Heavenly Brews

Epilogue

Sam's POV

Turning off the main road I go down a small lane and drive past the neighbors' houses. When the small blue house comes into view I note the porch needs to be repainted, the white chipping off the old railing. Pulling up to the house I park the truck in the driveway, narrowly avoiding the abandoned pink tricycle. Getting out of the old Ford I step carefully to avoid the chalk scattered between the scribbles that could resemble flowers.

Reminding myself to get a new garage opener, I go around the house to the back door. Marker and finger-paint have dried to the screen, but thankfully the glass is relatively unharmed. Unlocking the door, I step inside to see Parker hunched over a coloring book.

"Hey bud," I say, breaking his trance.

He looks up and smiles, a gap where his front teeth used to be, "Dad! Look!"

I observe the drawing that's got red and purple across a tree. "It's wonderful! You're just as good as Daddy."

He beams at this and seriously grabs an orange crayon, focused on the bare patch of grass. I laugh and ruffle his hair, heading off in search of Gabriel. I find him trying to entertain Hollie as he paints. She notices me and runs to attach herself to my leg, sitting on my shoe. Gabe turns around and gives me a tired smile, rubbing a hand over his forehead to push his hair back, leaving a streak of paint.

I walk over to him, dragging the four-year-old along - I've learned toddlers have a vice-like grip when they want to - not bothering to pry her off. Gabriel puts down his paintbrush and leans up to peck me on the lips.

"Stressful day?" I ask and he nods.

Looking pointedly at Hollie he says, "Someone refused to take a nap and tried painting like me. On the wall."

At this Hollie looks guilty and hides her face in my shin. Gabriel gestured at his unfinished painted, "They want the series in two weeks and I've had to start this one over four times already. I'm never going to get it done, I should have started cooking dinner half an hour ago and-"

"Hey," I cut him off, "It's okay. I'll make dinner and get them to bed. You focus on your painting, alright?"

I lift his chin and he reluctantly nods, shoulders slumping as he says, "Okay."

I lean down to kiss him and Hollie giggles. When I pull back he smiles and I smirk, "You've got paint on your face by the way. From your eyebrow into your hair," I tell him as I walk away with our adopted daughter still clinging to my leg. Gabriel grumbles something incoherent and turns back to his canvas. I resist the urge to laugh, walking back to the kitchen then detach Hollie from my leg, holding her against my hip.

"Okay spider-monkey what sounds good for dinner?"

Hollie shouts, "Chicken nuggies!"

I cringe, "Not so loud in my ear please," I say and she giggles, "That wasn't very nice," I continue and she smirks-something she picked up from Gabriel.

Parker says he doesn't care, so I suggest spaghetti. Hollie ponders for a moment then nods in approval. Satisfied that she won't throw a fit over chicken nuggets, and will be behave enough to not distract Gabe, I put her down. She joins Parker and the two color quietly as I go about making the spaghetti. Hollie manages to get the sauce in her hair and down her shirt, as well as the floor, so I clean the floor first, Bones helping me. I pat his graying face, and sigh when he struggles to lie back down. Hooch passed away two years ago, and Bones hasn't been the same since. He's getting old too, and it's just a matter of time until he joins Hooch.

Shaking my head, I carry Hollie to the bathroom and give her a bath, letting her play with the bubbles until she's ready to get out of the tub. Parker needs to be reminded to brush his teeth several times, as Hollie decides between wearing princess pajamas or ninja pajamas. She decides on the top of one and bottoms of the other, while Parker puts on whatever he grabbed. Hollie insists on sleeping in Parker's room, something about having someone to help her fight the monsters, and the two crawl onto his bed. I make sure she has all of her stuffed animals, and by the time she's said goodnight to them all they've accumulated around her head. I line them up again for her, and Parker lays on his stomach, hand clutching a plastic dinosaur.

The two demand a bedtime story, so I pick a book off the shelf and begin reading. By the first few pages, Parker is asleep with his mouth open and the dinosaur slipping from his grasp. Hollie falls asleep in the middle, so I close the book and set it on the nightstand. Removing the dinosaur from Parker's grip, I set it in the toy basket as Gabriel appears in the doorway. We kiss their foreheads, and he adjusts the blanket to cover Parker's sprawled limbs.

I turn on the nightlight, as he picks up one of Hollie's stuffed animals and places it by her side. We leave the room, and I heat up a plate of spaghetti for him as he sits at the table and sighs. Placing it in front of him, I grab a beer and sit next to him as he eats and we sit in silence. Once he's done, we sit on the couch and he tells me he's sorry for missing dinner.

"It's fine Gabe, you were busy painting," I say and he shakes his head.

Before he can speak I press my lips to his, and he responds eagerly. I pick him up and carry him to our room, grateful the kids are heavy sleepers. Gabriel moans as I attack his neck, and the two of us tumble onto the bed. We lose layers of clothes as we kiss between 'I love you's, and if I'm a few minutes late to grab coffee from the shop in the morning, no one notices.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

And now, Heavenly Brews is officially over! I also got around to drawing my own cover, and maybe I'll trasnfer it to a PC and touch it up if I find time. A massive thank you to my friend Zoe (user Padalacollins) who edited my chapters and caught my stupid grammar mistakes, Louis style shoutout to you for that!!

Information on new stories:
Forget Me Not (angst and goes mostly off canon. Sabriel and Destiel)

Thank you all for reading, commenting, and voting. I would never have written this without your support, and your kind words always make me smile! So another thank you, from me to all of you, because your enthusiasm is truly inspiring.

I hope you are all well, and have a wonderful holiday season!

~Ashley