Epilogue 2
Life gets louder in ways I didn't expect.
Not the bad kind of loud.
Just... full.
Ava is five now.
Which means she talks constantly, asks questions I can't always answer, and has very strong opinions about everything from breakfast to how I tie my shoes.
And Liam, two years old, currently thinks the world exists to test how far he can push a chair before someone stops him.
Which is usually Chloe.
Always Chloe, really.
I'm in the kitchen when I hear it.
Small footsteps. Fast ones.
"Daddy!"
I turn just in time for Ava to collide into my legs like she's been launched.
Instinct kicks in before thought. I catch her easily, one arm under her, lifting her without breaking stride.
"Morning," I say.
She beams at me like I've just made her entire day.
"I had toast," she announces proudly.
"That's impressive."
"It had butter AND jam."
"Dangerous combination."
She giggles, wrapping her arms around my neck like she's been doing it forever.
Because she has.
Across the room, Liam is attempting to climb onto a chair twice his height.
Chloe is watching him with the calm, exhausted patience of someone who has accepted chaos as a lifestyle.
"Liam," she says gently.
He ignores her.
"Liam."
Still ignored.
I set Ava down and cross the room in three steps, lifting him off the chair before he can attempt physics again.
He immediately protests.
"No!"
"Yes," I say.
He wriggles in my arms like he's personally offended by gravity.
Ava watches him like he's entertainment.
"Daddy, he's loud," she says seriously.
"I noticed."
Chloe laughs softly from the counter.
She's got one hand on her stomach.
The other is holding a cup of tea she's forgotten to drink twice already.
Pregnant again.
Third one.
She still looks at me sometimes like she can't believe this is her life.
I still look at her sometimes like I can't believe I got to keep her.
Liam finally settles when I sit him on my hip, immediately grabbing my shirt like it's his personal anchor.
"Daddy strong," he announces.
"Unfortunately, yes," I mutter.
Ava nods approvingly, as if this is a fact.
Chloe walks over then, pressing a kiss to Ava's head first, then Liam's cheek, then mine.
She doesn't even hesitate anymore.
It's just her routine.
Home.
"Breakfast?" she asks.
"Already done," I say.
She smiles slightly.
"You've been up for five minutes."
"I'm efficient."
She hums like she doesn't believe that for a second.
But she looks happy anyway.
Ava climbs onto the bench beside her, swinging her legs.
Liam immediately tries to copy her and almost falls off before I catch him again.
Chloe watches all of it with that soft expression she gets now.
The one that still makes something in my chest tighten.
Like, I'm not used to this level of peace.
Maybe I never will be.
"Daddy," Ava says suddenly.
"Yeah?"
She leans in like she's telling me a secret.
"I like our house."
I glance at Chloe.
She's already watching me.
Smiling a little.
"Yeah?" I ask Ava.
Ava nods seriously.
"It's good."
I huff a quiet laugh.
"Yeah," I say. "It is."
Liam smacks my shoulder like he agrees, but lacks vocabulary.
Chloe leans into my side when I finally put him down, her hand sliding into mine like it belongs there.
I look around the kitchen.
No silence.
No emptiness.
Just noise, chaos, life.
And somehow, it doesn't overwhelm me.
It fits.
Chloe rests her head lightly against my shoulder.
"You okay?" she asks softly.
I look at her.
At the kids.
At the life we built without ever really meaning to build anything.
"Yeah," I say. "I am."
And for once, no part of me doubts it.