The Pretend Friend (Epilogue)

EPILOGUE - TEN YEARS LATER

The last thing I expected to delay my coming home was getting tear gassed during what had started as a peaceful protest in Midtown.

It was my last assignment before I got to head back home for the long weekend, and I had been excited for the entire week leading up to that Friday. The early afternoon had been drizzly yet humid from the Georgia summer heat, but an hour into the peaceful protest, the rain had been entirely replaced by the unforgiving sun.

Sweat soaked through my clothes, and anticipating exactly that for today, I had chosen a silk blouse, looser pants, and flat shoes the night before. Jess liked to tease me for planning my outfits so far ahead, and even though I pretended to be offended, I secretly loved all of her teasing. I was never going to admit it, though.

Towards the end of the third hour of walking around with my crew and taking pictures of the protest for the paper, I had decided to call it a day. We had started to walk away from the crowd when I heard the sounds of car tires screeching against pavement, followed by heavy thuds and screaming.

Years of on-site photo shooting had me moving on instinct as I turned around and ran in the direction of the noise. My camera was still on, and I quickly snapped pictures of the chaos while navigating through panicked bodies running in the opposite direction. Deep voices from the officers called out to the crowd, issuing demands for people to not resist arrest and to stay calm.

Finally, emerging from the crowd, I arrived at the barrier that had been placed to contain the protest, but part of the orange barrier had been rammed through by a SUV, which was now totaled in the front and airing smoke. My finger moved quick as I snapped pictures of the sight despite the cops shouting at everyone to move away.

I counted the bodies on the ground, and my stomach twisted at the blood and bones. Six civilians and one officer.

"Charlotte!" I heard Kayleigh call out from somewhere behind.

I turned to her just as I heard a sharp hiss and then the familiar clang of metal hitting the concrete. Before I could register anything, gas filled the air, choking me out. Snapping my eyes shut, I blindly backed away, my hands shooting out to feel for anything to hold onto.

Sharp pain burned my eyes, springing tears that rolled down my cheeks. I felt something hard hit me in the ribs, and I cried out from the pain, which allowed more gas to enter my lungs. Another body bumped into me, and I fell forward, landing on my knees and palms. Memories of almost getting trampled on during a protest several years filled my limbs with action, and I scrambled back to my feet.

Then a hand gripped my arm and yanked me forward. "Come on, I got you!"

Relief filled me at Kayleigh's voice, and I followed her as she dragged me away from the chaos. Soon, other familiar voices from the rest of my crew surrounded me, and their bodies were the ones that circled me now. The noises had faded in the distant, and Kayleigh guided me to sit down on what felt like was a hard bench.

"What the hell, Charlotte?" Sean, one of the other photographers for the paper, exclaimed. "That was reckless."

"Can you cool it, Sean?" Kayleigh snapped, and he let out an angry huff. "She's hurt."

I grounded the heels of my hands into my eyes as the pain grew worse.

"Sorry," I managed to choke out.

"Here," Sean grumbled as he pulled my hands away from my face and pressed a water bottle into them. "Rinse your eyes with this."

The cap was already off. Leaning forward to not get any water on me, I slowly poured the water over my eyes.

When I had first started out in the field, my eagerness to prove my capabilities had me throwing myself at every opportunity, every risk. For a while, I hadn't thought about my safety because I didn't think there was anything to worry about.

But then I was nearly trampled on three years ago, and when Jess had broken down in tears at the hospital, it had dawned on me that my safety being the priority wasn't just for my sake. It was for my family.

Since then, I had been trying to be more careful, but sometimes moments like the one today made me move instinctually from years of doing it before.

But as I sat there, crying and choking from the burning gas, I knew one thing for certain now.

I wanted to be home.

Thoughts of leaving the newspaper had taken root since the beginning of the year. I wasn't sure of the exact moment, but I just remembered waking up in my Atlanta apartment, alone and cold in bed with an immense pressure weighing down my chest.

I craved the comfort of the home that Jess and I had purchased five years ago. It was near the water, with the private beach as an extension of our backyard. The home was perfect, and I knew it was ours when Jess had fallen in love with it at first sight. With some renovations, we finally had a home together, but with our busy schedules, we were rarely there.

Maeve moved in with us after a lot of convincing, and she kept the home occupied while Jess was on her tour, which was ending this weekend. I was in Atlanta for the majority of the weeks. Noah came home as often as he could, but like me, he spent the majority of his time at the Emory University in Atlanta. He had decided to take some additional classes for the summer and was in the middle of doing an internship at the Georgia Aquarium. The apartment in Atlanta was as equally mine as it was his, and it was where he stayed whenever he had school.

I saw him more often than I saw Jess, and I knew it reassured her that he had me close by when she couldn't be. Though, I knew Noah liked having the apartment to himself, and I knew Lizzie came over often when I wasn't there. He had gotten a lot cheekier over the years, and I feigned ignorance whenever I came back to the smell of alcohol. He always cleaned up well after himself, being the perfectionist he was. Jess knew too and only allowed it after I convinced her that he should be able to experience college fun and that he was being more careful than most kids at his age. Still, she made me promise to report everything to her.

The thought of that jerked me back into the present, and I set the empty water bottle down and fumbled around my pockets for my phone. The pain had lessened, not enough to open my eyes, but enough for me to stop panicking from it.

Instead, now I was panicking about something else entirely.

"Crap," I muttered. "I lost my phone."

"We'll come back for it once the crowd dies," Kayleigh reassured me. "We need to get you to the hospital first."

"Yeah, but --"

"You are not arguing us on this," Sean interrupted.

I knew he was right, but still.

"Then I need to borrow someone's phone," I said.

"For?"

Grimacing in anticipation of Jess's scolding and her millions of questions, I blew out a sigh before answering, "I need to call my wife."

-----------------

My dad gave me his own scolding when he picked me up from the hospital after interrogating me with a string of questions.

"Do you know how serious that could have turned?" He was nearly shouting, his face twisted in a mixture of anger.

His forehead was already creased with wrinkles from age, and now there were the worry lines adding to it too. After he suffered a heart attack more than a decade ago, I tried not to worry him as much. Now that he was retired, it seemed like all he ever did was worry about me, which even now, I still found strange.

