Seeing Evan standing there with a woman who must be Ramona by his side who he was giving such comforting look at the moment was ethereal. Seeing how protectively Ramona was cradling Julius as Evan's baby boy wiggled in the baby carrier.

It's been long months since he had been away from Boston. My brother had apparently thought that running away from his dead wife's memories would be enough to erase all his pain and grief, just like once I had. But right now, witnessing the frown on his forehead, that haunted look - were the proofs that things needed to be sorted out differently. Facing the problem was the cure, and clearly, trying to forget was not an option.

I was so lost in thoughts watching Evan and Ramona interact as a couple who cared for each other so much, who loved each other so much, that I didn't notice when Sarah and Sammy began running towards them - leaving me with the bodyguards behind. When two of the guards began running after them I finally came out of my thoughts.

"Sarah, Sammy..." Screaming, I too sprinted after the twins.

Making their bodyguards chase and sweat was a type of game to them. I knew the kids hated being watched day and night, I don't like it too. But I understood it too why Brandan was doing this, why he had swarmed us with so much security twenty four hours. Loose villains like Jonathon hot on trail was to be blamed apparently, and I got to know it just now after getting the news of Jonathon working his mafia magic and going after Evan through Ramona's ex-boyfriend - the abusive psycho bastard.

Sarah and Sammy were nearly jumping in joy seeing Julius. Julius had grown up a lot, I noticed as I neared them. Julius too was violently thrashing in joy at the sight of Sarah and Sammy. Ramona whispered something in the kid's ear and he visibly calmed down. It seemed like the motherless boy had been not so much motherless anymore.

I couldn't help but engulf Ramona into a massive hug as I stopped in front of the lovely woman who seemed to holding my brother's heart.

"You must be Ramona, I've heard so much about you." I said panting for breath.

Dropping a kiss on Julius's head I released the poor girl who looked beyond shocked. Now about my kids - swinging around I faced Sarah and Sammy while making sure to give them a very stern look. "And you two. What did I tell you yesterday about running off like that?"

The kids had utter innocence written all over their faces as I reprimanded them but unlike Brandan I didn't fall for that.

"Emma." I tuned around as Evan took my name and I didn't hesitate wrap my arms around his waist as he hugged me.

This seemed surreal, this - seeing Evan so affectionate towards me, loving me like how a brother should. If seven years ago someone had told me that my brother would be like this one day, I would have laughed at their face and drown myself into my own tears afterwards.

Life is so unpredictable.

After Evan introduced me to Ramona, who seemed visibly so nervous. I couldn't help but smile at how Evan placed a hand on her lower back and trudged her forward. It was utterly adorable how my brother acted around this woman who was beautiful from the inside as well from the outside.

As we got inside the awaiting car outside the airport. I spoke with adoration and excitement. "Oh... you're going to be one of my bridesmaid, Ramona. And don't forget to make me one of yours in your wedding. I hope Evan and you'll get married in Hawaii too, it's a very romantic place."

The sideway glance Ramona gave Evan hadn't gone unnoticed by me. And how Evan stiffened at the name of marriage was a sight that made my heart fall. That said everything. Evan couldn't be thinking of keeping Ramona as some f***toy while suppressing his affections for her for the rest of his life! The poor girl would wither in pain. Ramona's grief stricken eyes screamed how much she wanted a future with my brother.

I needed to do something for these two, I thought twisting my engagement ring round and round in my finger. A little push might be what they needed.

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Later that night I laid wide awake for a while in the bed after waking up from yet another nightmare of not finding the perfect dress for my beach wedding. Brandan's arms surrounded me in a protective cocoon, and his breath warming my neck was making me shiver in desire. Every single action of his never failed my mind, body and soul to react like this. Like I was seeking crazily for some water in the desert. I had always loved him, he was always the one for me, even when he was a rude, arrogant, stuck up bad boy of the college. But now, as I was living with him as his better half, I found myself falling for him more and more every day. Each new day and each single moment was made into a new memory as he showered me with affection, love and happiness.

"Emma..." Brandan groaned when I tried to remove his arm from my waist. "... go back to sleep, love."

I stilled to stare and smile at the sight of that adorable frown that formed on his forehead. Leaning down I placed a soft kiss on his forehead that immediately eased away the frown, he slipped off to slumber. And finally I could slither out of his hold.

Slipping on a robe as I walked down the hall, I became very aware of being sore all over, my legs still felt like jelly from the thorough love making we had just hours ago. Brandan was like a God in bed - the erotic, hardcore type of God in that case, just as always. I blushed all shades of red at the memories.

The dining room was dimly lit from the lights of street lamp that slipped in through the light curtains. I wasn't the only night owl wandering in the house, I found out. Ramona was bent over in front of the freeze and shuffling out maybe a bottle of water. Without a single sound I made myself comfortable in a chair and rested my elbows on the dining table. Ramona got quite a scare after turning around and seeing me there. I would have laughed at that and said gotcha - but the forlorn look in her eyes held me back.

"Can't sleep, you too? Jet lag or my brother?"

