From Her Perspective (BWWM)✔️

XXXI

I'm so sorry for the severe delay. I didn't forget about this book. I've had writer's block and been busy with school😣

William Devereaux

One year later

I smirked as I read the article US Weekly posted about Ella and me. We were only in New York for a few days to visit my dad; however, we've already managed to give the press something to talk about. Our presence together spurred talks of our reconciliation and even led someone to look into court records to see that we never officially divorced. They are going crazy because we have two kids that they were unaware of.
"I'm so happy to be home," Ella said as she picked up our three-month-old daughter from her stroller.
"Hey, Mama," she cooed at our beautiful girl as Theo tugged on my pant leg.
     "Yeah, bud?"
     "No Papa," he pouted as he looked up at me.
     "It's okay, Theo. You're gonna see Grandpa soon. We can call him in a little bit," I told him. Theo enjoyed spending time with his Grandpa. It's amazing to see my Dad so happy with my kids. He practically held Madison the entire visit.
     "You and Dad seemed to get along better this time around,"
"Hard to be mad at someone when they're holding an adorable baby, right Mama?" she said, kissing Madison's forehead.
"I think you two would really like each other if you tried,"
"I am trying, babe. Sometimes it just feels like we put one foot forward, then take twenty steps back,"
     "I know and I appreciate it. I just wish we could get to a point where things aren't so tense between you two,"
      "Maybe, one day,"
     "Have you read the article about us yet?"
    "You mean the one that they commented on my weight gain and speculated I'm pregnant with our third? Yes, I've seen it," she rolled her eyes as she placed Madison on her play mat.
     "Hey," I said as I pulled her into me. "You just had Madison three months ago. You need to be easy on yourself," I said before kissing her forehead.
"It's just...I didn't notice any weight gain with Theo, but this time—I wasn't prepared for how much weight I gained. I just don't feel pretty anymore,"
"Ella, you are the most beautiful woman I've ever laid eyes on. I love your body. This is the body that carried two healthy babies. The body that makes food for our daughter. Give yourself some grace, baby,"
     "I love you," she said as she wrapped her arms around me.
     "I love you too, El," I pressed a kiss to the top of her head.
A knock on the door forced me to pull away from her. I opened the door to see Leo, Cleo, Miles, and Riley.
     "Uncle Billy! Look what I got!" Miles immediately hugged me before showing me a red ribbon. "I got second place in my spelling bee," he beamed at me.
     "I'm so proud of you. I'm sorry that we missed it,"
     "It's okay. You can come to the next one," he said as I let everyone in.
     "There's my baby girl. Hi, Riley," Ella cooed at the beautiful baby.
     "Well, hello to you, too," Cleo rolled her eyes as she handed Riley to Ella.
     "How was New York?"
     "Loud, crowded, bad coffee. At least I got to see Porter. Did you know that he has a girlfriend? They're living together and they look so happy," she smiled as she shook her head.
     "He's been telling me all about her. I'm glad he found someone," Cleo beamed before picking up Theo.
     "Auntie," he said as he played with her necklace.
     There were four slow knocks at the door before it unlocked and opened. Jamie smiled at all of us before closing the door.
     "What's the point of knocking if you're going to use your key?"
     "The knocks are to give you time to get off my sister," he said before pulling Ella into a hug. "How was the flight?"
     "Long. Where have you been? You haven't visited in a while," she said. Before he could answer, Leo pulled him closer and grabbed his neck.
    "Who bit you? Did you get into a fight?" Leo asked. I looked closely and noticed the small bite mark on his neck.
    "Who did this to you, Jamie?", I asked, stepping closer to him.
    "No, it's not like that. I'm fine. I promise," he explained before looking at Ella, who smirked at him.
    "Do you know something?" I asked my wife.
     "Jamison's fine. He would tell us if something's wrong,"
     "But why would someone bite you?" I asked.
     "Can you change Maddie's onesie? She spit up again," Ella asked, obviously trying to make me drop this whole bite-mark situation. I picked up my baby girl and grabbed the diaper bag before heading to the nursery.
     "Thank you," I heard Jamie mutter before he picked up his nephew.
I sat Madison on the changing table before grabbing a clean onesie for her.
"Mommy thinks I'm going to let this go, but I'm not," I told my little girl who smiled up at me as I quickly changed her. When I got back to the living room, the conversation had shifted to the piece Cleo sold in the gallery. I placed Maddie in her playard before sitting down beside Ella.
"I can't wait to get back in the studio. It's been too long since I've been able to create anything,"
"Why don't you go tomorrow? You know I'll be okay with the kids," I told her.
"Thanks, B," she said as she pecked my cheek.
     "How's stay-at-home Dad life been treating you?", Cleo asked me.
"Better than I thought. I've been working for the company since I was 19. I thought I would miss it more, but I love being home with the kids,"
"I know what you mean. When I moved here, I took a smaller role and delegated the rest to my new partners. I thought it would kill me to stop working so much, but I don't think we've been happier. Hearing Miles so afraid about who was going to help Cleo take care of the baby made me realize that he was already counting on me not being around much because of work. I never want him to feel like that again," he said as he pulled Miles closer. Miles furrowed his eyebrows as he tapped furiously on the game he was playing on his tablet.
     "He knows you'll always be here, babe," Cleo said before kissing his cheek. Jamie and Ella looked at each other before pretending to gag. Leo rolled his eyes before smirking at the two of them.
"So, where have you been lately, Jamison?"
"I've been around. A little busy," he said as he subtly glanced at his sister.
"Miles, why don't you go be a good big cousin and read the babies a story?" Leo asked his son. Miles beamed before setting his tablet down and heading to the playpen with the kids.
"Jamie, what's going on? No one has seen you in weeks and when we do, you have bite marks and scratches on your arms," Leo said. It wasn't until then that I noticed the scratches on Jamison's arms.
"You can talk to us," I told him.
"Jamison is a grown man, guys. He would tell us if he was being hurt or needed help. Just drop it,"
"And that means he already told you what's going on," Leo said. Since meeting Jamison, he's always been more open with Ella, probably because they're the closest in age and have spent the most time together. He practically tells her his every thought. They both look at Leo more as a father. I always wondered how that made him feel. Even from where I stand, I sometimes feel slightly left out when they look at each other as if they have their own language without using words.
"It's not that big of a deal, Leo. I—"
"I swear to god if you say you're fine, I'm going to lose my shit. Why does Auriella know and you're being so secretive about it now?"
"I've been dating a couple of people, okay? That's it. It's not that serious," Jamie says in aspiration.
"People?", Cleo smirks at him.
"What people? Why didn't you just say that?"
"I didn't want to make this a whole thing yet. We're all just having fun,"
"Wait, do they know about each other?", I asked. Jamison looks at Ella who nods and grabs his hand.
"They do. We're all together. Their names are Bailey and Jordan. I just wanted to wait before making this a whole thing,"
"Wait, like together together or they just know about each other?" Leo asked.
"Like the three of us basically live together. We do everything together. I like being with them and I know that it's a lot to take in,"
     "Jamie, you know we would never judge you," I told him.
"Yeah. So, you're dating two girls at the same time. You're consenting adults. There's nothing for us to judge you about. You could've just told us," Leo said. Jamie looked at all of us before squeezing his sister's hand.
     "Jordan's a man. That's why I didn't want to say anything yet," he said quietly. Leo frowned and crossed his arms.
     "What? You think I'm homophobic or something? Our sister is bisexual. Why would you think I wouldn't accept you just the same?"
     "It's not that, I promise. I just haven't really put a label on what I am yet and I wasn't ready to talk about it yet,"
     "But you told Auri,"
     "I know. I was questioning my sexuality so I went to the only person I knew that's done the same. We didn't mean to cut you guys out. I just needed time,"
     "But everything's fine, right? You're happy with them?"
     "I don't think I've ever been this happy. It's different but it just feels right, you know?"
     "We are really happy for you, Jamie. We'd love to have them over sometime," I said as I patted his shoulder. My wife smiled and rubbed her thumb over my wedding band. Ella stood as Madison whined from the playard.
"It's okay, Mama," she said as she picked up our little girl.
     "You being a Mom still shocks me sometimes. I feel like you were just a little girl playing with dolls or that spoiled brat sneaking out of the office to go on shopping sprees," Leo said.
"Trust me, the shopping sprees haven't stopped. When we left here, we only had three suitcases," I said, pointing to the five bags near the door.
"It's the kids' first trip. I had to get souvenirs!", she defended herself as she sat down. Maddie grinned as she played with Ella's necklace.
     "Remember when you nearly went bankrupt from shopping?" Leo asked sarcastically with a smirk.
     "Remember when you stole your best friend's girlfriend," she responded. Cleo rolled her eyes and smirked at the two of them.
     "Remember when you got fake married," Jamison added.
     "Remember Lisa?" The three siblings spoke at once before laughing together.
     "You never told me what happened after you met her," I said.
     "After I met her, I realized I didn't need her in my life, but Leo and I wanted to know Jamie,"
     "She was a monster who just wanted a replacement kid. She never wanted me. She kicked me out and I never heard from her again,"
     "She found me before we left New York to move here. I was grabbing some things from the studio Clee and I used to work at and she was just standing there. She tried to convince me to give her a chance. She lied to my face and said that Jamie and she had been wanting us to come back over. I told her that Jamie was living with me and to never contact us again,"
     "I wish I could've seen her face. Why didn't you tell me?" Jamison asked.
"Lisa has taken up enough space in our heads," she told him.

