❤ love is bigger than anything in its way ❤

Sometimes, Iggy catches her mommy and Ro-Ro kissing each other at home. She thinks it means they’re in love, ‘cause she sees Uncle Jake and Auntie Amy do it sometimes, too, and they really love each other.

“Something like that, kiddo,” her mommy says when Iggy shares that thought out loud.

Iggy tilts her head. “Do you have a crush on Ro-Ro?”

“Girl, we all have a crush on Ro-Ro.”

Ro-Ro laughs, then snorts, then laughs again. It makes Iggy laugh, too.

Ro-Ro doesn’t babysit Iggy a lot, ‘cause her mommy says Ro-Ro’s super busy being a superhero and fighting bad guys, which Iggy really wants to see for herself sometime, but whenever her mommy gets really tired or upset, Ro-Ro seems to be there.

Iggy’s favorite days at school are the ones where Ro-Ro is there to walk her home. She gets to swing their hands the whole way and tell Ro-Ro all about her day.

After Iggy turns in her list of favorite things, she says, “I put you on my list, ‘cause you’re one of my favorite things, Ro-Ro!”

But rather than smile in the special way, Ro-Ro stops in the middle of the sidewalk, her face twisted into something that isn’t quite a smile. She almost looks like she wants to cry. Iggy steps closer to her.

“Are you sad?” she asks, red hair falling over her shoulder and Ro-Ro just shakes her head slowly, then quickly, then swipes her hand over her eye.

“I’m just happy,” Ro-Ro says. “I’m really happy. You’re one of my favorite things too, princess.”

Iggy beams.

Iggy doesn’t remember the first time she met Ro-Ro. If anything, Ro-Ro has always been there, whether it be with just her or both her mommy and her at the same time.

Iggy doesn’t know much about her real-but-not-real dad, except that he’s weird and has a weird name and is Uncle Charles’ cousin, but it’s okay. Iggy doesn’t need a dad, ‘cause she’s already got a Ro-Ro.

Gina, meanwhile, remembers the way she wanted Iggy to meet Rosa for the first time.

Amy was there when she gave birth—Charles was, too. Holt and Terry came by shortly thereafter.

But Jake wasn’t there. Neither was Rosa.

They were both in prison, and maybe some of the tears Gina had shed that chilly autumn night for just going through literal childbirth were for that very reason, too—their absence.

She held the newborn Iggy close to her chest, heart yearning.

The first time Iggy and Rosa actually met was after the prison ordeal was long over, Iggy was still a baby, and Rosa and Gina were both coming off the heels of some weird-ass relationships with some weird-ass dudes.

“’Milton’ just sounds like a rip-off of ‘Hilton,’” Gina says, watching Rosa hold Iggy, bundled up securely. “And he is far from a Hilton.”

“Pimento’s just batshit crazy,” Rosa says, but her tone and expression don’t match her words at all, because her attention’s completely focused on baby Iggy, with warm eyes and a small, soft smile. “I’m glad I’m out for good.”

“You look good with a baby,” Gina can’t help but comment. “You must be a natural.”

Rosa still doesn’t look up. “I have some experience.”

“Good to know, ‘cause I’m gonna add you to my list of potential babysitters.”

At that, she does look up at Gina with a groan, but Gina just giggles.

The first time Rosa stays with Iggy completely alone for the specific purpose of babysitting, Iggy’s been alive for four years and Gina and Rosa have been dating for three and a half.

“Usually I need a sitter to watch her while we go out,” Gina teases, gesturing between herself and Rosa, “so I’m not sure you’re at the advanced level of parenting necessary for this.”

“I got this,” Rosa says, standing beside Iggy at the door. “Just go have dinner with Boyle and your weird parents.”

“Ugh, fine.” Gina presses a kiss to Iggy’s forehead. “Be good for Ro-Ro.”

“I will!” Iggy says, nodding. “Bye, Mommy!”

Iggy waves, Rosa smiles, and after closing the door, Gina almost calls and cancels on her parents and Charles to instead spend a quiet night in with her family—her very own family she’s managed to craft for herself, she realizes with a sudden pang of pride.

When she returns to her apartment hours later, though, Rosa and Iggy are curled up together on the couch, fast asleep, the blanket half on them and half on the floor. Gina sets her bag and coat down before approaching, picking the blanket up and draping it over them properly.

And then she immortalizes the scene by taking a picture on her phone, of course, and sends it to the nine-nine group chat, because she just can’t resist.

Rosa wakes up then, of course, sleepily scowling and complaining about Gina taking unsolicited pictures of her, but Gina just guides her and Iggy back to the master bedroom, and they all sleep in her queen-sized bed together.

