Locked in Marriage 3: Forever After

Chapter Eleven

Colton smiled as he bowed his head and followed her into the kitchen. Ashley and Jane were still both there and were helping to cook dinner. Kayla walked around the island to the opposite side and stood next to her sister. Colton sat in the bar stool beside Jane and he groaned.

"Getting old Colton?" Jane jokingly asked patting his shoulder.

"All these women around the house makes me feel older and older," he said looking at Kayla from the corner of his eye. Ashley didn't find it amusing and hit him on the head with an oven mitt and then smiled as she stared at him. He smiled back and then stood up from the chair. "Where did you say my ring was?" He had felt naked the whole time he was in Vegas not wearing his ring. Everyday he would absentmindedly play with ring finger thinking his ring was there, but soon would realize it was not. It made him feel completely unattached from Kayla and he didn't like that feeling at all. Kayla pointed to the sitting room and Colton stood up from the bar stool to walk to the room.

He was surprised that Kayla had left it there the whole time and walked into the sitting room and looked at the mirror across the room. He laughed to himself and walked right up to the mirror to see how it had stayed there the whole time. It had literally stuck in the back of the mirror and was hanging on by its self. He pulled out his phone and took a picture of it.

"What are you doing?" Kayla asked as she walked up beside him.

"Taking a picture, not everyday you see a wedding ring stuck in a mirror," he said smiling as he took a couple of pictures. She smiled and watched as he posted it to Instagram. They could hear all four of their children jump from where they were sitting and begin running towards the nearest staircase. All of them used a different staircase to get to the sitting room, but when they all arrived they jumped into their father's arms and hugged him tightly. Colton drank it up; it wasn't everyday that your children actually wanted to hug you. Kayla stood back and absentmindedly began playing with the necklace she was wearing; the one Colton had given to her on their 15th wedding anniversary. She quickly dropped it as their children let go of Colton.

"I'm so glad your back daddy," Katie said letting go of her father last. Ryder and Mikey both slapped their dad on the back and smiled happily. Charlotte walked to her mother and hugged her tightly. Kayla was taken aback at first and then hugged her tightly.

"I'm sorry," she said quietly.

"It's okay baby," Kayla said as she caressed her daughter's head lovingly.

"Do you think you can pull that out of the wall dad?" Ryder asked jokingly.

"Let's try it out," Colton said shrugging his shoulder. Ryder pulled out his phone and put it on video. Colton grabbed the ring and pulled it lightly to see if it was really stuck. It was. He put his right index finger in the ring and put his left hand on the wall. He pulled and at first it didn't come out, but he moved it around a little and then pulled again and pulled it right out of the wall. Everyone cheered and he and Mikey high-fived.

"Dinner is ready," Ashley said as she poked her head into the sitting room. Everyone looked around and began walking to the kitchen to grab their food. Colton stayed behind and looked down at his ring. He wondered if he should put it back on or if he should get rid of it now that it looked like his marriage wasn't going to make it.

"You should put it back on. Charlotte was pretty upset, obviously, about you not wearing it. And now since you are back in the house you should probably wear it so we can keep up some sort of façade," Kayla said watching Colton intently.

"Yeah I guess so," Colton said as he slipped the cold ring back onto his finger. He felt whole again as it sat perfectly on his finger and he let out a long sigh afterwards. Kayla smiled at him and they walked into the kitchen to join the rest of the family.

The dinner went much smoother than Kayla had thought it would. All of their kids talked to Colton and told him about their week. Everyone was laughing over Mikey's face plant in the cafeteria in front of everyone and Ryder's embarrassing mishap while playing lacrosse. Colton told them hilarious stories of people he had caught on camera at the hotels and the casinos. The family sat in their seats sipping their wine and glasses of water as he continued to tell entertaining stories. The kids finally got up and went back to their bedrooms and Jane and Ashley both left the house and left Colton and Kayla to put away the rest of the food.

"How has it been here?" Colton finally asked as he put the potatoes into a bowl.

"Like normal, I guess," Kayla answered grabbing the bowl from his hand and putting the lid on it and putting it in the fridge. "Don't forget we have my parent's 50th wedding anniversary party tomorrow night." Colton rolled his eyes; he did not want to go.

"I don't have to go right? I mean seriously it's just going to be a bunch of your parent's friends asking questions about us and I don't want to listen to them nag us all of the time," Colton complained.

"I know you don't want to go but come on 50 years of marriage that is a huge accomplishment. We have to go to the party and it would look bad if just me and the kids went and you sat here moping around," Kayla explained turning around to stare at him as he sat on one of the bar stools.

"You know 20 years is a pretty good accomplishment too," Colton said looking up at Kayla smirking. She smiled too and looked down at the counter before looking back up at Colton. He had on that little smirk that irritated her, but also made her fall in love with him more.

"It is a pretty amazing accomplishment for us," she said agreeing with him as she walked around the counter and sat down next to him.

"Well we do have a few good accomplishments in this marriage," Colton said smiling. Kayla smiled as well and rubbed her hand through Colton's hair. She stood up and kissed the top of his forehead and walked up to their bedroom. Colton followed her up the stairs and said good night to his kids before walking into his bedroom. Kayla was standing in the closet looking at the dress choices for the party.

"I think you should wear the purple one," Colton said walking in behind her and leaning on the doorframe. "It will match the purple in the necklace you still wear." Kayla grabbed the necklace hanging around her neck instinctively and looked at Colton over her shoulder.

"I agree." She grabbed the purple dress and hung up on the outside of the mirrored door and put the other two back into her closet. Colton walked further into the room and put his shaky hands on her shoulders. She stood quite still and looked at them in the mirror.

"Remember the first time we stood like this in front of the mirror, one of the first nights we lived in that small beach house in Malibu you had. It seems we have gotten a little bit older," Kayla said falling into Colton's body. He smiled behind her and turned her around so she was looking right at him. He grabbed her face with his hands and stared at her.

"I want to make this work," he said seriously.

"Me too."

"No, really, therapy, vacation, whatever you want, a lie detector test, I'll do it. I just want us to be happy again. I want to be able to kiss you and feel like you actually enjoy it instead of just obligation. I want to be us again, where we fight but make up and the next day it's like nothing ever happened." Kayla had pushed him away and backed away from him. She turned her back and put her head in her hands. He felt defeated; he had tried everything to make this work and now he was ready to throw in the towel. He bowed his head and sighed and leaned up against the dresser in the middle of the closet. She turned back at him and stared at him. He looked so tired, so crushed. She hated seeing him like that. She walked towards him and wrapped her arms around his torso and he began to stand up. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her in close.

"Me too, babe, me too," she whispered as she rested her head on his chest and listened to his heartbeat. Colton smiled and squeezed her tight.

"I'm never letting you go again," he whispered back to her as they stood in the closet embracing.