The rest of the day was continually interrupted with thoughts of Ginger and his parents. By the time Evan drove home, he knew what he wanted to do, but what if Mitchell didn’t feel the same way? How was he going to convince Mitchell he was right?

As soon as he pulled into the driveway, Evan saw the horses saddled and ready to go. Mitchell has a lot on his mind. He parked his car and jogged into the house to change out of his uniform.

“Ginger?” Evan called.

“In our room!”

Evan hurried to their bedroom to find Ginger putting away laundry. “Hey, darlin’.” He kissed her then bent to her tummy. “Hey, little one.” When he stood back up, he cupped her face to hold her attention. “Mitchell has the horses saddled. I know what I want, but all decisions regarding the house and anything to do with our parents’ things have to be agreed upon by both of us. When we get back, we’ll have an answer, I promise.” He gently kissed her again before he let her go.

When he pulled back, she was smiling. “That’s all I can ask for.”

Evan quickly stripped out of his uniform and called Mitchell. “Where are you? I’m ready to go.”

“I’m in the barn. I’ll meet you at the horses. Will you tell Kayla?”

“I’ll have Ginger find her.”

Evan gave Ginger a peck on the lips and headed toward the door. Mitchell walked up about the same time he made it to the horses. The look on his face told Evan they may not be on the same page about this. Their eyes met over the horses in greeting, and they mounted in silence. As was their habit, they let the horses run full speed while they gathered their thoughts, and then slowed the horses after a few hundred yards.

Evan cleared his throat. “Kayla asked you?”

“Yeah, and I wasn’t expecting it. I froze. I think my mouth even fell open a little.” Mitchell shook his head. “I never knew she wanted that. What do you think?”

“Since Ginger never met Mom and Dad, I can see her point. I want to bring them into our family too, so what better way to start than with the wedding?”

“Huh? What do Mom and Dad have to do with you and Ginger being our children’s legal guardians when the time comes? Kayla wanted me to talk to you just in case we’re pregnant.”

“Oh, I guess we have more to talk about than I thought,” Evan said with a chuckle then smiled at his brother. “Mitchell, you know I’d be honored and so would Ginger. I’m surprised you’d ever worry about asking me that. I would’ve been hurt if you hadn’t.”

The relief on Mitchell’s face was evident. “I just didn’t know with you having your own child on the way. I didn’t want it to be too much.”

“Dude, we have two families living in the same house. We’re going to be with them anyway. I think it’d be only natural. With Thomas’ schedule, it would be hard for him.” Evan shook his head. “We haven’t even talked about it because we just thought you and Kayla knew we’d want the same thing.”

“Of course,” Mitchell said with a smile. “So, what did you want to say about Mom and Dad?”

Evan knew this subject was going to be harder to discuss and didn’t want to push Mitchell until he was ready. “Well, Ginger reminded me of a bridal saying about something borrowed.” Evan put the last words in air quotes.

“Yeah, I’ve heard it before. It’s a rhyme or something, right?”

“Exactly. Apparently, she and Kayla have discussed it, and they’d like to borrow something of Mom’s for the wedding.”

Mitchell’s eyes widened. “I see. What do you think?”

“It’s more than that for Ginger and me, but I know we have to be in agreement before we do anything. Mitchell, I think it’s time we go through their wing.” Evan looked him in the eyes. “Ginger and I want to incorporate something from both of our families into the nursery. Plus, if we’re all going to live there, we’re going to need the extra room as the kids get bigger, or we have more. Two extra bedrooms and baths will come in handy. What do you think?”

Mitchell was silent as he kept his focus straight ahead. “Wow, another gut punch. I didn’t expect that.” He finally looked at Evan. “I miss them so much.” Mitchell rubbed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose.

“Mitchell, let’s bring pictures of them out, and maybe we’ll find something in there we can use. The girls won’t ever wear Mom’s clothes, and we won’t wear Dad’s. That’d be the main things we’d have to clean out. I’d like the girls to divide Mom’s jewelry, but I’d like it to be a surprise for them.”

