Later that afternoon, Noelle watched as Jackie finally put the turkey into her large, double oven. She leaned over the sink and washed away the remnants of the dinner that she had helped Jackie to prepare. As she dried her now clean hands, Noelle inhaled deeply, taking in all of the scents of the big meal that Jackie was cooking for ‘her’ Boys. The food smelled so amazing that Noelle’s mouth was starting to water.

“They are all going to fall to their knees when they walk in,” Noelle said laughingly as she walked around the island counter and took a seat on one of the stools that were positioned there. “You’re a saint to do this for them.”

Jackie smiled and shook her head slowly. Noelle noticed that she had the same squinty eyes as Brian. They even wrinkled in the corners when she smiled like his did.

“I’m no saint,” Jackie replied humbly. “Those kids have been through a lot and I like to do my part to show that they’re loved. Alex has spent many a holiday here, you know.”

Noelle couldn’t help but to smile even though it was sad that her brother thought that he couldn’t spend the holidays with her and their father if Denise wasn’t going to be around.

“It’s funny to hear you call him Alex,” Noelle responded. “Even my dad has taken to calling him AJ.”

“I’ve always called him Alex,” Jackie said with a shrug. “Sometimes, I think he needs to be reminded of the boy he was before ‘AJ’.”

Noelle nodded slowly, agreeing. “Yeah, I never really knew AJ until recently. I’ve always known Alex. I like AJ, but I love Alex.”

Jackie smiled and walked around the counter to take a seat next to Noelle. “So, Brian says that you’re in medical school, taking a break right now?”

Noelle nodded slowly. She wasn’t about to regale Brian’s mother with the stories of her affair. It all felt like a different life. It was one thing for Brian and Alex to know, it was another to tell Brian’s mother. “Yeah, I was at the University of Florida, but I’m looking into other options at the moment.”

“What kind of doctor do you want to be?” Jackie continued, interestedly.

Noelle was different than the girls she had been used to Brian dating before he married Leighanne. Physically, she was younger than he was and had darker features than Brian usually preferred; mentally she was smart and had aspirations and goals other than simply being a trophy wife or famous for being with a celebrity. Jackie decided early on that she liked Noelle.

“I want to specialize in obstetrics and fertility,” Noelle answered. “I really want to do research. My goals started when I was young. My mom wanted another baby and it just wasn’t happening. This was the very beginning of when people were starting to use IVF and all of that. She tried everything and it was devastating for her. She never got her baby.

“Seeing how upset she was when I was a teenager was sad for me. You don’t want your parents to be upset. It’s really unsettling. I’m older now and realize that sometimes it’s not meant to be, but if there’s a chance I want to help make it happen. There’s more to OB than that too, of course. It’s about recognizing birth defects and reasons for miscarriages and finding ways to help birth more happy, healthy babies.”

“You should like you must want a gaggle of children,” Jackie followed-up, smiling. She always wanted grandchildren, but there had never been a right time with Brian and Leighanne, and Harry couldn’t get it together to stay committed for long enough.

Noelle blanched at the question. She did want kids, but she and Brian had only been together for six months. They had never even really spoken about the future.

“Someday,” Noelle finally responded. “I’d love to have kids.”

“So, what comes next?” Jackie continued. “For you and my son. You love each other?”

“Very much,” Noelle answered without hesitation. This conversation was taking the turn that she’d been waiting for all afternoon.

“So, after you’re out of the safety bubble of the tour,” Jackie probed. “What comes next?”

Noelle shook her head slowly. “I really don’t know, I guess. We haven’t really talked about it.”

Jackie reached out and grabbed the top of Noelle’s hand comfortingly. “I don’t mean to make you uncomfortable, Sweetheart. Things are easy right now, or at least, they’re as easy as they can be. What happens next? When Brian has to finish his business in Atlanta and you have to figure out what you’re going to do with medical school?”

“I’ve thought a lot about it,” Noelle answered slowly. “But honestly, I don’t know. I just know that I don’t want to be in the middle of someone’s divorce.”

Noelle paused and thought over how she was going to say what she wanted to say. Jackie watched the wheels in Noelle’s head as they spun. She stayed silent, knowing that Noelle needed some time to think.