"If your friends hadn't been there, then things would have turned out much worse, Charlotte! I don't understand why you would rush into --"

"Dad, I know! I wasn't thinking and --"

"Then think!" he exploded. The car behind him honked, and he cursed, "What the hell now?"

"You're driving too slow," I groaned, glancing at the line of cars behind him through the side mirror. "You know you can go a little over the limit, right?"

"There is a limit for a reason," he snapped. "If they don't like it, then they can go around."

"We're not going to crash just because you go over five, Dad."

"I'm not risking it unlike someone." He shot me a steely glare, and groaning again, I slumped back in my seat and shut my eyes. They were still stinging a little, but I had Dr. Penn take a look at my eyes to make sure everything was okay, which to my relief, it was.

There was another honk, and I let out a sigh when my dad cursed again.

----------------

Noah was sitting on the steps outside the apartment, his brows furrowed in what looked like either concern or anger or both as we parked.

My dad had wiped his expression blank, but I knew from the tight grip he had on the steering wheel that he was anxious. He and Noah didn't really have much of a relationship, and Noah had only requested to meet him after Jess and I finally told him the truth about his biological father.

That had been a rough year for all of us, but it was the roughest for Noah, who had delayed his first semester of college and briefly moved in with Maeve after learning about James. Jess tried multiple times to get him to talk to her, but he didn't want to see any of us. I knew exactly what he had been feeling, and even though I believed that he hated me for what my family did, I finally drove out to see him after giving him the space he needed.

That same night, he had asked me to take him to see my dad and James. I hadn't talked to James or seen him since I threatened him to stay away from Jess and Noah all those years ago, but as for my dad, I had called Jess. She had reluctantly agreed after I promised I would take care of him.

Noah and my dad had only exchanged a few words when they met. Noah told him he wanted to see James, to which my dad immediately declined. He then called my dad a "fucking asshole," which was the most I had ever heard him curse, and to my surprise, he asked me to drive him back home to Savannah. Since then, they had only seen each other in passing, and Noah acted like he didn't exist. I had always tried to limit their interactions as much as possible, but as for today, it couldn't be helped.

"I'm okay," I immediately said as I stepped out of the car.

Now, at twenty-one, Noah towered over me, and I had to tilt my head back just to meet his eyes. He was even taller than Jess, who had to stand on her tippy toes or wrestle him down just to ruffle his hair now.

He also looked so much like James, and even more so in this moment as he walked over to me, the frown stuck on his face. His hazel eyes were identical to mine and James, and Noah's hair had grown wavier just like my brother's when he was younger. Unlike James' lankiness, though, Noah was toned from picking up Jess's running hobby in high school.

It would have unnerved me how alike they looked if there wasn't so much Jess in him. Her smile was in his, and even when he was angry like now, there was so much of the concern and warmth that I often saw in Jess.

"You should have called me," he scolded quietly, and his eyes flickered briefly to my dad, who had stepped out of the car.

"You were at work. I didn't want to bother you."

"Still, you should have. I wouldn't have minded. Are you okay?" Noah tilted my face up to examine my eyes, and I brushed his hands away.

"Dr. Penn said my eyes are fine."

"You're not lying, are you?" He narrowed his eyes accusingly. "Cause' Mom's gonna be furious if you're lying. She'll murder me."

I bit down on a laugh. "Why would she murder you?"

"Cause.'" Clearing his throat, he crossed his arms, and I lifted a brow. "She made me promise to take care of you, and this?" He gestured to my face, which I knew was still puffy from the gas. "This doesn't look good for me, Ma."

Now, I laughed, and winced when my throat seized up from the lingering burn. "You're not supposed to take care of me. I'm the adult here. She made me promise to take care of you."

Finally, his frown relaxed into a smile, and he chuckled. "Of course she did." Then he settled his eyes on my dad. "Thanks for picking her up."

Surprised at being addressed, he lost a hold of his expression and straightened. "Um, yeah, of course."

Turning back to me, Noah offered his arm, and I rolled my eyes but grabbed ahold of it.

Then I glanced back at my dad and gave him an appreciative smile. "I'll call you when I get to Savannah."

"Alright." He returned the smile. "Get back safe."

As his eyes flicked to Noah, I knew he wanted to say more, but he didn't. Noah didn't say anything else to him as he walked me into the apartment. Lizzie was lounging on the couch, watching a movie, but she quickly paused it and stood when we entered.

"Charlotte, are you okay?" She rushed over to me, her eyes scanning my body with wild concern. "They're talking about the protest all over the news. Did you get hit by the car? Are your bones okay? Did --"

"Babe, please," Noah exasperated, but his lips twitched with a smile. "I told you she only got hit with tear gas."

"And you said you didn't believe her until you saw her!"

"I'm fine," I interrupted with a smile. "My bones are still intact, but I think it's Jess I need to worry about. At least I still have the weekend to recover before she attacks me."

Lizzie sucked in her lips and looked away. Noah grimaced.

"What?" I asked suspiciously.

"Mom booked the earliest flight home," he answered, and my eyes widened. "She'll be back by tomorrow morning."

"But the tour!" I began to pace. "I told her explicitly not to do that!"

"How did she sound on the phone?"

"She was angry that I got hurt again, but when I told her what the doctors said, she calmed down."

"She did not sound calm on the phone with Noah," Lizzie said.

"She's going to kill me."

"She's going to kill both of us," Noah corrected.

"But me mostly." I stopped pacing to look at them. "Do you think we should just hide out here?"

"I think that's the best idea you ever had," Lizzie perked up before Noah could answer. "Jess scares the shit out of me when she's angry."

Which was saying a lot because there was little to nothing that scared Lizzie.

"We are not going to hide here," Noah said, and we began to groan until he added, "She would find us right away. I vote we hole out at the aquarium, and even if Mom does find us, she won't want to murder us in front of all the otters."

Honestly, it wasn't really a bad idea. Jess had a soft spot for sea otters after we booked tickets for a hands-on encounter several years ago, and it was her, rather than Noah, that we had to pull away after our session ended. She wouldn't want the sea otters to witness her violent crimes.

Grinning, Lizzie wrapped her arms around him. "I have the smartest boyfriend."

He gave her a wink, and I smiled at them.

