Whiskey & Vows

E P I L O G U E

E P I L O G U E

"I thought you were watching Rosie?" Derek panicked. Eyes widening, we looked around the living room for the young toddler. Andy looked at me in confusion as he held Noah in his arms. Unlike his sister, Noah was calm. The boy never caused any problems and usually kept out of trouble. Unfortunately, Rosie took after Derek.

"Noah, do you know where Rosie is?" I asked, trying to stay calm. Derek has already taken it upon himself to run through the house looking for her. Trying to fit his fingers in his mouth, Noah blinked at me.

"Mommy, she's been hiding for over an hour." Great, we're going to win the parent of the year award.

"Do you know where she's hiding?" Andy asked. After three years, Andy has taken incredible care of the twins when Derek and I have lost our minds. The ten year old knew how to keep the twins out of trouble and he loved bragging about his new siblings.

"Anna! I found her!" Racing outside, I found Derek looking at me with nervous eyes. Looking around him, I narrowed my eyes at him.

"Where is she?" Looking up on the roof of the first level of our house, Rosie laid proudly looking up at the clouds. Dropping my jaw, I could feel my heart race in my chest. Looking at him in complete horror, he scratched the back of his neck.

"I don't know how she even got on there." Stumped, we looked at our three-year old daughter on the roof. Thankfully, she hasn't climbed up any higher.

After our wedding, Derek and I remodeled the guest house to make it our own. We were set in stone on moving into our own house, but our parents being close by became a big help after the twins learned how to walk. It also helped that the house was on the other side of Daniel's property, creating the prefect amount of space and privacy we needed.

That, and I'd rather have Rosie run free on private gated property than opening a gate and running through a neighborhood.

Running a hand through his hair, Derek looked at his daughter on the roof. As luck would have it, Rosie was an exact replica of Derek. Not only did she look exactly like him, she took after him in every possible way. Noah, thankfully, took after me. Shy and quiet, he usually kept out of trouble and was respectful; I didn't have to worry about him.

"Keep her there, I want to take a picture."

"What?" I gasped. "Are you nuts?"

"It is funny."

"Derek! She could fall off the roof and hurt herself!"

"I just have to quickly run in the kitchen! She's been there for an hour and we didn't know! What's a couple more seconds?" Gritting my teeth together, I looked back at Rosie. Still unaware of us panicking, she rested her head on her hands and stared up at the sky.

"Run." I snapped. Grinning, he charged into the house. Before I had time to process what was happening, he was out in a flash. Holding his professional camera, he snapped a few pictures of Rosie.

"Rosie!" Derek called. Sitting up, Rosie's bright blue eyes settled on his. "What are you doing up there?"

"I wanted to see the clouds!" Our kids had clear speech for their age and sometimes I wish they weren't so advanced. Maybe they wouldn't climb on a roof.

"You couldn't have looked at them on the grass?" I yelled.

"I wanted to touch them." She stated, crossing her hands over her chest.