Last Love | Book 3

Epilogue

*Five years later*

(Jennifer)

I walk down the hall into Ava's room to tell her goodnight, but when I open her door she's already curled up in a ball on her bed. At first I think she's already asleep, but then I hear her sniffle. "Ava, are you still up?" She sniffles again. "Yes." Her voice cracks, like she's crying. "Are you okay?" I ask. "I'm fine." She insists. "Then can I see you?" She peaks out from underneath her blanket, revealing her pink splotchy cheeks and watery eyes. "You're crying. What's wrong?" I push her covers out of the way and sit down on the edge of her bed. "I don't wanna go to school tomorrow." She sniffles and wipes at her eyes. "Why?" I take a quick glance around her room and locate a box of tissues on the floor. I grab a few and hand them to her. "The other kids are mean to me." She wipes her eyes and blows her nose, then I take her used tissues and crumple them up into a ball in my hand. "What are they doing to you? I'll go kick all those little kids asses right now if you want. You know I will, just say the word." I manage to get her to laugh, but she shakes her head. "Well, what else can I do? I don't even know what they did yet." I say. "They say mean things to me." Anger flares up inside of me, but I push it down. I have to remain calm. There's nothing I can do about it right now. "Like what?" I ask. "They say that I'm stupid and fat." I look at my daughter, for a second completely stunned silent, a first for me. I can't imagine anyone having anything bad to say about the little girl sitting in front of me. She's amazing and brilliant. All my kids are, but Ava and I have always had a special connection. She's my baby girl. Her pain is my pain. "Okay, now I'm really gonna have to beat up all these asshole kids. I can't believe they would say that about you! Ava, you're the smartest kid I've ever seen. They're just being bitches. And why the fuck would it matter to them how much you weigh? I'm fat and your dad still loves me." She smiles, listening to me rant. "Mom, Dad doesn't like it when you say that. It makes him mad, like when you hide stuff up high from him." She says, making me laugh. "Well, you're Dad's not here to hear me anyway, is he?" She shakes her head. "Your dad thinks I'm too hard on myself, but he's just being over protective. I don't care what anyone else thinks of me, and you shouldn't either." I tell her. She nods and I pull her in for a hug. "Do you feel better?" I ask. She nods against my shoulder. "Okay, good. I didn't want to have to get arrested for beating up a bunch of little kids." She laughs, then pulls away and lays back down. "Goodnight." I kiss her forehead, then get up, still holding her used tissues.

(Josh)

I carefully open Cole and Wyatt's door, trying to be as quiet as possible in case they're asleep. The door creaks loudly anyway and Wyatt turns over in bed to see the source of the noise. "It's okay. It's just me." I take a few steps into the room and see Cole is completely out already. "I just came to say goodnight." I whisper, I turn to go, but Wyatt stops me. "Wait, dad. I wanted to ask you something." He says. "What's up?" I sit on the edge of his bed and look down at him. "I wanted to know if my friend can come over tomorrow after school. I want you to meet him." He asks. "Which friend?" He's never asked to have anyone over before. "His name's Jacob. He's in my grade at school." He explains. "So, Jacob must be really special if you want him to meet me?" I question. "Yeah. He's my bestest friend." He confirms. "I can't wait to meet him, then." I smile, seeing the way his face lights up. "Now, you need to get some sleep if you want to have the energy to spend time with Jacob tomorrow, right?" He nods and closes his eyes. "Alright, buddy. Get some sleep. I'll see you in the morning." I get up and walk over to Cole's bed. I give him a kiss on the cheek, then walk over to the doorway. "I love you both, goodnight." I whisper, but I get no response. They're both asleep. I smile to myself as I walk back out of their room and close the door.

(Jennifer)

As I walk down the hallway towards our bedroom. I find Josh leaving Cole and Wyatt's room. He turns to look at me and I see my own feelings reflected in his eyes. Without saying anything we wrap our arms around each other. "I love you." I whisper, my voice cracking as tears fill up my eyes. "I love you too." He whispers, wiping the tears away from my eyes. "They're perfect." I say, starting to smile. "I know." He agrees. "We did good." He whispers and I nod in agreement. Then I lean in and kiss him, closing the space between us completely. Sometimes when the doubt creeps in and I worry that we aren't doing a good job at being parents or that our marriage isn't it, I think about moments like this, and remember why I wanted all of this in the first place. I wanted a normal, happy family, away from all the fame and I got it. And I couldn't imagine a better person to have done it with.