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Kentucky weather was confusing. Three days ago, AJ had been sweating his ass off hauling furniture in the blazing October sun. Today, he was in long sleeves and fighting to ignore the slight chill that hung in the air; talk about a short-lived Indian summer.

“I don’t remember there being so many boxes when I was packing them.” Brian mumbled. He pushed up the sleeves of his hooded sweatshirt and sighed.

AJ turned around and surveyed the pile of cardboard boxes that still needed to be flattened and bound together. They had been working on the task for over forty-five minutes and they had only managed to create three piles. Judging by the mess on Brian’s lawn, they could easily make another four or five piles.

“We’re almost at the end.” AJ lied. “What time are Peggy and Kayla supposed to show up?”

“They never said.” Brian shrugged. He pulled apart the bottom of another box and added it to the pile at AJ’s feel. “At least the inside of the house is finally put together.”

“I think that I even saw Nick dusting.” AJ laughed. “Who the hell knew that he was so domesticated?”

“Dad!”

AJ and Brian turned their attention to Baylee who was standing on the front porch.

Baylee stared back at them in disdain, his hands shoved into the front pocket of his Atlanta Falcons sweatshirt. “I’m bored.”

“God help me.” Brian rolled his eyes at AJ before he addressed his son. “Maybe if you helped out, you wouldn’t be so bored.”

“What you guys are doing is boring.” Baylee whined. “I don’t want to help Uncle Howie vacuum.”

“Sometimes we all have to do things that we don’t want to do.” Brian retorted. He roughly disassembled another box as he spoke. “You could help us with these boxes.”

Baylee narrowed his eyes in defiance. “That’s even worse than vacuuming.”

“You have two choices, kid, pick one.” AJ shot back. “Your dad is asking you to help out.”

“I know what he’s asking me to do.” Baylee snapped. “I’m telling you guys that I’m bored and that I want to do something fun.” He sat down on the porch and pointed his eyes at AJ, practically daring him to say something else.

“Bay, this is really not the best time to sulk.” Brian forced himself to keep the anger out of his voice. “Ms. Peach and Ms. Ford will be here any minute and we really have to make sure that everything is done. It would also be nice if you spoke to them this time; to show them that you have some manners.”

“Heyyyy y’all! You guys almost all unpacked?”

AJ pulled his gaze away from Baylee’s sullen expression and turned to face the street. Two highly attractive men were strolling along the sidewalk in their direction. They were both tall and blonde; their fitted sweaters accentuating the fact that they were well built. AJ had a feeling that he and Brian were about to meet Chris and Shane.

“Which one of y’all just moved in to this big ole house? Lorna and Ralph gave us a very non-descript explanation of the new owner.” One of the men giggled as they came to a stop in front of Brian and AJ.

“That would be me. I’m Brian.” Brian identified himself. “This is my friend, Alex.”

AJ suppressed a smirk as he reached out to shake hands with the two men. The fact that Brian had placed extra emphasis on the word ‘friend’ hadn’t gone unnoticed.

“Pleased to meet ya both. I’m Shane and this is my husband Chris.” The slightly taller of the two men explained.

“You don’t go by AJ in public?” Chris commented as he shook AJ’s hand. “That’s a shame.”

“Well I – I do – I mean – I usually go by it.” AJ stuttered. He looked to Brian for support. He knew that his friend was trying to keep a low profile in his new neighbourhood, which is why he had chosen to introduce him by his given name as opposed to his highly publicized nickname.

“You know who we are then?” Brian cut straight to the chase. He eyed the two men warily. “I was kind of hoping that I would be able to blend into the neighbourhood without too much fuss.”

“Of course we know who y’all are!” Shane gushed. “We’re in our mid-thirties. Y’all practically defined our generation in terms of the boy band craze.”

“Well that’s very ... flattering.” Brian paused. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy that you know our music. I’m just a bit concerned about attracting attention to myself.”

“Oh, you don’t have to worry about that around here.” Chris waved his hand dismissively. “It’s a really quiet street, and people tend to keep to themselves. You’ll be hard pressed to find anybody who has the time to gossip. Most everybody works all the time anyways. Those who don’t work twelve hours a day are retired and, like Lorna and Ralph, wouldn’t know you from a hole in the ground.”

