The Baby Pact

Epilogue

"Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Cameron, Lana and Elijah...happy birthday to you," we chorus throughout the room.

Cameron stares down at the small cupcake on the tray in front of her, then looking back up at Rose for help.

Elijah and Lana sit beside her, each in a separate high chair with a cupcake as well.

Cameron's strawberry blonde hair shines in the sunlight, the summer sun soon to set. She has eyes that are green towards the pupil but fade into a stormy grey towards the outer ring of her eyes.

She has a beautiful green summer dress on, Rose not daring to put her in white for fear of getting frosting all over her.

Lana and Elijah both have dark black hair, looking very identical in their features with a few freckles dotted on their button noses, pink lips and dark tanned skin. The only difference between the two being their eyes, as Lana sports beautiful hazel eyes and Elijah has electric blue eyes.

I've dressed them in a matching green outfit, Lana wearing a dress identical to Cameron's and Elijah wearing a green shirt with black shorts.

We've been dressing the three of them, if not then just Elijah and Lana, the same because we've been calling them "the triplets" since they all have the same birthdate.

Cameron puts her head towards the cupcake as Lauri is seen taking pictures of the children.

I stand behind the twins and use this to my advantage to take Elijah's cupcake.

He scowls towards me and reaches a hand out, indicating he wanted it back.

"Ma, ma," he says while he reaches further and I put it back near him. He giggles as he has a hold of it, but I push it towards his lips, getting the bright red frosting all over his lips and chin.

His eyes widen but he doesn't begin to cry, hearing Lana and Cameron's giggling beside him.

Lana dips her itty bitty fingers into her frosting and reaches over to put it on Cameron's face. Cameron giggles at the action and puts her mouth onto her cupcakes excitedly.

And soon enough all three of them are eating away.

Landon comes behind me to wrap his hands around my waist and plants a loving kiss onto my cheeks.

My hair is now long, reaching down a bit past my shoulder blades in its tight black curls. The Fourth of July is in high swing, and all of our close family and friends are present. Even Dominic's parents came to spend the holiday with us and celebrate their grandchildren's birthday.

John is here for the next month or so before he gets deployed again, his hand draped lovingly over Lauri's shoulders as she plays with her phones camera.

All the girls from the support group are here, their babies all scattered about either running around, eating a cupcake or being held by an adult that is cooing over them.

Donna is here, claiming she's also a proud grandparent of the children which I willingly accept. She's here for everything for them, fitting in perfectly with the family.

Alyssa is here, and we've finally gotten to meet her daughter that was pregnant at fifteen. She's now eighteen, her daughter three years old named Jane.

She's been coming to the support group a few times, and after getting her to open up to us, she now comes to hangout with what is known as our mommy group now.

Grayson has his hand placed in Rose's, and no matter how much Rose denies it, they're an item.

She continuously is fearful of the fact that he could up and leave, so she constantly denies that they're more than just friends.

But he's not going anywhere...

We let the three babies down from their high chairs, allowing them to run after the other babies in the grass, still having wobbles here and there on their chubby legs.

I smile at the direction of all the babies, some tearing up grass, others playing with another, or still chewing at their cupcakes.

"Totally best friends already," Mollie says with a smirk and I roll my eyes playfully. Landon comes to stand beside me, grabbing onto my hand.

"My baby is going to be such the little ladies man," Sophie says, her eyes full of affection as she watches Dustin walk with Millie and Everly.

"I think Cameron and Lana are going to grow up to be best friends like Christine and Rose," Jade says, earning a blush from my cheeks.

"You know what I think?" Valerie comments and we all turn towards her with a hum.

"I think that Cameron and Elijah will end up dating, but Cameron and Lana will be best friends," she says and my eyes widen, earning a laugh from the other girls.

"That would be pretty ironic now huh?" Sophie says and Landon blushes beside me.

"That would be pretty cute," Rose says, coming up to stand beside me.

"Guys, they're just babies," I say, and Valerie chuckles.

"Yeah...but look at them," she says and I turn back to look at all the kids in the grass.

Cameron is pulling up grass, sitting on her butt. Lana sits beside her, also pulling up grass and putting it in Cameron's lap.

Elijah wanders over to them, sitting in between his sister and Cameron. He takes some of the grass back from Cameron's lap and drops it into Lana's lap as they all chatter with their baby talk.

"Thank you," I say, turning to Rose who looks back at me with a surprised expression.

"For what?" She asks curiously and I smile, remembering one of the first things she said to me.

"You said I could thank you later, you know, after you helped me get my life in order and be ready for my babies. So I assume this is that later part you were talking about."

"Not only did you do that Rose, but you gave me a family. So thank you...and I love you," I say happily and she gives me a huge smile in return.

She jumps on me as she wraps her arms around me, my arms soon following suit.

"I love you too," she says and I smile, melting into her embrace.

I break out of my trance to go pick up the babies, noticing the sun has finally gone down as the last bits of sun disappears.

"Fireworks are going to start soon, let's go to the park," Landon says and everyone is rounding up their kids and loading them into the cars.

We pull up to a park that's about ten minutes away, rushing to find an empty spot on the field to lay down our blankets and baby items and foods.

We end up finding a large space where we lay a bunch of blankets and toys out for the kids, everyone sitting with one another.

I sit beside Landon and Rose, Lana and Elijah towards our feet playing with Cameron.

The park is filled with many other people, patiently waiting for fireworks to begin as well.

We don't have to wait long as they begin to fire off, seeing the first one explode into the sky.

The babies jump in surprise, their faces twisting into fear. I grab Lana and Elijah at the same time Rose grabs Cameron, facing them towards the fireworks.

They quickly lose the fearful expressions as they stare at the sky in wonder. They're small mouths form 'o's as more fireworks begin to pop off into the sky, lighting it up with colors of red, whites, and blues.

"Happy Fourth of July!" Landon yells out, earning back the same sentence from everyone around.

I laugh in excitement and kiss Lana and Elijah on their heads, blowing a kiss Cameron's way.

"And happy birthday to our precious babies," I say with a small smile as I lean my head onto Landon's shoulder to watch the fireworks.

And in that moment...everything was perfect.

And I take the time to really enjoy this moment. When they're so tiny, and I'm so young, and everything is so peaceful and full of love.

I live for this moment.