Coming Home

Epilogue-Cayden

Cayden’s POV

For once, the house was silent. It was two in the morning and my wife, along with my kids, were all in bed fast asleep. I closed the front door quietly behind me before taking my coat off and hanging it in the closet. I hated wearing suits and yet it was a requirement for my job. I was just happy it was Friday and Monday was a holiday so I didn’t have to wear another one for a few days.  I slipped my shoes off as well and added them to the pile that was growing next to the staircase. I loosened my tie as I made my way up the stairs.

As I approached the top of the stairs and the first door on the right, I began my nightly routine of checking on my kids. I knew they were okay and nothing had happened to them but it always eased my mind when I checked on them on my way to bed. Opening the first door on the right, I saw Cain sprawled his bed, his growing fourteen year old body almost becoming too big for his bed. Grinning, I closed the door gently and walked straight across the hall to Asher’s room. Asher was curled up in a ball on his bed, his textbooks still scattered around his bed and the floor surrounding it. It seemed like he had fallen asleep studying. As quietly as I could, I walked inside his room and gathered all the textbooks before piling them on his desk. Shooting one more smile his way, I walked back to his door and into the hall, closing the door behind me. Walking further down the hallway I opened the next door and smiled at what I saw. My eleven year old daughter Kaysie was curled up in her window seat with a book still clutched in her hands. Quietly, I made my way to her and gently scooped her into my arms and carried her to her bed. As I gently laid her down, I placed a tender kiss on her forehead.

“Daddy?” she mumbled sleepily as her eyes drifted open.

“Shhh baby, go back to sleep,” I whispered as I tucked the blankets around her.

“Okay Daddy. I love you,” she said before rolling over to face the wall.

“I love you too,” I responded before walking back out into the hall and to the next room.

Opening the next door in my nightly routine, I saw my six year old son, Ryder, curled up at the foot of his bed. He had developed a habit of avoiding the head of his bed; instead preferring to sleep at the foot. I gave him a smile before turning off his lamp that was filling the room with a warm glow. Placing a light kiss on his forehead, I walked into the hallway and made my way to the last stop on my nightly routine. Opening the last door, I walked into the room, making my way to the crib in the corner.  Peeking over the edge , I saw my three year old son, Cameron, sprawled across the mattress of the crib. I reached in and scooped him up before carrying him to the toddler bed across the room. He usually did pretty good sleeping in the toddler bed, but we still had issues with him sometimes. I guess that night was an issues night. Placing a soft kiss on his forehead, I settled him into bed and walked out of the room and down the stairs to the room I shared with my beautiful wife.

Opening the door softly so as not to wake Kenzi up, the first thing I noticed was that the lights were on. Looking at the bed, I saw Kenzi sitting up against the pillows, watching a movie. She gave me a sleepy smile when she noticed me walking towards her. I stripped down to my boxers before climbing in next to her and wrapping my arms around her.

“Hey baby girl, you look tired. Why aren’t you sleeping?” I asked, trailing kisses along her neck.

“I’d love to sleep but the baby won’t let me. I guess Bean thinks its playtime,” she answered, rubbing her swollen stomach affectionately.

I smiled before leaning down and placing a kiss on her stomach. In response, the baby inside kicked the spot where my lips had been seconds before. I laughed as I placed my hand on the spot. The baby was due any day now and we still had no clue as to the gender. We wanted to be surprised so we decided that the only thing we wanted to know was the health of the baby. Because of this, we had been referring to the baby as ‘Bean’ since it looked like a little jellybean in the first sonogram.