The Nash Brothers (Completed)

19. Birthdays and Parting Ways.

Beau's POV

"John, Mum, are you going to stop us?" I stood,  facing them once again across John's desk in the study. Only this time its first thing in the morning and a special day, Indiana's birthday.

"No, but we have some concerns, sit down, all of you" Mum said and I shared a look with my brothers as we all sat watching them.

The last three weeks had been difficult, to go back to before they had kissed her and scared her away, to act as if she wasn't more than a sister to us.  We had come home that day and been faced with the same looks of worry.  Indiana had hid out in her studio and Mum and John had grilled us on our reasons and the risks in chasing her.

"You have had three weeks to think about what would happen between you all, if you all chased Anni.  We asked you to make sure this was what you wanted.  Is it?" John asks watching us.

We had thought of little else during that time when we weren't doing family things with her and our parents, those had been a wonderful kind of torture, seeing her but not being able to touch her. Pretending she was just our sister, though she had finally relaxed a little and was no longer hiding from us.  My brothers and I had also had some in depth conversations about Indi and what we all wanted.

I exchange looks with my brothers once more, waiting for their nods, before I speak. "We have thought of nothing else, but we did do as you asked, we thought about what was most important to us and that's Indi.  We know we screwed up before, we went at it like a challenge each wanting to beat each other to her side, we were wrong" 

"And why the change of heart, is it not still a competition?" Mom asks.

"No" Mav answers "We want her happy and we have talked and will work together to make that happen. Thats our priority"

"And you all agree?" John checks and we all say yes looking directly at them so they could see the sincerity in our response.

"You said you had concerns" Trent prompted them."What are they?"

Mum sighs "This must be her choice, if she's not interested or says no at any point, that's it, end of discussion"

"You must be open and up front with Indiana about what you want and your feelings, especially with each other as brothers" John says, reaching out to take mums hand before he continues "Indiana will not want to come between you and if you fight, well she will take herself away from you all"

Maverick leaned forward and stared at John "Why are you not telling us no?" he asked softly and we all waited for the response.

John closed his eyes and rested his head back in his chair, as we waited in silence for his answer. "I love you boys like you are my own blood, I see the strong men you are becoming and am proud of you for that" he chuckles "Even when you screw up at times... And Anni, well I let her down before, I allowed other people to dictate my interactions with her, without actually checking what she wanted" he paused again and looked at us.

"This time I listened to what she was saying and what her words weren't telling me, she feels safe and likes you all, hell boys if I could squeeze you into one person you would be perfect for her, but I can't do that, so I have to think about her, and this is her choice, she is wise beyond her years in some areas but naive in others, her clever brain scares people but her strength comes from choosing her own path, her mother denied her that... I. we won't" he finishes, sharing a look with Mum.

"She likes us all" Trent says aloud with a grin.

"Really Trent, is that all you got from that" Mum scolds him.

Mav laughs "Oh no, we got that John thinks we are perfect for her" he adds.

"Boys, that's not what he said" Mum scowls at our smiling faces.