Pain and Love Comes in Many Forms

Chapter Forty Eight

I was brushing Lily's hair when the doorbell rang.

"Mark, sweetie, could you get that? I'll be there in a minute."

"Got it!" I heard Mark's feet scuttle away as I put Lily's hair into a ponytail.

"There you go! All done!" I informed.

"Thank you Daddy!" She giggled. I smiled and got up, carrying her with me towards the front door, where Mark was just kinda, standing there.

I looked to see who was there and saw two wonderful people.

My mom, who I was still angry with.

Winter, who both Jack and I were still upset with.

"What do you want? To lie again, to hurt someone?" I said bitterly, putting Lily on the ground and shielding Mark and Lily from the two.

"Ethan, how long are you going to be mad at me? I-"

"Give me a couple years, maybe I'll understand. Maybe. You lied to me, and it caused a lot more harm than good."

"I thought I was protecting you!"

"You thought the same for Dan right? Even when I told you how messed up he was, you never told me. You lied about saving me, you lied about so much. What's to say you won't do it again?"

My mom flinched, and for a split second, i felt bad about being so cruel to her. Then I remembered all the pain I felt that was caused by her 'protecting' me. She did anything but.

Winter stood still, watching the display, and she took note of how I guarded the kids.

She was about to say something-

"Why are you two here? What are you trying to do to Ethan?" Jack said from behind them.

"Oh, so n-"

"Ethan, take the kids upstairs, I'll talk to these two."

"Got it." I led the kids away from the scene and we all sat in the guest room, sitting cross legged on the floor.

"Who was that?" Mark asked.

"Well, one is your aunt and the other is your grandma."

"Oh..."

"Your grandma isn't a bad person, but she hurt both Dan and I by lying to us and holding secrets. It will take me awhile before I really let her talk to you."

"She hurt you?"

"Not physically, but you can hurt others with more than fists."

Mark looked down, "have you always felt with these types of things?"

"Sadly, I have. But don't be discouraged, things do get better. After all, you two are in our life now."

Lily and Mark looked at me quizzically, "really?"

"Of course," I said with a laugh, "the small things I used to do are now a lot more fun. Waking up and eating breakfast, getting picked up from work, coming home from work, going to bed. You two have made our lives much more fun. I couldn't be happier."

They smiled gleefully at me and knocked me over, trying to hug me.

Such joy the two brought me. All my worries with Jack, they seemed to melt. Kids now tied us together. Marriage would only solidify what we created.

"We love you dad(dy)." they screamed together. I couldn't help but smile at them as the three of us laid on the floor, all hugging.

I loved them.

I loved these two so god damn much.

The door to the guest room opened, and Jack walked in, looking exhausted from talking to his sister and my mom.

"They're gone." Jack huffed, flopping down into the floor next to us.

"At least they're the most stressful things in our life right now, and not something else."

Jack smiled, "yeah, thank god for that."

I smiled and pressed a kiss to his lips.

"What's that?" Lily asked.

"Huh?"

"What you just did with papa?"

Jack and I looked at each other, then at her. Mark seemed confused too.

"You just do it a lot, and I don't know what it is."

"Um," I flushed, "it's a kiss. It's done by two people who like each other very much in a way that maybe marriage could be an option."

"Our old mom and dad never kissed..." mark trailed.

"How do I say this," I muttered, "your mother and father, didn't love each other. And in the end, it ruined them both."

Mark seemed a bit surprised by that, but, I guess he knew that. At least understood why i might have said that or had experienced it firsthand.

"We're Lily and I... a mistake?"

"No!" Jack and I exclaimed together.

"No, you are not a mistake. Their marriage was. You two were gifts they didn't deserve." I assured.

"Thank you dad." Mark said softly. Jack and I pulled the two into a tight hug, not letting go.

There was pawing at the door.

"Looks like even princess wants to cuddle." I opened the door for princess to run in, seemingly jumping into the mess of arms and bodies clinging together in such a warm embrace.

"Do you want more kids?" Mark asked shyly.

"Well, Yes, because I want a big family, but that won't mean I'll love you any less. It just means there's more love to go around and you'll have another sibling in the process."

Jack nodded in agreement, "so don't worry. We will still love you two with all our heart."

The two seems to understand, smiling at Jack and I.

God, I loved these kids. They were my life now.

"Ahh! I almost forgot, Lily has her ballet practice in less than a hour. We need to hurry!"

"I almost forgot! Everyone, come on!"

The four of us scrambled around the house, and it was a messy flurry of clothes, bags, phones and just, random crap.

It felt like we spent an eternity getting ready.

In reality it had barely been five minutes.

We all stumbled into the car in front, thankful Winter and my mom were already gone.

"Let's go!" I exclaimed.

"You're always in such a hurry."

"Will you be quick like usual?"

"Low blow."

"That's how I roll," I kissed him and we all buckled in, driving off.

This was already part of our new routine.

Jesus.