❛𝐃𝐎𝐍'𝐓 𝐁𝐄 𝐒𝐂𝐀𝐑𝐄𝐃, 𝐈'𝐌 𝐉𝐔𝐒𝐓 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐖𝐈𝐅𝐄...❜ | 𝐍𝐨.𝟑

Chapter 1- And The Beat Goes On...

Lauren's POV:
They all look so peaceful - laid there, clasped tightly together beneath the warm, snug duvet sheets.

I find it hard to care that i was meant to wake them up a long half an hour ago; I'd be quite the damn fool to ruin the beautiful sight before me, like poking a hungry bear from its still position.

Max and Aloura are cuddled up in Emma's strong, protective arms after a very long disturbed night from Alora's 1st birthday, which went down with a joyous celebration.

After IVF failing for us three times over, you can hardly blame us for wanting to make it into a big celebration.

Subsequent to me taking several thousand pictures of them that I know for a fact will be printed, framed, and hung up on every wall of this house, with great reluctance, I gently shake the sleeping trio awake, catching their attention, "Hey my beautiful family. It's time to wake up."

"Mm, mum, it's bedtime..." Max grumbles, mumbling some incoherent words into his other mother's chest.

"No Maxy, it's morning. But I don't think mummy and Aloura know that. Wanna help me finish off the rest of the cake for breakfast?" I ask, whispering into his ear, and I notice a small curve on his lips begin to outline with happiness.

Listen, I know cake for breakfast isn't exactly what one would call responsible parenting, but when the whole day is about your sister you want to get at least something out of it, even if it's dry, day-old cake.

"Yeah!" he yells with excitement, jumping out of bed and somehow managing to not disrupt his sleeping relatives.

"Alright kid, but we can't tell mummy cuz she'll tell me off." I whisper before we head downstairs hand-in-hand, letting go as I retrive the cake while Max sits down at the dining table.

❀❀❀

I grab two forks and we dig into the disintegrated cake that was once whole, but was ruined by my 12 month old daughters feisty hands digging into the delicacy.

"Did you have fun yesterday?"

"I guess...although cake for breakfast was definitely worth it." he says as he happily stabs his fork in the middle, a delicious scoop of coconut and white chocolate on the end of his utensil ready to be popped into his mouth.

"I know things around here have been pretty hectic since your baby sister came along, but things will get back to normal. I promise."

"It's okay, mum. I like it when the focus is off me. That means I can steal peanut butter cups when you and mummy aren't looking." I glance up slowly from my once occupied eyes on the cake in front of me, looking at my son in a suspicious way that makes him giggle. "I see...so you like having a little sister, huh?"

A happily sly voice speaks out to us as we munch on the celebratory food, our attention turned to it. "I should hope so, took us long enough to get her." I notice my beautiful fiancée trailing down the spiral staircase, attired in a baggy Los Angeles t-shirt, grey shorts underneath with Aloura in her arms. "Morning you two. We thought we'd get a head start on cleaning this cake base." my future wife grins, knowing there's a deeper meaning to my sentence.

"Mm, without us? What a coincidence..." Emma leans down and pecks my temple, her soft lips greeting me with a morning kiss, and topping off her arrival by handing me my happy daughter who looks up at me with a huge, cheesy grin, lips dummy-clad, and her nappy peeking out of her pyjama bottoms as she squats on my knees. "Hey there, little miss. Did you and mummy sleep well?"

She impressively climbs her way up my body, as if she knows her destination, her little arms clasping around my neck tightly to secure her comfort. I press a soft kiss to her nose, and I'm met with yet another cute smile.

I love this little girl with all my heart...

"Alright young man, if I don't get some real breakfast in you, you'll have your head in the toilet by 10am." Max frowns as Emma discards of the rest of the cake, placing it in the fridge for later. I can't lie, it was close to inedible, but kids will eat anything. She begins retrieving some bread from the tin, eager to get the day started and breakfast in us all.

"We still on for Cornwall?"

"Yep. Aloura is finally gonna meet her Cornish family." the trip to Cornwall has been scheduled for a while, constantly put off due to work and car issues. Emma can't wait for our baby to meet her family, and neither can I.

Especially given that my side of the family don't have much to offer...except maybe bits and pieces. Even only just two years later, those men think they can reform what was once our family. But it wasn't. Hate, criminality and violence isn't what 'family' is. Having children taught me that.

As I head the tap dripping away in the kitchen after being turned on to get Max his juice, I notice Emma gazing into the unsure distance, out onto the driveway our home has edged in. "Daydreaming again?" Emma shuts the faucet off and heads out the back door, me following closely behind. "What's the problem?"

She kneels down, just behind the shadow our parked car makes, fingers dusting over the outline of a sick figure carved in purple chalk on the stone ground. "Oh...cute. It was probably one of the neighbours kids. No matter, it's forecast to rain tonight so it'll wash off quickly." I notice a deep knot in Emma's face, one carved in with several ounces of brutal unsureness. "We're the only people who have kids in this suburb..."

Shortly after, Max joins us outside after feeling lonely in the house by himself, and wonders what we're doing. "Hey Maxy, did you draw this?" he walks over, taking a closer look before shaking his head defiantly, not seeming to recognise the drawing. "No, mummy. I don't even have any chalk." seeming to agree with Max's answer, Emma nods in cautious but sure agreement. "Mmm..."

"Hey, stop worrying about that. You better see to the toast before it burns, I'm a hungry woman and you have two hungry babies to feed." a furrow in Emma's brow shows that her curiosity isn't settled at all. The detective in her peaks out, and I love it. Ever since building her own crime company, she's been solving every minor mystery she's faced with.

Whether it's who stole her peanut butter cups, who moved her work documents, or who took her work badge when she wasn't looking. I'll give you a hint: it's either one or both of our sneaky little children.

"I know you have some sort of reluctancy in that large brain of yours that needs an answer for every possible query in the world, but not all questions have appropriate answers."

"You're wrong." with a simple shrug of the shoulders, not looking to care, I return to the house, Emma following closely behind. Even though she leaves the figure of mystery still perched on the driveway, I can still sense her thoughts whirling around her skull, with the urgent, unsatisfying need to be solved...

🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
Hey everyone, nice to have you back :)

Don't worry: this book, much like the others, will be very BDSM-related. I promise, it's not all sunshine and rainbows ;)

This first chapter is just a bit of an insight to Emma and Lauren's new life, with a bit of drama at the end...

Hope you enjoyed  ❥

-belllawrites (for the cover xx)

(P.S., please check my announcements page for what date and time this book will be updated on, thank you x).