The Garden

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America's POV

I was sitting in the garden, on the bench I first met Maxon.
I was watching the twins run around the garden chasing each other
I laugh and shake my head.
"They are so cute." I say to myself.
I always wanted the twins to grow up in the palace. Running in the gardens and the various hallways.
They come running back to me.
Ahren climbs onto the bench I am sitting on and sits in my lap, laughing.
"Did you have fun playing with your sister?" I ask him.
He shakes his head
"We played hide and seek!" Eadlyn shouts.
I laugh at her enthusiasm.
"I won!" Ahren adds.
"That is great Ahren."
I look up and see Maxon walking on a path in the garden seeming troubled.
"Do you guys want to do something fun?" I ask them
"Yes!" They both say.
"Okay follow me."
We follow Maxon but make sure he doesn't see us.
He stops to think.
"This is our shot." I whisper to them.
They jump out from behind the bushes to try and scare Maxon.
"Boo!" They both yell in there toddler voices.
Maxon jumped and turned around and started laughing.
I start to laugh, still trying to hide behind the bushes.
Maxon picks up both the twins and starts to spin around.
Eadlyn and Ahren begin to scream and giggle smiling the whole time.
Maxon stops spinning around.
"You know I see you America." He says, still smiling.
I come out from behind the bushes.
My heart clenches when I see Maxon with the twins.
He picked up both of them and has each one supported on his hip with one arm wrapped around each of them.
I'm surprised at how comfortable the twins are around Maxon.
Usually when they meet someone new it takes them a while to warm up to the new person.
But they where smiling and laughing even though they only met Maxon last night at the party.
Ahren reaches over to me and I take him out of Maxon's arms.
"Sorry, he is kind of a mamas boy." I say still trying to contain my laughter.
"It okay, his mom is kind of amazing."
I put Ahren down and Maxon does the same for Eadlyn.
"Go play." I tell them.
They nod and run off while I continue to walk with Maxon.
I still didn't know what to believe. He told me he wanted to choose me. But a couple hours later I overhear him telling Kriss he didn't care about me and almost forgot about me.
Maxon walks me over to our bench.
I laugh and he gestures for me to sit down.
I sit and then he takes a seat right next to me.
"I often come here to think." Maxon says.
"Oh really. Why?"
"I don't know really. But something about being here just clears my mind and helps me concentrate on what is important."
"That's nice." I say.
There is some awkward presence between us that I'm not use to.
"Is Kriss still upset?" I ask.
"I think so. She hasn't really talked to me."
"Oh, sorry."
"It's fine."
"When should we tell Eadlyn and Ahren you know... that... I'm there... dad? He whispers.
"Honestly I haven't really thought about it. I want to tell them soon. But I don't want them to get attached to you just in case we have to leave and they never see you."
"Yah I know what you mean. But I want them to know so I don't seem like a stranger to them."
"They really like you Maxon. I can tell."
"How, I have only talked to them twice."
"Yah but they never warm up to someone as quickly as the did you. They would never let anyone pick them up like you did."
He smiles.
"Do you really think they like me." He ask overjoyed.
"Yes!" I say laughing.
"That's... wonderful!"
I continue to laugh at how happy he was.
We stay silent for a while. Watching our kids play.
"America..." he opened his mouth like he was going to say something but closed it like he changed his mind. "... I'm really glad you're here."

Maxon's POV
I was walking in the garden thinking about how I can tell America I still have feelings for her, when two little voices screamed "Boo!" I jumped and turned around. I picked both of them up and started to spin them around. The were screaming and laughing. I stoped shining and saw a flash of red hair behind the bushes.
"You know I see you America." I laugh at her attempt to hide. She comes out and my smile grows bigger, she is just so beautiful. Ahren starts to reach for America. I hand him over.
"Sorry," she says. "He is kind of a mamas boy."
"It's okay, his mom is kind of amazing."
America puts Ahren down, so I do the same to Eadlyn.
America bends down and whispers to them, "Go play." The twins ran off and I realized this was my chance to tell America how I feel. We continued to walk until we reached our bench. I gestured for her to sit. After she took a seat I sat right next to her.
"I often come here to think." I say. I was trying to find a way to bring up my feelings for America but I didn't know how to do that.
"Oh really. Why?"
"I don't know really. But something about being here just clears my mind and helps me concentrate on what's important."
I didn't want to tell her that I came here to think of her.
"That's nice."
"Is Kriss still upset?"
I haven't seen Kriss since I told her about the twins. I doubt she forgave me, and I don't think she ever will.
"I think so. She hasn't really talked to me."
"Oh," she says sounding sad. "Sorry."
"It's fine."
"When should we tell Eadlyn and Ahren you know... that... I'm there...dad." I really wanted the twins to know the truth. I didn't like lying to them.
"Honestly I haven't really thought about it. I want to tell them soon. But I don't want them to get attached to you just in case we have to leave and they never see you." America says.
I saw America's point, but I wanted the twins to know the truth. That way we can start to get to know each other. I still knew so little about them. And I doubt they know everything about me.
"Yah I know what you mean. But I want them to know so I don't seem like a stranger to them."
"They really like you Maxon. I can tell." When America said that I instantly became ecstatic. But I started to doubt that.
"How, I have only talked to them twice."
"Yah but they never warm up to someone as quickly as the did you. They would never let anyone pick them up like you did."
I smiled did Eadlyn and Ahren really like me.
"Do you really think they like me." I ask overjoyed. I couldn't believe it they liked me, they really liked me
"Yes!" America says laughing.
"That's.... wonderful! I say
America continues to laugh at me.
There is a long pause of silence and I realize this was my chance to tell America how I felt.
"America..." I said. I start to panic. She was looking me in the eye and I could not get the words out.
"... I'm really glad your here."
I cursed myself for being such an idiot. This might have been my only chance.
America smiled "I'm glad I'm here too." She says.
We watch Eadlyn and Ahren play. They were playing tag and Eadlyn was chasing Ahren. I smiled.
But then Ahren tripped on a rock and fell on the ground and started crying.
America got of the bench and ran to Ahren. I got up and went over to them.
America picked Ahren up and rubbed his back trying to calm him.
"I probably need to go." America says. Ahren had stopped crying but was still upset. America walks out of the garden and back to her room.
Great. I just lost my chance.

Authers Note
I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I will try to post more this week🤞🤞 I plan to post a really important chapter on August 23(Maxon's Birthday). BTW I'm trying to have a schedule for posting new chapters but it is not working so I will just post at random times. Also please comment if you have any suggestions.
Thank you for reading.
-Alison 🤓✌️🤘✌️

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