No one was surprised when Noah and Lizzie announced they were together two years ago. Jess thought it would have happened earlier, seeing as how it was so obvious they both had feelings for each other since they were kids.

Growing serious again, I sighed, "We are not going to hide from your mom. She's angry because she's concerned, and I deserve the lecture anyway."

"You're braver than me," Lizzie muttered.

Which was also saying a lot, seeing as she rescued people for a living. Not to mention, she liked to do crazy things like sky-dive and climb mountains while pulling Noah along with her wild escapades and scaring several lifespans out of Jess.

"We'll drive back in the morning," Noah said. "That way, we can delay mom's wrath just a little bit longer."

I scoffed. "You mean drag out her anger?"

"She's gonna kill us anyway, right?"

I grimaced.

What worried me wasn't Jess's anger. It was her calmness after I reassured her I was okay. The last time I got hurt, it had taken a lot of consoling to calm her down, and she had been afraid to leave my side for weeks after. She nearly delayed her tour until we all talked her out of it.

Now? She hadn't even texted or called me since I got off the phone with her hours ago.

"Everything's going to be okay," Noah attempted to reassure me, and Lizzie nodded in agreement.

I merely smiled, but I wasn't convinced. My stomach tightened anxiously.

----------------

That night, I couldn't sleep. Before bed, I had texted Jess goodnight as we always did, and she hadn't replied even hours later. It was around midnight that I crept out of the room, craving something sweet. Sugar was always the thing that helped me sleep whenever my mind was heavy.

I was surprised to see the kitchen lights on and Noah sitting at the counter, drinking a glass of milk. There was a plate with the last chocolate muffin, and he slid it towards me when I stepped out.

"I warmed it up for you," he said, and my brows lifted in surprise. "I knew you wouldn't be able to sleep."

Sitting down beside him, I pulled the plate closer, and he smiled. "And what if I did sleep?"

He shrugged. "Then I would have ate the muffin."

"Rude. I bought these muffins. I get dibs on the last one."

"I don't think that's how it works."

"I pay the rent so my rules."

In retaliation, he reached over to peel off a chunk of my muffin top, and I slapped his hand away. Laughing, he dropped it in his mouth.

"And why are you up this late stealing my muffin?" I questioned.

"You mean the one I heated up for you?"

I pinned him with a glare, and he rolled his eyes.

"Well, there was something I wanted to talk to you about," he answered and propped his head onto a fist as he watched me eat.

"Okay?" I waited for him to elaborate, and when his expression grew serious, I set my muffin down and straightened. "Noah, what's wrong?"

"It's nothing bad," he immediately reassured me with a smile, but I didn't relax. "I just..." His gaze dropped from mine, and he rubbed the inside of his wrist, a nervous habit he had picked up in his teens.

Oh god.

"Is Lizzie pregnant?" I blurted out, and his eyes snapped up in surprise.

"What?" Noah exclaimed. "Ma, no!"

I exhaled a breath. It wasn't quite relief, but something more equivalent to resolve. It was a thought I had carried for a while now, especially since...

"She's been eating more," I pointed out.

He groaned, "She's a firefighter."

"And her recent moods?"

Last week, I came back to Noah comforting Lizzie, who had broken down because she had forgotten to buy carrots at the grocery store.

Red filled his cheeks, and he looked away. "It's just... woman stuff."

"Noah, honey. I'm a woman."

"Yeah, but, you know..."

I lifted a brow. "I don't know. That's why I'm asking."

Groaning, he dropped his face into his hands and mumbled something.

"What?"

He lifted his hands from his mouth just enough to let me hear him. "She started birth control."

I paused. I opened my mouth, paused again, and then closed it.

Noah dragged his hands away from his face and heaved out a dramatic sigh. "This is definitely not the conversation I wanted to have."

"Honey, it's normal," I managed.

His face flushed even more. "I know it's normal."

"At least you're both being safe."

"Can we please stop talking about this?" he groaned.

Laughing, I pulled him into a hug. "Alright, kiddo." Despite his embarrassment, he sank into the hug and wrapped his arms around me. "What was it you wanted to talk about then?"

Once again, he stiffened, and I pulled away to look at him. He rubbed his wrist again, and this time, I waited patiently.

Then, he took a breath and hesitantly met my gaze again. "I thought maybe we can invite Daniel for Christmas this year."

My chest tightened, and I grew still. His eyes searched my face, but I wasn't sure what expression was frozen on it.

"You only ever spend a day with him for Christmas, and I just feel like it's our fault that --"

"Noah, no," I interrupted sternly. "It's not -- that is not your fault. My relationship with him is complicated, but it doesn't have anything to do with you, do you understand?"

"I know that. I just..." He looked down at his wrist, jaw flickering with conflict. "He's your dad, and sometimes I feel like you're stuck choosing between us and him."

"Honey, I'm not stuck doing anything. I see him enough, and there's only so much nagging I can take," I slipped in a small tease and was rewarded with a small laugh from Noah. Smiling, I tilted his chin up to meet my eyes. The red brimming his eyes forced tears to mine, and I blinked them back. "Yes, he's my dad, but you are my son. I don't ever want to miss a moment of your life."

I had missed enough of it already.

"I bet he doesn't want to miss any of yours either," Noah murmured, and my heart felt like it had splintered into a million pieces.

I crushed him into a tight hug as the tears finally made their escape. Noah's arms were just as tight.

"When did you get so wise?" I sniffled.

"I'm pretty sure I was born that way," he retorted, and I laughed. Pulling back, his expression grew serious again. "I really do mean it, though. We can invite him to the house this year. That way, you don't have to have two separate Christmases."

"It's really not a big deal for me, N --"

"It's not just that," he interrupted, and I blinked in surprise. Shifting in his seat, he cleared his throat before adding, "It's obvious that he cares a lot about you, and even though I don't like that he hurt Mom, I know he only did it to protect you."

"He still shouldn't have done what he did," I said. "No matter how much he loves me, he only hurt me more by hurting your mom."

Noah's expression softened, and he took my hand in his. "I saw the way he was looking at you earlier, like he was afraid to let you go."

A lump formed in my throat and wouldn't budge. More tears clouded my vision.

