Forever (Epilouge)

174

Colby's POV

"Did you want some cake, Cor?" I asked as she bounced Olivia on her hip. "No, thank you." She said and smiled softly at me before placing a small kiss on Olivia's head.

It worried me that she wasn't eating, but I didn't want to push her too hard. It was going to take longer than a couple hours to adjust to being home again.

"What about you, princess?" I asked as Mia's face lit up. "YES." She said dramatically as Cora laughed a twinkling laugh. I felt my heart race at the sound of it.

I missed her so fucking much.

"Are we gonna watch the show now?" Cora asked as I got a slice of cake for Mia. "Yeah, you can go ahead and get a seat in the movie room if you want." I said as she nodded then started to walk with Olivia in her arms.

I put my hand on her arm, stopping her for just a second. When she looked at me concern was swimming in her eyes. "I'm proud of you." I whispered then kissed her before letting her walk away again. She smiled slightly then walked off as I handed Mia her slice of cake.

"Thank you daddy!!" Mia exclaimed as Sam came over. "Are we ready to premiere this series?" He asked and clapped his hand on my shoulder. "More than ready." I said with a nod.

"Alright, guys! We're gonna start watching the Netflix show if you want to join!" Sam announced as we made our way to the movie room. "I wanna sit next to mommy." Mia said as we walked into the room.

Cora was sitting in the back, rocking Olivia as she talked to Cassie. I watched her for just a second as she chewed on her lip, focusing fully on what Cassie was saying. I could tell from the look of her face that she was struggling a little bit but was trying to keep herself together.

"I'm sure mommy wants to sit next to you too." I said and walked to the back of the room. I sat down next to Cora and wrapped my arm around her shoulders as Mia sat on my lap.

Cora leaned into me as I traced small circles into her arm. "Okay! Play it!" Kat squealed excitedly as Josh giggled in her lap. I felt my heart soar as I looked around the room. It was surreal that I was about to watch the series that I made with my best friend while we are surrounded by our families and closest friends.

I would never get used to it.

As we watched the show I would look over at Cora, taking in her reaction. She kept her eyes glued to the screen as she ran her fingers through Olivia's hair.

As she watched she would do these cute little gasps when things got intense. Whenever Sam and I would say something funny or perverted she would giggle and look over at me with her eyes shining.

We were about to start the fourth episode when I noticed her chewing on her sleeve, which meant something was bothering her or she was nervous.

"You okay?" I asked quietly as she looked over at me. My heart broke when I saw the tears in her eyes. "Mia, will you cuddle with sissy for a minute?" I asked and stood up with her in my arms.

"Yep! Can I have another piece of cake?" She asked as I chuckled. "Nice try. How about I let you have a piece of your candy instead?" I asked as I took Olivia from Cora and laid her on the couch next to Mia.

"Okay!" Mia said then hugged Olivia as I helped Cora stand up. "We'll be back." I said as I led Cora out of the room.

As soon as we were away from everyone I gathered her into my arms and held her tightly. "I-I'm s-sorry." She whispered as I smoothed her hair down. "Don't apologize, baby girl. You're okay." I cooed as she wrapped her arms tightly around my waist.

"I just....my brain." Cora sobbed as I scratched her back gently. "Shhh, it's okay. Just breathe with me, we can talk about it after you calm down." I soothed as she took a deep breath in. "That's good, a couple more." I said, coaching her through the panic attack.

It only took her a couple minutes to fully calm down before she pulled away and wiped her cheeks. "Sorry." She said then brought her sleeve to her teeth again. "Hey, don't apologize." I said and gently pulled her hand away from her mouth.

"What's going on?" I asked as she chewed her lip. "I just...I started thinking." She said as my heart dropped. "You were thinking about doing it again?" I asked, trying to control my voice so it wouldn't shake.

"No..no. I just thought about how I left you alone for so long..you didn't deserve that. I'm sorry." She said as I wiped the tears off of her cheeks. "Don't do that. You didn't leave me, you went to take care of yourself. You've been so strong for so long, making sure the girls were okay. You were just taking care of yourself." I said as she sniffled and nodded.

"I just..I feel like I turned into my mother because I abandoned you guys." She mumbled as I grabbed both sides of her face and looked into her eyes. "Cora Elizabeth, you'll never be like your mother. Never." I said then let my eyes trace over every one of her features.

"Promise." Cora whispered as my eyes darted back to hers. "I promise. You'll never be her. I'll never let you." I said as she nodded then stood up on her tiptoes and kissed me. "Thank you." She said then cupped my cheek gently. "Are you okay?" I asked as she nodded then took my hand.

"Are you liking the series so far?" I asked as we walked back to the movie room. "Yeah, I'm so proud of you." She said quietly as she squeezed my hand.

When we got back to the movie room the video was paused and everyone was just talking. "What's going on?" I asked as Cora took a step closer to me. "We just wanted to wait for you guys." Sam said with a smile as Cora relaxed next to me.

"Thanks guys." Cora said as she sat next to the girls again. "Mama." Olivia said as she crawled into Cora's lap. "Hi sweet pea." She said as Mia scooted in between Cora and I.

We got about halfway through the series before Cora, Mia, and Olivia were all passed out. I chuckled to myself then looked over at Cora's dad, since he was sitting on the couch next to us. "Can we get a ride back to our place?" I asked as he grinned and nodded.

"I'll get the girls, you get Cora." Cora's dad said as he stood up. "You got it." I said as he carefully pulled Mia into his arms "Hmm?" Mia mumbled as Cora's dad scooped Olivia up. "Shh, it's okay." He cooed then walked out of the room. I stood up then carefully pulled Cora into my arms.

"Stop." She mumbled as I slowly made my way out of the room. "Shhh, I'm just bringing you home." I whispered as I walked. "You came for me?" She mumbled as I chuckled. "Of course I came for you." I said then kissed her head as I walked to the car.

Once all the girls were situated in the car I went back inside to tell everyone we were leaving. Mostly everyone was asleep so it was pretty much just Sam, Jake, and Corey.

"Well..we did it man." Sam said as he hugged me. "We did it. Have you read any reviews yet?" I asked as he shook his head. "Dude, everyone's loving it." Jake said as he scrolled through his phone. "No shit?" I asked then walked over to look.

"No, like they're going crazy." Jake said as we scrolled through Twitter. I still couldn't believe that this was my life, and that people liked what we were putting out.

I was going to be forever grateful.

I said goodbye to the guys then went out to the car. Cora was awake again and talking quietly with her dad as I slid into the backseat with the girls.

I listened to Cora as she softly spoke, trying to not wake the girls. She was talking about her recovery and what the next steps were. It sent a slight pain through my heart knowing that she wasn't fully back or recovered.

I was worried about her recovery, just because I wanted her to be happy and healthy.

That's all I ever wanted for her.