Rachael Maria Jackson(Long auburn hair, brown eyes) + Andrew Marcus Marchetti (Clean cut dark hair, tan skin, green eyes) =Jace Ethan Carter/Marchetti (Dark hair, tan skin green eyes)

Parker Stevens (Short black hair, blue eyes) + Jocelyn Masters/Stevens (Long dark, brown eyes)

Matthew Greisen (Dark blonde, brown eyes) = Alexis Greisen (Brown eyes, blonde hair)

Traffic isn't bad. It never is, unless you go in to Knoxville. So, I am surprised when a truck hits my rear bumper. Granted, we are in a Wal-Mart parking lot and neither of us is going more than five miles an hour, so I'm not hurt, but still.

Pulling in to an open parking space, I put my car in park and make sure Jace, who is sleeping like a rock in his car-seat, is okay. Then, for good measure, I beat my head against the steering wheel. Saying I am in a bad mood is an understatement. After getting next to no sleep and catching the baby's cold, I'm not really in the mood to deal with anything. At all.

I look into my rear-view mirror and see that the driver and passenger have gotten out of the truck to assess the damage to my car. I smile, for the first time today, because I knew these people. And I haven't seen them in over a year.

I step out of my car, and shut the door carefully so that the baby doesn't wake up, then walk over to where Parker Stevens and Matthew Greisen stand. Parker is my age, 22, and Matthew is a year older than us, but they seem to have grown up so much since I last saw them. Parker' short black hair had been a shaggy mess the last time I saw him, but is now clean-cut. Matthew's blonde hair is a little longer, curling around his ears, begging for a trim. Parker barely casts me a glance when I stop next to him. He is too busy fiddling with my busted taillights, trying to press the dangling wires back into my car. Matthew has gone to inspect the front of their truck, and is giving me funny looks, like he knows me, but is trying to figure out who I am.

I find this a bit amusing, because Parker is usually so observant and Matthew remembers everything. It also hurts me, like a lot that Matthew doesn't know who I am; two years ago we were inseparable, best friends. "Sorry about the damage, I wasn't paying attention." Parker says, still not looking at me. "If you want, we can exchange insurance cards?"

"You know," I smirk, "I don't think it's really that big of a deal."

His head snaps up to look at me as I speak, and he breaks out in a smile. "Rachael?"

I grin, and throw myself into his arms. When I let go, Matthew is standing next to me waiting for his hug. After he lets me go, I give him a hard time for not recognizing me.

"I thought it was you," he says truthfully. "But the baby in the backseat threw me off."

Parker's head turns to look through my back window. For a second I am worried he might give himself whiplash. He looks back to me, hurt evident in his vibrant blue eyes. "We have called you almost every day since we left. How could you not tell us you got pregnant?"

I sputter. "I…I", How do I tell them I was embarrassed of the biggest blessing of my life? "God, you guys." I rub a hand over my face. "How could I tell you? I was completely embarrassed. The whole situation was screwed up. Jace's father was out of the picture before I even knew I was pregnant."

Both Parker and Matthew quirk an eyebrow at this, silently telling me Please go on, this is very interesting. Just then, a large truck with tires up to my belly button drives by, and is so loud I have to suppress the urge to cover my ears like a little kid. It's funny; I am so caught up in the moment I have almost forgotten we are standing in the middle of a parking lot.

"Hey," Parker says, as I open the door of my car to retrieve 5 month old Jace, who had been jolted awake by the loudness of the truck. "Why don't you and Jace come over for dinner tonight? We can catch up then." Both Matthew and Parker's eyes are on Jace, studying him, as he fell back asleep in my arms.

I mentally rack my brain, making sure I don't have plans. "Yeah," I say, smiling. "That would be great."

"And it'll give Andrew a chance to tune in, too." Matthew chimes.

"Did Andrew move back with you?" I ask, trying to keep the excitement out of my voice.

I feel stupid for even asking. They had this childhood bond, they were fraternity brothers and it was physically impossible for them not to spend every spare second together. During our frequent phone calls, I'd heard they had moved in together to save money while finished up their EMT training. "Yeah, we all got transferred here. I guess there was a shortage of EMT's."

"This," Matthew pipes in. "Pissed me off. Because two years ago, there were so many EMT's here, we ended up moving to an entirely different state." I let them rant on for a minute, before saying I need to get home, because I just bought some frozen food, and it is probably melting in the back of my car.

I watched as they got in the truck and drove off, then leaned heavily against my car and felt my heart drop to my stomach in dread. I assume that this has something to do with the fact that Andrew and I had two perfect years together. And one day, he was just gone. I couldn't find a legitimate reason for him to have left; the pieces of the puzzle just wouldn't fit together, no matter how I twisted them. There was hardly a scrap of his existence left in our apartment. Or, my apartment now. All his belongings were gone, all the way down to his toothbrush. The only thing I'd found was a note on the kitchen counter. I'm sorry. It read. Be safe. I love you.

Then, only weeks later, when Matthew and Parker had left to pursue their dream EMT job, I had been informed that they had found Andrew there, and they were currently splitting rent on an apartment and ride sharing to school. Matthew and Parker had never known that Andrew had proposed to me, and didn't fully grasp the seriousness of our relationship. Andrew and I decided that we wanted to keep it that way. We didn't want our being together to split up the group, but clearly that plan had some flaws.

