Ali's pov
"Guys seriously just go. I'll look after the kids you go have fun"
"Are you sure Ali? I feel bad for leaving you" Aria says
"Yes. Go. I've not even recovered from the shooting yet and I doubt jumping off trees would speed it up. Plus I'll have brilliant fun with the kids" I explain, playing with Carson's long hair that stops just below his chin - just like his dad's hair when he and Hanna first started dating
"Okay thank you so much. We owe you" Spencer enthusiastically shouts
"Bye honey" Emily gives me a kiss on my cheek, her soft lips massaging my skin for just a second
"Bye. Have fun" I shout as they slam the car doors shut
"So who's ready for an awesome day?" I ask the 7 kids sitting on the floor as I return to the living room
5 months since the shooting and I've still not recovered
"Mommy, Abigail did a poop in her diaper"
Today will definitely be fun
"Okay. Lily, Grace why don't you take Carson, Leo and Zoë into your room and I'll look after Harper and Abigail" I instruct, picking Abigail of the floor
Emily's pov
I feel bad for leaving Alison to look after the 7 children, part of me wants to ask Spencer to turn the car around and take me back home but a high wire tree top assault course convinces me to leave Alison behind. Aria, Hanna, Spencer and I spent years just the 4 of us but it feels strange to not have my partner in crime next to me.
Ali's pov
"Where is mommy? I've not seen her in days"
"Grace she only left a hour ago" I laugh
Carson shouts something and then Grace runs back to her room, about 10 minutes later all 5 children come charging towards me. Leo carrying his little sister as she clings to him like a monkey.
"Mommy! Aunt Ali! Mommy! Auntie Alison! Aunt Ali!" They all scream at the same time; a swarm of voices attacking my eardrums
Suddenly Lily bursts into tears
"Mom! He kissed me" she blubbers, pointing to Carson
"Carson why did you kiss Lily?" I ask sternly, trying not to laugh at the two crying children
"B...because I love her" he stutters
"What about that Charlotte girl?" I ask
"I don't love her anymore, I love Lily"
Carson's small hand locks into Lily's, he pulls her closer to him, grabs hold of her other hand and then gives her a quick peck on the lips. The screaming starts again. Zoë sits cross legged on the floor shouting gibberish, Lily and Carson cry; Grace and Leo are screaming at the top of their lungs trying to join in. Harper's crying out for me as she slides around on her tummy pushing her tiny feet against the floor. Abigail's sat propped up by cushions at my feet, she is quietly staring at her crazy cousins. I walk over to Harper and pick her up off the ground, she buries her head under my chin and her crying stops
"Right" I scream over the kids
"Lily, Grace, Carson and Leo you are big boys and girls go play nicely and no kissing. Okay?"
"Okay" they whisper, walking back into the girls' bedroom
"Harper you sit here" I say, placing her next to Abigail
"Zoë would you like to play with me?"
"Yeah. Auntie Ali play wif me" she says, handing me an Olaf teddy
Emily's pov
"Oh my god" Hanna screams from the other side of a small rope swing
"Han come on, it's a tiny gap"
"Yeah a tiny gap with a one hundred and fifty feet drop" she yells, her legs wobble like jelly
"Move Hanna, I'll do it" Aria says pushing past
Aria grips tightly to the rope and swings over, Toby slightly helping her small legs onto the platform
"Han if small fry can do it so can you" Spencer shouts
Hanna pulls her gelatin legs closer to the edge and grabs the rope
"Hanna even if you fall you have a harness on" I shout over reminding her she can't die
"Shit" she screams swinging over to us
"You did it" Ezra shrieks as Hanna's legs begin to stop shaking
"Who suggested this torture?" Hanna laughs
"You did" a sarky Spencer replies
"Let's go to a tree top adventure, Hanna said. Let's swing from the trees like Tarzan, Hanna said. It'll be great fun Hanna said. Let's go home, Hanna said" Caleb laughs mocking her
Hanna was terrified that she was going to die. She wasn't anything like Tarzan, she struggled to walk in a straight line on the floating wooden platform, never mind swinging from vines, but despite Hanna's nerves we were all having a great time. If only Ali was here.
Ali's pov
"Lunchtime. It's spaghettiOs"
I carry 7 bowls of hooped spaghetti over to the dining table
"Bon appetite"
"Thanks Mommy"
"Thank you Aunt Ali"
"Thank you Mommy"
I pull a seat over and sit in between Harper and Abigail; as I watch the kids eat their lunch I realise how lucky I am to have these people in my life. Many years ago I thought I was going to spend my whole life running from A, spend my whole life alone. Instead I am surrounded with friends and family I love and I couldn't be happier.
