Midnights Menace.

Epilogue,

EIGHT FUCKING THOUSAND WORDS LATERRRRRRRRR 😭

Four years later...

"I ain't never tried chocolate covered strawberries before," Jaden said, watching as Lotus meticulously place the last chocolate, vanilla swirled covered strawberry into the decorated packaging.

"Well, women always make you try new things." Lotus grinned, closing the top of the box, before she grabbed the white ribbon and wrapped it around the box, tying it into a pretty bow. "This is really sweet of you, Jaden. I hope she likes it,"

She slid the box over to him, as he carefully grabbed it and placed it inside of the picnic basket with the rest of the baked goodies that Lotus made for his anniversary with his girlfriend of one year now.

"I hope she does too, but then again, I can give her one of my hoodies and she'll cherish it like it's the best thing in the world." he joked, grabbing the handle to the picnic basket and picking it up. Lotus smiled as she grabbed the washcloth, wiping any excess chocolate from off of her hands.

"Thank you, ma." Jaden leaned down a little to kiss her on the cheek. Lotus hummed, rubbing his back. He walked over to Serenity, Lotus's now three year old daughter, who sat at the middle island, eating the strawberries that Lotus cut up for her. "See you later, bug." he also kissed her on the cheek, before walking out of the kitchen.

"Use protection please! We ain't got time to be raising no more babies!" Lotus yelled after him, ripping off a paper towel and wetting it. She heard him laugh, followed by the front door opening and closing. "You done, bug?" she walked over to Serenity, a now empty bowl sitting in front of her.

Unable to speak as she was still chewing the rest of the fruit, she nodded her head, the beads in her neatly braided hair clacking together. Lotus passed the wet paper towel over to her, letting her wipe off her hands and mouth by herself, since she liked to do so.

Once Serenity was done, she handed over the paper towel to Lotus again, before grabbing the juice she had placed in front of her earlier and began to drink it. Lotus walked back over to the sink, opening the bottom cabinet and tossing the used paper towel into the trash before she started to wash out the bowl.

"Mommy," she heard Serenity's soft voice call to her, making her glance over her shoulder. She saw her pushing the empty cup away from her, Lotus quickly taking a few steps towards the counter and grabbing the cup to wash as well.

Once she was done, she dried off her hands and walked over to Serenity, helping her down from the chair. "Let's go upstairs," she said, Serenity jumping and skipping towards the front where the staircase was.

Lotus walked behind her up the stairs, and down the hall towards the nursery. She opened the door, letting Serenity walk in first.

"Hi stinka, did you have a good nap?" Lotus cooed, reaching into the crib for her five month old daughter, Javen (Haven).

Javen smiled as her eyes laid on Lotus, beginning to babble on like she usually did, as she was a talkative baby.

Four years later, Lotus and Tedric were finally settled down with two daughters, in Daytona Beach, two hours away from Gainesville. Shortly after Tedric was released from the hospital, both decided it was best to move their starting family to a new city for a fresh start.

After what had happened, Tedric figured Lotus dealt with enough stress and needed a peaceful environment to carry out the rest of her pregnancy.

Tedric sold his house and barbershop, along with Lotus officially doing the same with her grandparents house since no one hadn't lived there ever since her move to Texas. Tedric opened a new barbershop about ten minutes from their house, wanting to be within close proximity in case of an emergency.