Epilogue
Five years later
It was crazy how Arsel and I went from no kids to having a house full of kids over the last five years. Mikayla was now eight years old, and she took her role as the big sister seriously.
Our first baby, Amiyah, was four years old, and she looked just like Arsel. The second one, Axel, was two years old, and he also looked like Arsel. It was like I didn’t even try.
We had a conversation with Mikayla about her parents, and she understood she had two sets of parents. Whenever she asked questions, we answered to the best of our ability.
Monica’s and Trevor’s parents came around more now that she was older.
I was glad that she still had a connection with her biological parents.
They were able to tell her more things about her parents than we could.
We shared pictures of them and told her stories about them that she would understand.
Since we were her guardians, we adopted her, and she shared our last name, but it was hyphenated with her parents’ last name.
I never wanted to take that away from her.
She’d been adjusting well, but I was sure there would be times when she would wonder more about her parents.
We would be there for her as much as we possibly could.
Some days I couldn’t get over being called mommy by three little people. Arsel and I weren’t sure if we would have more kids, but I wasn’t opposed to it. We didn’t have too much time left, but one more wouldn’t hurt. Our family was perfect the way it was, though.
I had written multiple bestsellers over the years, and I slowed down on releasing as much as I did in the past. Mikayla and I were in the process of writing a children’s book about being adopted.
I loved that she took a liking to writing like me.
She would write short stories in her notebook and share them with her friends in school.
She even won a contest they had at the school she attended.
Amiyah liked to play doctor with her doll babies, so I wouldn’t be surprised if she turned out to be a doctor like her father, or even a nurse.
Baby boy was too young to have a clue as to what he would do.
He just liked being under his daddy. Arsel and I did our best to provide a happy and loving environment, and I’d like to think that we had done a good job so far.
“Hey, baby,” Arsel said as he entered our bedroom.
“Hey. Is everything okay?”
He walked further inside and climbed into the bed next to me. The house was quiet for a change, so I took advantage of it and did a little writing. I didn’t have a deadline, so it wasn’t a rush; I just wrote because the urge hit me.
“Yeah. It was a patient with severe burns, but she’ll survive. It’s a shame because they said her boyfriend had done it, but they weren’t sure. She was unconscious, so nobody has been able to talk to her.”
I rubbed his head when he put his head on my chest. Arsel had been on call, so he had to go in to work for a few hours.
“That’s sad. Hopefully, it wasn’t him. Nobody should do anything like that.”
Arsel slipped his hand under my back and snuggled even closer. His eyes were closed, and I had a feeling he would fall asleep.
“You’re right. What have you been up to since I left?”
“I played with the kids a little. We had our learning hour, and I made them help me clean. Once the boy went down, I came in here and did some writing.”
Arsel lifted his head and gave me a quick kiss.
“You really be doing this mom thing. Thank you for doing everything you do. Some days, I don’t know how you do it, but you do it.”
“I’m not by myself in this. You are a big help.”
Things weren’t perfect, and we had plenty of disagreements over the years, but we made things work.
There was no leaving this go round, and Arsel made sure of that.
There were moments when I had to apologize first, though.
We used our support system when we needed them.
Arsel and I had date nights and made sure each other had self-care days.
Silence fell over the room until there was a knock on the door. Arsel had fallen asleep, but as soon as all three kids came in, he was up again.
“Dada,” Axel said as he wobbled toward the bed.
When he reached it, Arsel picked him up and tossed him into the air.
Mikayla sat on the edge of the bed. “Hey, Daddy.”
She and Arsel had a special relationship since she was technically our first child and the reason why we worked so hard for our marriage.
“Hey, baby girl.”
Arsel had been calling her baby girl since she was little and hadn’t stopped.
“Mommy, I’m hungry.” Amiyah climbed onto the bed and sat on her knees.
“So you don’t see me sitting here,” Arsel teased.
“Sorry, Daddy, but my tummy hurts because I’m so hungry.” Amiyah pouted as she rubbed her stomach.
I shook my head at her dramatic self. One would think the child hadn’t eaten in days with the way she acted anytime she was hungry.
I swung my feet to the side of the bed and got up.
“How about I make you guys something to eat while Daddy takes a nap because I know he is tired.”
“Yay!” Amiyah jumped off the bed and ran out of the room.
“That’s your child,” Arsel said, shaking his head and chuckling.
“I’ll go make sure she doesn’t do anything she shouldn’t. Come on, Ax.” Mikayla reached for Axel, and he kissed his father’s cheek before going to her.
I loved that our kids were learning what healthy affection was. I never wanted any of them to feel like they couldn’t or shouldn’t be affectionate with the people they loved.
I watched with a smile on my face as Mikayla and Axel left the room.
“Get some rest while I feed these kids.” I leaned over and kissed Arsel on the top of his head.
He grabbed my arm when I tried to walk away and pulled me on top of him.
“I was thinking we could take a vacation soon with the kids, but we can bring my parents with us so we can get some alone time, too.”
“Where were you thinking?”
His hand rubbed my booty, and if it wasn’t for me having to feed the kids, I would have stayed in bed with him.
“Maybe a cruise. We can talk about it more later. You know Amiyah is going to be calling your name soon.” He chuckled.
“She sure will.” I kissed him again, then got up.
I put my slippers on and left the room. I closed the door since I knew Arsel would take a nap.
All three kids were in the kitchen when I got downstairs.
Mikayla had already put Axel into his high chair and given him a few pieces of fruit.
She was so good with them, and sometimes she acted like she was the mother.
We made sure to give her plenty of opportunities to do things with her friends.
Arsel and I never wanted her to feel like she was obligated to do everything for them just because she was the oldest.
“What does everyone want?”
Of course, Amiyah was the first one to tell me she wanted grilled cheese, and Mikayla agreed, so I made them grilled cheese sandwiches, and they had chips to go with it.
After the kids ate, we all went to the living room to play a few games, then we watched a movie.
Mikayla was on one side of me with Axel in her lap, and Amiyah sat on the other side with her head on my lap.
I looked at all three of my kids and couldn’t be happier.
At some point during the movie, all of us had fallen asleep. I awoke to find Arsel standing over us with a smile on his face, taking pictures with his phone. His camera roll was full of family pictures, and he had no problem showing strangers his family.
“Come here,” he whispered.
I gently moved Amiyah off my lap and stood. Arsel grabbed my hand and led me upstairs.
When we got to our bedroom, he closed the door and guided me to our bed.
“Did you sleep well?” I asked as I watched him take his shirt off.
“I did. I feel rested now. Thank you. Take your clothes off,” he demanded, and heat flooded my body.
“What if the kids wake up?” I asked as I swiftly undressed.
“They’ll be fine. I only need three minutes anyway,” he said as he picked me up and placed me on his hard dick.
A giggle and a moan slipped out simultaneously. I leaned forward and kissed him. Our tongues connected as I rode him slowly.
I knew it would take him longer than three minutes, but I was sure Mikayla would keep her siblings occupied. The room door was locked, so we didn’t have to worry about them just coming in. They also knew they had to knock on the door first.
“I love you, baby,” Arsel said in between groans.
“I love you, too.”
Our lives had been completely altered before we were ready, but it made us learn to cherish the people in our lives and to enjoy every moment we had.
As long as we relied on each other, nothing would ever come between us again.
Fin