Elli wanted to laugh so hard. Shea? Crying over some female? Please. Elli contained her laughter since Jenna and Grace were just shaking their heads.

Jenna looked across the table at Elli, a small smile on her face.

“The thing is, Elli. Shea is emotional, extremely. All these different women he has been through are because the first and only time he ever loved someone, he was found in a ball on the floor crying his eyes out. So it hasn’t surprise me the line of women that I have seen him go through,” she paused for a moment, taking a sip of her coffee, “With Grace it was totally different, she never loved guys or had that puppy love. When she came up pregnant, I was totally shocked. Not that I didn’t think she was having sex. But for her to be so careless with a man, she must have cared for him.”

“Yeah, I knew James was different. But even so, I didn’t tell him I loved him until after I had Ryan. I swear, I have never seen a man leave so quickly to get a ring. It was crazy,” Grace said with a grin.

“It always has blown my mind how in sync they are about everything else but love. People used to think they were the same, but I knew differently. Shea could fall in love if he let himself, while Grace had to be pushed into it.”

“I wasn’t pushed.”

“Grace Caroline, you had a child before you even admitted to it,” Jenna pointed out.

“Okay, maybe it was a little push,” Grace agreed with a nod, “But like she said, Elli, Shea hasn’t loved anyone but Alyson, that’s why it’s hard for me. I’ve always been the other half of him and then you come along.”

“I could never replace you, Grace. You know that,” Elli said sincerely. Grace smiled, taking her hand in hers.

“I know that, but you have his heart. He will always love me, we chilled in the same space for nine months and we were inseparable growing up, but I can’t even compete with the love he feels for you. We all see it.”

Elli watched as the tears welled up in Grace’s eyes.

“It’s taken a lot for me to accept the change, but change is good and if I have to give my brother away to anyone, it would be you.”

Elli and Grace stared into each other’s eyes, complete understanding passing through them before they were irrupted by Jenna bawling.

“Oh my God, Mom! You are so damn emotional! That’s where Shea gets it. I’m like Dad, thank God!” Grace said with a grin for Elli before standing up and leaving the kitchen.

“Grace! Shut your mouth. I swear, she should have been the guy, while Shea should have been the girl,” Jenna said as she dried her tears.

Thank God that didn’t happen. Elli loved Shea the way he was and she didn’t want him to change at all.

Crabby butt and all.

When Elli reached the bedroom, Shea was laying on his back, watching TV. He smiled at her, turning the TV down as she crawled into bed beside him.

“Why didn’t you come down if you were awake?”

Shea smiled, wrapping his arm around her, “I didn’t want to interrupt your time with my mom and sister.”

“Oh. I’m glad, I learned a lot about you.”

He laughed, “Should I be scared?”

“I don’t know. Does the fact that they told me about Alyson Jacobs scare you?”

When Shea’s face went white, Elli had to bite her lip so she didn’t start laughing.

“What did they say?”

Elli couldn’t help it, she had to. She smiled before saying, “Nothing much, but Shea?”

“Yeah?” he asked wearily as she smirked up at him.

“I’ll never break your heart. I’ll never make you cry,” she continued to sing the chorus of the well known Backstreet Boys song as Shea turned beet red with embarrassment.

“Grace, I swear I’m going to kill you!” Shea yelled.

When Elli heard Grace giggle, she smiled.

“Leave her alone,” Elli said, nuzzling her nose against his jaw.

“I can’t believe they told you about that.”

“It was good to know, you know about all my stuff.”

“Whatever.”

Shea turned the TV back up, watching the highlights from the Assassins game. The guys had won, which was great. They were having a great season, and Elli couldn’t wait to see Shea out there again. They finished watching all the highlights before turning off the TV and getting ready for bed. They would be leaving in the next couple of days, which saddened Elli. But she was ready to get back, to start looking for houses and she needed to go to the office. She hadn’t been in weeks.

With the lights off, cuddled up against Shea, Elli felt complete. Shea moved his hand along her hip, up her back to her hair, where he moved his fingers through her hair. Elli sat up slowly, to look down at him. With only the moon as the light, she slowly blinked as she brought her hand up to his face. Shea gave her a small smile, squeezing her hip in his hand.

“I’m so glad I met you, Shea.”

His smiled remained as he said, “I’m glad I met you too, baby.”

She smiled shyly, moving her thumb up and down his cheek. He leaned into her hand, closing his eyes as she continued to move her fingers along his exquisite jaw.

“Shea?”

“Yeah?” he asked, opening his eyes. She took a deep breath, swallowing hard as her eyes watered with tears.

“I love you.”

His eyes went wide before a slow grin went across his face.

“You do?”