The Suite Adult Life

May (9.3)

"I know that look!" Jackson sang-songed after he watched Cody ungracefully slump onto the chaise with a lovestruck look on his face.

"She's... amazing!" Cody breathed. "I mean, Zack really outdid himself this time. Not only is she smart but she's witty. She is so quick with a barb and you just can't be mad at anything she says because you know she's saying it out of respect. Do you know what it's like to have someone respect you?"

Jackson laughed around his after dinner wine. He did, in fact, know what it was like to be respected by your partner. While the twins weren't particularly religious, Cody having gone through the 'asshole atheist' phase in high school for example, Jackson was. He had done his research enough to know that he and his love were right in the eyes of his god. They even wrote the verse Ephesians 5:25 into their vows and changed the gender where appropriate. "It's only been a couple of weeks, Code. Don't you think you might be getting ahead of yourself?"

"That's just it! We're going at a snail's pace. She is dictating it all and I'm just along for the ride. You know I thought it might make me bored but it doesn't." Cody's cell buzzed with a notification. Eager to see what thoughtful reference Luna responded with he pulled out his phone and couldn't help his face from falling slightly. It was a simple text from Bailey asking how he was doing.

"Not who you were expecting?" The ebony man questioned.

"Nah, it was Bailey. I'll call her back later." He clicked his screen black and pocketed his phone.

"How is she?" Jackson sipped the last of his glass.

"She's good," Cody shrugged. Ever since meeting Luna his texts with Bailey had fallen to the wayside. He was taking longer and longer to respond without initiating any text conversations himself.

"You know, if you want to keep that going you should invest a little more time into that friendship." The benefit of being the social glue that held everyone together was that he got to hear the secrets and desires of all involved. "I mean, she does open up to me..." Jackson' tipsy was not a rare sight but him being tipsy without supervision was something that made Cody weary. His brother-in-law liked to make comments that just put Cody on edge. Like now with his leering gaze, "about everything."

Cody's eyes went wide and he looked down at himself self-consciously. "Uh...uh... everything?" He didn't mean for his voice to crack but there was no taking it back now. Thankfully he was saved by his brother walking in from a late night at the station.

"I'm home!" Zack called out. Jackson shushed his husband in response informing him that the girls had just gone to sleep. "Sorry!" Zack whispered. "Hey Cody," he wrapped an arm around his twin's shoulders in hello before moving to give his husband a very sound kiss hello. "What did I miss?"

"Cody was telling me about Luna and how he's neglecting his friendship with Bailey to do it." Fucking hell, Jackson! Cody wanted to yell.

"Oh yeah?" Zack had on his shiteating grin. How could he not when he was right? "How many times have you been out?" He asked, pulling out the plate of dinner Jackson had left for him in the fridge to reheat. He listened as Cody repeated what he said before he had gotten home. "So do you think you'll bring her to the Memorial Day cookout?"

"Don't you think that's a little soon?" Cody questioned. Sure they had been on a few dates and it could really become something. But meeting the family after only a month? "I mean, you guys are okay but mom and dad?" He loved his parents, he really did. But there was a reason why they never met anyone he was seeing no matter how deep in the relationship he was in - or not in. "They just saw Bailey at Easter."

"Yeah, but you and Bailey are just friends, right?" Zack said through a mouthful of mashed potatoes.

"Well yeah... But Jackson said-" Cody was cut off abruptly by his brother.

"Jackson said what?" Zack's eyes darkened at the back of his husband's head.

"Nothing really," Cody began, covering for his brother-in-law. "Just that people talk and they like to talk to him. So, while I think that Bailey and I are 'just friends'," Cody made the appropriate air quotes, "that there might be mixed signals."

The blonde nodded, not exactly convinced that his husband had told his brother all of the truth. "Did he make the 'everything' claim?" Zack finished the beer he'd been drinking, moving to pull out another one when he saw Cody's face blanch. "He says that to everyone. He's fucking with you." He offered a bottle to his brother thinking that maybe he might need something more to calm his nerves.

Cody waved it off before looking at Jackson. "Say 'swear jar'," he challenged defending his brother but also himself with the latest tease.

"You know," Jackson held his hands up in surrender, "you two ganging up on me when I'm just trying to have a little fun isn't all that fair, you know!"

The twins shot a pair of finger guns at each other, pretending to simultaneously die at being hit. One of their many secret handshakes. "In your defense, people do tell you things. But..." he drawed out the word, cutting his husband off. "You also know how to get people to talk about the things that they may not really be comfortable saying in any other circumstance."

"Are you saying I'm..." he bent over slightly to loudly whisper, "manipulative?"

"Yes!" Both twins said in unison. Both had been on the opposite end of his word spinning for various reasons. If it wasn't for this little talent of Jackson' then he wouldn't be happily married with two beautiful daughters. At least, that's what he believed.

"Anyway," Zack said, sliding into his husband's lap. "I think you should really make a go of it with Luna. And to do that, you need to be upfront with Bailey about it. Like stop ignoring her for one. If you two are really going to move on and heal then this is a requirement. And, I bet you anything, if you tell Luna she's not going to care." Zack always spoke with such confidence that you had no choice but to believe what he said.

Cody looked at his brother dubiously. To Cody, Zack had only met Luna once. So how he would know any of this could be blamed on said confidence. In truth, Zack had known Luna for almost a year. She worked for the design firm that ESPN employed and she worked specifically on his show's design. They had been playful and flirty with each other when they talked but she had him pegged before he could even try to catch her. At first she didn't believe he had a twin, then when she saw pictures, she didn't believe that they were twins - just brothers. Then there was the pesky problem of her having a boyfriend at the time that they met; and, then her wanting to get over said relationship.

When she finally agreed to being set up he made the one request that she not let Cody know how she knew Zack. He knew that Cody might think that he was doing it purely because of Bailey when really it had been something that had been in the works for months. He never expected Cody to fall so fast but that didn't mean he wasn't happy to see it. The wild card now was Bailey herself. It would be easy to sic Jackson on her but this was something that needed to happen between the ex-lovers themselves.

"Alright, I'll stop ignoring her," Cody finally assured the couple.