"And if we're comparing fathers," Noah continued. "Yours isn't so bad. I'm not saying that I'll ever forgive him for what he did to Mom, but he's still family. Reluctantly."

A teary laugh escaped me, and he smiled.

Sniffling, I began to wipe my tears. "But your mom --"

"I already talked to her last month," he said, and I paused. Amusement gleamed in his eyes. "She was fine with it. I was just waiting for the right time to bring it up with you."

"And you?" I asked. "Are you really fine with it?"

"I wouldn't have brought it up if I wasn't." Teasingly, Noah nudged my side with an elbow. "Besides, I'm looking forward to tormenting him the entire time."

"You inherited all of your mom's mischief," I laughed.

His eyes widened. "Please don't let her hear that, or she'll get all sentimental about it."

"That's exactly why I have to tell her."

"You're the worse!" he groaned even though the glimmer in his eyes said otherwise. "You're lucky I love you."

"Love you too, kiddo." I reached up and ruffled his hair, earning a scowl. "It's late, and we have an early morning tomorrow. Why don't you go to bed?"

"What about you?" he asked while patting his hair back down.

"I'm gonna finish this muffin and head in after."

Standing, he kissed my cheek. "Don't stay up too late."

Once he retreated back to his room and closed the door, I was left in silence with nothing but a topless muffin and my late-night thoughts, which almost always consisted of Jess.

The familiar ache returned in my chest. It had been over a month since we saw each other, and despite our constant phone calls and messages, it wasn't enough to relieve the ache that occurred whenever I thought of her. We had gone longer apart, but the pain had never lessened. I just learned to live with it.

I missed her. I missed falling asleep in her arms while listening to her breaths. I missed waking up to the sound of her cooking in the kitchen with Maeve while their shared oldies playlist played in the background. I missed the way her eyes lit up every single time a melody or a lyric came to her. I missed all of her teasing and the sound of her laughter. I missed the warmth she filled every room with.

Jess was my soulmate. Any day without her presence was a colorless day. I had already lost a decade with her, and I had spent every year after trying to make up for it.

After finishing the muffin, I washed the plate and headed for the bedroom. Just as I switched off the light, the sound of the front door unlocking made me freeze. My heart slammed into my chest, but still, I couldn't move.

There was a bat that Jess had brought for me in the adjacent closet. Jess would scold me if she saw me now. She would --

The door swung open, and all of the air escaped from my lungs.

Jess stood in the doorway, suitcase in hand, and the hallway light glowing behind her. Surprise lit up her face for a moment before it faded into a soft scowl as she finally stepped inside and closed the door.

"You're supposed to be asleep," she scolded.

"You're not supposed to be back until tomorrow," I exhaled.

"Do you really think I was going to just sit back and wait? When my wife was hurt?"

My wife.

All of my self-control fell apart, and I rushed forward. Jess let go of her suitcase just in time for me to collapse into her. She wrapped her arms tightly around me, and I buried my face into the crook of her neck.

For a while, we just stayed there like that. My tears were soaking the collar of her hoodie, but neither of us cared.

Eventually, Jess broke the silence and murmured, "You know I would drop everything for you." She leaned down to kiss my temple. "Are you okay?"

"I am now," I sniffled. "I missed you."

I felt her lips stretched into a smile. "I missed you too, sweetheart."

Then, without warning, Jess slid her hands down to grip my thighs and lifted me up. I instinctively wrapped my legs around her waist, and she walked towards the bedroom.

"But your suitcase --"

"Leave it."

When we entered the room, she gently laid me down on the bed and immediately gathered me back into her arms.

"I missed you so fucking much," she whispered.

"I missed you more."

"Impossible."

"Entirely true. I don't know how many times I sprayed your perfume on the pillows."

"So that's why I can barely smell you." Jess buried her face in my neck and inhaled deeply. "Better."

Laughing, I nudged her, and she pulled back just enough for me to see the playful glimmer in her eyes. Then, her gaze trailed down to my lips, and I already knew what was coming.

Still, I wasn't prepared for how much I missed having her lips against mine until she kissed me for the first time in what seemed like forever. A moan, greedy and hungry, slipped from my mouth, and her tongue pushed forward, parting my lips and swallowing every sound like it was hers.

I fisted Jess's shirt and pulled her on top of me. She slipped a knee in between my legs and pressed upwards. I exhaled a surprised moan, and she swallowed that too.

"Fuck, I missed those pretty little sounds you make," she groaned into my mouth. "You taste like a dessert."

"I had a blueberry muffin."

Jess laughed, and the familiar, warm sound hit me deeply in the chest. I turned us over until she was on her back, and I laid on top of her. Her swollen lips stretched into a soft smile, and she reached up with one hand to caress my cheek. Closing my eyes, I leaned into it.

"I love you, baby," she whispered after a moment.

Opening my eyes again, I turned my head just enough to kiss her palm. "I love you too."

Jess slid her hand down to settle around my waist, and I rested my head on her chest. Her steady heartbeats filled all of the gaps in my heart that had been left hollow while we were apart. Slowly, her breaths evened out, and with her here with me again, it didn't take long for me to fall asleep either.

-----------------

I woke up to sunlight in my face, my wife's arms around me, and her hair in my mouth. There was the faint scent of her cologne too, sharp and clean that always reminded me of the sea.

Reaching up, I traced the line of her jaw, angular until it reached her chin where it rounded out. Her lips were a soft pink but slightly cracked. She hated using chapstick, and it seemed like without me there to fuss her about it, she had abandoned it again. Smiling, I gently pressed at her left cheek, where her dimple usually showed when she smiled and laughed. It even showed when she was angry if she pursed her lips a certain way, and it always made her look less intimidating. I never told her that, though.

Then, the spot where I had my finger indented as her lips curved into a small smile.

"Are you checking me out, Princess?"

My heart fluttered at the low rasp in her voice.

"You didn't tell me you were coming here."

Her eyes fluttered open, revealing beautiful eyes that had struck me off-balance the first time I saw them. When we were younger, she had always described them as light brown, but when I was finally able to see her eyes, I realized the lack of depth of her description. Whenever her eyes lit up with laughter, they were bright and warm like honey, and when she was angry or serious, they were molten like caramel.

