did something else happen?”

“No.” He placed his hands on my thighs. “They’ve only met him once.”

“And they were so supportive.” Stephen moved closer to us. “I’m still in awe of your family.”

I noticed a tear fall down and land on the pillow. “Ty, talk to us.”

“I feel it is too good.”

I brushed the tear away. “Like, when will the levy break and bullshit start?”

“Pretty much.”

Stephen brushed his fingers down the side of his face. “Is that normal for them? They become unsupportive later when at the beginning everything seemed good?”

He lightly laughed. “No. Never.”

I knew this was more in regard to holding a secret for so long. Tyler held in his love for men and women for so long he probably just started to believe if he said a word nothing could end well. The thing was, the moment I met his parents I knew they were good people to the core.

“Ty, you have to let go of those past emotions. What you thought would happen didn’t.” I placed my hands over his heart. “Now I know why this is so good. You have two people in your life who care so deeply for you and will never judge you.”

He sat up and rested his head against my chest. “Is that why we all connected? I’m only attracted to people with big hearts?”

“That is true for Stephen.” I giggled. “I beg to differ on me.”

He threw me back on the bed and loomed over me. “Take that back.”

Stephen was leaning on his elbow, laughing. “Seriously, love. You could’ve easily walked away from training with this dummy.”

“Hey, I’m right here.”

“I know.” Stephen pushed at Tyler’s side. “Instead you never gave up on him. You saw the good in him.”

“Well, we went down a rabbit hole of emotions.” Tyler rolled to the side and rested his head on Stephen’s thigh. “Do we have to go to brunch?”

“Yes.” I jumped up and ran into the bathroom to freshen up. As I grabbed the pieces to French braid my hair, I looked at myself. The bags were gone from under my eyes. My skin looked clear and bright. For the first time in years, Vegas felt like home. I watched from the mirror as Stephen and Tyler walked into the bathroom arm and arm. My men.

“What?” Tyler looked around.

“Nothing.” I smiled and finished my braid. As I left the room, I kissed them both. “I love you both so much.” Then before they could ask why I was being all mushy, I left to throw on some clothes.

“You could’ve rescheduled,” Anna said when she hugged me.

“What? No way.” I kissed her cheek. “It’s good to see you.” Then I whispered beside her ear, “Your son needs you now more than ever.” I felt her head move up and down slightly.

I stepped aside to let Tyler formally introduce Stephen. The family really had only spent time with him at the hospital after we arrived back in Las Vegas. Then for some reason as he healed we started to prolong going to Sunday brunch. About a month ago, I encouraged Tyler to set a date. I made it clear it was time. As we drove over, Stephen seemed fine. Tyler on the other hand was a nervous wreck.

“It’s good to see you under better circumstances.” Anna held out her hand out for Stephen. I really believed he surprised us all when he stepped close and gave her a hug. “That’s so much better,” she said and wrapped her arms tightly around him. I looked around, wondering who was cutting onions as I wiped the tears away.

“Thank you,” Stephen said and took a step back.

“For what, darling?” Anna wrapped her arm around his waist and led him down the hallway toward the kitchen.

“For accepting me.”

“Why wouldn’t I? Anyone who loves my son will always be a part of my family.” Anna had us go out to the back screened-in patio where a large ten-top table was set beautifully. Everyone was already seated, laughing and drinking mimosas.

“Did they finally decide to get up?” Todd stood and walked over to where Anna and Stephen stood. “It’s good to see you up and healthy, son.” He held out his hand. Stephen did the same thing to Todd. “Oh, so he’s a hugger, too.” They leaned back and Todd squeezed Stephen’s bicep. “You’re going to fit right in with this family.”

I touched my nose and pointed to Charlie. We both were right; Anna and Todd loved Stephen from the moment he walked in the door. Anna had me sit down and then forced Ty and Stephen to sit on either side. I grabbed their hands and brought each one to my lips. Then I reached forward and grabbed my champagne flute full of bubbly. “Let’s have a toast.” I stood up and raised my glass. “To new beginnings.” Everyone repeated my words and cheered! Las Vegas didn’t seem so bad after all.