Grace
eight years later
"Marley, Jacob, dinner's ready!" I call out from the kitchen, putting the food on plates. I look up to see the front door opening as Louis walks in, coming straight to the kitchen.
"Sorry I'm late, my boss wanted me to train one of the new guys today."
"That's fine, you're here now." I smile and he kisses me, grabbing two plates to set on the table. I hear footsteps racing down the stairs and watch as Marley and Jacob run to the table.
"Haha, I beat you here!" Marley says happily, crossing her arms.
"Did not!"
"What, are you afraid to admit that you lost to a girl?"
"No, because I was here first!"
"You were not, just admit it."
"Sorry Jacob, but your sister's right. She was here first." I say, grabbing the other two plates and setting them where the twins' usually sit.
"Mom, you're supposed to be on my side!" He whines, sitting down at the table.
"I would be, if you were here first."
"I don't get why you guys feel the need to race here anyway, it's not like you'll get a prize for being here first." Louis says, pulling his coat off before hanging it up. He walks back into the kitchen and takes a seat at the table.
"Come on, Dad. Don't tell me that you never raced any of your siblings to the dinner table." Marley says, sitting next to Louis.
"Can't say that I did. I was the oldest in my family, so I was usually either helping with dinner or making it for everyone."
"Even at nine years old?" Jacob raises an eyebrow, not quite believing what his father says.
"I was definitely helping my mother out by then. There's no excuse that you two couldn't help us out. Especially with your mother being-"
"Louis." I shoot him a look as I set his plate in front of him.
"What?"
"I haven't said anything yet. I want to make sure that it's true before I say anything." He nods slowly and I set the twins' plates down. "So if you could not say anything, that'd be great."
He nods slowly and we all start eating. It's not easy to ignore Marley and Jacob looking back and forth between Louis and I, but I do my best. I hate keeping things from them, they can always tell when something's up. In a way, I feel a bit bad for not talking it over with them first, but it's not exactly their choice to make anyway. It's up to Louis and I, just like it always has been.
"Don't forget that you have to pack your bags tomorrow, you're going You your aunt's house." I say, getting up to put the dishes in the sink.
"Will the dogs be coming with us to Aunt Lexi's?" Marley asks, handing her plate to me.
"As long as her and Uncle Harry haven't changed their minds, they will be. They're not coming with us, and we're not going to board them since we have family nearby."
"Okay."
"Go finish your homework. Let me know if you need help with anything, alright?" She nods and runs upstairs. As if she'll need help with her homework though, she probably knows more than me and Louis combined.
"You ready for tomorrow?" Louis asks, walking over to me. He wraps his arms around my waist and leans his forehead against mine.
"Ready to leave them? No. But I am ready to spend some one-on-one time with you. Hasn't happened in a while."
"I know, I hate sharing you, but I love our family."
"I do too, it's just nice to get a little break every now and then. Lexi and Harry are trying to start a family of their own, so they aren't always going to be around to watch them. Your family's across the ocean, so they can't help out."
"You know that if we needed anything, they would be here in a heartbeat."
"I know, and I love that about them. The only family that's ever been there for me is Lexi."
"I'm sure you can understand why your brother was never there."
"Him and the other bunch of siblings that I have, along with my mother who never cared about me?"
"Your mother gave you up because she wasn't ready to have a kid. And your brother tried to have a relationship with you a few years ago, but you thought things were going too fast."
"I was her second kid, that I know of. If she wasn't ready, she wouldn't have had Lexi. And my brother.... I don't know about him. It's just weird when we don't even know each other. The only thing we share is the person who gave birth to us."
"I understand, I have a sister on my dad's side that I barely know. I barely know any of that side of my family, because my dad was never around. I understand where you're coming from, but don't let that keep you from getting to know him. He wanted to know you." I nod slowly, sighing.
"I just need some time to think about it. Maybe after our trip I'll start thinking about it. But for now, all I want to think about is what we're going to do."
"Don't you worry about that, leave it up to me."
"I feel like I always do that though."
"Don't you remember? The last time the two of us took a trip, you didn't even know where we were going."
"You took me to the place I always wanted to go." I smile, remembering how excited I was when I found out that we were in Paris for our honeymoon.
"I did. Ten years is a big achievement, we haven't gotten annoyed by each other yet." We both laugh.
"Yet." I say, making him laugh harder.
"True, but leave it up to me. I'll make sure that we have fun."
"You'll make sure that I won't want to leave."
"Probably. Just don't get sick on me this time."
"No promises." I smirk, and he kisses me.
//
I edited the cast so that Marley and Jacob are included. I know that these people are older than they are in the story, but they're what the actors looked like at that age. They will also be portrayed by those people when they get older.