"Both." Was Ramona's answer. Dragging a chair she sat in front of me.

We talked for a while, about my reoccurring nightmares about my wedding dress and then we guffawed recalling Oliver and Elli's antics as he chased the poor girl across the city. Time went by. Soon the chuckles died down. The silence of midnight seemed cozy. And then I asked Ramona the question I already knew the answer of.

"You love him?"

Ramona stared absentmindedly at the bottle which was half filled with water. Her eyes snapped up to meet mine hearing me ask that. "I feel like he doesn't."

A cryptic answer, mere five words, they spoke of layers of complications, insecurities and an uncertain future.

I could empathize her, because I knew very well how love tested people. "Evan's not an easy person to love, Ramona. Especially when he's so stubborn to not move on, to hold onto memories and past that are no more. But I've heard all about you, Ramona. You're a strong person who've won battles of your own... battles that were so impossible to win. But you came out as the victorious."

"You're stronger that all the difficulties my brother has to offer. You guys will be alright." I said sincerely standing up.

'And I will slap rest of the things in Evan's stupid brain if needed to be.' I thought walking back to our bedroom leaving Ramona engrossed in her thoughts behind.

Walking through the door I didn't expect Colliding into Brandan and falling back on my ass. "Ouch!"

Chuckling in that deep, sexy tone of his, Brandan forwarded his hand to me. Gladly I placed my hand in his larger one and blushed almost colliding my nose on his black boxer. He was smirking as he yanked me up on my feet with just one hand. It's amusing how numerous time I'd seen him in his naked glory yet I still couldn't help but blush like virgin each time.

"Don't leave me like that, Emma." He complained with droopy eyes and I gulped at how hot he looked.

Playfully nipping his collarbone I drew out a growl from his chest and rewarded him with a smirk. "I'm not your prisoner."

"Oh... hell you are!" His smoldering eyes just promised how ready he was to prove that.

Round - what - four, I guess.

There's a reason why most couples are sleep deprived.

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Smiling, I dropped my purse on the bed. I shook my head at the sight of Brandan's trousers on the floor. It seemed like my man had been in a hurry for work. He had this annoying habit of throwing clothes in random directions when he was in a rush to get somewhere. Picking the trousers up I chuckled seeing his towel under the bed. Men!

The trip today to The Carla's Bridal had been a success. Thank goodness! I've got the perfect dress that would rock the beach wedding, and make the groom fall in love with me all over again - according to the girls and Martha. It was quite embarrassing when Martha began talking about the proper lingerie with me, apparently she had had a little too much champagne in the waiting room. The real chaos started though, when Oliver suddenly popped up from behind the mirror in Carla's scaring the hell out of us. Elli had been boiling while Ramona...

At the thought of Ramona I frowned. She had been looking more tensed, more worried than yesterday. I could say that she was trying to hide her inner turmoil for the sake of my happiness and others around us, but maybe she didn't herself know that her eyes always spoke volumes. Or was it me in stead being so masterful at understanding people's emotions?

"Mommy?"

Sarah's overly sugary tone made me raise a brow as I turned around. My daughter was wearing her blue shorts looking so cuddle worthy and giving me those puppy dog eyes. And as usual that tough nut son of mine was by her side, also looking at me quite expectantly. What now?

"Uh huh?" I signaled for them to continue.

Sarah fiddled with the edge of her little pink t-shirt and blinked. "Can we have a little brother like Julius?"

That made me raise both my brows now. A new addition to the family won't be too bad, but Brandan and I yet had to get married. I hated to break my kids' heart but they needed to understand that it was not the time.

Leaning down on my knees before Sarah and Sammy, I sighed. "Yes, maybe one day you'll have a little brother like him, but not now."

Sarah's lips formed a trembling frown, she looked like she was about to cry. "But why not now? Daddy has a lot of money, right? So why can't you guys buy a baby from the hospital?"

Sammy wiped his nose while the tell tale sign of a scowl began forming on his face. "Yeah, I heard they sell babies every season."

Okay, from where did they get such information? I contained the laugh that fought to burst out from deep within my belly. Kids! I made a mental note to have a talk with Brandan later tonight, we needed to give this kids a censor description about making babies and not buying them from anywhere.

"Listen, we'll talk about it after we come back from Hawaii, okay?" I tried convincing them.

But Sarah was already sniffling and Sammy tried his best to keep calm while taking Sarah's hand and stomping out of the room.

They're going to be raising tornadoes in their teenage years, I could already see it. Exhaling a loud breath, I stood up. Walking down the corridor I was about to search for my angry children but was shocked in stead when passing by the guest room Evan and Ramona were staying in.

Ramona's frustrated tone seeped out from the slightly ajar door. "I care about you, Evan."

"You don't need to..."

And how my brother snapped at her made me step nearer to the door.

"This is not something I can't not do, Evan. My feelings for you, my love for you can't be suppressed like that..."

There was absolute silence after that. And then, what I heard, made my bones chill in disbelief.

