𝑯𝑰𝑴 - Chase Graves

final

FINAL|when life gives you lemons

Winter Snow sat peacefully on the window seat of her office, a book perched on her lap and a smile gracing her lips. She pushed her ebony hair behind her ear and sighed wistfully. Her life was perfect.

"Mummy?" A little girl waddled into the room, wiping the sleep from her eyes. Her blonde hair a mess as she leaned her head on her mothers thigh.

"What's wrong, Mia?" Winter asked, reaching down and placing the young girl on her lap.

"Daddy said its breakfast time." Mia mumbled, starting to fall asleep on her mothers chest.

"Come on, let's go eat." Winter carried her daughter into the steamy kitchen, a topless man bent over the stove flipping pancakes.

"Morning beautiful." He turned around and smiled at his wife, placing a stack of pancakes in the middle of the table.

"Morning mummy!" The three other children at the table chimed together before all battling over the pancakes.

"Morning!" She hummed, placing Mia down in her chair and walking over to her husband, kissing his lips gingerly. "I thought I said no more pancakes for breakfast, you're getting tubby."

"I make us brain mush pancakes, they are healthy." Chase grinned at her before capturing her lips again.

"Gross." The children complained, pulling faces of disgust as they watched their adoptive parents kiss.

"You won't find this gross once you find your soulmates." Winter laughed, pouring each child a glass of orange and sitting down at one end of the large table.

"No man is allowed near my daughters." Chase stated seriously, sending a warning look to the three girls sat around the table.

"Oh calm down, they have all rights to kiss boys." She sent the defensive man a pointed stare, making sure he would calm down. The girls sat at the table gave another round of "ewww"s as they thought about kissing boys while the adults laughed.

"You children ready for school?" Chase started to clean up after breakfast while Winter helped them get ready for school.

"Has everyone got their packed lunches?" Winter checked over them all one by one, making sure everything was perfect. After hearing a chorus of "yes", she helped them into the car and began the long journey to human schools.

"Hey mum!" Her oldest child turned to face her as he sat in the passenger seat. "When is your next book being published?"

"A fictional one or factual?" She asked, curious about her sons sudden curiosity to her work.

"Factual." Ben answered. "I really enjoyed reading about the human body after death and chemicals that are used to preserve the body."

"You sound like you have found your career path." Winter chuckled, finding it funny that he was following in her footsteps. "I use to be a medical examiner until what must be decades back and I think you would enjoy it."

"Did you see peoples eyes hanging out like in the cartoons?" Grace, the next oldest, questioned from the back seats. Her comment causing the other two children to crumple up their faces in disgust.

"A few times but I don't think your daddy would like me going into gory details about my old job." She smiled in the rear mirror at the three girls.

"I still don't understand how you went from being a medical examiner for the police to an author of famous children's book and medical books." Ben exclaimed, gesturing wildly with his hands. "It's so strange."

"After almost losing your father I lost all love for the dead, straight after I kept imagining him on that cold metal table." Her tone shifted and her grip on the steering wheel tightened.

"But he isn't and now you have an amazing son and three bratty daughters." The oldest knew to change the conversation and brighten the mood of the car. Chase's almost death was still a touchy subject almost 50 years later. Winter was still so thankful to her cousins judgement.

"You are all amazing in my eyes." Winter laughed, patting her sons head as she pulled up to the outside of the private school. "Have fun and stay safe! I love you all."

The drive home was quiet and Winter contemplated calling her old family. After isolating herself away from the world and rarely seeing them, she always had that void in her heart.

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