What it Means to Have You

Epilogue

Kine

Work was finally starting to settle down after a huge five hour rush. Another concert was in town, but thankfully it wasn't Tanner's band. After two months and only a small letter in the mail as a reminder for Nagol to keep me under control, we figured that Tanner had finally decided to let the matter rest. Or, at least not come after me again unless I leave Nagol's territory.

Not likely going to happen. I thought to myself with a grin as I glanced over at my mate by the open door. Seemingly feeling my eyes on him, he turned, sending me a big grin before returning to checking ID's.

We should be allowed to go in a few minutes, baby. His voice said in my mind. Even though it was inside my head, it was still hard to hear over the loud music that had started up around ten. With a glance at the clock, I noticed that it was indeed time to head out. After finishing wiping down the rest of the empty tables in my section, I checked with the servers to see if they needed any help, then went to check with our boss to see if we could clock out. Normally we would just do it and leave, but with the extra business the concert brought we were asked to tell him before we left. Thankfully after a brief hunt through the kitchen I found him and was told that we were free to go.

Let's head out. I told Nagol through our bond as I clocked out, then waited for him to do so a few minutes later. I was eager to get out of the loud building, sighing when we finally stepped out into the warm air. With winter long gone, the nights had taken on a warmer temperature, which felt amazing after being in frigid air conditioning for eight hours.

Walking hand in hand, we made our way to his car, only breaking contact so that we could slide inside and buckle up. As soon as we were on the road I took his hand again, squeezing it gently as a smile slipped onto my face. The ride was quiet, likely because both of us were eager to get home and spend a few minutes with the boys before they went to bed. Even after telling them numerous times to be asleep before we got back from our shifts, they refused, wanting to be able to say good night face to face. Eventually we gave up, mainly because we weren't home to force them to go to bed. Thankfully we did manage to get our schedules changed for most of our days, allowing us to get home closer to two in the morning instead of five.

We're early tonight.

It was definitely a good thing, considering both boys had their final exams to take very soon. The car came to a stop in a parking spot and after leaning over to steal a quick kiss, I got out and ran up the stairs, pulling the key to the apartment from my pocket before stopping on the landing to unlock the door. Nagol was behind me when I stepped inside, the smell of baked chicken meeting our noses.

"Mm," I said, licking my lips as I stepped into the kitchen.

Miguel sat a tray on the stovetop before turning around with a small smile as Cody glanced up from the book he was reading in the corner next to the oven.

"Hey boys, how was your day at school?" Nagol asked as he walked over and gave Miguel a side-hug, then leaned over and patted Cody's hair before turning to get a drink from the fridge. We normally discussed our days after work so that we had something to contribute from if the boys asked.

"Great! I got a B on my exam and my guidance counselor said that if my grades are good on my final tests, I should have no problem getting a scholarship."

His enthusiasm made me grin, and the fact that he was getting a scholarship! "Awesome! I'm really proud of you, Miguel. You deserve it, you work hard." I said as I walked over, rustling his hair before getting down plates for dinner.

Miguel used the oven mitts he already had on his hands to grab a bowl of hot mashed potatoes and bring it to the table, and Nagol got the drinks, which happened to be water for everyone except Cody, who really enjoyed grape juice with chicken. We questioned why once, but when he just shrugged we figured that it was just another answer we would never get it, and that worked just fine for us.