𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐄𝐱-𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐭 (𝟏𝟖+) 𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐏𝐋𝐄𝐓𝐄𝐃 ✓

Chapter 17

"Hey Cody, I'm going to take the kids home. Who knows how long we'll have to wait," I tell him. Christopher is already asleep and the other three are already nodding off to dreamland.

"Yeah, good idea. I'll keep you posted," he answers as Cleo nods her head in agreement.

"Perfect. Hey kiddos, say bye to mom and dad, we're going home for now. We'll be back tomorrow," I say as I rouse them with a gentle shake on their shoulders. They all hug Cleo and kiss goodbye before standing at the door waiting for me.

"You'll do great Cleo," I say hugging her.

"Thanks, Char. I'll see you all in the morning and hopefully she's out by then," she replies with a weak smile. I give my brother a quick hug, pick up Christopher into my arms and usher the kids out of the room back to the elevators. Wren and Benjamin fight over who will press the button first but instead the doors open and we come face-to-face with Jax.

"What happened?" he questions as we all step into the elevator.

"Change of plans. We're taking them home to sleep and then we'll probably come back in the morning," I explain. I shift Christopher up my shoulder but Jax instead reaches over plucking him out of my arms and resting him in his.

"I'll hold on to him. You can hold onto the other three," he tells me in a low voice. I give him a small smile at his thoughtfulness as we leave the hospital making our way to the parking lot. I unlock the doors and he helps me with putting all four sleepy kids in the car. I get into the driver's seat and we're soon driving out of the hospital compound.

"What happened to your car?" he questions.

"I left it at the cafe. I couldn't just leave the kids on their own and my car is too small to fit all of them," I answer as I stop at the red light.

"Drop me at the cafe and I'll drive your car to the house," he tells me.

"Jax, are you even allowed to drive? Do you have a license at the moment? Is it not revoked? Do you not have to go back and get one?" I ask, my questions firing one after the other.

"I'm working on getting it back," he answers as he looks away from my piercing gaze.

"Then there is no way I'm letting you drive. Wren doesn't need you going back to jail. Plus, I don't need you going back to jail either," I say, my voice lowering at the last part. "I'll just grab it tomorrow, I can take the bus to the cafe." I see from the corner of my eye him glancing at me but I pretend not to notice. We spend the rest of the drive-in silence, the sounds of snores coming from behind me. It's not too long before I'm parking in the driveway and Jax plus myself slowly start to unload the kids from the car.

"Okay, you take Wren and Benjamin and I'll take these two. Ben can borrow one of Wren's pyjamas and I have spare toothbrushes for them in the bathroom," I tell Jax as he unlocks the door. He nods his head and leads the boys inside while I'm left with the two youngest.

"Chris, Henry, I need you to wake up. We need to get ready for bed," I say in a soft voice as I slowly shake the two of them. Both of them look at me with bleary eyes and I know I have a limited amount of time to keep them awake since I know they'll fall asleep as they get ready.

"Aunt Charlotte, I want to sleep," Henry whines.

"Let's go inside, brush our teeth, change our clothes and after that you can go to sleep," I coax them gently. I pick up Christopher and help Henry from his seat, leading the two of them into the house.

"I put Wren and Benjamin in Wren's room," Jax tells me as he comes down the stairs.

"I'll put these two in the other room and then I'll meet you back downstairs," I tell him as I take the two youngest upstairs. I spend the next ten minutes getting the two ready for bed, making sure that they don't fall asleep in the middle of brushing their teeth. I carry both of them, depositing them in the spare bedroom, placing the blanket over both of them. I give them a kiss on the forehead and walk out of the room leaving the door slightly open.