(The next day, literally only minutes after Rosa leaves, Iggy asks, “Can Ro-Ro come again?” and Gina, laughing, texts Rosa about it right away.)

She may only be six, but Iggy thinks she’s pretty smart for her age. She tries to pay attention to stuff around her, especially the funny way her mommy acts around Ro-Ro; her crush must be ginormous.

So, one day, Iggy catches sight of a new ring on her mommy’s finger, and she’s not quite sure how long it’s been there. She takes her mommy’s left hand into her own small fingers, examining.

“Has this always been here?” she asks.

Her mommy shrugs. “Metaphorically? Definitely.”

Iggy crinkles her nose. “Met-a-phuh….”

“Literally,” her mommy continues, smile widening, “I just got it recently.”

“From where?”

“Ro-Ro gave it to me.”

Iggy drops her mommy’s hand and slaps her hands onto her cheeks, her mouth forming an “o”-shape, to emphasize her shock. She tries to look like the emoji.

“Mommy! Ro-Ro likes you back!”

She laughs. “I know. I’m really happy.”

Iggy’s really happy, too.

Not long after Iggy notices the new ring on her mommy’s finger, her mommy says that Ro-Ro’s going to start living with them, and Iggy swears she’s never been so happy before.

When Ro-Ro starts moving her stuff in, Iggy helps her carry the smaller boxes, listing off all the different things she’s excited to do with Ro-Ro every day. Ro-Ro says she’s excited, too. They unpack Ro-Ro’s things together, and Iggy comes across a frame with a picture of her and Ro-Ro and her mommy all together in it.

“Iggy,” Ro-Ro says when Iggy gives it to her, kneeling to meet her eyes, “if it’s okay with you, I’d like to become your mom, too, just like your mommy.” She pauses, setting the picture frame down so she can hold Iggy’s hands. “Is that…okay?”

“Yes! Yes!” Iggy cheers, jumping up and down. “I love you!”

Ro-Ro laughs with that weird, not-actually-sad expression she had when Iggy put her on her favorite things list. “I love you, too, princess.”

Iggy thinks back to that conversation often, even though it was a while ago now, because it was only the start of a lot of good things.

Her mommy and Ro-Ro got married not long after that, and it’s still one of the best days in Iggy’s life. When they read their vows to each other, where they promised to love each other forever, Ro-Ro even read some vows she’d written just for Iggy, promising to always be there for her and be the best mom she can ever be, and Iggy still keeps the paper Ro-Ro had read them from tucked safely into the drawer near her bed.

(During the reception, when she swayed with Ro-Ro for a slow dance, she finally worked up the courage to ask Ro-Ro if she could start calling her mama, so as not to be confused with her mommy, and, through tears, Ro-Ro said yes.)

Now that Iggy’s a little older now, she understands more of what was going on, how her mommy and mama were dating and got engaged and then got married, and how there’s only one thing left for them to do.

It’s her mama’s birthday today, and with a little help from her mommy and Tía Amy (her mama’s been teaching her Spanish), Iggy’s got the perfect surprise planned for her.

When her mama comes home early from the precinct to celebrate, her mommy surprises her with a kiss and Iggy hands her a box with a very special folder in it.

Inside the folder?

Adoption papers.

It had all started in high school with, surprise, a kiss.

She’d kissed boys before. She’d done…other things with boysbefore.

But there she stood, in the girls’ bathroom during lunch,being kissed by a friend who’d come out to her one week prior and admitted herfeelings for Amy a day prior, and Amywasn’t sure what came over her, but it was, surprisingly, the same feeling thatcame over her when she’d kissed boys.

(She loved it.)

Relationships fizzle, and this one was no exception, but theeye-opening impact it’d left on Amy remained ever since.

And everything was fine until it wasn’t—until one of herolder brothers came out as gay and her parents forced him to go to Confessionand talk to the priest from their parish, because it wasn’t natural, it was sinful.

That’s when Amy learned noone could know.

So, like Jake, she learned to “repress the hell” out ofeverything, except rather than it being family trauma, it was herself.

Times have changed, though, as have people. Her parents havechanged their stances. Her brother is happily married to his collegesweetheart, and the two have adopted three beautiful children together.

But Amy can’t bring herself to change—to open that forbiddenbox in her mind back up and release the poor, innocent truth from its prison.

(Just the idea makes her heart stutter in her chest and herfingers shake, and she envies Rosa, for being able to tell so many others atonce without batting an eye, and Jake, for being able to tell her, the person he wants to marry.)

She attends the new and improved family game nights at Rosa’splace with Jake weekly, actively burying the box she’d locked her ownbisexuality up in years ago even furtherin her mind and throwing the key away into a deep, dark hole.

And one week, Jake decides to come out to everyone, only tobe greeted with warm hugs and support—and the label of “bi bros” by Charles,referring to Jake and Rosa.

