𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐞𝐝|𝐁𝐗𝐁

FORTY SIX

5 years later..

Mizuki♡

"Don't slouch!" I whisper yelled at the boys, more Emris than Kai since he was the one provoking Kai.

Kai sighed and straightened his shoulders, looking at the camera with an expression of boredom.

Emris stuck his finger in his mouth, then pushed it into Kai's ear. Kai screamed, very loud, then ran to my side.

"Oh for the love of God." I sighed.

"I'm sorry we'll need a few minutes more." I told the grumpy man behind the camera who gave me a dead stare.

We've been trying to take a family picture for the last three hours, and every single second one of them does something to ruin the picture.

The first thirty minutes Kai spent it arranging us from smallest to largest. The next Emris was giving a lot of talking and wouldn't pay attention, then Zephyr wasn't cooperating.

Sage was the calmest of us all.

"What is wrong now?" I asked Kai, and he poked his finger in his ear as he leaned into me.

"His, Germs, they are contaming me!"

"What?"

"Contaminating him, my love." Zephyr laughed, and I glared at him.

I knew what he meant.

"Get it off!" He screamed, pushing his finger further inside his ear, and I crouched down, holding his hand.

"I'll get it off." I said, and his tear filled eyes met mine, I guided his hands away from his ear, holding it.

"I'll be back." I said, and my mate hummed from his position on the bench we were sitting on.

I went to the nearest bathroom and allowed him to wash his hands in the sink, watching him clean his ear.

He didn't like it when people got anywhere near him unless they were squeaky clean or at least washed their hands. I fear he might be a Germaphobe. At least, that meant I only had one messy kid to deal with.

"Done." I heard him say, and I held his hand as we walked out of the bathroom and back into the studio.

I wanted a picture to hang on the walls of us as a family, but they couldn't stay still. Maybe I should glue their feet to the floor.

I returned to my original spot, and Kai went to stand in between his brother and sister again.

The grumpy camara man that was absolutely done with our family shenanigans stood behind the camera for the last time with a huff.

He gave us a thumbs up and then used his fingers to count down.

"Big smiles." I encouraged everyone, plastering one on my face as well. My eyes scanned everyone's faces.

Three.

Two.

Sage and Emris pulled Kai's ear at the same time.

One.

The bright flash of the camera went off, and I sighed.

I didn't get the picture taken again. I let it stay, and now we'll have a picture where everyone was doing their own thing. At least we were all in it.

Five years, and we were in a better place. The picture proved it. We lived very highly, I wanted to say, but that was an understatement.

I've gotten really good at my new job, I did nothing too much, just slapped a name next to another name, and boom, a mateship is created.