*1 year later* (14 months)
Cassidy's P.O.V.
Things were... different... now.
Kaiser and Meadow were a year and a half. And they were so smart.
Meadow was a little diva and loved taking people up on a challenge, especially her dad who loooved challenging her. She was so ridiculously sassy but it was adorable. She loved trying to boss her brothers around and it was always hilarious when she and Rome would argue.
Meanwhile Kaiser was just the sweetest little thing ever. Though he was a huge troublemaker as well, just like everyone predicted. I've lost count of just how many things he's broken, expensive things. And just yesterday, I sat him down on the living-room couch and went upstairs to grab my phone. I came back down literally 3 minutes later and he had half of the living-room floor covered in paint. I still have yet to even figure out where he got the paint from! Its so hard to fuss at him though because he'll stare at you with the cutest puppy eyes ever and just hug you and even plant a kiss right on your lips.
Meadow was a different story. Everytime someone got onto her for doing something bad she'd snap her fingers, swing her hair and walk away. It's soooo funny when she does it to River because he gets so mad.
Oddly enough, her favorite person is Ryan. And I'm almost sure that's who she gets her attitude from. He eggs her on everytime she gets sassy.
Kai's favorite person was, without a doubt, his uncle Riley.
They weren't the only two babies in the house anymore.
Max and Lindsay's son Morgan had just turned 1 about a month ago.
He was absolutely adorable. And he had Max's extreme curls that he used to have when he was a kid.
Meanwhile Jordan and Journey's daughter Payton was 11 months.
River calls her 'Toodles' because whenever he tickles her and she laughs it literally sounds like she saying Toodles over and over again but its only when he does it. And its the most adorable thing in the world when she actually answers to being called Toodles. Now we all call her that.
As for the teens, Riley and Madison graduated and were now a month away from finishing their first year of college while Elise was a month away from graduating high school.
Speaking of Elise, her and River were reeeeally close now. She absolutely loved her dad and talked to him about EVERYTHING. A year ago I would've never thought they'd get this close, especially because they used to argue aaaall the time.
Oh and she still talked to that Kevin guy.
They weren't dating but he'd come over pretty much everyday now. He, Elise, Riley, and Madison were like the four musketeers. Much to Jenna's dismay because she always felt left out.
Ryan and AJ we're doing an amazing job of raising Benji. And of course Benji was still insanely smart. That kid never ceased to surprise.
After much thought and contemplation, River decided to adopt Logan.
And Logan loooved to annoy Jenna and Elise. Almost as much as he loved soccer which he, River, and Rome played every other day.
Grayson on the other hand took up a liking for baseball which River had been helping him with as well.
Now Rome and Logan were on a little league soccer team while Grayson was in little league baseball.
As for Jordan, AJ, Lindsay, and I, we were about to finish up our third year of college. Sonny and Legend were in their last year. And we'd pretty much made up our minds about what we wanted to do with our lives.
AJ was planning on pursuing an engineering career, Lindsay had decided on going down the path of fashion design, Jordan was going to pursue a career in architecture, Sonny was going to graduate school, Legend was pursuing vet school, and I, little miss Cassidy, was on my way to attending medical school.
Even though River and I weren't together anymore he'd still been a big help with leading me in the right direction in order to achieve my goal of one day becoming a doctor.
River and I had pretty much lost feelings for eachother. We didn't even look at eachother the same way anymore. We were still really close though. A while back we sat and talked and agreed that it'd be best for both of us if we just stayed separated. It was actually more of his call and of course I was torn but eventually I got over it and accepted the fact that he was happy with Candice.
And I was genuinely happy for them.
Candice, who I hated at first, was actually a really sweet person. Her and I have even hung out a few times.
Max was super homesick. Hell we all were but he definitely missed home the most. He always talked about how he was ready to go back to work and how he was sick of French people.
None of us had talked to our families back in the U.S. since the day we left. It was extremely hard. I missed my parents and Danny soooo much.
Oh did I mention we all were pretty fluent in French too?
Now I wouldn't have to stare at River blankly when he asked me something in French.
Even Kai and Meadow were speaking it. In fact they spoke it as much as they spoke English but since they were only babies they often got confused and often mixed up the two languages by using them in the same sentence.
Raes and Sehrem were pretty much the same except for the fact that Raes and River semi got along now. There were still times when they'd argue but not nearly as much as the used to. I've even warmed up to Raes. Sometimes he was actually a cool guy.
And let me just say that the most interesting thing in the world is when Sehrem and Benji have conversations. They're both really wise and intelligent and Sehrem often challenges Benji's intelligence and sometimes even causes him to slip up.... Just like he does to everyone else. I finally realized what River meant when he said that Sehrem could make you believe what ever he wanted you to. I kid you not he once convinced me that clouds were just a figment of my imagination.
After Tommy died, Stormy changed.
He hasn't been the same since.
He's extremely hostile and moody now. His temper is horrible and he's just- different.
The goofy, kind-hearted, caring Stormy was gone.
We all understood though.
He and Tommy had been close their entire alives.
To be honest I missed Tommy too.
I didn't talk to anyone for two weeks after he died.
I slept in his shirts and on his side of the bed for three months.
