Forbidden Fruit

Appreciation and Endings

Chloe's POV

      We've been home for three weeks now and everything has been perfect. The transition left something to be desired because everyone treated me like a precious little egg but a good old fashioned lecture backed them off.

     The house looks like a home now versus when I first came to Alex's house. Instead of near empty tables and blank walls, there's toys everywhere and our walls are filled with pictures of our little family and our much bigger one. The recovery from my surgery has been going smoothly as well, my scars almost completely healed. Alex asked me once last week of the scar would bother me but I only laughed and told him that it was proof that these babies are all mine.

     It's a scar or survival and blessings not of shame.

     I'm standing in the nursery now with my Link and the two of us are getting the twins ready for a nap. We usually go back and forth with who gets who because this time of day can be exhausting.

     Even though Ashley with his blonde hair and blue eyes is as quiet and sweet as can be, I can already tell that Matty is be hell on wheels when she gets older. The baby already doesn't listen to anyone. Whenever someone tries to change her diaper she squirms and wiggles until you basically give up for a few minutes. When we feed her she likes to spit the milk out but cry for more.

     But I wouldn't change her for the world.

     The only person that seems to have any level of success when it comes to her is Alex. I watch from the corner where I'm rocking Ashley as my Link wrestles the baby into her diaper with mostly ease. I can already tell that even though I damn near broke my back for that little girl, she's absolutely going to be a daddys girl.

    Alex and I talked and I decided that I would like to go by Momma. I know I'm not a woman and wouldn't claim to be but that's the role I play in this dynamic. None of our friend objected to us and Alex thinks it's the cutest thing ever. I tear my eyes away from the duo and look back down at my sweet baby Ashley as he stares back up at me.

     His hazel eyes are focused on my face as I rock his small body back and forth in the rocker. As much as I thought having twins would be hard, our little boy is anything but trouble. He doesn't even cry that often, only when he's hungry. Even at night, we only know he's awake when I go to check on Madison when she starts fussing and I see he's up too. The two of them balance each other out so well and I can't help the sense of pride that fills me when I see them.

     Ashley loves to hold eye contact so I let him stare at me, his tiny hand gripping my finger possessively as I continue continue to rock him in my arms. His eyes slowly begin to droop and though I can tell he's trying to fight it, it's not long until he's sleeping peacefully. I don't move my gaze from him as he falls deeper into dreamland but instead admire how much we are beginning to look alike.

    Matty has begun to gain some of her melanin, while Ash has remained pale, his skin only a shade or two lighter than mine. I continue to look at him for a little while until there's a knock on the front door. Knowing who it is, I stand up and slowly lay my baby boy in his crib beside his sister's, placing a kiss on his head before I pull the bar up and turn towards Alex who's bouncing a cooing Madison in his arms.

     "I'll be right back." I whisper to him and he gives me a smile that I return as I leave the room and close the door behind me. I make my way downstairs and grab my set of keys off the fridge looking for the one to my old apartment.

     The boys had went and grabbed everything from there and either sold it, got it themselves or brought it here to my new home. And after so long it's finally time to say goodbye to that time in my life. I finally manage to get the key off and put the rest of them back on the hook before I walk out the kitchen and down the hall to open the door, smiling at Chandler on the other side.

    I close the door behind me and lean in to give my friend a hug, having missed him all these months, only dropping by a few times with Thomas to have lunch. "Hey, Chan." I greet him  and he hugs me back tightly.

     "Congrats on the twins, Chloe." He tells me and I grin in thanks.

     "Here's the key to my old apartment." I say and he sighs, though a smile is still on his face, as he takes the keys form my hand.

        "I'll miss having your moody ass around." He tells me and I laugh. We exchange banter between the two of us before there's a beat fo silence before I get a little serious.

"I never got to thank you." I start quietly and he turns to me with a raised brow.

"Thank me for what?" He asks and I scoff.

"The list goes on and on. For giving me a place to stay. For all your advice over the years. For keeping me out of trouble." I start, ticking off the reasons on my finger. "But most recently for sending me that voicemail when I ran away. Hearing your understanding and having that reminder that there's others who go through it and come out okay have me the strength to listen to Alex's voice mail as well. You were the domino that started it all." I tell him and he scoffs at me a bit in denial, ever the humble one.

"I wouldn't say I started it all, but you're welcome. I just did what anyone else would do." He says but I shake my head.

"That's the thing. No one else did what you did. And yes you started it all. You took me aside the day I got my Link and told me your story and made me promise I wouldn't do that to myself. You saved me and helped me get here Chan." I turn towards him with tears in my eye and I see his own mirror mine. "I wrote my own story, babe and I'm so so so happy with how each chapter turns out. So thank you for sharing your book so I can write my own."

Chandler throws himself at me and we stand there like that, just holding each other for a bit before we pull apart with puffy eyes. "I'm just glad I could help. You deserve all of this." He tells me and I give him a small smile.

"So do you." I say but he looks away from me. I walk him to his car and he gets in, rolling down the window to say goodbye. "So what's next for you?" I ask him and he thinks for a moment before he smiles a bit.

"I'm not sure, but I know my time is coming." He tells me just as cryptic as he always is and I watch with an amused smile as he pulls out of the driveway and honks softly as he shoots down the road.

I smile to myself as I slowly make my way down the slight hill and back to my house, stepping inside the door before shutting it behind me. I walk downtown the hallway to head upstairs and stop at a picture hanging on the wall right outside the living room. It's a picture of our whole family gathered around me Alex and the twins the day they were born. My hair is a mess, my ears are matted and my smile is tired but our family looks beautiful.

I move on and make my way up the stairs and turn to the left to go back in the twins room. I open the door silently and smile softly at the scene in front of me. Alex is standing between the two cribs as he leans down and sings to the babies, his hands softly caressing their heads as he does.

As I stare at my family I can't help the small tears that leak from my eyes at the sight. I remember ten months ago when the only thing worse than death was having a Link. Now I have the perfect one, beautiful kids and a great loving family. As much as I had wished to stay single when I was younger I'm glad for once the Mistress didn't listen to my prayers.

Even though I resented her for it at first, Alex reached up to pick the Forbidden Fruit and even  though we didn't get what we wanted, we got exactly what we needed and I couldn't ask for better.

✨The End✨

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After almost two month this book has finally come to an end. I will probably post an epilogue or two or maybe even a Q&A extra. Thank you guys so so much for your support. The next update with be a Authors Note that will explain what will happen next.

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Comments?

QOTD: How do you feel about this ending?