I could feel the summer sun shining on my face from the open curtains that Nell and I were too lazy to close last night after putting the kids to bed. "Angel?" I mumble. "Mhmm." Her response was still hazed with sleep. I rolled over and hid from the warm rays in her chest and her arm lazying wrapped around my waist not really holding me there but the gesture was nice. "Morning, Princess." She managed out after a few more minutes. I lifted my head up to look at her. "Morning." I smiled and leaned up to peck her lips.
After 15 years I still feel lucky to wake up to her every single morning. We pecked each other's lips a few times before pulling away and I gazed into her eyes for a few moments before she began to frown. "What time is it?" She asked sitting up slightly holding me properly this time. I rolled my head against her chest to look at the alarm clock. "10," I mumbled closing my eyes again and snuggling further into her chest wanting to go back to sleep. "The kids are quiet." She says sitting up further. "Shoot." We both sprung out of bed and rushed out into the hall. "Kids," I called looking around waiting for one of them to call back. "Kitchen!" K called out. I rushed down the stairs and Nell followed after me. We were shocked to see our four kids with a homemade card and breakfast on the counter. "Happy Mother's day, mummy and muma." They say in unison smiling at us. "You guys." Nell gushes hugging them all at once. I hug them in turns and thank them. Over the past 10 years, we've had 3 more children and they're the light of our lives.
We have Isaiah he's 9 he and K are super close it's really nice to see their bond. He's really into his water sports like his uncles, he's taking surf lessons now which took a lot of convincing to allow him to actually do them, we were worried he'd get hurt but he's taken swimming lessons since he was 3 years old and we know he can handle himself out there with his instructor, of course.
Then we had our twins Taylor and Hayley they're 6. everyone says Taylor is like me she's quiet around new people but totally random and loud when she's comfortable. She puts these little shows on for us in the evenings and she sings and dances and she's so funny. Very dramatic too. She's asked a few times to do what mummy does meaning acting like me. We're trying to keep her away from acting as a child, she can do it at her theatre school she goes to but not professionally, I saw how it affected my sisters I don't want that for my baby girl.
Hayley is still finding herself, some days she's loud others she's quiet. Sometimes she wants all the attention on her other days she wants to be left alone in her arts corner of the playroom drawing and creating things. She liked hugs from her Muma not from her siblings, she reminded me of Nell in that sense. She was really good at picking up on people's emotions, Taylor's especially she always knew if someone was mad or upset even if they were trying their best to hide it.
All three of our girls dance, Isaiah did it for a while but decided it wasn't for him and took up water polo instead. Life with four kids wasn't always easy, Nell and I sometimes found it difficult to get time together, our date nights have reduced massively and we often have to quickly meet each other on our lunch breaks to be able to catch up with one another. Sometimes it causes small arguments between us mostly because we lack the energy to efficiently communicate, we'd always get over it after an hour or so. But they were worth everything.
I didn't carry Taylor and Hayley at that point my body wasn't up for it and the chance of harm coming to the baby or myself was too big of a risk so Nell actually carried them. It was nice to experience that with her and she really enjoyed pregnancy it suited her, she was glowing and happy nothing like I was. I was a bag of nerves both times I was pregnant.
K she takes care of them all so well, she's very relaxed and she goes with the flow of things but she's always there to dry their tears. She's the first to say I love you, she's the first to comfort someone. We still read with her every night, she reads to us now which she's been doing for a while. She was our little bookworm, all the reading to her when she was young paid off. The other three still prefer us to read to them so we do.
"I tried my best," K says as we look at the spread of food. "I used some of mama's blueberry muffins." She points them out and I smiled, Nell still kept her promise even after all these years and made me a batch of blueberry muffins at least once a week. "This is great guys!" I encouraged their hard work. Yes, the cereal was drowning in milk and the toast was still basically bread and had far too much butter on it but they tried. And they had picked flowers from the garden and put them in a cup of water.
We both read the cards they had made us. "We all helped with them," Isaiah told us proudly. "I can see that," Nell say's as she looked over her card. "Muma," Hayley says stretching her arms up to her, she picked her up and placed her on her hip and she snuggled into her. I smiled at their sweetness.
"Thank you guys for all this," Nell says picking up a slice of toast and taking a bite. I scooped a spoonful of the soggy cereal and pretended to love it. "Can you make us pancakes and waffles now Muma?" Taylor asked with a head tilt. I chuckled. "Yes, bug," Nell says sitting Hayley down on the stool.