She was so beautiful, and I hated that I hadn't been able to see her. Now, I felt like the luckiest person in the world to have her by my side. I loved every part of her.

And as her eyes slowly roamed my face as if she was familiarizing herself with it again, I loved the way she looked at me too.

Then, her smile stretched into a smirk as she murmured, "I didn't realize I had to report my comings and goings."

"What if I wasn't here?"

She scoffed. "As if I didn't know you three would be hiding out here until the morning."

Sometimes it was unnerving how deeply Jess knew her family. She was always one step ahead of us, but she said I was like that too. I still didn't believe her. I hadn't anticipated her coming here at all.

Jess's expression softened, and worry lined her forehead as she reached up to cup my cheek. "Are you okay?"

Slowly, I nodded, and she leaned forward to kiss me softly. I slid in closer and wrapped my arm around her waist. She prodded me with her tongue, and smiling, I parted my lips for her.

"I thought you would be mad," I mumbled.

Her hand left my cheek to grab my neck, and my sex tingled in response. It had been so long since I felt her touch.

"Oh, I'm furious." She rolled on top of me, and I gasped when she slid a hand down my pajama shorts. "My manager is mad too that I had to leave."

"I told you I was fine."

"You know I would drop everything for you," she murmured, and as she drew her fingers down my slit, I let out a soft breath. "I know you would too."

I nodded vigorously and felt her lips stretch before her teeth gently nipped my skin. Below, I was growing wetter, and Jess gathered my slickness with her fingers before she slowly filled me with them.

"Jess," I moaned.

"You're squeezing me so tightly, Princess," she whispered into my ear. Her fingers parted as she gently thrusted them into me, and I dug my nails into her back as the small bouts of pleasure rippled through my body. "I missed you so fucking much."

Her teeth scraped my jaw as she planted small kisses along it and around my neck. I felt her fingers slide into my hair, and she tugged my head back further to give herself more access to my neck. My hips bucked against hers as I tried to ride her fingers, but she held me down firmly with her body.

"You promised you would be more careful," she chided, and I felt her teeth gently sink into the front of my throat.

"I'm sorry. I acted without thinking. I'm so --"

Below, she rubbed my clit, and I began to cry out. Jess quickly silenced me with her lips, and I moaned into her mouth, my hips writhing in need.

"I need you to be more careful," she murmured softly. "I need you with me."

Jess's lips gentled, and as she pulled back to look at me, my chest clenched tightly from the vulnerability in her gaze.

"I'm with you," I said, pressing kisses to her lips. "I'm with you always. Forever and ever and --"

She pressed her lips firmly to mine again as her fingers quickened, stoking my pleasure. It rose and rose, and I buried my face into her shoulder to stifle my cries.

"I love you," she whispered into my ear.

Those words filled me with the warmth that had been missing from our nights apart, where I had missed her so much that sometimes I would lie awake staring at the right side of the bed where she usually lie. And now that she was here, everything in the world felt right again.

I came apart, and she pressed kisses to my temple as her fingers eased me through my climax. Shuddering, I managed to utter the words back to her and felt her lips curve into a smile.

When the pleasure was no longer consuming, my body sank into the bed again, damp and flushed with heat. Jess leaned back to look at me with that beautiful dimpled smile of hers. I reached up to cup her cheek, and her eyes fluttered close as she leaned into my hand.

"I'm quitting the newspaper." The words flowed out of me without thought, but it felt right to finally voice it aloud. Saying it now, I knew I was making the right decision.

Her eyes snapped open and widened. "What?"

"I'm quitting the --"

Jess quickly sat up, brows furrowing in what looked like anger. That was not what I expected at all.

"You love your job," she said hurriedly. "I was worried, yes, and am I still worried? Absolutely! But I would never in a million years make you quit your job."

My heart fell, and I sat up and took her hands in mine firmly. "Jess, you didn't make me do anything. This is my choice."

She shook her head in disbelief. "But --"

"But nothing," I interrupted before she could descend into more unwarranted guilt. "I've been thinking about this for a long time. I love my job, but my job is photography. It's not the newspaper. I can freelance, or I can open a studio at home. And that is where I want to be."

"Home," she echoed quietly.

I nodded. "Yes. I feel like I'm capturing so much of everyone's life that I'm missing my own. I want to wake up in the home we built and get more time to go wherever you go. I want to see you do what you love."

Her eyes were bright honey now as they glistened with tears, and she let the tears fall as she scanned my face.

"Fuck," she cursed softly, and I laughed. Leaning forward, she pressed her head to mine and sighed, "I thought about leaving the band."

I jerked back. "Absolutely not!"

Her eyes flashed. "It was just a thought!" Then she crossed her arms stubbornly. "And what do you mean I can't?"

"You love making music with the girls!"

"But I love my family more. And I --" she cut herself off and hesitated.

"And you, what?"

Jess exhaled slowly, and her gaze grew steady again as it met mine. "I'm ready for what we talked about."

"What we talked about..." After a moment, it clicked, and my grip on her hand tightened without meaning to. I searched her face for any doubts, but she remained steady while my heart hammered in my chest. "Are you sure?"

"I haven't stopped thinking about it," she murmured. "Noah's all grown up now, and I'm better off now than I was back then. I have a career, Maeve, you. Besides, we're not getting any younger."

I slid closer and took her hand gently. Once again, I asked, "Are you sure?"

The corner of her mouth quirked into a smile. "I've never been more sure of anything."

Finally, I allowed myself to feel the happiness that had been bursting at the seams. Throwing my arms around Jess, I lunged on top of her, and we fell back on the bed laughing.

Grabbing Jess's face, I kissed her everywhere. Her cheeks, her eyes, her forehead, the corner of her mouth, and then finally her lips.

Jess let out a satisfied moan that sounded like it came deep from the back of her throat.

"We're really doing this," I murmured.

"Yes, baby."

"And you're not leaving the band."

"Fine," she huffed out a laugh.

Her mouth trailed down to my neck as she reached for the hem of my shorts. Suddenly, a panicked thought shot through me, and I grabbed her hand.

"What if I suck at this?"

Jess pulled back to look at me with disbelief. "You? Have you seen yourself with Noah?"

