Fleetwood Mac-Part III of Fritz Series

Songbird

***A/N content warning, some of that dark stuff I warned ya'll about lies within***

"So I'm thinking like I might ask Rob to marry me" I must be hearing things. Per Stevie's directive Jeff and I are being fitted for our tuxedos at the formal wear shop. Our wedding, rather vow renewal, is a mere three weeks away and the final touches are being parsed and scrutinized daily by my wife and her bridal party. Jeff has his arms out while the tailor measures his wing span, it's pretty damn big and I can tell the purveyor is cursing his bad luck at having to clothe my brother's tremendous bulk. "Run that by me again..."

Running one of his hands through his shaggy nest of curls he looks over his shoulder at me "I want to ask Robin, your wife's bestie my girlfriend, to marry me" so I'm not hearing things after all. I guess the appropriate thing to do would be pat my brother on the back and wish him well on his proposal, but I can't bring myself to do that. Robin loves Jeff, that's easy for anyone with two eyes to see. And Jeff is mad about Robin, again obvious to all those paying attention. But marriage? Is it possible my big bro is growing up finally?

He has a real job, even if he does sort of kind of work for me, and I'm sort of kind of too scared of him to boss him around. This is the longest relationship I can recall him being in, his high school girlfriend lasted for about three weeks. Apparently that's as long as it took for her to put out, then he dumped her. Surprisingly mature I know...marriage though. I somehow can't see him settling down with anyone even Robin. Greg was going to get married that was an inevitability, I'm married to my soul mate which I honestly held as a prerequisite to any marriage I would eventually agree to in the first place. Jeff was always the toss up, the least driven of the Buckingham boys. At least so far as long term ambition. He can spend hours lifting and carrying heavy stuff. I don't know if he has the patience for a full time familial commitment though.

I suppose all things considered I couldn't ask for a better potential sister in law. I don't have to worry about impressing her because she already knows what a bastard I can be at times. She doesn't have to worry about fitting in because she's my wife's best friend and both of our families love her. And she doesn't have to worry about Jeff being an asshole because apparently marijuana dulls his Jerkish tendencies, and he loves the stuff. In the long run he needs to learn how to behave himself without it, but for now I'll take any small victory I can get.

My brother adores Robin, he treats her like a queen and she loves every second of it. I'm not worried about that, I am worried that he'll lose interest. That he'll figure out that being a husband and a father requires more than just sweet words and the occasional romantic gesture. It requires that he be sober enough to worry about finances and everyday things around the house. It requires that he actually have a house! Then of course there's family planning or lack of family planning as the case may be. Does he want kids? He loves Nova and Sara, but as their uncle he can wire them up with sugar playtime then hand them back to Stevie and I hyper and about as far from sleep as possible.

He can't do that with his own kids. Which means he's going to have to be patient which means he's going to have to smoke a lot of grass. Which brings me back to his maturity level and his ability to cope without substances. "Linds? Hey bro you listening?" right-I guess I'm overanalyzing things a bit. But I can't help it, I'm high strung and compulsive it never turns off.

"What made you decide that?" the in seem of my pants is next and I try not to jump when the measuring tape slides up my inner thigh brusquely. Mr. Fontaine mutters under his breath in Italian, and by his tone he's none to pleased with my fidgeting "I don't know. You and Stevie have been married forever which I never expected. Greg's married, I guess I want to know it's like. Dad would have wanted it" yes, my father wanted us all to be responsible family men with wives and children. He also wanted me to go to college and be an engineer.