Badboy & The Troublemaker

│Bonus Chapter: Roses and Valentines│*

"Love is about finding someone who's imperfections put together with yours make a concoction of perfection."

∞Bonus Chapter: Roses and Valentines∞

Time: 20 years after Ash and Austin's marriage

~Ash~

"Hunter, please don't spill any of that on the carpet" I warn, gesturing towards the open coke cans he and his friends had set down on the coffee table in front of the TV. Hunter had brought home a couple of his friends to play some fifa game or something.

"Don't worry about it mom, we won't spill anything" Hunter says not looking at me from the flat screen TV in front of him.

"Good, because if you do, you along with your buddies over here will be scrubbing the carpets til they look as clean as they did when I first bought them" I say smiling as the boys chuckle.

"Of course Mrs. Aimes" hunter's friend Tony says and I shake my head laughing.

"That's what I like to hear" I say waving to them as I walk out of the kitchen, towards the stairs.

The house had been busy these last couple of weeks as Hunter was home from college these last two weeks because of his semester break. Kate was stressed out about university acceptances and moving out. She had talked to me about convincing her dad to let her move out with a couple of friends.

"Kate!" I call out as I trudge tiredly up the stairs, my back aching as I climbed the steps. The door to Kate's room opens, revealing my sullen looking daughter.

"What's wrong honey?" I ask frowning as I follow her into my bedroom. She sighs, settling onto the kind sized bed as I look for my medication.

"Top drawer in the middle ma" she says and I thank her, finding the pills I had been looking for.

"Alright, now tell me what happened" I say, sitting by her feet on the bed. Opening a drawer of the dresser to the side of the bed, I pull out a box in which I kept my nail polishes. I chose a deep, strawberry red, applying it on both my toenails and fingernails.

Valentine's Day was tomorrow, and I had managed to finish my latest novel by the start of last month so that it could be released to bookstores tomorrow. It was my first mainly romance novel, my usual genre was mysterious, thriller and general fiction. I had started writing chiclits and romance just a little over a couple of years ago. My writing career was great, allowing me to write whatever I wanted. It took a lot of hard work to write, and publish a book and then marketing it. And the occasional autograph signings were pleasant as I got the chance to meet many lovely admirers. They were what kept me going, made me want to write more and more. Just recently, my Nicky Hunter mystery-romance trilogy had been the New York Times bestsellers. A meet and greet along with an autograph signing was scheduled for mid-march in regards to that success and I was very excited.

"It's been eating at me for the last couple of months" Kate says closing her eyes. Looking at Kate, I notice the bags and dark circles under her eyes. She had been studying diligently for the SATs and I knew that she would do well.

"What's been bothering you?" I ask her, making her open her eyes to look at me. She had her father's eyes that was for sure. That Ashen hue matched that of my husband's eyes. Kate and I have an open relationship. It makes me happy that she feels comfortable enough around me to talk about anything. My momma and I had a very open relationship as well and I hope that I have been able to establish the same kind of relationship with my kids as my mom had done with me.

"I know it's stupid of me to think this but what if I don't get accepted? There were probably lots of applications that were better than mine" she replies, sounding conflicted. She moves her head into my lap, making me set the nail polish on the floor. I run my fingers through her hair the same way I had done when she was a little girl. A sad smile makes its way onto my lips as I look at Kate. Kate was growing up so fast, maturing into a wonderful young woman in front of my eyes. I still remembered that day at the hospital, the day I held her for the first time, the day I first looked into my little baby girl's eyes.