Dayton

Chapter 36

Four years have come and gone. I am now twenty-four, Darien is six, Orion is fourteen, Ajax and Dakota are thirty-two, Arabella is thirty-one, Arwen (Dakota and Arabella's daughter) is four. Dalton is twenty-nine, Bailey is thirty, and Dallas is twenty-seven. Dallas is currently dating a wonderful guy named Patrick Dean, and he is twenty-eight, and he works with me as a Juvenile Counselor at juvenile detention center for non-violent offenders.

When I graduated with my Associates Degree, I graduated with honors as the second top student in my field. I cannot begin to explain how proud and excited I was, well am for myself for putting myself through school, and graduating with my degree. I know my entire family were proud of me, too. I was lucky to find a job in my field withing a month of graduating.

Dakota has one more child, 1-year-old Darius who looks almost identical to Dakota, he just has Arabella's hair color. They say they are done having children, and I believe them. Dalton and Bailey have one child, 2-year-old Cole, and Bailey is currently seven months pregnant with a girl who they are going to name Shelbie.

Ajax and I have a surrogate, Morgan who is also seven months pregnant with Ajax's biological child. We are going to have a girl who we are planning on naming Kenlee Hope Valentino. Yes, we do have another name picked out just in case the baby is a boy. The name we have picked out is Asher Lee. We have decided on Valentino for the last name since our other two children have my last name.

Orion has monthly visits at our home with his grandma Mary. This has been happening since we adopted him. Mary is a lovely woman, and it is very obvious she loves her grandson which Ajax and I love, but she is just not healthy enough to have raised him on her own. There is also a standing agreement that any major holidays, birthdays, milestones for him, any major school activity, or sporting event that he is in, if he chooses to play sports, then she is more than welcome to attend, too, and it does not count as the once a month visit. She also knows that if she wants to see him more than once a month, she has to let us know, to make sure whatever day she would like, we are available, otherwise we try to figure something else out.

Mary also treats Darien like her own grandson which Ajax and I appreciate, and we have a feeling she might be like this with our daughter, too, when she arrives in a couple of months. We never expected, or requested that she treat our other children like her grandchildren, but she did upon meeting Darien officially. She is having dinner with us on Sunday from early afternoon until after dinner for our weekly family dinner with my family.

"Dada, I do not feel good," Orion softly whines as he knocks on my open bedroom door as he steps inside as I fold laundry on my bed.

"Come here, baby," I instantly say, standing from the bed, dropping the shirt I had started to fold to meet him halfway.

Placing the back of my head against his forehead to see if he feels warm, and he does, which makes me frown; "Does anything hurt, baby?"

"My nose is stuffy, my ears hurt and feel clogged, and my throat hurts a little," he whines with a sniffle as he cuddles into my body with his head resting on my chest.

"Okay, I think you have a cold, so I want you to lay in bed, under the covers, and I am gonna bring you some water, crackers, and medicine," I tell him with a kiss on the top of his warm head.

"Okay, dada," he sniffles again, and leaves for his bedroom to do as I asked; leaving my room behind him for the bathroom to get the medicine, and then the kitchen to grab a couple of crackers, and a glass of water for Orion.

"What are you doing, love?" Ajax questions as I fill a glass with cold tap water.

"I think Orion has a cold, so I sent him to bed, and I am getting him some stuff to help him feel better," I tell him with a worried frown.

"Oh, poor baby," he says with his own frown. "Do you need me to go to the store to get anything for him and Darien?"

"Um, maybe some lemon-lime soda, and more Tylenol, and cold medicine, please?" I answer when I notice both medicines on the counter from the bathroom are low.

"Absolutely, do we need anything else while I am out?" he replies as he moves to grab his wallet and keys from the bowl by the door. "I love all of you. I do not think we need anything else."

"We love you, too," I reply as I take the items toward Orion's bedroom.

"Hey baby," I murmur to Orion as I enter his room with a weak smile. "Here, I want you to eat a couple of the crackers, so the medicine does not hurt your tummy, and then you can have some medicine."

He eats two of the crackers, washing them down with some of the water before I give him Tylenol and cold medicine, and he drinks more of the water, and then settles further down into the bed for a nap.

"Where is papa?" Orion asks sleepily as he slowly blinks at me, fighting his sleep in order to hear my answer.

"He went to the store real quick to pick up more medicines for you and Darien," I honestly answer, softly running my fingers through his hair, trying to sooth him.

Orion hums lowly as his eyes remain shut, and his breathing evens out in sleep. Carefully kissing his forehead gently before quietly leaving his room, and shutting the door quietly behind me. I check on Darien who also has a cold. He has been sick since yesterday, and Orion becoming sick does not surprise me.

Darien got sick from a classmate at school, but this is to be expected because people are walking, taking petri dishes. Darien is still sleeping in his room, and he is thankfully not warm, and hopefully he starts feeling better sooner rather than later, and Orion, too.

Ajax returns home a short time later with the needed items, plus some extra items that he has placed away before checking on the boys, and then joining me in our bedroom where I am finishing with the laundry.

"Thank you for getting the medicines," I say to him as I place Orion and Darien's folded laundry in their own laundry baskets after I have placed away mine and Ajax's laundry.

"Anytime, baby. I will do anything I can to help my babies," he replies, kissing my forehead with a soft smile.

"I hate when they get sick, but I know that this happens not matter what," I sigh as I wrap my arms around his waist to hug him tightly which he returns around my waist, too.

"Me, too, baby," he softly sighs with a gentle squeeze of my waist.

"If they are not better by Sunday morning, I am gonna have to reschedule the family dinner. I do not want anyone to become sick," I sigh, kissing his neck. "I just hope they are better by then, or before because I do not want to cancel on anyone, but especially Mary because she and Orion will be heartbroken."