I swallowed tightly. "I've never been around babies, so I don't know the first thing about taking care of them. Noah was already grown and mature for his age. How would I know what the baby wants like if they're hungry or sad? What if I mess up or drop them or --"

Jess silence my rambling with a kiss that I began to melt into before she slowly pulled away again. Her expression softened with a small smile.

"Sweetheart, there's no one I trust more to build a family with than you."

"How?"

"I just know."

"You just know?" I repeated with bewilderment. "How is that practical?"

"It's not. It's my intuition."

"Intuition does not guarantee a baby's safety, Jess."

"Charlotte." Her eyes took on a teasing glint. "I'm not even pregnant, and you're already worried."

"But you should be!"

"Are you questioning my trust in you?"

"A little!"

"Baby, this conversation is ridiculous." Jess tried to pull me back in, but I pressed a hand to her chest, stilling her. She fell back again with an annoyed groan, which I ignored.

"What if I drop the baby?" I questioned.

"Then I'll catch them."

I glared at her hard, and she returned it with a cheeky grin.

"What if there are complications, and I can't get you help in time?"

She shrugged. "You will."

"Let me guess. That's your intuition?"

"No, it's a foreseeable fact." Jess sat up and grabbed my face in her hands. Her expression grew serious. "You would burn the entire world to make sure the people you care about are safe. I've seen you go the extra mile and more for me, Noah, and even fucking Liv. I don't just trust you because of my intuition. I trust you because I've seen how you care and love us, and that's enough for me to know that you'll be great at this. Sure, you're not going to be perfect, and you'll mess up, but you won't be alone. You'll have me, Maeve, Noah, our friends, even your dad. That's a whole fucking village, baby."

Tears sprung to my eyes from her words. "That's all you needed to say."

Jess let out a small laugh and dropped her forehead to mine. "So, crisis averted?"

"For the meantime."

Jess kissed me softly.

"So my dad, huh?" I said. Pausing, she drew back, and her eyes were careful as they searched my face. "Noah talked to me about Christmas."

"And?"

"And are you really okay with it?"

Her expression softened. "I am. He loves you, Charlotte, and that's all that matters to me. I just want you to be happy."

"I am happy."

"But you could be happier." Her lips curved into a smirk. "Besides, I can't wait to see how uncomfortable Noah makes him." Remembering my conversation with Noah, a laugh escaped me, and she raised a brow. "What's so funny?"

"Nothing." Biting back the rest of my laughter, I pulled her back into a kiss, and she groaned into my mouth. "I just love you so much."

Jess reached for my shorts again. "I love you too, baby. Can I please fuck my beautiful wife now?"

"No."

"No?" Her lips paused when I grabbed her hand. She opened her eyes to look at me in confusion.

"It's my turn," I said.

Face scrunching up, she opened her mouth to protest, but I pushed her back down on the bed with a firm hand.

I pressed my smiling lips against her skin as I descended down her body and dragged her pants along. When I blew a breath against her dripping sex, she jerked her hips up to meet my mouth.

"Fuck you're so perfect," she moaned.

Smirking, I licked the length of her, earning the beautiful moans that I had missed hearing so much. Time was lost as I worshipped my wife over and over again.

----------------

After showering, Jess and I stepped out of the bathroom together and found Lizzie in the kitchen. She was sitting on the counter, eating a bagel, but her eyes widened when she saw us.

"Oh my god, Jess!" Lizzie exclaimed as she slid off the counter and launched herself towards my prepared wife. They both stumbled back a few steps from the impact. "When did you get here?"

"Last night," Jess laughed, returning her fierce hug. "I had to make sure you three didn't run off to hide."

"Never!" Lizzie gasped as she pulled away, and then winked at me. "I can't say the same for Charlotte, though."

"Hey!"

She grinned at me.

Jess touched her arm gently to pull her attention back. "How's everything?"

Lizzie shrugged. "Work is good, and Noah and I are --" Then her eyes flicked over to me quickly, and a red flush crept up her neck. I bit down on a smile. "We're both good."

Of course, her hesitance didn't go unnoticed by Jess, who glanced between us.

Before she could confront us about it, the front door opened. We all snapped our attention to a sweaty Noah, who stepped in and stopped, his eyes widening as he tried to process his mom being here.

"Hey, Mom..." He gave a tentative smile, and Jess lifted a brow.

"I haven't seen you in three months, and all I get is a 'hey, Mom?'"

A chuckle broke out of him, and he strode across the kitchen to pull her into a tight hug, lifting her off the ground as he did so. Jess protested for him to let her down, but her laughs betrayed her.

"I missed you, Mom," he murmured softly.

"I missed you too, kid." She ruffled his hair, pulling a grin from him.

He finally set her back down and turned to wrap his arms around Lizzie as he shot us a playful glare. "So why did the room feel like an interrogation when I walked in?

Oh, Noah.

Lizzie grimaced while I tried to fight back a smirk.

Jess narrowed her eyes. "That's what I'm curious about, too."

"We should go pack --" Lizzie interrupted.

"But --"

Lizzie cut Noah off by dragging him away to their bedroom. Immediately, Jess turned to me and crossed her arms.

"You know something."

"Do I?" I teased.

"Charlotte, I swear if you don't --"

"You know I don't take kindly to threats, darling." I turned my back on her and walked away.

"Charlotte!"

My laughter rang through the apartment.

------ 5 Years Later ------

The air was crisp and biting against my skin, but my body was flushed and damp from the long morning run. I had woken up an hour ago when the sky was still asleep, but now it had brightened up with a warm orange glow.

Settled on the shore, I buried my toes deeper into the sand as cold water gently washed up underneath me. Salty foam curled around my body and dissolved slowly as the water drew away from the shore again.

A decade ago, I would have never chosen to sit this close to the water, but now, I did it every morning if I was home, which was more often now than when my career had started. There were still tours and events that took me away, but they were less frequent now. The girls and I even built a studio in Savannah, so that we could make our music here. Laura had moved to New York a few years ago, but she still came here often enough that she had her own room in our house. Noah and Lizzie had moved to New York as well a couple of years ago, but their shared room was still here. Charlotte made sure that the home we built would always have room for everyone in our lives.

