Darkness Series Epilogue

A lovely peal of laughter follows me as I make my way down the stairs, past the Ninja Turtle Happy Birthday banner and into my kitchen. I pull on the little hand behind me and bring her little body beside me, careful not to step on the scattered puzzle pieces on the ground. I come to a screeching halt when I reach the threshold of my kitchen and see the booths that surround the island are turned over and the floor is smeared with green icing from the cupcakes that toppled over the counter. My heart rate spikes up, my eyes widening when I see the door is wide open. 

“Mommy?” Carley, my two year old says skeptically as she tugs on my shaky arm. 
I don’t reply, don’t think. I just pick her up and place her on my hip, holding her tightly while cradling her head to my chest. 

“Cole?” I call out, my voice barely audible through the pounding in my ears. 

“Mommy, what happened?” Carley asks in a quiet, concerned voice against my neck. 
 

“Shh. Hold on, baby,” I coo pressing her head into me again while covering her ear. “COLE!” 
 

I turn at the sound of loud footsteps behind me, Carley’s little legs swinging in movement with my body. I sigh loudly in relief when a flustered Cole appears before me. His khaki shorts, legs and sneakers filled with mud and leaving a trail behind him in the house, his blue Chicago Cubs T-shirt drenched and sticking to his hard chest, the defined ripples of his abs and arms seeping through. His eyebrows are set in a frown, his jaw clenched and his green eyes are wild until he sees me holding his little girl and suddenly he takes a breath and a slow smile appears on his face.
 

“Hey,” Cole says walking toward us. “That fu...” He flinches before he finishes. “Freak...” I raise an eyebrow and he takes an annoyed breath looking between Carley and I. “THAT DOG! Miles is a psycho!” 
 

Carley and I fall into a fit of laughter and I set her down carefully when she tries to shimmy out of my hold, her blonde curls bouncing as she skips to her dad in her green tutu and black tights. 
 

Cole crouches down to her level. “Little, I’m dirty. I can’t pick you up,” he pouts, pushing his bottom lip out for effect. I bite down on my own to fight the urge to jump on him and bite it myself. 
 

“I don’t care, Daddy!” Carley says holding her arms up, always willing to get dirty, which is funny considering her older brother hates being dirty.
 

“I do though, honey. You look too beautiful to get dirty. I like your shirt. Did mommy get it for you?” Cole asks with a smile as he looks at her adoringly.
 

“Nope,” she replies with a pop. “Aunt Becky!” 
 

“Where’s Miles?” I ask, interrupting their conversation. “You do realize people are coming over in an hour, right? The cupcakes are ruined, the floor is a mess. Aubry called ten minutes ago saying that Logan and Riley keep talking about the bounce house...”
 

My voice trails off and my breath hitches when Cole stands up and peels his shirt over his head, the sides of his body flexing calling my attention as he pulls it off. When he straightens and tosses the shirt over his shoulder, he shakes his head and I get lost staring dreamily at this man that I married five years ago and I’ve known forever, yet still catches me off guard when he does things that make him look like he belongs in a damn TV commercial. 
 

“Daddy! You’re wetting!” Carley shrieks with a giggle. 
 

“Carley, clean up. Go put your dolls away,” Cole says, taking her little hand and spinning her toward the living room, his eyes never leaving mine. The way he looks at me makes the desire in my body ignite and my mind forget about the messy house I need to clean up.
 

He begins to move toward me, his sneakers squeaking on the hardwood with each step he takes. He licks his lips slowly as his eyes travel over my body seductively, making my heart skip a couple of beats and my chest rise and fall heavily in anticipation. His footsteps stop in front of me and I crane my neck to look at him. My eyes dragging along his defined jaw, the smiling lines around his mouth that have become a little more visible over the years, and lastly, stopping on his eyes. His blazing, hooded, sexy, mischievous, tantalizing eyes. I try to control my breathing, which is increasing and embarrassingly loud at this point. 
 

“You,” Cole starts, his voice low and raspy as he caresses the side of my arm with the tips of his cold fingers, making me shiver. “Look too beautiful to clean this up.” I nod slowly, agreeing to anything he says, anybody would at this point. “So perfect,” he whispers dipping his head and placing a soft nibbled kiss between my neck and my shoulder. My head tilts on its own accord to give him easy access. “The hottest mom on the planet,” he continues in a husky voice, trailing the tip of his nose along my neck and jaw. Suddenly his head snaps up and he looks into my eyes; his eyes wild and full of need. “I want to take you back to our bed so bad right now,” he says hoarsely, taking my hand in his and placing it over the front of his shorts. “So. Bad.”
 

He holds my hand there and ducks back in to place his lips on my jaw, raining soft kisses along it up to my ear. His heavy breathing prominent over it, before his tongue flicks over my earlobe. “I want to taste you so bad right now,” he whispers in my ear as he nibbles on the lobe. My eyes flutter closed and I bite down on my lip with a groan. “You should go shower,” I say breathily. 
 

“You should shower me,” he retorts as his mouth continues to work on my ear, my neck, and over my throat.
 

“You should go right now,” I respond, my voice full of longing.
 

“You should take me,” he rasps. 
 

“I should,” I breathe. 
 

“You should,” he confirms as he hikes up my sundress and runs his hand along the inside of my
thigh.
 

“Daddy!” Carley calls out behind us, making us both groan loudly. 
 

“Yes, sweetheart?” Cole asks into my neck, his voice muffled.
 

“Miles took dolly outside!” Carley whines.
 

“Oh fuck, Miles. I completely forgot about that dog,” Cole mutters. 
 

