Treacherous (Andy Barber)

Chapter 40 - Epilogue

- 5 years later -

"Mommy, mommy, mommy!!!"

I smiled as I heard Andy and I's 7 year old son, Phillip run through the house. He soon appeared in the kitchen, backpack bouncing on his back as he runs and a paper in the air. "Look, mom!" He yelled, skidding to a stop in front of me. "What do you have here, P?" I asked him.

"I drew a picture of you, daddy, Bella, JJ!" He said, happily showing me the picture. It was a lovely drawing that said 'MY FAMILY' at the top. He even drew in our two pets, Pluto the dog and Simba the cat. That's what we get for letting Phillip name them when he was 4.

"Oh my goodness, PJ, I love it!" I said, taking the picture from his hands as he stood smiling up at me. Andy soon walked into the kitchen after him, holding our 5 year old daughter Bella in his arms. "PJ did you tell mom you made that in class?" Andy said. "I made that in class mommy!" He proudly said. "Well, I love it. Thank you." I leaned down and kissed his head. "Can you put it on the fridge?" He asked me. "Of course." I moved away from the stove top and hung his artwork front and center on the fridge.

"Okay, go get ready for dinner." I said and he quickly ran off up the stairs.

I walked over to Andy and Bella who looked like she had just had a tantrum. Her cheeks were red and puffy and she was gripping tightly onto Andy's sport coat. "Hi Bells, how was school?" I asked her. She huffed and turned her head so it was nestled in Andy's neck. "Bella got written up at daycare." Andy said, leaning forwards to give me a kiss. My eyes widened as I stared at him. "Why??"

"Bella, tell mommy what you did today." Andy said, shaking her gently. "No." She mumbled. "Bella." Andy said, a little firmer, before setting her down. She screamed slightly and clawed at him, clearly not wanting to be set down.

Andy crouched down and held both of her hands, "Bella, stop it."

She sniffled and glared over at him. Andy looked up at me before back at our daughter who stomped around to look at me. "I pushed Luke because he stole my toy." She said, her sad blue eyes gazing up at him. "What else?" Andy said, from behind her. "He fell." She said, "And then daddy said I can't play with my toys!!" She whined, looking up at me. "Well, Bells, sweetheart, we don't push people." "But I already sat in time out!!!" She cried, throwing her unicorn backpack on the ground and screaming.

"Do you need to go back into time out?" Andy asked her. "No!" She shouted. I simply decided to just let him handle this tantrum, I dealt with the last one. "I want my toys!!!" She shouted. I made my way back to the stove where I was cooking up dinner while Andy spoke to our daughter. She was typically very sweet... but when she got upset... she got upset. Meanwhile PJ was practically the perfect child. He was clean, he was always helpful, he was sweet, he was very well behaved, he loved school...

I only continued to hear more screaming from Bella and looked over my shoulder as Andy carried her, kicking and screaming, out of the room. "Mommy why is Bella upset?" PJ asked as he stood on a step stool next to me in the kitchen. "Nothing bud, do you want to help?" I asked, redirecting his attention. "Yes!" He shouted, I passed him the wooden spoon and instructed him to stir the pasta into the sauce, but carefully. Sometimes he would get too enthusiastic and would end up splashing sauce everywhere.

Andy came down about 10 minutes later in a tight t-shirt and sweatpants and wrapped his arms around me. I felt him kiss my cheek and then my neck before resting his chin on my shoulder. "What's for dinner, PJ?" He asked.

"Spaghetti and meatballs!" He yelled. "Yummy." Andy said, kissing my cheek again.

"How was work?" I asked him. "Boring. I missed you." He said. I turned my head to give him another kiss on the lips. "And Bella?"