Our Time Will Come - An After Story

1

Hardin

"Alright, alright!" I groan as my alarm pierces my ears for the seventh time this morning. Why on earth did I not turn that bloody thing off when I have nowhere to be? I'm not sure if I'm hungover, dead or just hungry but either way I'm beyond tired. "Good night?" I'm startled by my children standing in doorway, I don't know What's bigger, Emery's cheesy grin, or the cup of Coffee that Auden is holding.

"No such thing as knocking these days?" I scoff, whilst vigorously rubbing my eyes. "See daddy, this is why you don't drink anymore" Emery remarks as she parks herself on the edge of my bed. "Less of the cheek, you" I scold my eldest offspring as she tilts her head back in laughter. She's not wrong, though.

"Thanks buddy" I sit up against the headboard, taking the mug of black coffee from my youngest. He knows his father well. Gone are the days where I could drink myself into oblivion and still be fine the next day, though I wouldn't have it any other way. This time, the culprit is a few celebratory glasses of champagne.

To cut a Long story short, I released my fourth book 'After Ever Happy' just under a month ago. Tessa and I met with my manager and we discussed a potential 'Book promotion tour'. Before the words could even escape Paul's mouth, Tessa had planned this trip. With us living in New York, she gets homesick pretty often and misses everyone back in Washington terribly. Hell, she'd fly back there every week if she could. I can't say I'd be up for that.

Paul announced the tour stops, Washington being the first and Tessa had created a family group chat before the word 'Washington' had even been said.

And now, here we are. It's eight in the morning, I'm half asleep and my children are squabbling about god knows what. I interrupt them with a yawn loud enough to wake the whole neighbourhood. If I'm awake at eight In the morning on vacation, then everyone else can wake the hell up.

"Way to go dad, now you've set the dog off!" Auden rolls his eyes, he's right. If my yawn didn't wake up the entire Cabin site, that unruly cavalier or ours sure will. Our neighbours are the Scott's, as in my father, Karen and my little sister, Abby. On the other side are the Vances, as in my other father - Christian, Kim, Smith and their daughter Raya. Messy, I know. It's like an episode of modern family, or some shit. Landon, Nora and their daughter Addelyn are staying further down the street.

Tessa's mum, Carol and her husband David are here too, only, they're staying on a different site to us. I'm glad for that, as I've learned to tolerate the woman over the years, but her being our vacation neighbour would be a step too far for me.

"It's okay Louie, it's just Daddy being dramatic, again" Emery retreats to the kitchen, showering our King Charles puppy with cuddles. I step into my slides, and with that, Auden and I follow her. "Where's your mother, anyway?" I quiz my children as I stroke our excitable pup.

"She went to get groceries with Karen and Abby, the cupboards are bare from last nights shenanigans" Auden chuckles. Shenanigans. That boy is full of big words for an almost nine year old, he's just like his mother.

I smirk to myself as I recall Landon, my Father and I raiding the cupboards after returning home from my book launch. We stayed out a little longer than the rest of the bunch and I invited them back to our cabin. Actually, I tell a lie, we automatically did the conga into our cabin. I smirk at the memory.

"You'll be surprised at how many bags of Cheetos you can eat after oh wait... two glasses of champagne?" Emery mocks. She is also far to witty for her age. I consider telling her, that me being a total lightweight is a blessing in disguise, compared to what I used to be, but I decide against it.

Though she Is rather sassy, I couldn't be prouder of the Young lady Emery is. Hell, if I was half the person she is at fifteen, people's lives would have been much easier. That's not to say she doesn't have her fathers attitude, she's just like me in many ways.

I wouldn't admit this to anyone, but I'm pretty damn stoked to have the whole family together, celebrating my successes with me. I have to give it to Tessa, this was a great idea. I never thought I'd be able to have The Scott household, the Vance household and Tessa's mother in one room, without world war three kicking off, but last night couldn't have gone better. For once, there wasn't one person in that room I held a grudge against and it felt pretty fucking good.