The New Separation (Book 2)

Bonus Chapter 2

This chapter takes place about ten years after Colton and Elliot get married. A bit of mature content included. Enjoy!

Elliot

"C'mon, c'mon, c'mon!" Colton called, running down the stairs. "Shoes! Jackets! Backpacks! Let's go!"

I smiled to myself as I finished washing the dishes from breakfast. It should have stressed me out that they were supposed to have left five minutes ago to get to school on time, but my family was a bit of a mess. There was no escaping that with Colton as my husband.

Besides, there was no way I was going to get annoyed right now, not with a certain email on my mind that I got this morning.

Colton ran into the kitchen, struggling with his rain jacket as he did so. One of the sleeves was inside out, but he didn't seem to realize it, so he was a bit stuck.

I laughed lightly, reaching over to fix his sleeve. "Better?" I asked.

"Thanks," he said with a smile. Then he closed the distance between us for a quick kiss. "Have fun at work, babe. I love you."

"Actually, I'm not going today," I said.

"What?" He put his hand on my forehead, probably trying to see if I had a fevor. "El, are you feeling okay?"

I smiled. "I'm great, just... we need to talk once you drop the kids off."

He eyed me carefully. "Good news or bad news?"

"Good, I hope," I said. "Now go, before you make them all late."

He gave me another quick kiss before spinning around, just as Elise walked into the kitchen. She, thankfully, looked ready to go.

"Where are your brothers?" I asked her. "Are they ready?"

She shrugged. "I don't know."

A minute later, James and Levi rushed in, both with their jackets half on and their backpacks wide open. I sighed, but got the bags zipped up and the jackets situated on their arms correctly before shooing them all out of the house with wishes of a good day and plenty of 'I love you's.

I knew I had about fifteen minutes before Colton got home, so I took the time to finish cleaning up the kitchen and then settled on the couch to do a little more research. If he agreed - which I really hoped he did - there was going to be a lot we'd need to learn and prepare for. But I was so excited just at the prospect.

I had expected Colton to join me in the living room when he got home. Instead, he rushed past me, muttering something about needing to shower first. I would have questioned him, but after so many years together, I knew I would never truly understand how his brain worked.

We had all day to talk. He could take a shower first, if that's what he wanted.

But then what I had expected to take only a few minutes turned into half an hour. I was ready to go upstairs and make sure he didn't drown or something when he came down, wearing just a pair of sweatpants. No shirt.

"You okay?" I asked.

He nodded, smiling. "Yeah, of course. Had to get ready."

"Ready?" I shook my head with a laugh. "I just wanted to talk."

The smile fell off his face. "So you mean..." He shook his head and walked over to me. Instead of sitting next to me, he straddled my lap, looping his arms around my neck. "You actually wanted to talk? Not... something else?"