After a second, Noelle continued, “Look, if Brian and Leighanne are meant to be together, then by all means I want them to be together. I don’t want to stand in the way if they want to work things out, but at the same time, if things aren’t meant to be—which is what it’s looking like—then I’m proud to say that Brian chose me to spend his time with whether it’s for now or forever. I’m completely in love with your son and I wouldn’t want it any other way.”

Jackie smiled at Noelle’s honesty. Jackie loved Leighanne. She had been a part of the family for many years, but now that Jackie saw the look on her son’s face when he introduced Noelle and heard the happiness that was back in his voice, she understood just how truly unhappy he had been and it broke her heart. Walking away from his marriage hadn’t been easy for Brian, it probably still wasn’t. Jackie was starting to realize that maybe Noelle was the light at the end of a very long and dark tunnel that Brian had living in. Brian was different with Noelle, and Jackie couldn’t help but to wonder—even if she was jumping the gun—if Noelle was the real ‘one’ for her son.

“Sweetheart,” Jackie started slowly, “if you continue to make Brian as happy as you’ve been making him, then I won’t want it any other way either.”

Noelle looked up and smiled. Embarrassingly, there were emotional tears brimming in her eyes. Brian brought out so much feeling out of her, that sometimes she couldn’t help the tears that flooded, even though they appeared for no apparent reason.

“Thank you,” Noelle whispered as she blinked away the water in her eyes with a laugh. “I’m such a baby.”

Jackie laughed and patted Noelle’s knee. “You’re not a baby. You’re in love. Now, come on. We need to finish this dinner before the stampede comes bursting through those doors.”

Noelle happily rose from her seat and helped Jackie finish making dinner for all of the loves of her life.

***

Later that night, Brian sat back in his chair at the dinner table and watched the scene unfold around him. Forks were still clinking against dinner plates as some of the guests finished their second or third helping of their favorite Mama Littrell treat. Everyone was smiling as they regaled his mother and each other with the happenings in their lives.

Brian’s brother, Harry, talked about some Star Wars spoof movie that he was acting in.

Nick talked about his new girlfriend, Lauren. Apparently, she was a keeper.

Howie and his wife, Leigh, talked about their baby, James’, first crawl through the tour bus.

AJ talked about the adventures of recording his new solo album. He had written a new song called ‘Sincerely Yours’ about his and Noelle’s father. Brian felt Noelle shift uncomfortably in the seat next to him and changed the subject to another one of AJ’s other songs, ‘London’. It was a song he was trying to get AJ to let the Backstreet Boys record. So far, it wasn’t happening and it was probably for the best.

Lazily, he slung an arm around the backside of Noelle’s chair. She looked over and smiled brightly. Brian wanted to kiss her so badly, but realized there was only so much that this group could take.

Instead, Brian nodded my head towards the kitchen, silently asking Noelle to join him. Noelle nodded, understanding the signal.

Just as Brian stood to make his exit, Harold decided to speak up, “So Noelle, you go to the University of Florida?”

Noelle nodded slowly and wiped at the corners of her mouth with her napkin. “Kind of, yeah.”

“So, do you know Tim Tebow?” Harry continued.

Brian could only shake his head, laughingly. Harry was a big college football fan. He was no fan of Tebow and he was about to let Noelle know that. Brian decided to take the time to leave the room anyway. Noelle would follow when she could. Brian squeezed her shoulder and walked toward the kitchen.

Noelle’s laugh trailed behind him as she answered, “No, I don’t know Tim Tebow. I’ve seen him around campus, but it’s not like I’ve ever spoken to him or anything.”

“I hate that guy,” Harry continued without a beat, shaking his head.

“How can you hate him?” Noelle answered. “He seems like a perfectly good guy. Just because your team can’t find a way to beat him, Kentucky.”

“You better be careful, Newbie,” Brian’s father broke into the conversation with a laugh. “Those are fighting words.”

“He can’t be so saintly. There has to be something wrong with the guy,” Harry continued to argue.

“Backstreet Boys fans say the same thing about your brother,” Nick chimed in.

“Exactly,” Noelle agreed. “Thank you, Nick.”

