❀"After Life"- kotlc sequel❀

❀Nightmares❀

FINALLY UPDATING!!! This is a shorter chapter but it's still super sweet!! :)
sorry it took so long to update. I had a bit of writer's block, add that to school and it's nearly impossible to sneak in writing time. SOOO Sorry!!!!😭
I'll try to be quicker about writing chapters so I can post sooner and more or less every other day! - Eve//Everest

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Sophie stared at the sunset; the colors bleeding into each other like watercolor paints.

She and Keefe had retreated down to the beach just below their house after a whole day of parenting a chaotic, noisy kid. Now, finally, they had time to just relax. 

Just the two of them.

Keefe's arm was draped over her shoulder, while her mother was clasping her knee. His thumb trailed soft circles over the place just below her knee cap.

She sighed, feeling her eyelids droop.

"Are you tired?" Keefe asked quietly, softly, kissing the crown of her head.

Sophie tried to smile, but her exhaustion was too strong. Keefe could feel it.

"I want to stay right here," Sophie whispered.

"Are you sure?" Keefe asked. "You don't want to go back up to the bedroom?"

Sophie nodded against his chest.

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They stayed outside until the stars came out.

After a long while, it got too cold, and they had to go inside.

"Kayla's asleep," Biana–who'd babysat for them–told the two of them.

Sophie thanked Biana, careful to keep her voice down.

Once Biana was gone, they sat on the couch and started a movie.

Keefe had barely seen any human movies, so he had a lot of questions Sophie wasn't able to answer.

 It was almost midnight when Kayla came downstairs clinging to her blanket.

Sophie paused the movie and Keefe rushed over to his daughter, wrapping her in his arms and lifting her off the ground.

"Why are you up, sweet girl?" He asked Kayla, kissing her cheek and pulling her sweaty hair out of her eyes.

"Nightmares?" Sophie asked when Kayla didn't say anything. The two-year-old nodded, tears filling her eyes and slowly falling down her small cheeks.

Keefe carried his daughter over to the couch next to Sophie, wrapping Kayla's blanket around her.

Soon, she was asleep.

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Keefe mostly dozed in and out, but when he woke, both his wife and his daughter were sound asleep. 

He gently, carefully, lifted Kayla from her position on the couch, curled in her mother's arms. Kayla made a small sound, then fell asleep again.

Keefe carried her up the stairs and into her room, tucked her into bed. Then, he went back downstairs. 

Sophie was already awake, rubbing the sleep out of her brown eyes. Her blond hair was a tangled mess. Keefe grinned as he wandered over to his wife.

She looked up at him. "Is Kay asleep?" she asked. Keefe leaned down and kissed his wife's forehead. "Yes," he said softly. "Sound asleep. I thought you were too. Did I wake you?"

"No," Sophie said, stretching her arms and rolling her shoulders as she smiled at her husband. "Even if you did, I wouldn't be mad. It's too hard to be mad at you."