A smile crept up on my face as my thoughts remained on Charlotte. I could already picture what she looked like in bed right now: limbs splayed out, mouth slightly open, and the blanket wound so tightly around her body that I often wondered how she managed to untangle herself from it without falling off the bed.

As the sun finished it's ascent over the horizon, with my shoes in hand, I finally made my way back home.

The house was still quiet when I entered, but there was also the warm scent of coffee and sugar. I followed it to the kitchen, where Daniel was clumsily whisking up batter in a bowl while Maeve leaned against the counter, watching him warily as she sipped her coffee. Beside her, little Nessa, with braided hair and my brown eyes, sat on top of the counter, swinging her feet and giggling at them both.

After Nessa turned four in May, Charlotte and I decided to enroll her in pre-school. Charlotte had been worried that Nessa would think that we were abandoning her or be bullied by the other kids, and she had been inconsolable on the morning we dropped Nessa off at school. I had to drag her away from the building and consoled her afterwards. It was only two hours later that we got a call from the school, who informed us that Nessa had sprayed glue all over the classroom walls. For the last couple of months, Charlotte and I had learned that our little girl was a tiny, mischievous daredevil.

Nessa looked up when I entered, and her eyes lit up. Grinning, I pressed a finger to my mouth, and she pressed her smiling lips together.

Quietly, I leaned against the wall and watched them amusedly.

"Hold the bowl tighter. It's not going to bite," Maeve scolded.

Brows furrowed, Daniel tried to fix his grip. "This bowl is too slippery. How am I supposed to whisk if it keeps trying to run away?"

"How are you still this bad in the kitchen?" I laughed.

Daniel and Maeve looked up in surprise, and Nessa let loose her giggles.

"Mom, you weren't quiet!"

"Sorry, baby girl." I swooped her up in my arms. "But watching your grandpa try to cook is a tragedy."

Daniel scowled. "It's because I don't have the proper materials."

"I'm afraid he's a lost cause in the kitchen," Noah's voice cut in before I could retort. I turned just as he came up behind me with a bedhead and sleepy smile, and he pressed a kiss to my cheek. "Morning, Mom."

"Morning, sweetheart."

"What's up, trouble?" Noah ruffled his sister's hair, and she giggled.

Then he draped his arm over my shoulders and turned an amused gaze to the scene in front of us.

"Good morning, Maeve." He turned his gaze and dipped his head. "Daniel."

Eyes softening, Daniel abandoned the bowl and whisk on the counter and turned his full attention to Noah.

"Hey, kid." Daniel cleared his throat and shifted his weight. "How was the drive?"

Noah sighed dramatically. "As well as you can expect with Laura's driving. I stayed awake for most of it to keep an eye on her, but Lizzie slept through most of it."

"That doesn't sound very safe." Daniel's frown deepened. "Maybe you shouldn't ride with her next time."

Maeve and I exchanged an amused look.

"Don't let her hear you say that," Noah joked.

"Too late!" Laura entered the kitchen and shot Daniel a glare. "I still don't like you, by the way."

He merely shrugged.

"And you." She cut her glare to a grinning Noah. "You are a snitch."

"Snitches get stitches!" Nessa exclaimed, and I gasped sharply.

"Nessa, you can't --"

"That's right!" Laura cut me off with a cheeky grin, and she pulled Nessa out of my arms. "You grow wiser every time I see you!"

"I'm thinking you are the reason why the school is terrified of her," I said.

"She's the exact reason," Daniel muttered.

Brushing us off, Laura set Nessa on her shoulders. "Ignore them. They're just jealous because they're not as fun as us. Not you, though, Maeve. You're always fun."

Maeve gave them a wink.

Rolling my eyes, I turned away from them. "As fun as this conversation is, I'm gonna go make sure my wife is still alive."

"It must have been some night if she's still sleeping," Laura teased.

I shot her a glare over my shoulder while Noah released a sigh.

Nessa tilted her head curiously. "What does that mean?"

Daniel swept a hand over his face.

"I'm going on a walk," he grumbled.

"Me too!" Nessa exclaimed, reaching for him.

"Traitor!" Laura gasped, but nevertheless, she let Nessa down, who ran over to grab Daniel's hand. His expression softened again, and even Noah was beginning to smile as he watched them together.

As Noah and Laura stepped in to help Maeve with breakfast, I made my way upstairs to the bedroom. As expected, Charlotte was still passed out in bed, but when the door clicked shut behind me, she slowly roused. She blinked sleepily as I laid down beside her.

"How was your run?" she rasped.

Smiling, I brushed away the strands of hair near her eyes.

"It was peaceful until I got back."

Her brows furrowed. "What happened?"

"Lets just say your dad should give up on cooking in general..." I took a dramatic pause before continuing, "And now he's taking a walk because Laura might have implied I fucked you too hard last night."

"Oh my god." Charlotte buried her face in my chest, and I laughed. "We have to stop inviting her."

"I agree. She's the one turning our little girl into a demon."

At the mention of our daughter, Charlotte lifted her head to look at me with a soft smile.

"Is she still asleep?"

"She's with your dad."

Her smile widened. "Of course."

I kissed her, and Charlotte fully relaxed against me. Her fingers curled into my shirt as she pressed herself further into the kiss.

"You taste like salt," she murmured.

"And you taste like me," I replied cheekily.

Charlotte laughed into the kiss and rolled herself on top of me. My hands settled on her hips.

She pecked my lips. Then again. And another.

"I love you," she whispered.

"I love you too, baby."

Our kiss deepened. I slid my hands under her shirt. Well, my shirt. It looked damn good on her too.

Charlotte rolled her hips against mine and let out a soft moan.

"Someone's a little needy," I teased. She nipped my bottom lip in response, and I laughed. "Was last night not enough for you?"

"No."

"No?"

She tugged at my shirt, and I pulled back, laughing.

"Baby, everyone is awake."

"So?" Charlotte pouted. Actually pouted like the universe was unfair and owed her something.

Another laugh slipped from my mouth, and I rolled us over so that she was on her back.

"So they'll definitely know." I pecked her lips. "And I'd rather our family not think about our sex life at all."

"It's too early to be logical."

"It's nearly noon."

Charlotte scrunched up her face. "It's Christmas Eve. We should all be in bed until noon."

I stared at her, and she lifted a brow.