“Anytime,” Nick replied. He just wanted to fuel the argument. He didn’t care about college football one way or the other. He was a Bucs fan.

“Maybe we should just agree to disagree,” Harry replied with a laugh and a slight shake of the head. He didn’t want to get into all the ways his brother had been un-saintly when they were growing up, not with his mother and father in the room.

“Maybe so,” Noelle answered. “I guess we’ll see when they play in a couple of weeks, won’t we?”

“I guess we will,” Brian’s father piped in. He liked Noelle. She was a girl’s girl, but she was a guy’s girl too. It was weird seeing Brian with someone else after so many years, but it was quickly becoming easier.

As the conversation moved on, Noelle excused herself from the table and followed the same path that Brian had just taken toward the kitchen. She walked through the swinging kitchen door, but didn’t see him.

“Brian?” Noelle called out.

“I’m out here,” she heard Brian reply.

Noelle turned toward Brian’s voice and noticed that the back door was slightly opened. Brian was standing outside enjoying the country air. He smiled when he saw Noelle. Immediately, he reached out, pulled her into his arms and kissed her softly.

“Hey,” he said when he pulled away.

“Hey,” Noelle whispered back into the darkness.

“It looks like you and Mom hit it off today,” Brian said as she pulled Noelle over to the porch swing.

“I’m completely in love with your mom,” Noelle replied with a smile.

“Good,” Brian answered, “because I think that she’s completely in love with you too.”

“She brought up an interesting point though,” Noelle continued. She was nervous about broaching the subject with Brian, but realized that it needed to be spoken about.

“What’s that?” Brian asked, interestedly.

“She asked what comes next. After the tour, what happens?” Noelle sighed softly. “I mean, you have to get divorced. I’m going to be looking for medical schools. Where does that leave us?”

Brian thought for a minute. He hadn’t realized that this was something that he and Noelle had never spoken about. The tour was ending in December, but that was getting closer and closer.

“Well,” Brian started. “Where do you want to go to school?”

Noelle shrugged. “I don’t know. I was thinking another school in Florida. At this point, where ever I can get in. Where do you want to live when all is said and done?”

Brian sighed. He had been thinking a lot about that. He wanted to live where ever Noelle was going to be, but if she ended up in the middle of the country somewhere, that might be a little difficult with his schedule.

“I have a house in LA. I was thinking about living there. I could handle Florida though, if that’s where you’re going to school. I used to live in Florida. I could also handle Georgia, of course, if you end up there. New York. Tennessee,” Brian trailed off and looked down. He didn’t want Noelle to pick a medical school based on him, but he hoped that he was at least part of the equation. When he looked back up, Noelle was smiling.

“I could live in LA. Alex lives there. I could handle Georgia…” Noelle thought for a second, and then sighed playfully. “I could handle Tennessee or New York if I had to, but of course that goes back to that whole cold thing.”

Brian laughed and laced his fingers through Noelle’s. “So, we’re going to do this then? Move somewhere together. Live in the same house, even?”

Noelle laughed softly. “I guess we are.”

Brian smiled and kissed Noelle passionately. He was glad that they’d had this conversation and hadn’t made any assumptions that would further complicate things.

They were interrupted when Nick came bursting through the backdoor followed by AJ and Harry.

“Get your tongue out of Noelle’s mouth, B,” Nick yelled without any kind of filter. “Harry and AJ claim that they can whoop us in a game of basketball. We need to remind them who’s the boss around here.”

Brian glanced at Noelle somewhat pleadingly.

Noelle laughed softly. “What are you waiting for?”

With another peck, he jumped up and was already talking smack talk to their brothers as he jogged off behind them. Noelle shook her head.

Men, she thought to herself, one minute you’re talking about the future and the next they’re using ungentlemanly words to describe their best friends.

Noelle jumped when Jackie plopped down on the bench next to her. Harold Sr. and Howie were at the makeshift court playing referee for the bunch of potential cheaters and Leigh stayed inside to feed James.

Jackie wrapped her arm around Noelle’s shoulders. “You’re sure that you wouldn’t want it any other way?” Jackie quipped.

Noelle smiled and leaned her head against Jackie’s. “I’m absolutely positive.”