Uppercut (A James Maslow FanFic)

Epilogue

Devon ran frantically around the kitchen to gather the supplies. For the higher cabinet containing the glasses, he dragged over the stool that was placed in front of the sink in order to reach.

"Dev, want orange juice?" Alex asked from inside the fridge.

"Yeah!" Devon enthusiastically dumped half a bag of napkins onto the table top. But with the way he ate, we'd probably use them all.

"I'll put some coffee on."

I nodded, adding the hot pancakes to the already existing pile on the platter. I shut the stove burners off before placing the platter onto the table. Butter, maple syrup, and coffee mugs had been added to the setting as well.

Then we ate.

Between bites, Devon rambled on about some of his friends at school. He seemed to really be enjoying second grade so far. They had went to the playground during recess again yesterday and apparently a lot of the kids were far more interested in catching red and black colored bugs near one section of the fence than they were in the actual playground equipment. That had me almost choking on my coffee. I looked to Alex but he brushed it off, unfazed by the children and their insect obsession. Alex brought up a new movie advertisement he'd seen in the paper. Devon was instantly intrigued, asking when we could go see it. It was based off one of his favorite superhero cartoons.

"Maybe if you're good today, Daddy will take you," I spoke, stabbing the last few pieces of pancake with my fork.

"Really??" Devon looked back and forth between Alex and I. "That'd be so cool!"

Alex shrugged, coffee mug paused in front of his face. "If you ask nicely, who knows? He should be here soon."

The seven-year old jumped up from his chair and ran out of the room. He was probably checking every window for any sign of Ashton's car.

"Hopefully we didn't just ruin Ashton's plans for the day," I laughed. I grabbed Devon's plate, it was bare except for an ocean of syrup and some chocolate smears, and stacked it onto my own. I pushed the growing pile of dirty dishes off to the side. I still had a couple sips of coffee yet and Alex had just shoveled the last pancake onto his plate.

Eventually Ashton showed up. Devon was running out the door to meet him before he even parked his car. Not long after he was being dragged into the house. Ashton nodded a hello at Alex and I, the only greeting he could get out before Devon took over the conversation over.

"Daddy Alex said you're taking me to the movies!"

Ashton looked over at Alex curiously. "Really, that's what he told you?"

"No, I said you could ask him about it Dev," Alex gave Ashton an apologetic look.

Ashton dismissed it with a shrug. He crouched down to Devon's level and looked at his son. "You know, I had a much cooler plan. I thought we could go to the museum and look at old things and learn."

The look of pure horror the Devon gave at the thought of learning was enough to make the rest of us burst out in laughter.

"I'm just kiddin ya, Devie," Ashton reached over to ruffle up his hair. "We can totally go see a movie if you want to-"

"This is the best. Day. Ever!" Devon yelled before dramatically collapsing on the floor in front of the doorway.

"Hey, I read about that thing your family's company is doing," Alex looked away from the hyperventilating child on the floor. Ashton's expression shone as the new topic was brought up. "How you guys are partnering up with that charity in a couple of months?"