Living with the Lockhart Boys [Completed]

Epilogue

-Two years later-

"Wakey wakey beautiful," a familiar voice murmured in my ear. I smiled to myself and snuggled into the soft duvet covers, reaching for him. "Oh no, not today. We need to get on the road!"

"Five more minutes," I pleaded, squinting against the warm Californian sun that was beaming through our bedroom window. He chuckled in response.

"Five more minutes always turns into an hour with you. Come on, I made you coffee," he encouraged.

I huffed and pulled myself into a seating position, grabbing the coffee gratefully. I looked up at him, taken aback as usual by how flawless he was. He was so excited to go home; the alarm clock on my bedside table showed 6 am but he was already up and dressed.

"I love you," I murmured, taking a sip. Sam always made the best coffee, and I needed it with my crazy schedule! The first time of freshman year in college had been a whirlwind. I'd finally settled on journalism as my major at USC; it made me feel close to my dad even after all this time. I'd been doing an internship on the weekends with LA Times, I'd initiated a mental health focus group in college, and Sam and I had been volunteering at the local children's hospital whenever we had free time.

His road to recovery had been long and difficult. His first bone marrow transplant was unsuccessful, and the chemotherapy that followed nearly killed him. They had to remove his spleen the summer after I moved in with the Lockharts, and around Christmas last year he finally had a successful stem cell transplant. He was given the all-clear in March and was accepted to study Geology at Caltech. Steve and Jenna had a beautiful four-bedroom house in Malibu that they let us live in; the only condition being that they could visit whenever they wanted to, of course. It was a trek to get into the city, but absolutely worth the breath-taking views.

"I love you too," Sam replied, smiling down at me gently. "I'll pack the car up while you get ready."

I downed my coffee, suddenly excited for the day ahead. We hadn't seen any of our crazy, unconventional family since September, and I couldn't wait to get my hands on them! I brushed my teeth and changed into comfy sweatpants and a hoodie, sprinting downstairs to find Sam waiting at the car for me. He'd finally decided to trade in his Aston for something a bit more practical and had settled on a comfortable Audi Q5. It was still sleek and stylish, but much less ostentatious and I, for one, was pretty thankful for that. Being in LA was already a challenge with the connections to my dad; I really didn't need a flashy car drawing more attention.

It was a fort minute drive into the city, and by the time we'd parked and gone through security at LAX we were just in time for our flight. A few hours later, feeling very pent-up we finally arrived in Denver and caught a taxi home. We'd barely even got out of the car before Josh came barrelling out the front door, making a beeline right for me.

"Cherry!" He practically wailed, spinning me round in a hug. He'd grown so much in the last few years and was a good 5 inches taller than me by then. "I missed you so much!"

"I missed you too, kid!" I laughed, wrapping my arms tightly around him.

He was quickly followed by Steffan, who wedged himself in between us telling me all about how his first semester in middle school went. Steven and Jenna cleverly avoided the tangle of limbs that the three of us had become and greeted Sam first. It warmed my heart to see him with his parents; they'd grown closer over the 18 months his treatment took, and I knew it was hard for him to be away from them and home for so long.

"Sam said you guys left really early so I'm guessing you haven't been for your morning run today?" Josh quizzed, looking eager.

"Well, I guess we'll have to leave the catch up for another hour or so Jenna," I laughed, knowing full well there'd be no getting out of an immediate run to the stables.