Page 62 of Pieces Into Place

A deep laugh rumbles from Marcus’s chest as he hands the baby to James and meets his daughter’s gaze.

“It’s OK, Iris,” he says soothingly. “We have an entire bag of snowman penises in the house.”

“Marcus!” James scolds. “We have plenty of carrots inside that we can use for the snowman’s nose, Squirrel,“ she tells Iris.

Iris shakes her head. “But the ratio of carrot length to the snowman’s body makes it more fitting for his penis,” she replies seriously.

“Stop talking about the snowman’s penis, Iris,” Orion, Callan’s oldest child, chimes in. “It’s rude.”

“Mind your own business, Orion!” Iris exclaims.

Orion erupts in laughter as he points to Annie, who has been nonchalantly gnawing on the bright orange carrot, pieces of it flying out her mouth like wood from a chipper.

Startled by the abrupt disruption, she halts her munching and cocks her head to the side inquisitively, before continuing with her snack. The snowflakes that blanket the surrounding area are showered with tiny pieces of orange pulp. It’s a vegetable bloodbath.

As Orion continues to laugh uncontrollably, Callan speaks up with a suggestion for peace.

“Maybe we all just calm down about the whole...carrot penis thing?”

Callan’s wife, Colby, shoots him an exasperated glance before turning back to their son. “Stop calling it a carrot penis!” Which only makes Orion laugh harder.

I look around at this group of people who have known one another most of their lives. The men still resemble the photos I’ve seen of their younger selves. Marcus wears his blond hair the same. His eyes are still bright blue with flecks of green glittering in them even though he’s older. They crinkle around the edges when he smiles.

Callan also resembles his younger self, with a more carefree smile now and a brightness in his green eyes only true happiness can exude. I watch as Kane interacts and smiles at them reflexively, caught up in the warmth of being with old friends again.

Callan, Colby, and their son Orion, stand to my left, with their beautiful baby daughter perched happily in Callan’s arms. Orion is a carbon copy of his father in appearance with the same brown hair and green eyes, though his facial features mirror more of his mother’s appearance. They are such a beautiful family. Their love story is one that anyone would cheer for: childhood best friends that had lost touch, only to find one another later and rekindle their relationship into something special. It’s about to become even more special for them, as Colby told us just this morning that she’s pregnant with baby number three. Her face glows with new life as she watches Orion and Iris interact.

Iris stands next to Orion, her slightly younger cousin and best friend. They argue like siblings, but they don’t hate each other. It’s a gentle banter, full of love. I hope that it stays this way for them as they grow into adulthood.

Marcus and James share their own sweet story. They are newlyweds. After fighting their attraction for years, they finally got out of their own way and gave in to their desires. After a period of trials and tribulations, they were able to overcome their obstacles and become an inseparable couple and are raising Iris together with lots of laughter and hugs thrown in daily for good measure.

The one outlier is me. I’ve only come into their lives in the last few years. Yet, when I look around, I don’t feel like an outsider.

For the first time since I was thirteen, I have a family. Everyone here treats me like I’ve been around from the beginning. No one has ever leveled judgment upon me or my past.

It’s easy to see why Kane has been friends with these men for so long. Their personalities both compliment and challenge one another.

Callan is a lot like Kane, but more serious and often gets lost in his own thoughts. He’s a thinker and often very sensitive. Of everyone, I have been surprised by the depth of my friendship with Callan. His quiet nature blends seamlessly with my quirkiness. We’ve spent many nights exploring complex conversations about life and loss. He lost his brother, Nolan, to cancer when he was just a teenager. Callan is a spiritual man, and his perspective on death has given me solace. Death no longer seems so frightening; instead, it has become a reminder that the souls of our loved ones live on through us. It was a comfort I hadn’t expected.

Marcus is the fun one. He always has to have something exciting going on, whether it’s a plan or a prank. He’s full of life and incredibly intelligent with an almost child-like sense of wonder about him. He’s the person you seek out when you need anything. He’s always ready to lend a hand in any way possible. All Marcus wants in life is to see people happy, and have a good time.

And my bodyguard, Kane. Well he’s as strong and stoic as ever. Kane is a massive, immovable figure who has been by my side for the past few years. It took time to earn his trust, but when I did, I found that Kane is a hopeless romantic. Every day he shows me with small acts of love, from sending me notes in the morning to leaving sweet little presents around the house. I am privileged that he protects me. I do everything I can to protect him and his heart, in return.

There are three things that bind these men together in a brotherhood: loyalty, love, and family. That loyalty is how we came to move back to Sierra Falls.

After what happened in the mountains, Kane and I returned to the city. I had nothing left but a coffee mug after Profaci’s men burned my apartment building to ash and took everything of value from it. The insurance covered the cost of replacing some of its contents, but not the rest of my worldly possessions.

As much as I loved living there, it wasn’t a life I could live with only myself to depend on anymore. After speaking with Dante about my situation, he offered to buy me a new house and set me up for life.

I appreciated my brother’s offer, but wanted nothing to do with the lifestyle he chose. He understood and promised he would always be there if we needed anything, but I knew I wouldn’t because I had Kane.

I moved into Kane’s house on a temporary basis. He asked me to stay forever, but I was hesitant at first. He tried to replace my lost coffee mugs. The closest he could find was one with a different heart, and it was inscribed with the words “Cup of Joe,” instead of “Cup of Love”... He had presented it to me with his dick in the mug saying his dick was named “Joe.” Needless to say, temporary became permanent after that. Once you name something, it becomes yours. Three months became six, and six months quickly became a year; the best year of my life.

During those first few months, while Kane worked with Henry, I returned to work and tried to create savings on my small salary. Annie and I became best friends, and I was never lonely after that. Kane and Annie became my everything. It is hard for me to consider what I was doing before Kane came along as living.

We were learning to be the new versions of ourselves along with how to be a couple. After about two years, Henry announced that he, the missus, and Taco would be retiring.

Kane bought the business with a substantial investment from Marcus, who never blinked an eye. As a mostly silent partner, Marcus asked for very little in return of his investment. He did gently suggest we move the business closer to home to be near family, and in the end, it was a wonderful decision. Marcus, being the businessman he is, is typically correct about these types of decisions.