I look down at my phone, reading the next part to the directions that Matthew texted to me. Pulling into what I hope is their driveway, I look out my windshield to find a modest, white, single story house. Out of any house down this street, or neighborhood for that matter, this would definitely be the boys' house. It just looks like a bunch of guys live here.

I smile to myself, and shake my head slightly. After grabbing Jace out of his car-seat, I cautiously walked up to the house, making sure no one is going to jump out and scare me. It is their trademark thing; they are all pranksters at heart. When I get to their door, I don't really know what to do, because I used to just barge in and make my grand entrance. But, I haven't seen them in a while, or even stepped foot in their new house before, for that matter. I don't feel like I could just walk in and make myself at home anymore, though I have no doubts that in a few weeks I won't have a problem with it.

I end up ringing the doorbell, which makes me feel a little awkward. Once. Twice. I faintly hear someone shouting, "Come in!" So, I open the door, and step into a small entry way. "We're in the kitchen." I think it is Parker who shouted this time, but it's hard to tell. The kitchen isn't hard to find; it's right off the main entry way.

Walking into their kitchen, I can't help but wrinkle my nose and choke a little bit at the smell of whatever they are cooking. At the noise, both boys turn around. "Is it really that bad?" Matthew asks, looking at the burnt pan that lay smoking on the stove.

I try to say no. Say that it is fine, but the smell is so overwhelmingly terrible I can barely manage to breathe without gagging. So I nod a sad slow yes.

Thankfully, they turn off the burner and throw the contents of the frying pan into the garbage. Thank God!

"Well," Parker says, wiping his hands on a dishrag. "I'd say that was pretty successful for our first time trying to cook a real meal."

"Wait," I say, looking between them incredulously. "You guys haven't cooked an actual meal at all since you left?"

"Of course we have!" Matthew says, and stands up a little straighter. But Parker looks at me with these almost sad, mostly embarrassed eyes. Eyes that leave me no doubt what the answer the question is. It's no. Unequivocally, no. They haven't.

"Ramen Noodles doesn't count." I smirk, shooting down his idea of a meal. He puts his hands up in defeat. "Well, I'm here now. I can cook dinner."

"No," Parker starts. "You really don't have to do that. You're a guest here, seriously, don't."

"You guys, at this point, I'm worried about what might happen to me if you guys cook." Parker gives me disbelieving look. "Seriously! Even Jace wouldn't like that, and he wants to eat everything."

They focus their attention on Jace, who is babbling happily to himself in my arms. Parker sighs, resigned. "Fine. But this is the only time you are going to cook for us. Promise?"

Being the smart ass that I am, I raise my right hand up, like I am taking and oath in a courtroom and say, "I swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. I will never cook for you again."

"And," Parker adds, "You will not do dishes, wipe counter tops, or put dishes away." He goes on for a while more about different rules.

"Are you even listening?" He asks. Matthew scoffs at this.

"I'm listening." I lie. "Please, go on." So he does. On and on and on.

"Got it?" He asks me a bit later.

"You know," I say, "I'm not exactly the best rule follower. Why don't you just pick the most important rule and I'll do my best?"

They chuckle at this. "Oh, Rachael, I've missed you." Matthew says and he pulls me into a side hug.

I get started on dinner while the boys and I get caught up. Jace is on the floor with a few pots and pans. At first, we gave him a wooden spoon, but as he put all his might into banging on the pots, it got really loud and we opted for the spoon to be taken away.

"So, what happened to the douche you were dating? The one who moved in with you? Jonathan?" Matthew asks, while he grates some cheese for me.

"Jacob. He left." I pause and add, "Well, actually, he got engaged. To some girl from his hometown... While we were still dating."

Parker nods, like this doesn't surprise him. Which I'm sure it doesn't. Both had told me he was a bad guy, I just never listened. He had this easy seductive way about him. Like he was a warm, inviting swimming pool and you can't wait to jump him. IN. I mean jump in… You know, like jump in the pool. The, uh, warm pool. But at that point, Andrew had just left, I had just found out I was pregnant, and I just needed someone to try and fill that hole in my chest.

"With the girls I date," Matthew says a second later, "I just want simple, smooth, and easy." His hand goes out in front of him, making a calm water gesture.

"Easy to get along with?" I ask. "Or just plain easy?"

Without missing a heartbeat, he answers, "Both is good."

Parker and I have a good laugh at this, because that is totally Matthew. He is such a player, but every girl he has ever dated still loves him, even though he broke their slutty little hearts by breaking up with them

After searching every cabinet in their house, I decide I am making breakfast for dinner, because, well, they really need to go shopping. What the hell were they doing at Wal-Mart anyways?

As I flip the last pancake off the burner and onto a giant stack of even more pancakes, I think of how Andrew will be here in a matter of minutes. My heart flutters in my chest, because, let's face it, no matter how much your brain tells you you're over someone, your heart knows the truth. And the truth is, I can still feel the tingle of the last kiss he planted on my forehead the day he left. I long for more.

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