I helped Nell by 'helped' I sat beside the stove eating a blueberry muffin admiring my children playing together around the island. We all sat down to eat our waffles, Pancakes and fruit which was pretty much a staple in our house. The kids have it pretty much every morning before they go to school. They attend the same school that Cassie did, but the lower school of the institution. They all really enjoyed it, it promoted creativity and encouraged their personal interests and the academic stuff came naturally after that because the children were happy in the environment and therefore engaged in the lessons. The kids were thriving and I understand why Nell fought so hard to have Cassie stay in that school, it really was worth every penny.
"What's the plan for today then?" I asked them. "Picnic on the beach for lunch," K says as popped a strawberry in her mouth. "Paddleboarding after," Isaiah said. "Coffee shop for afternoon tea." The twins cheered excitedly, they may have adopted my love for lavender tea and blueberry muffins. "And then we're going to uncle Jr's for the night." "No," Nell says swapping mine and her bowls as I only had grapes left and I don't eat them and she had melon left which she doesn't eat either we've been doing this since noticing that neither of us eats them and now it's routine. "You're going on a date night. Aunty Scar helped us book a place." "You guys are the sweetest but we'd love to spend mothers day with you all." "You are, Mother's day... Date night... Are you hearing it?" K sassed, and Nell laughed with the kids. I tried to hide my amusement from my sassy daughter. Scarlett was right they get sassy as they grow up.
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I screamed as Nell rocked the board purposefully, getting our children to laugh. "Quit it!" I tell her grabbing her ankle, she smirked at me knowing I wouldn't push her in whilst she had Taylor in her arms. K had Hayley on her board. Since moving into the house on the beach, the one her grandparents left her we have been doing family paddleboarding sessions, we'd be out here for hours enjoying the calmness of the sea. Annabella moved into a smaller house that she could cope better with and after serious convincing from me and her brothers we decided to move into her old family home and the children loved it. We've been here for two years now. They love how close we all are, they say it reminds them of our home in New York, the townhouse is smaller than the house in Beverly Park where we were living full time. They like sneaking into each other's rooms and having sleepovers they think we don't know about. They'd build forts and K would read to them until they fell asleep. Nell and I would sit outside the door listening to them whisper and giggle with one another. These are memories they'd keep forever and we loved that they were creating them together.
K and Isaiah are in Cassie and Nell's old rooms. K has Nell's she loves the window seat she sits and reads her books there sometimes even doing her homework there. She said the oceans calming. Isaiah is in Cassie's room which we remodelled to fit his style he has a surfboard mounted onto his wall and it's very much the beach vibes which fit him perfectly.
The twins still share a room but eventually, they'll go into their own rooms right now Jr's old room is currently a playroom and Tony's room is the twin's room. We're in the master suite and the downstairs is still the same as it was beforehand. We had a new kitchen fitted and remodelled the pool so it was more child friendly.
They liked to play on the beach and we do their birthday parties out here just like Nell's mum used to. We go paddleboarding, we swim, we build sandcastles, and have picnics. It was the best decision we've made for our family it brought us all closer together.
"I mean it stop," I say chuckling. "Keeping going, Muma!" Taylor encouraged her. "You're meant to be on my side," I say to her reaching to touch her toes and she squirms letting out a small scream as she tries to hide away in her muma's arms.
Eventually, Nell stops teasing me and puts Taylor down and she holds my hands until she's sitting with me and we begin paddling around. "Be careful with Hayley, K," I say as she wobbled slightly. All the kids could swim and the girls had their lifevests on just in case they fell in and panicked. "I got it." She says turning the board around. Isaiah was dancing around his board to the songs in his head, I chuckled as he wobbled and fell in on his dramatic spin. Nell dove in after him to help him back up on his board. "You okay, Bug?" She asked as she helped steady him. He wiped his face as he nodded. "Yeah, Muma." She made sure he was good before swimming over the girl's board and began teasing them. I relaxed with my little girl basking in the sun. All four of them were covered head to toe in sunblock, I was obsessive about Nell putting it on I'm worse now with the kids, they've learnt not to run away because I will always catch them. I sometimes have to sneak up on Hayley because she's super fast and often gets to the water before I reach her and then I have to get her dry before putting the sunblock on her and it's a whole thing. Nell is still a pain in my ass about it too and I give her a look and a head tilt and she stays put. The kids tease her about it.