He lifts his head and fixes my dress, looking at me intently. “I still need a bath,” he says, his lip forming a slight smile. “A good one. A really detailed wash,” he continues, sealing my impending response with a kiss. He turns around and jogs outside, shutting the kitchen door behind him as I watch. 
 

I’m still watching the door, my mouth hanging open when it opens back up and Cole reappears. “And don’t clean up! Go to the store with Carley and buy more cupcakes. I’ll pick up the mess the dog from hell caused.”
 

I laugh at his accurate description of our rescue Boxer, Miles. He’s really the most adorable dog, but he is absolutely insane. The kids love him to death, though. Especially Logan. The thought of Logan jars me out of my thoughts and I begin to scramble around the house, picking up the scattered puzzle pieces and tossing them in the nearest toy bin.
 

“Carley, did you pick up your dolls?” I ask when I find her playing with some in the living room. 
 

“Yes,” she mopes. “Miles has dolly.”
 

I look at her, cupping her thin little chin and tilting it up to me. Her big gray eyes are sad when they look into mine and I offer her a reassuring smile. “It’s okay, daddy will get her back. You wanna go with mommy to the store?”
 

She instantly perks up and bobs her head. “Yes!”
 

Once I load Carley into her car seat, I take out my phone and dial Aubry’s number to check on their status. My nerves begin to kick in at the thought of them bringing Logan over too soon and him seeing the mess of the house.
 

“Hello?” Riley answers, his breathing loud and audible.
 

Shortly after Cole and I got married, Aubry and Aimee followed suite and took the plunge. They decided to wait on having children for a while, until one night when they saw a news report about a poorly kept orphanage, and they decided to adopt. They first met Riley when he was just shy of a year old, but didn’t get custody of him until he was two. We were all for it and supported them throughout the long process. Since adoption is what I concentrate on the most these days, they asked me to take charge of all of their legal work. Aimee works alongside Mark in his law firm as a criminal attorney, and works long hours so she couldn’t concentrate on the case as much as she would have liked. Between the law suit that the orphanage was facing, and everything surrounding the adoptions taking place, it took them over a year to take Riley home. But once he got there, it was as if he’d always been part of the family. He and Logan are in the same classroom, the same
little league teams, and like the same things so they’re basically attached at the hip. 
 

“Hey, Ry, what are you guys up to?” I ask as I settle into the drivers seat and switch the air on. It’s a hot day in May, which is a change from the cold front we had last week. 
 

“Hey Aunt Blake, we’re playing basketball with dad. Can we go to the party already? Is the bounce house there?” Riley asks excitedly. 
 

“No, Ry. Let me talk to your dad, please,” I reply. 
 

“Mommy! Goldfish!” Carley whines from the back seat, pointing at the small carton of Goldfish I ave sitting in the cup holder.
 

I sigh and place my cellphone on speaker, opening the carton and handing it to her.
 

“Thank you, Mommy,” she says sweetly once she has it on her lap.
 

“You’re welcome, sweetie. Be careful!” I say, internally pleading that she doesn’t make a mess in my just cleaned car.
 

“Hey,” Aubry says suddenly, his voice filling the car.
 

“Uncle Auby!” Carley shouts from the backseat.
 

“Hey, sugar!” he coos. “How’s my favorite Ninja Turtle doing?”
 

“Good,” she giggles. 
 

“Are you going to jump in the bounce house with me?” he asks sweetly.
 

“Hmmhmm!” she replies through a mouth full of Goldfish.
 

“Cool! See you later!” he says. “What’s up, Cowboy?”
 

I take a deep breath before letting it out slowly as I look at the front of my two story, white colonial home. I close my eyes and throw my head back onto the headrest. “Miles messed up the house. I’m on my way to get new cupcakes while Cole picks up. Everything is a mess, Aubry. A mess.”
 

He lets out a laugh. “I told you Boxers were crazy dogs! But noooobody listens to Aubry!”
 

I roll my eyes. “You’ve never had a dog, why would anybody listen to you?”
 

“Because I know people with dogs, obviously.”
 

“Whatever,” I mutter. “Give us another thirty minutes.”
 

“You want Aimee to go to the store for you? You sound stressed.”
 

“I’m fine,” I reply. “Thank you though.”
 

“You’re tired, Cowboy. You need to rest. I don’t know why you didn’t just let us take Lo to the park or the arcade or something, you know he didn’t need a party,” Aubry says sternly.
 

“I’m fine!” I respond. “I really am. And he wanted a party.”
 

Logan has been asking me for a party since the school year started. He didn’t really care to invite his entire classroom, but he did request a bounce house and for it to be Ninja Turtle themed. Who am I to turn down a four year old’s simple request? 
 

“All right, well call me when you want us to head out,” Aubry responds before hanging up.
 

I pull the car out of the driveway and maneuver my way around our neighborhood. All of the trees are blooming and leaves are green. A beautiful sight after the cold winter we had. By the time I pull up at the store and park, I notice that Carley is fast asleep. Of course she is. I squeeze my eyes shut and bang the back of my head with my headrest, cursing myself for not taking up Aubry’s request to have Aimee do this for me. My phone begins to vibrate in the console and I force myself to peel my eyes open and look at it. When I see Alex’s name lighting up, my heart spikes up a little. 
 

“Hello?” I respond as calmly as I can.
 

“Hey, do you need any help with anything?” he asks, his voice gruff and unsure. 
 

I gulp down a breath. “I... are you busy right now?” I ask quietly, cringing slightly while doing so even though I know I’m ready for this. 
 

“No, do you need something? Is everything okay?” he stammers.