Scarlett

45 - Scarlett

The sky was coloured in gorgeous shades of pink and gold as I watched the sun set from my back deck.
My gaze drifted between the stunning sunset, my boys who were laughing while they tackled each other to the ground in a game of football - somehow they even managed to get Zeke to play and my beautiful daughter who sat stretched out on a lounge chair, book in hand soaking up the last of the days sun.

It had been 12 months since we had lost Dad, 10 months since the accident.
My recovery had been almost textbook - yes it had been a slow process but Carson was by my side every single step of the way - there is no way I could have done any of it without him.
With everything that had gone down Cage had stepped back from his health club, he put people in permanently to run it for him, choosing instead to spend his time with me and with our family, our life seemed to be passing us by so quickly and we wanted as much time together as possible.

Logan was almost 19 now and looked every bit like my father and his uncle, the tattoo now permanently marking his chest the start of what I was certain would become an addiction just like those two men in his life - Seb had taken him to get it for his 18 birthday both of them getting a matching tattoo placed over the right hand side of his upper chest area - a gorgeous black and white bird flying off into the distance - underneath in was scribed 'in memory H.S and the date Dad had left us. I cried when he first showed me. Loges has surprised us all when he announced he was attending University next year to study business, don't get me wrong I think he would be amazing at any career, it just wasn't a path I ever pictured him going down, but he was a good kid, smart and kind - he had a close group of friends 2 of which would be joining him next year when he moved to the apartment in the city.

Mya was 15 going on 25, she was still quiet and always had a book attached to her somewhere.
Her dark curly black hair hung down her back, her fair skin and dark blue eyes were the spitting image of Jackson, she was stunningly beautiful and much to her fathers dismay had been dating a boy for the past few months - Reed was 6 months older than her but they were both smart kids and we needed to trust we had raised her to make good choices.
Mya was happy - she was content with who she was and if anything her relationship with Carson after everything had happened had only gotten stronger.

Our 14 year older Carter was something of a prodigy - he had absolutely followed in his fathers footsteps and already had university football teams talking to us about potential scholarship when the time came. He looked like his father in every single way - and had the attitude to go with it - strong willed and determined, it was hilarious to see them go head to head on something and I would highly recommend anyone to stay well away from trying to get in between them. We had to be mindful of the arrogance that Carter sometimes had - knowing he was as good as he is at football there were times we absolutely had to reign him back in and remind him where he came from and that he still had a long way to go. Usually he would bounce back and become the gorgeous young man we loved so dearly.

Deacon - our 12 year old. So the thing about Deacon was he was mine in every possible way. From top to toe he was the only one of my children who looked anything like me. Though appearance is where out similarities ended.
Deacon was an incredible athlete like Carter - any sport he put his mind to he excelled in and he was on the go all the time, football, soccer, basketball, hockey, swimming - he absolutely nailed it. He was in the school representative teams for all of these and this year had been elected as one of the student leaders for middle school.
He had a million friends - talked to any and everyone and quite often we would have a houseful of kids everywhere and when they weren't hanging out at our house then he was always going to someone's place.

Zeke - our gorgeous Zeke. He was 9 now - the baby of our family and My most difficult pregnancy.
Even though there was an age and height difference - Zeke and Carter could almost pass as identical twins - he looked like Carson in every way.
I don't know where he got it but he was a musical genius, he could pick up almost any instrument and figure out how to pull some sort of tune out of it though he tended to favour the guitar and drums.
He was possibly our quietest child and our most creative. He had 2 ridiculously close friends Brooklyn - whose parents actually ran a recording studio in the city and she shared Zeke's love of music, his other friend - Adam was quiet, shy and often reminded me of Jackson when he had first became friends with Seb.

Seb and Kira still lived with Mum, they were quite settled there with there two kids and I know Mum loved having them there.
Seb still worked full time at Stilton Corp and I know he one day hoped that Logan would follow in his footsteps.

Mum was doing ok - she missed my Father so much, we all did - every single day, but she spent time with her grand children and volunteering at a local animal shelter - she kept herself busy but I don't think there would ever truly come a time that he wasn't in her mind.

I haven't heard from Jackson since we said our goodbyes, he had stayed in touch with my Mum and I know through Kira him and Seb spoke weekly. That's as much of his life that I know now.

"Mum" I was pulled back to the present from my teenage daughter standing next to where I was sitting,

"Hey baby, you ok?"

"Yeah, Um - Reed's family are going out for dinner - they have asked if I would like to join them, is that ok?"

"Sure baby, you need us to take you?"

"No, they will pick me up and drop me home after"

"Ok, sounds good"

Mya smiled at me, turning around she only took two steps before coming back and leaning over to hug me,

"Thanks Mum, I love you"

"I love you too beautiful girl"

My life was good, Cage and I were great, settled - we had amazing children and we were so lucky. I stood leaning against the railing as I watched my boys laughing and tormenting each other. Cage spotted me watching him - took a moment to talk to the boys and headed in my direction, he was so handsome - his brown hair was highlighted with streaks of grey now but they suited him. He was still fit, his arms and legs still toned from his daily work outs and the work he did coaching Carter's and Deacon's football teams.
He closed the remaining distance between us and pulled me into his arms, we stood for just a moment - eyes locked, I ran my fingers along his check and over his soft pink lips, god I loved this man.

"Thank you Cage"

"For what baby?"

"For this" I nodded towards the yard "For this life you have given us, for being the most amazing husband, for being an incredible father, for loving me this much"

He cupped my face in his big hands, pulling my face to meet his, lips so close they were touching as he spoke,

"Only you Lettie" he kissed me "Its always only been you Lettie"

"I love you so much Carson Cage"

"I love you, Scarlett Cage"