We eventually go inside and get ready for afternoon tea at the Hastings. Nell focused on the older two and I got the younger two ready. Which is standard. K and Isaiah are pretty lowkey, K didn't like getting all dressed up getting her ready for an event is awful because she hates dresses and shoes and getting her hair done, Nell compromises with her and says if she wears the dress she can wear her converse and I wasn't thrilled by it but she did look cute and then the candy in her purse gets her through the long boring parts. She enjoys having her photo taken though, Isaiah is also pretty easy to get ready. He puts his clothes on that I pick out for him, he lets Nell comb his hair back so it's neat and he sits and waits for the time for us to leave typically sitting on one of our phones whilst the rest of us are still getting ready.
The twins are a lot more opinionated about what they're wearing how they want their hair what shoes they want to wear. They are difficult, none of them sits still so they often get messy before we leave so then we have to get change before we leave. Or one of their hair comes out. Nell would let them leave with messy hair and outfits that didn't match if it was left to her. I mean she let K leave the house in converse and a red carpet dress.
"Are you guys ready?" Nell asked coming into the bathroom. "Miss Hayley is having a diva moment." "I want Muma to do it." She frowned and pouted. "Well, Mummy is getting you ready." She tells her, we try not to give in to them despite wanting to. They show me their big innocent bright green eyes and I want to melt at their feet. They all have Nell's eyes, they change colour with their mood it's a great indicator of how the days going to go. Right now Taylor's were bright green as she swung her legs back and forth happy to be wearing her pretty dress. Hayley's had flicks of brown running through her orbs and the more she frowned the more I knew a temper tantrum was coming. "I want muma!" She says firmly. "No, you do not talk to mummy like that," Nell warned her. "Are you ready to go Tay?" Nell asked her and helped her down. "Go find K and ask her to help with your shoes." She says.
"Muma," Hayley whined. "No, it's not nice to speak to mummy like that. Apologise." "Sorry mummy." She says looking up at me. I kissed her cheek. "Can I finish your hair now?" "Yes, Mummy." "I'll get the rest of them in the car." "Okay, Angel." I pecked her cheek and she left to get the kids in the car.
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Jr picked them up from the coffee shop and we went on our date but us being us we couldn't be away from them all night and ended up picking them up after dinner, we liked having them home and knowing they were safe.
We read with them all starting with the twins and finishing with K. "Goodnight, Bug." "Night." She says snuggling into her blanket. Nell stroked her hair off of her face before we left. "We have good kids," I say as we walked down the steps to our room. "They planned the whole day for us." "It was so adorable that they planned date night." She gushed.
We climbed into bed and settled with each other. "Do you ever wish we had another one?" I asked her. "Sometimes, for Isaiah so he could have a brother." She says softly her hand trancing patterns up and down my back. "But I think it would be a lot after the twins. And the labour I was glad for it to be over." I chuckled. "I don't know why you decided to do it twice." She says laughing. "For the moment after, when I see you holding them, your eyes sparkle and you have a soft smile on your lips and you're completely captivated by them. Even now when you hold them you get the same look on your face." I explained to her. "They have my heart what can I say." She shrugged slightly.
"Muma. Mummy." We both sit up slightly to look towards our door. Taylor stood there holding her teddy in one hand and her thumb in her mouth. "What's wrong, Bug?" I asked her. "I had a bad dream." Nell lifted the sheets and she climbed in the bed and snuggled beside me. "Want to talk about it?" "We were on a boat with, Aunty Scar and cousin Rose and Cosmo and then there was a storm and it was scary and there were flying monkeys and a green witch." "Have you been watching the wizard of Oz with your sister?" I asked. "Yes," Nell sighed and I pecked Tay's head. We need to talk to K about what films are appropriate for her younger siblings.
We must have only been asleep for an hour. "Mummy, Muma." Nell moves I stay laying down having Tay laid on my chest. "Taylor isn't here. I got scared." "She's here, Bug." "Can I stay with you too?" She looked at me and I nodded we can't have one without the other. "Come on up." Nell picks her up and lays her in between the two of us and she laid on her front face buried in the pillow's limbs stretched out, typical Hayley sleeping position, she'll be at the foot of the bed by morning.
We woke up with all four children in our bed which was typical, we may have been a little soft with them when it comes to staying in their own beds. I knew how real nightmares can be and they all caught onto the fact if they said they had a nightmare then we let them in our beds but I never want to say no in case they really did have a bad dream.
