Always | Protector 3.3 (#Wattys2018)

Chapter 44

Chapter 44

Jerome

       The moment we walked into our house after the very long plane ride back home, Nolan walked into the living room and flopped onto the couch. He grabbed one of the blankets and put it over him, closing his eyes. "Good night."

       I placed Kingsley on the ground, and he immediately started crawling over to Nolan. He gripped onto the edge of the couch to pull himself to his feet. "Da!"

       I walked over and picked Kingsley back up, only to hand him to Nolan since our son really loved snuggling with Nolan. "Nolan, you do know it's still afternoon, right?"

       Nolan opened his eyes to make sure Kingsley was comfortable before he looked at me. "I'm jet lagged."

       "I'm not denying you the opportunity to nap," I said. "I'm just reminding you that it's not exactly night."

       "Night is just a state of mind."

       "No, it's a time."

       "Yes, and time is an illusion."

       "When did you come to be philosophical?"

       Nolan pulled the blanket up so it was resting underneath Kingsley's chin, who was now closing his eyes as he tried to sleep comfortably in the couch. "I get this way when I'm tired." Nolan held out an arm towards me. "Come snuggle with your husband and son."

       "It's kind of hard for all three of us to snuggle on the couch. You know what an easier place for us to snuggle is? Our bed."

       Nolan huffed as he tucked his arms under the blanket, no longer holding them out towards me. "The bed is too far. It's in our bedroom upstairs, so I have to walk all the way upstairs. That's too exhausting."

       I chuckled as I leaned down and ruffled Nolan's already messy hair. "I want to go unpack anyway."

       Nolan furrowed his eyebrows. "Who wants to unpack as soon as they get home from a trip?"

       "Uh, me? What, you don't?"

       "Jerome, I'm pretty sure my suitcase from our honeymoon still needs to be unpacked."

       "Nope, that's unpacked. I unpacked it a week before we went to Paris because it's the only suitcase you have. So, yeah, never mind, I can see that you tend to take as long as you can to unpack. Don't worry, I'll unpack for you."

       Nolan shook his head. "You don't have to."

       I smiled softly at him. "I know. But you're exhausted, so I'd rather let you rest. Besides, I'm already going to be unpacking my and Kingsley's stuff. It won't be a hassle to do yours as well." I kissed his forehead before standing up and heading to the foyer where we left our luggage.

       I brought them to the laundry room to first empty the clothes into the hamper so I could wash them at a later time. I unpacked everything else afterwards before heading back to the living room. Both Nolan and Kingsley were sleeping peacefully, and I couldn't help but smile at the sight. I loved them both so much.

       It also made me want to have even more kids in the future, but only if Nolan wanted to, of course. I assumed he would since he came from a big family and he always told me how much he loved having a big family, but it all depends whether or not Nolan felt like he was ready to have more kids.

       I was fine waiting however long it took for Nolan to want more kids. Even if he only wanted Kingsley, that was okay too. Our family was already perfect. Anything with Nolan was perfect.

       I was feeling a bit tired myself and I didn't want to go upstairs while my husband and son were downstairs, so I tried to get onto the couch to snuggle with them without waking either of them up. It was a bit of a tight squeeze, but once I got into a comfortable position, it was easy to relax.

       Nolan did wake up because of the movement since he was a light sleeper, but he just smiled at me before snuggling closer to me, then closing his eyes to go back to sleep. It didn't take long for me to fall asleep as well.

       I didn't know how long we were asleep for, but I was suddenly woken up when I heard a very familiar bark. I opened my eyes, letting my sight adjust before seeing that Alan had decided to bring Blizzard and Snowball home after dogsitting for us. 

       "Oh, good, you're awake," Alan said.

       "Yeah, I am now that you woke me up," I said.

       Alan pointed to Blizzard. "He was the one that barked and woke you up. Not me."

       I rubbed my eyes. Blizzard and Snowball were both sitting down and wagging their tails, waiting for Alan to let them off their leashed so they could say hi to us. Alan waited for Nolan and Kingsley to wake up first, which was only a few moments later since I woke them up.

       They were both as happy to see our dogs as I were. The moment Alan let them off their leashes, Blizzard ran over to me and Snowball ran over to Nolan and Kingsley.

       "Thank you for watching them," I said to Alan as I pet Blizzard, who soon rolled on his back to insist that I rub his belly.

       "It's no problem," Alan said. "Since I have come to the ever-so sad conclusion that I will be single for the rest of my life, I have decided that dogs are the only companionship I need."

       "You're not going to be single for the rest of your life," Nolan assured.

       "I am, for I am no longer bisexual. I am... by myself. Get it? Bi? I'm so funny."

       "Hilarious," I said. "Would some ice cream or something make you feel better? We've got lots in the freezer."

       "Do you got strawberry cheesecake flavour?"

       "We do."

       "Sold." Alan headed towards the kitchen to get some ice cream. The Prince family seemed to always be easily cheered up by food, though I didn't blame them. Food was great.

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don't worry, alan, i too am forever alone and instead enjoy the company of dogs. dogs are great. i love dogs. my dog especially. such a cute dog.