“Ew,” Rosa says.

“To be fair,” Jake says, “that’s actually one of Charles’better name ideas.”

Amy watches on, biting her lip, wishing she could be one ofthe “bi bros,” too.

With their wedding rapidly approaching, Amy’s anxiety calmsever so slightly, because it’s become increasingly apparent as of late thatJake has no intentions of backing out or leaving—ever—even if this is who she really is.

Logically, it’s a stupid thing to fear, she knows, because he’s bi, he accepts Rosaas bi, he loves Amy, and wants thebest for her as she wants the best for him.

“Ames,” Jake says on the first day of May, just two weeksout from their wedding, “I know something’s been on your mind lately.”

“You mean our wedding that’s two weeks away and still has a tonof planning left to do?” she quips, adjusting her glasses.

He looks to the fat binder sitting on the dining tablebeneath her finger tips, then back to her. “That, and something else.”

She presses her lips together, her grip on her favoritehighlighter tightening ever so slightly, and he smiles.

“I’m just saying,” he says, “you can tell me when you’reready. No rush. Love ya.”

With that, he presses a kiss to her cheek, then returns tohis path out the front door, keys and wallet in hand, to pick up dinner.

When he’s gone, the words printed in the binder start toblur despite her glasses, and she puts the cap back on her highlighter and restsher forehead against her palm with a deep, shaky sigh.

Taking a page from Jake’s book, Amy starts practicing herwords in the privacy of the bathroom, reciting them to herself in the mirroruntil she can get the b-word out without shaking. Her gaze is intense and herlips are caught in a deep frown—an expression far too harsh for something thatshould be easy and comfortable to share with Jake, her soon-to-be husband.

But then life happens, and Jake has to finish all thewedding planning alone while she catches a long-lost perp with Rosa and theirwedding receives a bomb threat andthey get married outside the precinct,of all places.

The words she’s practiced slip her mind during the week-longwhirlwind, thankfully, but once she’s lying in bed with Jake as husband andwife for the first time ever, they hit her again like a train.

“I know we just lost a lot of money on our wedding, andNutriboom is still out to get me, but I think a staycation honeymoon won’t betoo bad, right?” Jake says, intertwining their legs together and curling intoher more closely. “We can still do all the stuff in the sex section of thewedding binder! With the cascading tabs!”

“Oh…I’m a little tired out from today,” she says gently.

“Yeah, same, I didn’t mean right now, I just meant over the course of our staycation honeymoon,” hesays, pressing a kiss to her forehead. “Today turned out to be pretty good,after all.”

Finally, she sighs, because she feels bad. She’s trapped him now, the irrational part of her accuses,because she’s waited until after theygot married to tell him the truth.

“Jake, I have to tell you something.”

“I know, I know, my butt is the bomb.”

“Not that,” she amends, biting her lip, and he looks at hermore intently at that, concern in his gaze.

“Is this the thing that’s been on your mind lately?” heasks.

She nods.

“It’s okay,” he says. “I mean, unless it’s something that’snot okay. But it’s okay you haven’t told me yet. I trust you.”

“Thank you. Remember…” she murmurs slowly, hesitantly. “Rememberwhen Rosa came out as bi? And—and then you came out to me as bi?”

The word still feels sticky, forbidden, on her lips, but she forces herself to trudge throughand finish the job. Jake nods.

“I’m also bi,” she whispers, because any louder, someonecould hear, and she’s still not entirely sure she wants Jake to hear. “I—I have been for a long time, I mean, I’ve known for a long time, but…”

She trails off, waiting for that last possible shoe to dropon this relationship, this marriage,because even throughout the imperfections they’ve endured, it’s too good to Amy, and she still can’t believeit.

But Jake smiles, and cups her cheek with his hand—just asshe had done to him months prior—and she notices she’s holding her breath—just ashe had done.

“I love you, Ames,” he says. “Thanks for telling me.”

“It’s okay, right?” she can’t help but ask. “I mean, I knowit’s okay—I think it’s okay—but…Idon’t know.”

“It’s who you are,” he echoes her. “And you know I love who you are. We’re friggin’married now, babe!”

She smiles at that, feeling tears burn against the back ofher eyes again, and he presses a poorly aimed kiss to the bridge of her nose.

“I’m sorry you felt like you couldn’t say it sooner,” hesays. “But, I feel like you should know that four-drink-Amy hinted at it a few times…”

“Don’t remind me.” She groans, but she’s never been happier,because she’s managed to accomplish twolife milestones in one day.

He gasps. “You and I are bi bros now!”

She groans again, but Jake peppers her face with morekisses, forcing her to giggle, and she will always remember today—the day shemarried the love of her life.