Leah Cooper, 19, was born and raised by a family of hunters. She was taught to stalk her prey first, then go for the kill. Her life changes when her true love of five years, starts acting weird, naturally, she becomes suspicious. Is he hiding someth...
"Anyone home?" I call out to the mud room, walking in the door with the disheveled hospital bag slung over my shoulder. Jack follows behind carrying Elliott in the car seat.
"Alani? Odette?" I call out.
We continue walking into the house. I walk into the playroom, no one. I walk into the bathroom, no one. I continue walking around the house, searching for the girls. Jack carefully walks into the house.
"They should be here, Ian's car is in the driveway." Jack replies. He shuts the door behind him with his one free hand.
He places Elliott's car seat on the kitchen counter. The marble countertop reflects the car seat as it had reflected dozens of other things over the past seven years. An array of fingertips, bottles, cups, packs of diapers, jewelry boxes, mail, and other items. Although it's seen better days, it holds a lot of sentiment.
Jack smiles at the baby, the baby stares blankly at Jack. He finally got his son, the son he's mentioned time and time again. He gently holds Elliott's hand, his tiny fingers wrap around Jack's finger.
A chill hits my shoulder, as if a presence were behind me. I smile and glance back. It must be Garrison. I can almost hear him say he's happy for me. Almost. Stop thinking about him, Leah. You're with Jack. Garrison is dead, he isn't coming back.
"Do you think the girls will like him?" I ask, looking at Jack. He nods and smiles.
"Of course they will, they've taken good care of their baby dolls these past few months. They will love him, I just know it." He assures me.
"Oh there's a note on the fridge." I acknowledge the foreign piece of paper on the fridge. It's up higher than the girls can reach so Ian must've put it there. Given the chicken scratch scribbled on the paper, I know it's Ian's. I begin reading from it, "outside with the girls, come join us when you get home <3."
Jack and I walk outside. Ian throws Odette up in the air, Alani runs around chasing a butterfly. Odette squeals and laughs, a big toothy smile spreads across her face. Ian catches Odette in his arms and swings her about in his arms. Her laughter is music to my ears. Alani finally catches up to the butterfly and smiles as she examines it. Her eyes widen at God's precious and delicate gift.
"I'm gonna get you, Alani!" Ian warns her, crouching down with his arms out ready to snatch her up. Alani squeals and runs around the yard. Ian finally catches up to her and tickles her. Her high pitched laughter fills my eardrums.
Odette runs around the yard as well, trying to tackle Ian while he's tickling Alani. Odette happens to glance up at us, her eyes widen when she sees us.
"Mommy, Daddy!" Odette screams, running towards us.
Ian and Alani look up at us and smile. Ian's hazel locks fray, Alani's long curly hair frizzes in the summer heat. They hadn't noticed our presence until Odette screamed. Alani runs towards us, hugging my waist. Odette hugs the other side of my waist.
"Hey guys!" Ian greets, walking up to us. He looks down at our empty hands. "Where's the baby?!" He smiles and looks up at me.
"Let's go inside, you can hold him and the girls can meet their little brother." I suggest.
The girls, still attached to my waist, grasps onto my legs. I walk into the house with the girls giggling on my legs. Jack follows behind with the baby and Ian behind him.
I slowly sit down on the couch, trying to be careful of my sore body. Once I'm comfortable, I snag the girls up and put them on my lap. Their smiles spread across their faces in such excitement. Their eyes light up when they see him.
Jack unbuckles Elliott and carefully takes him out of the car seat. Elliott draws his feet in close to his body and makes a sour face. Jack first hands him to Ian, Ian holds Elliott in his arms, tears filling his eyes.
"He's so tiny..." Ian mumbles, not taking his eyes off Elliott. Elliott locks eyes with Ian.
"I want to see him!" Alani exclaims. Ian holds Elliott out so Alani can see him better. Alani's face lights up when she sees him up close. Odette leans over and giggles.
"He looks funny!" Odette giggles. Jack chuckles and snags Odette up.
"He's a baby, he's going to look funny. You and your sister did, you still do!" He replies, tickling Odette. She giggles immensely.
Just watching the girls's faces light up when they see him causes an enormous smile to form on both mine and Jack's faces. He interlocks his fingers with mine. Everything is perfect. We finally have a family of our own. Life couldn't be better.
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Hey guys, it's been a hot minute! I hope you guys are well. Yes this is the end of the book, about damn time, right? 😂 I'm sad to say it, but this is the end of Moonlight. I hope you enjoyed it! I had so much fun these past two years writing it, it is currently under revisions for grammar and description purposes. I may make a short story about Moonlight giving a little update on the kids being a little older and Mel's kids. So stay tuned for that!