"Morning, Angel," I mumbled stretching the best I could. As predicted Hayley was at the foot of the bed, Taylor was still laid on my chest, K was snuggled into Nell's side and Isaiah was in between the two of us. I ran my fingers through Taylor's hair, her loose curls all messy from her sleep. "Morning Princess." She pushed out through a yawn. "This is motherhood, huh." She chuckled. "I have a foot in my butt." She says. "She's holding my foot," I say chuckling. "Wouldn't trade it for the world though." Sometimes I missed having mornings with just Nell but these mornings waking up with all my kids snuggled together was more than I could have dreamed of.
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After getting the children ready for school Nell and I drove them together dropping them off. We stood out of the car handing them their bags, school bag, lunch bag, and gym bags before waving them off and watching them enter the school building. K came running back to us. "What did we forget?" I asked her. Four kids with multiple bags we always forgot something. School trip letter, homework, art project, show and tell. "Nothing." She says simply before hugging me tightly. "Love ya." She planted a wet kiss on my cheek before doing the same to Nell. "See you after practice." She says waving at us as she walked back to the building. Nell and I looked at each other scrunching our noses up at how cute of eldest was.
"Coffee shop?" She asked I nodded smiling at her before we climbed back into the car. Nell drove as she often did unless she had editing to do, then she made me drive so she could walk to and from locations. We parked at the coffee shop in our usual spot before walking around to the main entrance. Nothing about the Hastings coffee shop had changed.
Nothing except the photos on the wall. Where there only used to be one family photo of the hastings there are now 5. The original photo of Nell her parents and siblings when they were children. And now a photo of Tony's family, his wife and two children Hunter and Hope. Jr's family photo, his wife and two children J.R and Elliot. Our family photo, the twins were only one Nell and I holding them on our hips. And finally a family photo of us all outside the coffee shop on one of the rare occasions we were all in the same place. I lead Nell to table 7 and sat facing the photos, she never attempted to sit in this seat knowing I preferred to sit here. I liked to look at the photos on the wall and it was just enough in the corner where I could see the whole room without having to strain too much.
I also had a perfect view of the counter so I could watch Nell make our order and carry it over as she had done thousands of times over the years. She moved behind the counter so effortlessly, she knew where everything was and didn't have to pay much attention to what she was doing almost on autopilot as she made our drinks.
I smiled watching her come over with the tray balanced on her hand. "Lavender tea and a blueberry muffin." "How many times do you think you've said that in your life?" "Every day since I've met you," She joked as she sat down. "I don't have it every day." This caused her to cock her eyebrow. "Okay, okay maybe every day." We both chuckled.
It fell quiet between us for a few moments both of us looking around the coffee shop. This place was my saving grace. If I hadn't walked out on Robbie that day and if I hadn't chosen this specific coffee shop everything could have been so different. I could still be in a miserable marriage with a man I didn't love, with no children completely unhappy. But I did stumble in here at my lowest point, I met an amazing woman who put me back together and showed me I was worth so much more than I was being given. I wouldn't have met my best friend, I wouldn't have got to dance in the middle of the streets in the rain, or laugh until my sides at my crazy children, and I wouldn't have a bookcase filled with scrapbooks holding every single amazing memory of our lives together, from friends to wives to mothers. This coffee shop, this table this seat, this coffee shop was the start of my new life and now 15 years later I'm sitting with the very girl who was a kind stranger who is now my wife.
"Kisses for your thoughts?" Nell says and I smile blinking the tears away. I puckered my lips and she leaned over the table easily to peck my lips before settling down and waiting for me to talk. "Just thinking about how this place started our lives together," I say simply. Her eyes were bright green today, this made me smile more she was happy just like I was. "What now?" She asked chuckling clearly noticing my growing smile. "You're happy." "I'm always happy when I'm with you." She says softly, reaching for my hand. "But when I first met you." I start before adjusting my hand in hers. "When you sat at this table and overstepped like you always do." She chuckled. "Your eyes weren't green that day, or any day for a long while. They were sad, you were sad." "We've come a long way from that, Elizabeth." "We have, haven't we, Eleanor?" I say back, with a teasing smirk using her full name.
"This is where it all started," I say looking around the quiet coffee shop before my eyes landed on my wife again. "I'm really glad you walked in that day." She said not taking her eyes off of me. "Me too." I smiled feeling content with where I was in my life right now. I guess coffee shops can be life-changing places.
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A/N- That is the end of this book. I just want to thank you all so much for your support it means the world to me <3