"Help me? Can you even help yourself? It's enough of a headache getting sick of thinking how to tell you that you're basically barren now, tell me, how would you help yourself now?..."

My brother tone which screamed back at Ramona, now trailed off in what I believe was realization.

I sidestepped and stayed unseen, just watching as Evan stormed off. Quick was my body to react as I too stormed after him. Somehow I could understand his turmoil, his visits to his old marital house was not hidden from me. Words spread faster when Oliver was around. Did I forget to mention that he was Brandan's right hand as well as his secret spy - on and off?

Turned out I was not as quick as Evan, his car flew out of the driveway like a bat out of hell. It had been a hell lot difficult to follow that stupid a**, but before losing him I had already gotten to know where he might be heading to. This road lead to the cemetery. The cemetery where Zess was resting in peace.

The sun was setting at the moment, and I had to bit back a curse when I had to pull over the car to respectfully receive a ticket for my speed. Oh... how I wanted to lash at the cop! Where the hell were they when just a while ago Evan had flown down this same damn road?

So it was not my fault when I reached the very quiet cemetery with my anger multiplied.

The jackass was sitting with a gloomy face on the lone bench that viewed his wife's gravestone.

No time was more proper than this moment here among the deads to slap some much needed sense into my older brother. And slap him was what I did.

He had stood up shocked seeing me and the slap across his face had wrung around the whole graveyard. I felt good. I hope Ramona slapped him too after he dragged his sorry behind back to her.

"Just because you're my older brother doesn't mean that I can't slap you."

"I deserve it." He had the gall to speak. Though I was glad that he had lowered his tone.

I bit out. "Yes, you do."

"Did you overhear it all?" Slouching down on the bench, he sighed.

Standing in the same place, I seethed in silence for a while, I still had the urge to grab his collar and slap him again but thought the better of it and plopped down beside him. "You were too loud barking those shit, Evan. So I'm sorry if I overheard. Barren! Seriously, Evan? Do you even know how insulting that word is to a woman? You were supposed to be her pillar in this harsh reality, not the one to break her like that. Do you even realize how much you've hurt that poor girl?"

Evan's voice croaked when he brought himself to speak up. "There was so much in my head... I wasn't thinking. It all came out the wrong way..."

"Doesn't make you any less of a jerk!" I snapped back before he could even finish. Those endless excuses weren't enough to justify what had already been said and done. It had been like this seven years back too, that time it was me receiving his shit and this time around, it was Ramona. Would this man ever change?

Dropping his head in his hands, he croaked. "I love her, Emma."

I scoffed at that. That was quite a way of expressing love.

"And I so want to embrace this love, this happiness... Ramona. But I feel so stuck." Evan continued. He was shaking at this point and was shockingly crying. "In all those romance novels, they see their loved ones' spirits in dreams, they talk to them and they've that closure even if it's in a place that's far from being real. But tell me why I don't get any? I'm sitting here in this graveyard, trying to feel Zess, desperately waiting for a sign she might give me; I was in my house before, Zess's scent was still there, moving her things in the closet just made everything worse. Where's that sign people talk about? Where is it?"

A long silence was what followed. Evan was more messed up it seemed. While other people could express their pain and grief and their confusion, complication... her brother was apparently not that masterful on the thing, it seemed. And she realized it now.

The breeze was getting colder by each passing second and I was slowly understanding the value of my coat that I always left home somehow, no matter how much Brandan reminded me of it.

"Did you use to have nightmares about Zess dying?" I asked in a calmer tone. I had seen Evan thrash on my living room sofa in the nights that followed after Zess died. He used to crash into my place with Julius often before he left the city - before he ran away from Zess's memories.

Evan just nodded silently. He looked tired and I couldn't help but feel sympathetic at his condition.

"Do you have them anymore?" I inquired again.

"No." He said in a gruff but defeated tone.

Looking away in the darkness, I sighed. I couldn't see anything though in the darkness. The slight light of a street light far away was making this place look creepier than when I stormed in. I tried gathering as much patience I could, he needed to be shown what had always been before his eyes. "Can't you see it? Even your heart has accepted now that Zess is no more. She's gone, Evan! And it's not wrong if you find happiness again, find love again. I won't start with the cheesy talk saying that Zess would want you to be happy and move on... because you've maybe heard it a thousand times from so many people already."

"Just remember that you're still alive Evan, and you already have fallen in love with someone. And I believe this is your closure. You're searching in vain for a closure you've gotten within yourself long ago. Can't you see? Zess's death was the end of your journey with her."

Evan's head snapped up, he shook head in negative with a bewildered look. "Then why do I feel like I'm cheating on Zess the moment I stepped feet in Boston. Why do I freaking always feel like I'm betraying Ramona and Zess at the same time? They say true love comes only once, then how it is possible that I love Ramona now... so so damn much when the love I felt for Zess once isn't a lie?"

Evan looked like he would bolt any moment, but I was here alright, and I would make sure to see the end of it all - right here, right now. Shifting in the bench I faced Evan, who was looking like no more a grown man but a confused child, so lost and searching for a way back home.