“Really?” AJ raised his eyebrows in surprise. “What do you guys do? It must be something flexible if you’re wandering the streets on a Monday afternoon.”

“I’m in investment banking and Chris is in corporate sales.” Shane replied rather vaguely. “Nothing as glamorous as being a Backstreet Boy, but it pays the bills and allows us to work from home on occasion.”

“So, are there many kids on the street?” Brian nodded his head in Baylee’s direction. “My son and I just relocated from Atlanta and I was hoping that he would be able to make some friends in the neighbourhood.”

“There are a few around his age.” Chris affirmed. “How old is he? Eleven?”

“Good guess.” Brian nodded. “He’ll be eleven in just over a month.”

“It was hardly a guess.” Chris laughed. “I have an eleven year old son, myself. I can spot a pre-teen scowl a mile away.”

“You guys adopted a baby?” AJ nodded approvingly. “That’s pretty amazing.”

“I wish.” Chris breathed. “We’ve been on an adoption list for over three years now, but we still haven’t been chosen. Michael is my son from my first marriage. I was finally granted sole custody after my ex-wife had a minor mental breakdown and checked herself into a psychiatric facility in Mississippi.”

“God, that was an ordeal.” Shane lamented. “I think we had C.P.S. at our door every other day when we were fighting for custody. You would not believe how prejudice some people still are towards same-sex couples who want to parent.”

“They still follow-up with us twice a year.” Chris shook his head. “The system is unbelievable.”

“You’re telling us.” AJ agreed. “Brian had a nasty run-in with them just a few days ago.”

“With who?” Chris turned his full attention to Brian. “With C.P.S.?”

“Yeah.” Brian sighed. He shot AJ a look that clearly indicated that he was pissed off that his personal business had become public knowledge. “It’s just some nonsense to do with my ex-wife. They're actually supposed to be following up with me today.”

Chris and Shane exchanged a knowing glance. “Who’s assigned to your file?” Shane asked. “Is it Peaches and Cinnamon? They’re the ones who follow-up with us twice a year.”

“Peaches and Cinnamon?” Brian repeated. He wasn’t sure if he had heard them correctly. “Their names were Peggy and Kayla.”

“Exactly!” Shane grinned. “Peggy Peach and Kayla Ford. We call Peggy ‘Peaches’ because of her last name and we call Kayla ‘Cinnamon’ because of her hair.”

“It sounds like a dessert.” AJ stated. “From what I saw on Friday night, Peggy was definitely not sweet enough to be named after a dessert.”

“Peggy is a bit rough around the edges.” Shane admitted. “She’s very by-the-book, but Kayla is a total sweetheart.”

Chris nodded in agreement. “Kayla’s new and, from what we understand, Peggy is training her to take over her caseload.”

“Just make sure that you can answer all of the big questions.” Shane advised. “You know what I mean, stuff related to healthcare, school, holidays.”

“Speaking of school, have you enrolled your son yet?” Chris asked. “I’m assuming that he’s going to be attending Sparrow Hill. It’s the same school that Mike goes to. I bet that they’ll end up being in the same class.”

“School?” Brian gave AJ a frantic look as if he was hoping that he would somehow be able to answer the question for him. “Baylee has always been homeschooled. I’m on the road so often that a traditional classroom setting has never been feasible.”

“Oh.” Chris looked a bit unsure of how to proceed. “So, have you arranged a homeschool teacher – tutor – whatever you call it?”

“No ...” The panic was creeping into Brian’s voice and AJ was pretty sure that his southern friend as on the verge of a breakdown. “I hadn’t even given it a thought. Leighanne always arranged Baylee’s schooling. His teacher in Atlanta was a friend of hers ...”

“It’s okay, calm down.” Chris soothed. “If they ask you about it today, just tell them that you’re planning on enrolling him at Sparrow Hill first thing tomorrow. They won’t even think twice about it and you will have sorted out the whole homeschool thing by the time they even think to follow-up.”

“You think that will work?” Brian asked. He still looked a bit panic stricken.

“Of course it will work.” AJ confirmed. “Kayla and Peachy Peggles will never even know the difference until it’s too late.”

“It’s Peggy, AJ.” Brian corrected. “Peggy Peach.”

“Speaking of everyone’s favourite dessert ...” Shane tilted his head in the direction of the driveway. “... Peaches and Cinnamon have arrived.”