“You’re right. What kind of surprise?”

“They pick out something to wear for the wedding as their borrowed. When the wedding is over, we can put it back with the other stuff, then on our first anniversary we actually give it to them as a gift and let them decide which other pieces they’d want. The rest we’ll put away until we have daughters,” Evan said with confidence.

“I like that idea, but we keep the furniture and stuff? Just give away the clothes and things we don’t want to keep, right?”

“Yes, and I think we let the girls help us so they get a sense of them. I know Kayla knew them, but Ginger didn’t. I need her with me.”

“Agreed. I love you, bro,” Mitchell said as he let the tears fall down his cheeks.

“Love you too, man.” Evan's eyes welled with tears. He wiped his hand down his face. “We should probably head back.”

They turned the horse toward home and rode in silence. By the time the guys had the horses brushed and fed, the girls had dinner ready. They were having a glass of lemonade when the guys walked in.

“Something smells good. Can dinner wait long enough for us to take showers, or do we need to eat now?” Mitchell asked.

“It’ll keep for a few more minutes,” Kayla said with a smile.

Evan leaned down and kissed Ginger when he walked by. “Be back in a few. You okay?”

“We’re good.”

Everything was ready when the guys walked back in. Kayla fidgeted with her napkin until Mitchell grabbed her hand. When she looked up, he whispered in her ear, “Ask them. I have Evan’s answer, but you haven’t said anything to Ginger.”

Kayla looked at Mitchell as he nodded his head toward Ginger, so she took a deep breath, “Mitchell and I have been talking, and we want everything in place for when we get pregnant.” She squeezed Mitchell’s hand. “When the time comes, would y’all be our children’s legal guardians?”

Ginger’s head snapped toward Evan then back toward Kayla and Mitchell. “Is that why you’ve been acting so weird today?”

“I knew Mitchell wanted to talk to Evan first, but it was driving me crazy,” Kayla said.

When Ginger turned back toward Evan, he was smiling. “You knew and didn’t say anything?”

“Not until we went for a ride. Darlin’, I knew Kayla would want to ask you herself. I told Mitchell yes.”

“Duh, of course. I just assumed that’s what would happen. I mean, we want you as our kids’ guardians, too. Kayla, I can’t believe you’d have to ask. Well, you and Cat have been friends longer, so I probably shouldn’t have just assumed,” Ginger finished quietly.

“Since we’re going to be living under the same roof, we thought our kids would be used to being with y’all more so than anyone else. It just seemed logical.” Kayla shrugged.

“Speaking of living under the same roof, Mitchell and I also discussed what to do with Mom and Dad’s wing of the house,” Evan said.

“And the wedding,” Mitchell added.

Kayla and Ginger looked at both men waiting for their responses. As they turned toward each other, nervous smiles crossed their faces.

Evan took Ginger’s hand while Mitchell did the same to Kayla. Evan closed his eyes and swallowed hard. “This was a hard discussion for us, but one that needed to happen.”

When he opened his eyes, Ginger was staring at him with tears in hers. “Kayla grew up knowing our parents, but you didn’t have that privilege.” He squeezed her hands. “We want you both to pick out something of Mom’s you want for your borrowed thing.” He took a deep breath. “We’re ready to clean out their wing and want you there with us. I want you to pick out something of each of theirs to put in the nursery. We want something to honor their memory somewhere in the house.”

“We’re not ready to do away with their furniture or valuables, just what we need to be able to use that wing,” Mitchell said with watery eyes.

“Thank you for letting me borrow something,” Ginger whispered against Evan’s lips.

Kayla cupped Mitchell’s face. “You know I loved your mom, so I want to honor her at our wedding, that’s all. Thank you.”

Mitchell pulled Kayla in and planted his face on his favorite spot on her neck while Evan did the same to Ginger. When they pulled apart, they finished dinner and retired to the living room to relax.