Soft (Kleinsen)

Epilogue

"Katie!" Exclaimed Evan with a shocked expression. He looked down at the girl who was drawing on the kitchen counter with a red marker. "What did I say about writing numbers on the table?"

The ten year old girl looked up at her dad with a pout. "They're not numbers, they're equations. And you didn't say anything. Father did."

"Katie," muttured Jared, who had stepped inside the kitchen, adjusting his tie. "Listen to your dad. Don't write on the counter."

The girl sighed and crossed her arms. "Whatever. Aunt Alana said it's fine because it means I'm smart."

Evan chuckled softly and ruffled the girls blonde locks. "You are very smart, but Alana is not your dad, I am." He gave Katie her purple bag and offered her a smile. "Now come on, you don't want to be late for school."

"Fine," she whined as she took the bag and hung the straps on her small shoulders. "But can you guys stay inside? You're super embarrassing."

Jared gasped dramatically and wrapped an arm around his husband's torso. "Katie, we're your parents. That's kind of our job," he shrugged nonchalantly.

The taller man giggled quietly. "Ignore him," he flicked his hand towards Jared. "We'll watch you from inside, don't worry."

Katie smiled and hugged her fathers. "Thank you so much!" The girl was grateful they'd comply so easily. She had become more and more embarrassed when her parents waited outside for her and would kiss her in front of her peers.

After a while, Katie made her way outside, giving her dads a kiss and a goodbye beforehand. She would glance back at the window every now and then to find Jared and Evan watching her. When the bus arrived, she didn't hesitate to quickly get on.

"So," mumbled Jared, closing the curtain and looking back at Evan. "We're alone."

The blonde simply rolled his eyes. "So," he mimicked. "You have to go to work." He placed his hand on the other's chest, gently pushing him away.

Jared groaned as he ran a hand through his hair. "You never want to do anything fun," he whined. He was acting like a child and he knew it. But Evan secretly loved it.

"Look," Evan took his husband's hands and squeezed them. "How about we go on a date tonight?"

"Fine, sure whatever," shrugged Jared and looked away with a grin.

Evan chuckled and shook his head. "Oh blueberry, you're impossible sometimes."

Jared scrunched up his nose and left from Evan's grip. "I told you not to call me that," he muttured as he took the keys that were left on the counter. "It's embarrassing."

"Babe, it's adorable," he remarked with a small smirk. Over the years, Evan had seemed to gained more confidence. Enough to be able to tease Jared.

The shorter man rolled his eyes and gave his husband a quick peck on the lips. "I'll see you later, acorn!" And just like that, Jared had left to work.

Evan didn't have a job, he simply stayed at home and cleaned, cooked and would have a lot of time to himself. He walked down the hall to the living room. The walls were covered with pictures.

Graduation. Treehouse. Wedding. Vacations. Katie. Just looking at them made hm tear up. The men had gone from being total strangers to a married couple with a daughter.

He lifted an arm and wiped the tear that rolled down his cheek. "Shit," he chuckled to himself. He was interrupted by the ringing of a phone. "Hello?" He answered.

"Ev, hey," said the voice of a female. "It's mommy. I just wanted to let you know that me and Mr. Heere are going to be out of town for a week so I won't be able to help you with groceries, alright?"

Mr. Heere was Heidi's current boyfriend. And the first one who had really committed to staying with her. "Alright," he spoke softly. "Have fun."

Heidi thanked him and hung up, leaving Evan alone again. He placed it back down and yawned. First, he'd get some more rest before doing anything else.

••••••

Once Jared and Katie arrived, the house was polished and the food was done. "How was school?" He asked his daughter.

"Amazing!" She exclaimed with a smile on her face. "I got the highest score on the quiz," she bragged.

"Wow," Evan gave her a hug. "That's awesome. I'm so proud." He pulled back and looked at her. "I'm so lucky to have a daughter like you," he cooed.

Katie giggled and opened her bag. She took out her papers and began to do the work she had been assigned.

"Hey," Sighed Jared, giving Evan a kiss. "My eyes are killing me," he groaned as he took off his glasses. "It hurts to be in front of a computer screen all day!"

Evan ruffled the male's hair. "Eye drops," he said, pointing to a cabinet where they placed the medicine. "Oh and by the way, Dustin and Zoe are coming soon to babysit Katie," he informed him.

Jared looked at Evan with mischievous eyes. "Perfect! It's been so long since I've had any alone time with you. I have an amazing idea on where we'll go."

"You have really bad ideas, father," interrupted Katie. Jared gasped, offended by her response. "Remember that time you had the idea to burn my doll's head on the body and instead you burned the whole doll?"

Jared frowned and crossed his arms. "It wasn't my fault," he defended. "I searched it up on Google and that's what came up."

Evan and Katie looked at each other a laughed. Jared seemed to have an obsession with blaming things on Google.

After a good twenty minutes, a knock was heard from the door. The brunette approached the door and opened it, only to be met by two figures. "Hey Dustin! Zoe!"

Katie perked up at the name of Zoe. She immediately jumped out of her seat and hugged the woman. "Guitar?" She asked excitingly.

Zoe showed her the guitar case she had strapped around her neck. "Yep." She looked back at Evan and Jared. "You guys have fun. We'll take care of this cutie!"

"Thanks, Zoe," Evan gave her a warm smile. He reached out for Jared's hand and squeezed it. "Shall we go?'

Jared nodded and lead him out the door and into the same old rusty red truck from years ago. "You're going to be so impressed. You're going to want to marry me again."

Evan giggled. "I'll have to be the judge of that," he shrugged. The blonde leaned over and connected his lips with his lover. He intertwined his hands with the other's.

Jared grinned and continued the kiss. He was able to slip his tongue in for a while before needing to pull away for air. "God," he scoffed with a goofy smile. "You're so soft."

~~~

What up, thots!
I'm so sorry, it's two in the morning, forgive me-
It's me, again, this is super late.
As always, I have no excuse except laziness.

Anyways, this is the end. I know, so sad. I hope you enjoyed reading this book just as much I enjoyed writing it in the last two years!

- I was thinking of killing off one of them but decided against it because I've read way too many epilogues with the death of a lover. And i want them to be happy. (I'm such a romance sucker, I know.)

I am going to be writing a new book, most likely when school starts. (September) I just need to figure out if I want a fanfiction or something original. So yeah..

Anyways, for the last time..

My name is Eli and I appreciate your existence! <3