"Were you always this lazy?" I asked.

Her jaw fell open, and she shoved me off. "Rude!" I fell on my back, laughing, and Charlotte smacked a pillow across my chest. "I hate you."

"Yeah, right." I flung the pillow aside and pulled her back on top of me. "You love me."

Charlotte fought back a smile and lost terribly when I leaned in and kissed her. She let out a soft and satisfied moan, and I felt her fingers slip through my hair and curl against the nape of my neck.

"Fine," she murmured after a moment and pulled away to shoot me a playful glare. "But you owe me."

"That's the best debt a wife could ask for."

She rolled her eyes, but her expression softened as she added, "I love you too." Then she dropped her head on my chest with a quiet sigh. "Lets just stay here for a bit. I'm not ready to go down yet."

"Okay, baby."

Rubbing her back, I pressed a kiss to the top of her head, and Charlotte closed her eyes again.

------

"Grandma, Mommy keeps eating all of the cookie dough!"

Charlotte's eyes widened mid-bite, and Maeve shot her a look that was between exasperation and scolding. With cookie dough on her hands and sitting on a stool that gave her enough height to reach the counter, Nessa looked cunningly prideful after throwing her mom under the bus.

"Snitches get stitches," Noah muttered, which earned him a punch on the arm from his sister. "Hey, ow!"

"Deserved," Lizzie snickered without looking up from her bowl of oatmeal.

"Ha!"

"You're supposed to be on my side!" he whined.

"Nessa, no punching your brother," I said.

"So I can punch other people, then?"

"No punching anyone," Charlotte corrected.

"She's a menace," Noah grumbled.

Nessa shot him a glare that was pretty terrifying for a four-year-old. The ball of cookie dough she had been rolling up was nearly flat now.

"Sweetheart, you're massacring the cookies," Charlotte laughed and stepped in behind our daughter to help reshape the dough.

"Mommy?"

"Hm?" Charlotte rested her chin on Nessa's head with a smile so soft that my heart squeezed.

"Am I a menace?"

Lizzie choked on her oatmeal, and Noah snickered. I shot them both a glare.

"No, sweetheart. You're our little princess."

Nessa's face lit up with a smile, and Noah rolled his eyes.

"Mom?"

I turned to her. "Yes, sweetheart?"

"What does menace mean?"

Lizzie spat out her oatmeal, getting most of it on Noah.

"Babe, gross!"

She clapped a hand over mouth, laughing hysterically. Nessa let loose a fit of giggles while Charlotte rushed to Noah with a towel. Maeve let out a long sigh, but as her eyes met mine, her lips twitched with the beginning of a smile.

------

The sun had begun to set when I stepped out onto the porch and found Laura, Charlotte, and Nessa together outside. Laura sat on one of the steps as she quietly strummed her guitar to an old song. Nessa laid across the swinging bench, eyes closed and head resting on Charlotte's lap. Charlotte gave me a gentle smile, and I pressed a kiss to her forehead before settling beside them.

Finishing the song, Laura settled her fingers over the strings and leaned against the railing. I draped my arm across the back of the bench, and Charlotte leaned against me and settled her head on my shoulder. For a while, we let the soft sound of waves fill the silence. It was the kind of quiet that was peaceful and familiar. It was the kind of quiet that was earned.

It was strange to think that there was a time in my life where I believed that I would never be this happy. For a while, it had just been Noah and I, and now we had a whole family.

Laura's phone pinged, and her eyes flicked to the screen.

"Are they almost here?" I asked.

Smile widening, she nodded and looked out at the pathway ahead of us, waiting for her family. They had left for Europe with Harry, Penelope, and their kids, and luckily were able to catch a flight back in time for Christmas.

Everyone had been surprised when Laura finally settled down, but I hadn't been. I always knew it was a matter of finding the right person, and she had found hers like I had found mine in Charlotte. We had been with each other through the darkest times in our lives, and I would always be grateful for the person she helped me become. If it wasn't for Laura, I still would have been too broken to find my way back to Charlotte.

In the distance, a sleek, dark sedan turned into the pathway, and the crunch of tires on pavement joined the sound of waves. Laura immediately stood and set her guitar to the side.

Then, a tiny face popped out from the passenger window.

"Mom!"

A warm laugh rang out from inside the car, accompanying her daughter's excitement. "Honey, we're almost there!"

At the sound of her wife's voice, Laura pushed down the path without waiting for the car to stop. In my peripheral, Nessa slowly roused and lifted her head.

The car came to a complete stop even though it wasn't even at the house yet, and Laura's six-year-old daughter, Juniper, was out of the car a second later. Laura swept her off the ground, and more laughter filled the air.

Nessa jerked awake, and her eyes lit up in a way that was strangely familiar.

"Junie!" she exclaimed and leapt off Charlotte's lap.

Laura let her daughter down and made her way straight to the driver's side just as the door opened. Behind them, our daughters threw themselves into each other's arms, giggling.

"Who would have thought?" Charlotte murmured fondly.

I threaded my fingers through hers and pressed a kiss to her temple.

"Are you happy?" I asked.

She turned her head up to look at me with a soft gaze. "I am. You?"

My lips curved. "Yeah, baby. I'm happy."

"Good." She pressed a kiss to my shoulder. "Because there's no refunds."

Laughing, I lifted my wife's face and kissed her.

-----------

A/N: Hey.... it's been a very long time, so I don't know if anyone who had been waiting will see this update. I apologize for the long wait. I had a lot of personal stuff happening in my life, and for a long time, I was just stuck mentally and emotionally. I wanted to return to these characters, but I couldn't get past that mental block. It's still hard to write sometimes, but I'm pushing myself through it because I love it. It just takes a lot of energy.

It's hard saying goodbye to Jess and Charlotte. I love writing them, and I love their relationship. But they found their happiness with each other, and it's everything they deserve.

I'm still working on that spin-off for Laura, and Jess and Charlotte will definitely make their appearances. I wanted to release it all in one segment, but it's looking like it will come in either two or three separate parts. The first part is nearly finished. I don't want to say too much about the spin-off. I tried to show as little of it in this epilogue as possible, but all will be revealed eventually.

In the meantime, take care of yourself and cherish your loved ones. I'll see you soon.