Remembering Us

Prologue

"Ah," I jolt away from him. "Kids are up."

He pulls a pillow out from underneath the blankets, puts it on his face, and groans loudly. "I need a cold shower then." He pouts, kicking his feet like a small child.

My eyes wander down the blanket and I see a large bulge. "A very cold shower apparently."

Grumbling, he heaves himself out of the bed. "This-" He points at the problem in his pajama pants. "Is your fault." He then bends down, grabs my hand, and pulls me up.

Our bodies are pressed together, chest to chest. "How about," My finger comes to my chin and I purse my lips. "Tonight, when all the kids are gone, I make it up to you?"

"Stop talking." He moans, his hands resting on my hips. "Kids are up, kids are up, kids are up." He chants, taking deep breaths. Bringing his hands from my hips to my head, he pulls me forward and places a long, forceful, kiss on my forehead. "I'm showering."

Once he's in the bathroom, I head out of our room and downstairs.  When I walk into the kitchen, my eyes widen.

"Um, what's going on in here?"

There are dirty bowls spread across the black granite counter, there's an egg on the floor, and tons of shells in the sink.

"We're making you and Daddy breakfast!" Theo shouts, Mayzie jumping up and down beside him. Ryder has a sheepish grin on his face.

"Oh..." The whole kitchen smells like burnt toast. "Where's Zoey?"

"I think she's still sleeping." Ryder says and Theo nods.

"No, I'm not." Zoey walks into the kitchen. "I just didn't want to be a part of you three burning the kitchen down."

"You didn't think to help them?" I glance at the mess in my kitchen.

She scoffs. "It was already too far gone by the time I got down here. I did stop Mayzie from sticking a fork in the toaster, though, if that helps."

"Thank you for not letting your sister kill herself." I deadpan at my sassy sixteen-year-old.

"Yup." She heads out of the kitchen.

"Don't forget you have therapy today!" I call after her. "Now," I look at the three mess makers. "You all go change."

"Yes, ma'am."

"Okay, mom."

"Okay, Mommy."

The three of them chorus before heading the stairs to their rooms.

"Woah. What happened in here?" A voice comes from behind me.

"Our children made us breakfast."

"I want another one." I bite my lip to stop from grinning. He's going to love his gift I bought.

"Really?" I turn to face him. "Another? Six?"

"Our oldest is twenty-one and our youngest is four. We could have one more baby?" His eyes are sparkling and I almost blurt my surprise.

"We can talk about it."

"What's there to talk about?" He wraps his arms around my waist and pulls me against him. "Want a baby?"

Yes. "We'll talk tonight."

His body stiffens against mine and he sighs.

"What?" I tilt my head up and look him in the eye. The spark that was just there has faded. He jerks his head back toward the suitcase near the front door.

"My dad called."

"Noooo." A childish whine leaves my mouth. My eight year wedding anniversary weekend has just been ruined.

"He needs me to go to London for the weekend. I'm sorry. Apparently, it can't wait." He cringes. "Don't hate me."

My sigh fills the kitchen. "You are going to have to do something incredible to make this up to me." Now, I have to postpone my surprise.

"I promise." He pecks my lips. "I will."

"Kids!" I call walking past Cameron and heading towards the front door. "Come say goodbye to your father?"

"You're leaving on your wedding anniversary?" Zoey walks down the stairs, in the middle of braiding her chocolate colored hair.

"Don't try and make me feel worse than I already do." Cameron playfully glares at her.

"Bye Dad." She rolls her eyes and smiles. She's changed so much in the past ten years, sometimes I can't believe she's the same six-year-old that was scared to talk.

"Bye Dad." Ryder runs down the stairs, high fives his father, and runs back up the stairs.

"Daddy!" Mayzie squeals, jumping into his arms.

"Bye Daddy!" Theo hugs Cameron's legs.

"Bye bud." Cameron ruffles Theo's hair.

"I'll be back in time to take you to school on Monday okay?" He hugs Mayzie before setting her down.

Both she and Theo run off leaving just me and Cameron.

"I'll make this up to you, I promise." He whispers.

"Kiss me goodbye."

"Yes, ma'am." He bends down and presses his lips to mine. They move together, sweet and slow. After a moment, he pulls away.

"I love you." His hand brushes against my stomach and I shudder slightly.

I should just tell him... but I'm really excited about his surprise.

"I love you too."

***
Bam! What?!

Thoughts? Please drop a comment and let me know!

In the past week 'After Five Years' has gotten over 11,000 reads!!! You guys are amazing! I was trying to go to everyone's message wall and thank them but apparently I've exceeded the amount of messages I can send sooo... Thank you! For your comments, votes, and reads!

Also, there's this thing I want to try with this book and it's asking you a question at the end of each chapter, just to get to know my readers better. We'll start easy.

What's your favorite color?
Mine is either black or blue.

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