Emily's pov
"Okay beautiful, one last obstacle and then we go home" Caleb whispers into Hanna's ear
"Who's first?" asks Ezra
"I'll go"
I take a deep breath as I am clipped on
"Just walk off and gravity will take care of the rest" an employee says to me
I look over to my friends, the girls hugging their husbands. I step off and my slim body falls towards the ground 150 feet below. Then just before I hit the ground my free-fall slows and I gently land on my feet.
"Come on Toby. You can do it" I shout to him
Once Toby lands he stays at the bottom so he can catch his falling wife. She falls into his arms.
"The last time you held me like this was on our wedding night" Spencer says, combing her hand through his hair
"What you talking about? I carry you into bed like this all the time" he laughs
"Maybe we could put Abigail to bed early and you could carry me into bed like this tonight?" Spencer giggles, twisting his short hair with her finger
"Guys I'm still here. Remember" I break their romantic moment
"Get a room" Ezra screams down to them, Spencer still clipped onto the rope cradled in Toby's muscular arms
Ali's pov
It's currently 6pm and all the kids are asleep. I have just sat down on the sofa and I can feel my eyes closing, my head nods as I try to stay awake. I turn the tv on and watch a quiz show.
"No you idiot, it's To kill a Mockingbird" I shout at the tv as the contestant gets a question wrong
Suddenly my eyes are covered by hands
"Guess who"
"Taylor? Brittney? Shay? No, I know it's Miley"
Emily's pov
"No, I know it's Miley" my wife says pretending she is a womaniser
I lean over the sofa and kiss her
"Welcome home. Did you all have fun?" Ali asks
"Yes" we shout
"No" Hanna screams over our yes
"Did you Ali?" Aria asks
"Yeah I had a lot of fun. Although before lunch Carson and Lily had a....moment" she laughs
"A moment?" I raise one of my eyebrows in confusion
"Yeah. Carson kissed her and Lily cried"
"What?" Hanna sniggers
"He said he loves her"
"Wow" Spence laughs
Ali's pov
Our friends wake their children up and they all go home. Lily and Grace are still asleep.
"You want a drink?" I ask
"Yes please"
"Red or white?"
"How about white with blonde hair and cute bangs?"
"Shut it" I laugh at Emily's immaturity
"You're getting rosé wine. Best of both worlds"
"Damn" she says sarcastically
"So how was your day with two six year olds, a five year old, a four year old, one year old, six months old and five month old" Emily says, running out of breath as she lists their ages
"It was great. The boys played with Grace and Lily in their room and I looked after Zoë, Harper and Abigail. It was fun having babies around again"
Emily stares at me and I know exactly what she's thinking
"God no Em. Having a baby around for one day was fun but I wouldn't want another baby of our own, having a baby is easy when you can give them back"
She smiles at me and places her hand onto my thigh, rubbing her thumb against it
"Good because I'm happy with our family. I mean maybe I'll want another baby later. I'm not saying no forever but for now I'm happy with our two gorgeous daughters"
"Maybe we can get a cat" I joke
Emily smirks, her legs are curled up on the sofa, her elbow leaning against the back of the sofa as she rests her head on her palm. I lovingly look up into her eyes.
I close my eyes and when I reopen them, she is wearing a grey jumper and black sweatpants
"Sorry for all the tossing and turning last night" I said to her
"Considering what's going on in our lives right now it's amazing either one of us can get any sleep" her soft words comforted me
I smiled and continued to look into her mesmerising brown eyes. She played with my hair and I could tell she wanted to say something
"You're so beautiful in the morning" she whispered to me, my heart fluttered. I finally had my girl
We leant in and kissed each other. Her lips clinging onto mine as she pulled away, we sat nose to nose for only a second. She leant back into the sofa.
"You know just because you had a bad night doesn't mean we can't have a good morning"
I smiled as she stood up off the sofa holding her hand out to me, I grabbed onto her hand and she led me into the bedroom. Leaving our coffees to get cold we stumbled to the room kissing. Emily opened the door and then twisted back round to face me, I started to unzip her jumper. Untangling our hands, I noticed the game sat on the bed we had slept in the previous night.
"Ali? You okay? You seem to be zoning out a lot recently" she says, breaking me from my day dream
"Yeah Em. I'm okay, I was just day dreaming"
"About anything interesting ?" She asks
"Just thinking about this girl called Emily. Who by the way looks extremely beautiful in the morning"