Better Than Yesterday

Epilogue

~Seven years later~

"Sol Isla Hood!" The small girl stops at the authoritative tone of her dad's voice, turning to find his brown eyes buried beneath furrowed brows, "What did mom tell you ten seconds ago?" He asks sternly.

"No running by the fire." The four year old replies timidly, her small lower lip quivering.

"You know why mom told you not to run by the fire, right?"

"If I touch it it will hurt me. And if I trip I might touch it by accident." She repeats the fire safety rule to him.

"So then why, baby girl, are you running by the fire?" Calum asks, lowering himself to a squat to be on eye level with her. The orange glow of the fire flickering over her little features.

"I wanted to make s'mores with Andrew." She points at her cousin sitting on a log roasting a marshmallow.

"Then walk around the fire, carefully, ask auntie Liza for a marshmallow? and go sit by Andy. But please don't run by the fire. We don't want you to get hurt, okay?"

"I'm sorry, daddy." She nods.

"Alright go." He sighs, motioning for her to continue on her way. Slowly she turns on her little feet, walking with less pep in her step around to where Eliza is already prepping a stick for her to roast her marshmallow.

"You know, I'd have got in so much more trouble for something like that. Actually, I think I did." He turns as Nika wraps her arms around his middle, smiling up at him.

"Oh, ya?" He chuckles.

"Ya, when I was four and Asher and Bryce took us camping for the first or second time, I remember being sat in timeout for like two hours for running by a fire." She smirks.

"It wasn't two hours. It might have been ten minutes." Calum laughs loudly.

"When I was four, it felt like two hours. But we all know Sol has you wrapped around her damn finger."

"Don't be so jealous, Punk Princess." Calum and Nika both turn as Skye wanders over to them. "When I met you and your dad, he couldn't tell you no if your life depended on it. He was wrapped around your finger."

"Not like he's wrapped around Sol's. Rui agrees with me." Nika chuckles.

"She's the baby, she gets what she wants." The seven year old stops as she passes, rolling her eyes at her older sister and parents.

"Don't we know it." Nika laughs.

"Please, as if being the oldest is so hard. Try being the middle child." Rui scoffs at Nika before heading back towards the fire, plopping down beside Bryce and his new fiancé Christina.

"She is so dramatic." Nika rolls her eyes at her sisters back.

"All three of you are dramatic." Calum retorts quickly.

"And with those kind words of encouragement from my ever loving dad. I need a s'more." Nika rolls her eyes, wandering off towards the fire, scooping Cami from Asher's arms and immediately getting a giggle out of the little girl.