𝑁𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝐸𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝐿𝑜𝑣𝑒

Bonus Scene |College|

11 years later

"Mom! I have to leave!" My daughter Aurora whines, I only hug her closer to me in a tight embrace. My oldest kid is heading off to college today. It's like the first day of kindergarten all over again.

"You have everything right? If you ever need something I'm only a call away whether it's 3 am or 3 pm. I'm always here," I say, pulling away to take her beautiful face into my hands. I didn't want to let go, no mother wants to let go.

"Beautiful, you are hogging up our daughter. I would at least like one hug, please?" My husband asks, his hand resting on the small of my back. Even after all these years of marriage, Noah's love for touching me has never changed.

"I just don't want to say goodbye yet," I tell him, his eyes softening on me. Leaning out of the hug and into his chest, I feel Noah place a small kiss on my head. I watch as Aurora hugs her two siblings, first, she hugs Daisy, her now 16-year-old sister. Then she hugs her little brother Rhys, my little boy who is now 14 years old.

"She'll be okay, beautiful. We have gone through any scenario with her. Our daughter is not only amazing but she is also very smart. Just like her momma." Noah whispers into my ear, his words calming me down almost instantly.

When Aurora is done saying goodbye to her siblings she comes up to Noah. They have always had a special bond, he told her beautiful stories about his mother. The woman who we named our daughter after. If she was looking down at us right now, I know that she would be proud of Noah, so very proud.

"I'll miss you, mon cœur." He whispers, pulling her into a hug. We have taught all of our children both French and Spanish. My heart is what he called her. As they pull away, I see Noah wipe away a few tears while Aurora holds them back.

Turning to face me, I already know that I have tears running down my face. "I'm so proud of you," I whisper, taking her hands into mine and giving them a small squeeze. My words are what break her, tears start to fall from her eyes onto her flushed cheeks.

"Mom! You made me ruin my mascara!" She laughs, lifting her hand to dab her finger under her eyes. I knew she would be alright, some of her best friends and cousins will be there.

I hug her again, losing count of how many times I already have. Suddenly, I feel another pair of arms wrap around me. I lean back a little to see Rhys, my youngest child hugging us. Looking up, I gesture for Noah and Daisy to join us.

As a family, we hug and say our see you laters.

~~~~~

I startle awake to a phone ringing on the nightstand. Groaning, I rub my eyes and reach over my gorgeous wife to grab it. River lays on my chest, our legs tangled together under the blanket.

'Aurora'

The phone read and I immediately picked up while trying to carefully untangle myself from my wife. "Dad?" Her soft voice says, it sounded small almost like a whisper. As soon as I get off the bed, River starts to move around from the sudden movements but settles down a second later.

"Mon cœur? What happened?" I ask, my voice coming out tired and rough. Walking out of the bedroom, I make my way down the stairs to the living room. A sniffle sound comes from the phone, making me tense.

Why was Aurora crying?

"Aurora, are you okay? Did something happen?" I ask her, hoping for any answer right now. Taking a seat on the couch, I sit there silently waiting for her to speak.

"Nothing happened, I just feel homesick." She finally says after a couple of seconds. I let out the breath I was holding. Goodness Aurora, almost gave me a heart attack.

Ever since she was little, Aurora always felt homesick when she was away. If she wanted to sleep over at someone's house, we would let her only to be called in the middle of the night because of her separation anxiety.

"I know it's not easy being away from home. Your mother and I, along with your siblings, miss you so much already. You got this, it will be hard getting used to and you might feel so much anxiety. But you got this, mon cœur" I tell her, if my daughter needs me to pick her up every single Friday so that she can stay the weekend, I will do it.

"Thank you, dad, I love you." She says, feeling lighter than she did before. We say our goodbyes after talking for a bit more. "Noah? Is everything okay?" A soft tired voice comes from the stairs.

My beautiful wife emerges from the stairs, tiredly walking towards me. "Aurora called, she was homesick," I reassure her, it's almost as if her brain starts to work when she hears her name.

"You could have woken me up, is she feeling better now?" River asks me, taking a seat next to me and pulling my hand into hers. Ever since I was little, I have always hoped to find love like my parents. I still can't believe to this day that I did find love.

"She sounded lighter after calling me," I say, leaning over to place a soft kiss on her forehead. We stay down there and talk for a little bit before heading back up to bed. We open our kid's doors, just to make sure that they are okay.

Rhys sleeps on his bed with Midnight, our Manx cat. Autumn, our first cat had died a couple of years ago, it felt so lonely in the house that we decided to get another one. We just so happened to open our front door one day to find a little cat curled up, shivering in the snow and that's how she came to us.

We are about to leave to check up on Daisy, only to see another person sleeping next to Rhys.

Daisy sleeps with one of her many soft pillows held tight between her arms. She used to share a room with Aurora, she must have needed some comfort and Rhys let her sleep with him. My son might be the youngest of our immediate family but he always acted like he was the oldest one.

Rhys may act like he was distant and maybe a little cold but he is the most caring and one of the sweetest kids you'll ever meet. I remember one day when Aurora's high school sweetheart broke up with her, she came to us crying and not only Daisy but Rhys went to comfort her immediately.

Closing the door, River and I go back to our room. Laying back down, I open my arms for her to come and lay in my arms. River and I's love story started when we were only 22 years old in college. We're now 42 years old with 3 wonderful kids. Our never-ending love got us here. I hope it never ends.

In honor of hitting 1.05k read on Wattpad, I decided to post a bonus chapter as a thank you. This means so much to me and again thank you. I love you all<3

- Hannah