Goodbye for now || n.h

Chapter 23

Dakota and I were in the car, driving to her parents place. We just dropped off Jamie and Taylor with Sebastian and his girlfriend and I was thankful for this weekend. It's been so long since Dakota and I did something alone.

"What are you thinking about?" She asked, reaching out to comb my hair with her fingers as I drove. "You've been quiet ever since we left the kids."

"Just thinking about what Ashleigh said about Jamie last week."

"That she thinks he's a charmer? How can that be a bad thing?" She said with a small chuckle.

"You said you'd be happy if he became a mini me. But I wouldn't be so excited about it. Remember how badly I treated my parents when I was a teenager?"

"Honey, he can't skip his teenage years. He'll become an annoying, rude teenager whether you like it or not. And Taylor is going to hit puberty, get her period and mood swings, and tell us she hates the entire family once a week."

"Can't they stay this age?" I complained as I stopped outside the familiar house.

"It's inevitable for them getting older." She told me, leaning over to kiss my cheek before crawling out of the car.

Her parents stepped out of the house when I started unloading the trunk. Dakota rushed up to them, leaving me with the luggage for the weekend. We only had one bag each, but still.

"You need help with those?"

I turned around and laid my eyes on Dakota's father Robert, who was smiling brightly towards me. He grabbed one of the bags and headed towards the house, with me following closely behind.

"There he is." My mother-in-law smiled by the front door as we approached.

I placed the bag on the ground to be able to hug her.

"You look great, Veronica, like always." I said, briefly kissing her cheek before hugging her.

"We're just gonna drop off our things and then get going." Dakota said as we went inside.

I followed her upstairs and into her old bedroom. She placed her bag on the floor and collapsed upon the bed. I mimicked her movements and lay down next to her.

"Let's just lay here for a while, okay?" She mumbled, scooting closer to rest her forehead against my chest.

"It's weird lying in this bed after so many years." I told her.

"Yeah." She agreed. "This is the very bed we slept together in for the first time."

I chuckled and pulled her closer.

"Of course you would mention it."

"It was after we went roller-skating, and you were exhausted but apparently not that exhausted."

"Stop talking."

"And it was the same night you held a freaking speech, thinking that I was asleep and you told me you loved me. Many first's happened in this bed."

"Shut up."

"Make me."

I quickly rolled her over on her back, and held myself up by my elbows. I roughly kissed her to prove my point, which was making her shut up.

"You know," She started talking upon my lips. "No matter how old we get, you can still make me feel like a giddy teenager."

"Let's pretend to be teenagers then."

Later that night we left the house with a bottle of wine. I placed my arm around her shoulders as we walked down the road.