I still sleep on his side of the bed. But I've grown past sleeping in his shirts every night.
On a brighter note though, even though things were different, everything was normal finally.
We hadn't had any incidents in over a year with the exception of the guys occasionally getting into bar fights.
I didn't feel afraid anymore.
And that was all I'd wanted.
"Mom can you help me and Rome with something?" Asked Gray as he came into my room.
"Yeah of course." I replied.
The first time Grayson called me mom was 8 months ago. He said it on accident but since that day that's all he ever calls me now. That moment was one of the moments I'll cherish forever.
I went downstairs and outside to where the two were and saw them kneeling down in a corner by the house and staring down at something.
"What's wrong?" I asked.
"There's a baby bird stuck in this hole." Roman replied. "I don't think it can fly.
I looked closer but couldn't see anything because it was too dark inside the hole.
"How do you know its a bird?" I asked.
"We heard it chirp." Said Grayson. "We tried to reach in and grab it but it keeps moving."
"Let me try." I insisted.
They moved to the side and I knelt down then moved my hand around to find the bird.
Once I did I carefully clasped my hand around it and lifted it out of the hole.
"That was easy." I said as I looked at Rome and Gray before I even looked at the bird.
Their eyes widened as they started to walk backwards.
"What?" I asked.
"That's not a bird.... Rome remarked.
I slowly turned my head to look at what I was holding and I nearly had a a heart attack.
In my hand was a giant, furry ass, spider the size of my palm.
I threw it in the air as Rome, Gray, and I took off running and screaming.
THAT THING LITERALLY CHASED US.
We ran back into the house and slammed the door shut behind us, letting out sighs of relief.
"What happened to you three?" Asked Anna who was sitting on the couch in the den with Meadow.
"Grandpa needs to call an exterminator." Rome answered. "I'm tired of seeing bugs that are damn near bigger than me."
"Bugs?" Asked Meadow as she looked at me in fear.
"Its okay babygirl." I reassured her as I picked her up. "I won't let them get you."
Suddenly Kaiser came running into the den in terror and ran up to Rome, grabbing his arm as he hid behind him.
"What's wrong Kai?" He asked him.
"Spider!" He exclaimed. "Big spider!"
Seconds later that fucking spider turned the corner and came charging at us.
"Kaiser did you open the door!?" I yelled.
He looked at me and nodded his head.
"Oh my god its coming!" Grayson freaked out.
Anna grabbed Kai and we all took off running into the living-room.
"Jordan there's a spider..." I said out of breath. "Its giant and its angry... Please kill it."
Jordan immediately jumped onto the couch in a panic. "Nope! I don't do spiders!"
Just when I thought we were all about to die, Max walked in then bursted out laughing when he saw our horrified faces.
"What happened?"
I pointed to the spider that was now to standing there, staring at us evilly.
He chuckled, walked up to the spider, knelt down, AND PICKED IT UP.
"I'm gonna pass out....." Gray retorted.
"It wont bite you unless it feels threatened." Max explained. "Kaiser, come touch it."
"No you are NOT letting my son touch that thing." I argued.
"Cass he plays with all kinds of bugs and lizards. I'm just showing him not to be afraid of this one."
"Okay but that particular creature bites..."
"Like I said, only if it feels threatened. River and I used to play with these things all the time."
He started walking towards Anna who flipped.
"Maxwell stop! I hate spiders!"
"I'm just showing it to Kaiser...."
Anna quickly put Kai down then jogged away.
Max knelt down in front of Kai and held out the spider to him. Kai was nervous.
"Touch it." Max insisted. "It wont hurt you."
Kaiser hesitated but eventually slowly started to raise his hand. He carefully ran his finger across the top of the spider's head... Then smiled.
"Can I hold?" He asked Max.
"Sure." Max replied. He placed the spider into Kaiser's hand then Kaiser turned to face me.
"Look mommy!"
"I see buddy... Just don't get to close to Mommy." I added.
Of course he didn't listen and instead basically charged at me to show me a better look of the spider.
"Nope!" I said as I took off running in the opposite direction with Meadow.
"Max stop him!" I begged as Kaiser laughed, chasing behind me, thinking this was a game.
Within about 3 minutes Kaiser finally stopped.
Once I felt it was safe I put Meadow down and went into the kitchen.
"Cassidy! Just who I needed!" Said Elizabeth. "Would you mind helping Giovanni and I prepare dinner? Kevin's parents are coming over tonight and we want to greet them with a formal introduction as its been a little over a year and we've not once met them."
"Sure, I'll help." I said though in my mind I was groaning. I had the unfortunate honor of meeting Kevin's parents a few months ago. Those people were the literal definition of stuck up, rich, pricks.
Tonight was bound to be fun...
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A/N!!!
Lol I hope the time hop didn't throw you off too much cx
I'm probably gonna start adding more time hops though because i have to start wrapping this story up considering it does in fact have to come to an end eventually lol
Some of the time hops wont be as much as year while others might be over a year.
I still have to figure that all out but as for now I hope you continue to enjoy the story and as always if you have any questions feel free to ask me. I don't mind answering them.
Until next time! ❤❤❤