"He's a good guy," she said instead, and glanced over at her boyfriend fondly. Riley followed her glance, but he was more interested in the animated expression on Jack's face.

"Should I be worried?"

"What about?"

"About him and you and your money?" Riley winced again. Maybe it was a little too 'in your face'.

"He knows how much money I have in the bank, Riley, but he fell in love with me for me."

"Are you sure?"

"How can we ever be sure?"

"Did you get Jim to run a background check on him?" Riley narrowed his eyes as he saw Jack throw back his head and laugh loudly.

"I did," Eden started. "We couldn't find him in police databases, but his fingerprints were with the FBI, the CIA, and Interpol. His two alien abductions are on record as well." It took a few seconds to realize his sister was teasing him. When he did though, he cuffed her upside the head, and she rubbed the point with a muttered "ow".

"Just… he seems like a nice guy and Jack likes him. Is he… Has he… Jeez, are you two…"

"What?" She leaned in to him with a conspiratorial whisper. "Out doing the nasty?" Riley pulled back in horror.

"I meant are you serious about each other!" Riley was horrified. He really didn't want to think of his baby sister kissing, let alone sleeping with someone. Eden just laughed.

"Well, we haven't exchanged promise rings yet." She sniggered.

"Okay…" Now what did he say?

"The article was good." Thankfully she changed the subject, eliminating his desperate need to find something to say.

"Yes, it was."

"And it's been received well."

"We got invited to Ellen," Riley added.

"Really? Are you going to do it?" she asked curiously.

"No freaking way." Riley and Jack had taken one look at each other when the call came through and said the same thing. "We think it may just settle down now." Sean and Jack chose that moment to walk up to them, and Riley tried his hardest to be the kind, supportive brother as opposed to the "leave my sister alone" brother.

"Beth and Josh want a family chat," Jack said, and with a quick kiss to Riley's lips, he left. Riley watched him leave, caught between wanting to admire the man from the back and worrying about why Jack's siblings wanted a family chat when the fourth member of the family, Donna, was blissfully unaware of their leaving.

This didn't bode well.

* * * *

Jack found his brother and sister, heads close in conversation, outside in the yard. They moved apart quickly when he said "hi", and he narrowed his eyes at the guilt in their expressions.

"I'm not going to like this, am I?" He sighed. Josh and Beth exchanged glances.

"For the record," Josh began, "we know exactly what you're going to say, and we understand where you're coming from."

"Okay…" He took the proffered beer from Josh's hand and drank a third in two swallows. He imagined he might need the alcoholic support if his suspicions were correct and this was to do with his mom.

"Neil came to see me," Josh said. "He said that as the eldest—" He held up a hand to stop what Jack was about to say, "—he wanted to ask for my blessing because he's going to ask Mom to marry him. He wants you and Beth to do the same thing, so it is all of us."

Jack shifted uncomfortably under their expectant looks. Neil was a good guy, an excellent vet, and he'd done so much with Taylors. He was a career man, with a large house, and it appeared he had money in the bank. His mom was smitten, and Neil was good to her, good with her. It was just the damn twenty-year age gap and the fact that Neil was young enough to be Jack's brother. The thing was Jack had taken on the responsibility of the D and, part of that, was watching out for his mom. He hadn't gone to college like Josh, and Beth was someone who needed care and wasn't able to support as much as she wanted. Which just left him. Maybe he should try and explain he just needed time to adjust?

"Do you want to know what I think?" Beth interrupted his line of thinking in her quiet voice. Jack looked at her expectantly. Beth was always the mediator, the calm one who made sense of things in their family when brotherly testosterone got in the way. Jack nodded, and Josh encouraged her with a "go on".

"Emily loves him," she started. Jack agreed his niece really did have a soft spot for the vet. She smiled at his voice and bit his hair—the whole thing. "And I really like him, and it makes me sad to see Momma alone. Most of all, I trust him."

"I agree with Beth," Josh said simply. Jack looked from one to the other and felt his prejudice melt away under their acceptance of the guy in his mom's life.

"Okay." He pushed his hands into his jeans pockets, and added, "I guess he has my blessing as well."

When they walked back into the kitchen, Donna and Neil were in the middle of a flour fight with a grinning Riley trying to break them apart. Jack couldn't help himself. Seeing his husband dressed in his customary black pants and shirt covered in white handprints and his mom laughing was a good thing to see. He listened even as Neil looked over at the three of them with concern on his face. Josh must have indicated something because suddenly Neil just grabbed Donna's hand and exited stage left to the pantry. It was chaotic with kids and laughter, teasing and food, and no one really noticed when the two came back to the table. Though Donna looked a little flushed and Neil had a grin as wide as the state on his face, no one said a thing. They waited until the turkey was carved and everyone had plates piled high with food. Neil raised his voice above the general chatter.

"We have an announcement," he said clearly, and everyone gradually stopped talking to listen.

Jack felt his stomach churn, and blindly, he reached for Riley's hand under the table. Riley gripped it hard, and Jack sensed his husband looking at him, but he couldn't meet his gaze. Neil stood and encouraged Donna to stand with him. Jack really didn't think he'd seen her ever look so relaxed and happy, and as quickly as butter melted in the sun, his final doubt seemed to melt away too. Riley was tracing a pattern on his palm, and the regular movement was soothing; it grounded him.

"With Josh, Jack, and Beth's blessing, I have asked Donna to marry me." He looked down at her, and she smiled and leaned into his hold. It appeared that collectively the whole family around the table was holding their breath. "She said yes."