Rubble: Devil's Rose #12

Chapter 29: Nicholas Frasier

FIVE YEARS LATER:

"Hey, Alice, everyone's here!"

And when I say everyone, it's everyone. All of the official members, Old Ladies, and children. It's a full get-together. It's been a few months since we've had one, so it makes sense that we are having one now, but Alice and I are hosting at our house.

Our kids went on a rampage this morning, we forgot to buy drinks, so we had to run to the store with two children who very much didn't want to go, and we have what feels like a hundred people coming to our house.

We were tallying it up a couple of weeks ago when we first knew that people wanted the party at our place since we had to decide if it was doable.

The house is perfect for the four of us, Alice, me, and our two children Ethan Chase and Ellie Clarissa, but's not really designed for more than that. But we listed out everyone because we had to.

Reaper, Fiona, and their three children Delilah Sterling, Angelina Carmin, and Matthias Asher.

Whiskey, Beatrice, and their kids, Navy Mae, Mackenzie Grace (named after Fiona), and Kiara Lennon (connection to John Lennon is unknown).

Alpha and Persephone and their kids, Hunter Braxton, Octavia Winter, and Grayson Hendrix. Strong names for some strong-ass kids.

Poison and Dakota thankfully do not have children and never want any, so we don't have to deal with that.

Major and Violet also don't have any right now, and we aren't sure that they will, but of course, we will always have room if they decide to. Alice thinks they won't but honestly doesn't really care what they decide to do as long as they are happy.

Bullet and Piper with their daughter Audrey Claire.

Tank and Hazel with their four children, Lincoln Augustin, Colten Wade, Quinn Daphne, and Peyton Valerie. Alice took the idea of similar names and truly applied it to our children.

I fully agreed, so it's not totally her fault that our kids gang up on us. Tank and Hazel's kids, same as Alpha and Persephone's, have very regal names.

Maybe because Alpha and Tank need everyone to know that those are the kids of the President and Vice President of the club.

Bear and Kate with their two kids, Xavier M. and Faye L., middle names only being a letter to take after their father. Although I don't know Bear's real name, so I can't really know if that one is true.

Carbon and Gabby with their daughters Aurora Banks and Sabrina Riley. Who are the definition of chaos to this day.

Vegas and June with their adopted sons Bay and Rhosed who are without middle names. Neither wanted one, so they just went with it.

And Slasher and Iris with their four children even though they said they were done after their first. It was soon clear that that wasn't at all true. Zoe Tatum, Archer Miles, Sage Thalia, and Hayden Isaac most definitely are related to their parents because I swear to go, they are both violence and grace combined in the greatest ways.

So, after we listed everyone out, Alice and I came to the conclusion that it was fifty people coming over. And we thanked the universe that we have a big enough backyard for all of them.

We could have gone to someone else's house and had them host, but we've wanted to do it. The last time was five years ago when we just bought this house, and it was definitely not as big a gathering as it is now.

Families have grown, and people have changed, but we are still care and love each other just the same. It's such a special place to be, a place to live. I'm just eternally grateful for the people that I have in my life.

In raising two children with Alice, we've relied so much on having the Devil's Rose and the even greater Westmoor community, just as they've relied on us. I couldn't think of a better way to live my life.

"I know everyone's here! But this fucking dress isn't fitting right!"

Ellie is eight months old, so Alice practically just had another baby. And with Ethan, she never really got worried about the way her body looks, but that was because she had him when she was twenty-five.

Her body bounced back in a way that hasn't when she's now three months away from turning thirty. As much as I remind her how fucking beautiful she is, she's the one that needs to build that confidence within herself.

But I'm going to keep telling her that she's the most gorgeous woman on the face of this earth until she believes it.

I walk through our house to our master bedroom where I know she's standing in front of the mirror, scrutinizing herself.

"Sunshine, you're fucking beautiful. The dress looks incredible."

And it really does. Of course, it has to be sundress season because holy fuck, I'm on edge all the time. I want to ravish her at all times even though I know I can't because we have to leave our house at some point.

She's fucking delicious, I swear to god. I get on my knees and beg for her pretty much every night.

I wrap my arms around her waist and pull her into me.

"You are as beautiful as the day I met you, baby," I mumble, laying light kisses on her neck."

"I don't know why I feel this way. Like I don't understand why this second baby has really just wrecked my self-confidence."

"You're pregnancy and birth was harder than the first. You went through a lot this pregnancy, but you made it because you're the strongest person I know."

She was on bed rest for about three weeks before she gave birth. I mean, it really wasn't bed rest, like she didn't have to be in bed all the time, but the activities she could do were very reduced.

She could barely play with Ethan because she was so tired and was dilated before she should have been. It was just a really stressful time, she felt guilty with Ethan.

She couldn't be the mom she wanted to be, and it fucked with her headspace. I want her to know that Ethan really didn't give a shit, but in her head, it was the biggest deal.

I was there when Ethan needed me, and I'll always be there, but she has mom guilt about it. I don't have the power in me to change her mind about that even though I want her.

I want to ease every single worry she has about it. Ethan is going to turn out just fine regardless of the six weeks, including the three weeks after birth, that she couldn't play with him a ton.

But even though I tell her that, just like I tell her how devastatingly gorgeous she is, I haven't been able to ease any nervous thoughts.

I love her all the same. Ethan and Ellie love her all the same. Her friends and family love her all the same. And I will keep reminding her until she believes it.

"I just feel like I'm not a good mom. I couldn't even protect my child from being born a week prematurely. I couldn't even protect my son from seeing me in pain. I should be able to do that," she asserts, tears brewing in her eyes."

"Alice, you're only human. We all want to protect our kids from everything, but my love, our children are going to be fine. They're actually going to be great. They literally are the most amazing hosts to the guests in our house right now because we are raising amazing human beings. And that's all we can do. We can't protect them from everything, no matter how much we want to. All we can do is raise good, kind, and strong people who know wrong from right."

She knows I'm right even if she can't admit it to me or herself. She is the most important person to me. She is also one of the most incredible moms on the planet.

This morning, she has been a fucking amazing mom but getting her children in control enough to get them in the fucking car. That's an insane feat. She's the fucking best.