WCKD Love | A Newt Fan-Fiction

Chapter 25 - Paradise

~5 years later~

Newt's POV:

"Come here!" Katya shouts, giggling at Teresa and Sammy as they run around the camp. They ignore her, laughing as she struggles to catch up to them.

I stand up and walk over to the grassy area they're playing on. I stand in the middle of the path they're running along and wait for them to loop around and head to me. Teresa barrels forward, turning her head behind her to look for her mother, which means she can't see me. I lean forward with my arms outstretched. Teresa runs straight into them, and I whisk her into the air.

She screams and kicks her legs out, giggling all the while. Sammy was aware of his surroundings, so he kept running past me. Katya slows down and stands beside me, her hair whipping into her face. She watches Sammy as he makes another loop around the area, but he's made the same mistake Teresa did. He's focusing on behind him, trying to look for Katya.

Katya walks back the way she came, sneaking up on Sammy. He turns his head at the last minute, spotting his mother as she lunges forward and scoops him up. He laughs and wraps his little arms around her neck. Katya comes back over to me, smiling up at me.

"Crazy kids," she says, patting Sammy on the back as he starts to wind down from the adrenaline.

I nod and look at Teresa in my arms. "Crazy," I agree. Teresa beams her baby teeth up at me and tries to waggle her eyebrows. I chuckle and kiss her on the forehead. "You spend too much time with your Uncle Minho."

"Ooh, I'm telling him you said that," Katya says, a conspiratorial look plastered on her face.

"You wouldn't dare," I retort and walk over to her. She stands on her toes and kisses me. She pulls away and grins.

"Wouldn't I?"

I open my mouth to respond but am sharply cut off.

"There you guys are. I've been looking for you EVERYWHERE." Sonya walks up behind me. She spots Teresa and Sammy, and her eyes go wide. "Hey! How are my two favourite twins?" she asks, tickling Teresa under the chin.

"We're the only twins," Teresa responds, looking at Sonya as if she should know better.

Sonya nods, furrowing her brow in thought. "You're right, Tee. I should have remembered. That's so silly of me." Sonya turns her attention back to Katya and me. "Anyway, Thomas sent me to find all of you. He told me Chuck has been whinging at him for a tea party with these two rascals."

"Mummy, can we have a tea party?" Sammy says sleepily from Katya's shoulder. He's barely able to keep his eyes open.

"And can we bring Fluffles?" Teresa adds, excitement nearly exploding out of her.

Katya's eyes go wide, and she shakes her head firmly. "No, Baby. Fluffles is getting too old to go to tea parties." She reaches over and smooths Teresa's hair down. Teresa pouts only for a second before she moves on.

"Well, then he has to miss out on Uncle Fry's cookies," she says matter-of-factly, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

I adjust my grip on her, making sure she won't fall. "That's very true. But we should get going before there aren't any left for you and Sammy," I say, and look at Katya. Her brow furrows, and she tilts her head towards Sammy, asleep on her shoulder. "Oh. Well, maybe later, when your brother wakes up."

Teresa narrows her eyes at me and sticks her tongue out. My jaw drops in shock, and I look between her and Katya, making sure she saw what just happened. Katya laughs as she walks back to our hut with Sonya beside her. I follow closely behind, Teresa wiggling in my arms.

- - -

Katya and I race out of the hut, Teresa and Sammy ahead of us. They run to the hut next to ours and bang loudly on the door. In seconds, Brenda opens it and smiles at them. "Welcome. Chucky is waiting for you," she says, moving to the side to let us in." She winks at us as we walk past, and we smile back at her.

"They wanted to bring Fluffles," Katya whispers to Brenda. Brenda's eyebrows rise, and she laughs.

"Only trouble comes when these kids are with that cat," she responds, guiding us to the dining table. It's laid out with tea cups, saucers and an assortment of treats Frypan would have made.

Thomas is sitting with the kids and stands up as we enter. "Hey! Sorry for the short notice invitation. But I figured neither of you would be doing anything overly important."

Katya and I sit at one end of the table with Brenda and Thomas, the kids at the other end. Chuck is an excitable little boy with the personality to match his name. He's three years old, like the twins, but he is exactly like the young boy in the Maze. Thomas named him well.

"So..." Brenda starts, leaning her head in her hands and looking at me. "I heard about Sonya."

"What about her?"

Brenda laughs. "How she's with Gally. That would be an interesting pair. They're both very headstrong people."

Katya smiles and rests her hand on my knee. "We all knew it would happen eventually. They've been crazy about each other for years." I look down at her and grin. She's right. Sonya and Gally have been a long time coming. And I'm happy for them. Gally can be a stubborn shank, but I know he'll treat my sister well.

"Has Jorge babysat this week yet?" I ask, turning back to Brenda. Since Jorge has been such a father figure to her, she thought it was only fitting that Chuck thinks of him as his grandfather, and give the two of them time together regularly.

Brenda peers down the table at Chuck, cake covering his face. "He babysat him yesterday, and Chuck returned with his pants full of sand." Brenda smiles, taps her finger against her cheek, and sighs deeply. "They absolutely adore each other."

Katya looks at me and smiles. I grab her hand on my knee and squeeze it tightly. Brenda and Thomas look at us then at each other, grins on both of their faces. Brenda stands up and heads to the kitchen, getting everyone a cup of water.

When she returns, Teresa, Sammy, and Chuck run from the end of the table and jump into our laps. "Mummy," Teresa says, looking up at Katya with glee. "Can we come back tomorrow?"

- - -

The sun sets over the water as I walk along the cool sand. I look back towards our hut, built near the pine tree that Katya and I woke up beneath five years ago. I spot Katya walking down the hill, avoiding loose stones and holes in the dirt. She closes the distance between us and slinks her arms around my waist.

"Hello, Love," I say into her hair, wrapping my arms around her shoulders.

"Hey, Babe. Are you ready to come back? The kids are already asleep," she says, and I can hear the smile in her voice.

It's getting dark very quickly, so we have to be extra careful on our way back to the hut. The moment we shut the door behind us, we strip down to our underwear, head to the bed and lie down. The temperature is always hot in the safe haven, no doubt affected by the sun flares that happened so long ago.

I am in Paradise. These people around me are my Paradise.

Katya lays next to me, drawing circles along the scar on my chest with her finger. "How do you feel about Winston or Alby as a boy's name?" Katya asks into the inky blackness.

"Um, I don't know. I think they're both great. Why?" My brow furrows, unsure where she's going with this.

"There's something I need to tell you," she whispers.

I sit up slightly while playing with her hair. "What is it, Love?" I ask.

"Newt...I'm pregnant."