Twenty Five.

Chapter twelve

"Are you recording?" Rydel shouted down the hall.

"Yeah babe, yeah i am." Ellington replied, holding the camera steadily.

Joey and Rydel appeared at the end of the hallway, hand in hand. Joey was dressed in a smaller version of one of his dad's shirts and some jeans. He had a brown short hair wig on and was holding drumsticks in his free hand. Rydel walked with him to Ellington. Ellington recorded him as he walked towards him, laughing to himself. He lifted the camera up to her face and she smiled down the lense.

"I can't believe you dressed him up as me for Halloween!" Ellington said inbetween laughs. She took the camera off of him and turned it to face him, recording his laughter and giggly face. He brushed his still-growing beard with one hand and picked up joey, who pointed at the camera.

A girly chuckle erupted from behind the camera. "You guys look so much alike!"

Joey's hand, reached out and touched the camera lens and then darkness followed.

Almost two months later in Colorado.
Five days left until Christmas.

"Dadda! Momma! Dadda! Momma!" Joey squealed, crawling across the bedroom floor towards Ellington and Rydel's bed. Ellington sat up, rubbing his eyes sleepily. "Hello and happy birthday baby boy!"

Rydel moved her head from Ellington's chest and sat up, pulling the blanket up her chest and smiling. Ellington pulled his son onto the bed and joey settled inbetween the two of them.

Rydel looked at him, slightly worried. "Ell, babe, how did he get out of his crib by himself?"

Joey looked at them both, grabbing his feet and letting out a cheeky giggle. He had dimples and a small mop of brown hair, just like his dad.

"Someone is a cheeky little baby." Ellington giggled, ruffling his tufts of hair. "Or should i say little man."

Rydel lifted two presents onto the bed, both of them wrapped in blue paper. One, a large box shape, was from Rydel and one, more oval shaped and soft, from Ellington. Joey squealed loudly and gratefully, pointing at them and clapping. He reached over and patted them both.

"I think maybe we might have to help him unwrap them.." Rydel giggled, wiping the drool from joey's chin. She ripped a bit of the wrapping paper off and tried to encourage joey to pull the rest off but he wasn't really interested. Instead, he picked up the piece of paper she had pulled off and scrunched it up. "Oh joey." she laughed.

Ellington picked him up and kissed his little face all over as rydel unwrapped the box. It was filled with some toy cars. "Look joey." Ellington pointed at the box and his little face lit up. "Car!!" He yelled, using Ellington as a bridge to crawl across to the box. He pointed to the pictures on the side. "Car! Car! Car!"

Ellington unwrapped the other present to reveal a big dinosaur teddy. It was green and fluffy. Joey squealed loudly, hugging it in his two chubby little arms and tackling it down. The both of them laughed at him.

"I can't believe he's a year old..." Ellington breathed in shock and amazement.

"I can't believe we've been together for four months." Rydel replied, pecking his lips and getting out of bed. She grabbed some clothes and headed towards the bathroom.

"Ell, where's joey?" Rydel asked, pushing the plate of pancakes across the counter in Ellington's direction. Ellington took the plate and placed his newspaper down on the side.

"He is sat over there playing with the box that his cars came in." Ellington laughed, wrapping his arms around Rydel who had just sat on his lap. She chuckled, leaning back on Ellington who fed her and then himself bits of pancake. "Next year, I'll just get him a box."

The two of them continued to feed each other, lovingly as the doorbell rang.

"I'll be right back beautiful...." He told her, getting up and heading towards the door. He unlocked it and opened it.

He looked at the person who was on the other side, his jaw dropping. The two of them locked eyes but neither said a word.

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Sorry I haven't updated in a while, I thought the chapter had deleted but it hadn't thank goodness. I really hope you enjoy the chapter and ily all <3 :)