'He asked outright?' Micah said.

They nodded.

'You haven't met him yet,' Beth said. 'He's a very serious kid and he'll ask anything if he wants to know. He's like a walking social disaster.'

'He was a serious kid even at four when I saw him last.'

'Hawthorne knows we have one bedroom, but he won't ask outright. He'll just accept it and not ask any questions that he doesn't want to know the answer to,' Ty said.

'Were you all a couple back when Hawthorne and Twain were little?' Micah asked.

'We'd started working on that by the time Twain was four,' Ty said.

'So, while I was still around?'

'Yes,' Ty said.

Micah looked at Jerry. 'We both missed it.'

'Yeah, but at least you've been gone for ten years. This was all happening under my nose.'

'The divorce kept you pretty occupied, big brother,' Beth said.

Micah's hand tensed in mine. I think it was her calling him big brother. I wondered if that was a nickname she'd only used for him once? 'I'm sorry that you and Kelsey didn't work out.'

'You never liked her,' Jerry said.

'I wouldn't say never, but by the time you were in college, no. I didn't like her.'

'Why didn't you like her?' he asked.

'It's old news,' Micah said, 'and you divorced her, so it doesn't matter.'

Jerry looked down at his clasped hands, let out a long breath, and asked, 'Did she try to sleep with you?'

Micah's hand tensed in mine again, though nothing else showed his sudden tension. 'It was a long time ago.'

Jerry shook his head. 'Why didn't you tell me, Mike?'

'You were in love with her, and I didn't think she'd approach anyone else. She was a little drunk and it happens.'

'No,' Jerry said, 'even a little drunk, your fiancee does not proposition your brother.'

'I agree with Jerry,' I said.

'You asked me like I wasn't the only one she tried to sleep with; I honestly thought that she wouldn't try for anyone else.'

'Why?' Jerry asked.

Micah hesitated. 'She had a particular ... interest, um ...'

'Fetish, you mean,' Jerry said.

Micah nodded. 'Yes.'

Nathaniel and I must have looked puzzled, because Jerry said, 'Everyone else knows that Kelsey was a fur-fucker, beastlover, whatever.'

'She approached you after you became a wereleopard?' I said.

Micah nodded. 'I honestly thought it was just a onetime fantasy and when I said no, she'd let it go.'

'Nope,' Jerry said, 'she's actually living with the local werewolf pack and getting all the furry attention she wants.'

'I'm sorry, little brother,' Micah said.

Jerry nodded, staring at his hands. 'I can't compete with ... you know how it is better than I do. Kelsey said no human man could compare.'

'I'm surprised she didn't ask you to join the team,' I said.

'She did, but by that time I knew that even if I were a shapeshifter my attentions would never be enough. There's something broken inside her that isn't fixable.'

'I'm sorry,' Nathaniel said.

Jerry looked at him and at him holding hands with both of us. 'It really bothered me when I found out that Dad was a "couple" with Mom and Ty. I didn't like the idea of my dad sharing a bed with another man.'

'Jerry,' Bea said, as if he'd said something rude.

'Are you ashamed of it?' he asked.

'No,' she said.

Jerry looked at Ty.

Ty said, 'No.'

'Then it bothered me when I realized you all shared a bed.' He looked at us again. 'How long have you three been ... together?'

'Almost three years,' Micah said.

'Mom, Dad, and Ty have been together for double that. I'm the only one who tried for traditional, and by two years in I knew it wasn't going to work. Maybe I need to find a nice couple to settle down with.'

'Janet is a good person,' Beth said.

'I thought Kelsey was a good person, too.'

'Kelsey always noticed other men at parties and stuff.'

'Why didn't you tell me?' Jerry asked.