Close As Strangers

epilogue : part one

"Carmella, Alexa, Aiden!" I heard Luke yell from the living room. "Come here!"

"Before you go, wash your hands." I ordered, taking wet wipes and wiping each of their hands, clean of the chocolate brownie mix. "They'll be there in a minute!"

"Hurry! I just taught Lahti a new trick!"

"Daddy! Daddy!" Alexa screamed, flailing her arms in the air as she ran in the direction of Luke's voice. Once I finished, I put the brownies in the oven and joined Luke and the kids as they sat on the couches watching our small dog Lahti.

Alexa made her way towards Luke and climbed onto his lap, accidentally putting her hand on top of his "private parts" to push herself onto him. "Fuck." He mumbled under his breath instantly catching his mistake and looking up at me with his blue eyes.

"Luke." I said sternly. "For the hundredth time don't use such profound words around Alexa." I laughed. "Please remember she's only four."

"Sorry babe." He mumbled, trying to laugh it off, lifting Alexa onto a more comfortable spot on his lap. "Okay look." He began, his face lighting up with joy. "Lahti, shoot!" He yelled, holding up a gun with his hand as Lahti stood on her hind legs then fell back acting dead.

Alexa and Aiden screamed in terror as they ran towards Lahti, caressing her small figure. Carmella just stood back and laughed with Luke, since I'm assuming she was old enough to know she wasn't actually dead. "Daddy why would you do that!" Aiden yelled.

"Don't worry Lahti's fine!" He mumbled, taking the small teacup dog from the two's hands. I just stood there with my body pressed against the wall and shook my head in distress of my three screaming children and my 24 year old husband who was also acting like a child.

"Mommy can we get ice cream?" Aiden asked, surprised he had used the term mommy since when he turned six he attempted to convince me that he no longer could call me by that name.

"No." I said quietly. "We just made brownies."

"But mommy." He said whined. "Ice cream always goes with brownies, like when we go to the restaurants and they give me it for my birthday, but sometimes daddy tells them it's my birthday when it's really not just so we could get free brownies and ice cre-"

"Okay." I interrupted, laughing at his true, but somewhat untrue fib. "Do you want to go buy ice cream?" I caved, not being able to say no to my little boy. "What kind?"

"Well chocolate goes with brownies." He smiled.

"Brownies are chocolate." I laughed, pondering for a suggestion to share with him. "How about vanilla?"

"Vanilla doesn't go with chocolate!" He screeched.

"Yes it does." Luke mumbled.

"No it doesn't!" He yelped.

"Yes it does!" Luke fought back.

"Daddy you have to agree with me!"

"But I always agree with mommy." Luke smiled, glancing over at me. I smiled back at him, winking and walking towards the couch to sit on his lap.

"Only I can sit there mama." Alexa frowned. "Move."

"Alexa Jane Hemmings." Carmella sassed. "You can't tell mommy to move like that. Look, you have to be polite." She smiled, learning from her own eight years that she had to be nice to me to get her way. "Mommy, can you please let me sit on daddy's lap?" She asked sweetly, batting her little blue eyes.

"Sure." I smiled, sitting next to Luke instead and resting my head on his shoulder. Alexa huffed in frustration as she watched Carmella climb onto Luke's lap and making herself more content, rasberry-ing Alexa which followed in a scolding from Luke.

"But what about the ice cream?" Aiden asked as the timer for the oven went off. I ignored his question and walked back into the kitchen, stopping by our fridge and admiring the old photos. There were photos of Carmella when she was first born eight years ago. Tears began to form in my eyes as I remembered how stressful that was. There were photos of Calum and his wife, Michael and his girlfriend, and an old photo of Ashton that we took before the band had broken up two years ago. They had their annual dinner together every year which Ashton never went to, but every year we had hope that he would someday show up. That dinner was actually scheduled for next week at the Annandale hotel bar where the bands first show was. It was the one night our children were allowed in there since we requested it.

"C'mon little man get in the car, we'll go get some ice cream." I heard Luke say. I tried to draw my mind off of the photos and about the band that had unfortunately been forced apart. At times I still believed it was Carmella and I's fault, and at others I felt as if the spark was just gone. They still had their band Twitter, girls continuing to support them in hopes 5sos would get back together. But the guys were more mature now, Ashton was 27, Michael and Calum were 25, and Luke was 24. It was a hard time for them as they were still attempting to find themselves.

"Babe c'mon!" I heard Luke yell from the front door. I drew myself away from the fridge, grabbing my phone and the keys to our van then I threw on some slippers.

"You think Ash will come this year?" I asked, backing out from our driveway.

"Uncle Ashton?" Alexa asked. "When are we seeing him?"

"Hopefully next week." I mumbled.

"For daddy's birthday?"

"Sure." I said just to shut her up. "Daddy's gonna be 25 just like uncle Calum and uncle Michael."

"Well uncle Michaels turning 26 this year." Luke scoffed.

"Will uncle Calum bring cousin Penelope and Auntie Jaileen?"

"I'm sure he will sweetie." Luke said, turning back in his seat to see Alexa's baby face. I looked at Luke as I parked the car and was remembered of everything I had ever fallen in love with. His beautiful eyes and his non-quiffed hair was the same from what I remembered but he was still so different from eight years ago when I was left alone and depressed. But I'm happy now, and I'm so loved by the boy who turned into a man, that I've been together with for ten years of my life already, and I was so excited for what was left of our life together.

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there's still one more epilogue part. I wouldn't leave you guys knowing about that band dinner and not actually write about one :) love y'all