     I will never understand their mother. My entire life changed the moment I laid eyes on Theo. I immediately retired and have had zero regrets since. I could never even think about leaving my kids. What would I do without them? How could I possibly be okay with missing out on them growing up? Not getting to hear their first words, take their first steps, or even witness their first day of school.
     I held Ella closer to me and kissed her and Maddie's foreheads.
     "I'm glad none of our kids will have to deal with what you guys have,"
     "Me too,"

     Leo and Cleo were kind enough to watch the kids for the night while we unpacked from our vacation. I watched as he kissed Ella's forehead while Cleo loaded the double scroller.
     "Lunch tomorrow?" he asked.
     "Sure. Meet at Georgionno's?"
     "Say bye-bye to Mommy and Daddy,"
     "Bye-bye!", Theo exclaimed as he clutched his favorite stuffed animal. It was a small cow that I bought when we visited a small cattle farm. The moment he saw it, he cried until we handed it to him. He and Harry have been best friends ever since.

     We eventually said goodbye to everyone and Jamie promised to stop by tomorrow. I turned to my beautiful wife and smirked.

    "I don't know the last time I had you all to myself, Mrs. Devereaux," I said as I pulled her into me. She wrapped her arms around my neck and looked at me with those beautiful brown eyes.
    "We should really make use of our time then, Mr. Devereaux," she said as I scooped her up in my arms and carried her to our bedroom.

    And as the door clicked shut behind us, the quiet settled in like a warm blanket—no toys clattering, no tiny feet racing across the floor, just the soft hum of home and the promise of a night that belonged to us. In that moment, wrapped in her arms and the stillness we'd almost forgotten, I realized that life's sweetest chapters aren't always the loudest ones. Sometimes, they're written in the quiet, in the glances, in the way love lingers even after the bags are unpacked.

THE END