Children of Fire (Complete)

epilogue

Five years later...

Emerson

"Caroline! Leave your big brother alone and get your tail in here right now! We're going to be late!" I shouted through the house in annoyance. I didn't realize that having children meant you would be perpetually late to everything ever. Forever. The sound of bare feet pitter pattering against the hardwood floor neared my bedroom and my daughter came bounding into the room, Cheeto dust smeared across her face and on her hands. "Caroline! How did you even manage to get into the Cheetos?! Don't touch your dress, for the love of God please don't touch your dress!"

"Mama I don't like wearing this dress it's itchy!" My three year old complained, holding her arms out at her side.

"I know, baby, but Aunt Kya's big day is today and she wanted you to dress like a princess!" I said, grabbing a damp washcloth and wiping her hands and face. Ugh, I never knew kids could be so messy. It was like they were permanently sticky or something.

"I don't wanna be a flower girl I want to be the ring boy like brother!" She wailed, crocodile tears in her eyes. This child was more dramatic than I ever hoped to be.

"Sweetheart, you've got the most important job! You have to walk before Aunt Kya and make it pretty for her!" I said. I had gotten so much better at lying to my children about trivial things-- it was almost like it came naturally for me.

"Okay, okay. Fine." Caroline grumbled, crossing her arms and plopping down on the floor in front of me so I could put on her shoes. She helped me and we had finally buckled them, before I could even tell her to stay out of the dirt, she had run off down the hallway and made a beeline for the backyard.

"Don't you dare get that dress dirty, young lady, or you won't be able to get any snacks for a whole week!" I shouted, trying my best to sound angry.

"Daddy always gives me what I want!" She shouted back gleefully. She was right. Gideon was a sucker when it came to our youngest, she had him wrapped so tightly around his finger that sometimes I feared he would do something stupid when it came to our daughter. But, I felt the same way about our oldest, my son. Speaking of which, Gideon had just walked into the living room with our son trailing behind him. He was the spitting image of his father, and I melted on the inside every time I saw the two of them together.

Gideon had been nothing short of an amazing father since our son was born, it was like he had been born to be a father. He had never missed a milestone in our sons life, and he made sure that he was home every night to tuck our children into bed, and if he had to miss, he always FaceTime'd us so that he could read them a story. I had really gotten lucky when I married him, because he was perfect.

"Are you girls ready?" Gideon asked, straightening his tie. He looked just as handsome as ever, but something about seeing him in a suit had me debating on whether or not we were ready for a third child. I definitely wasn't interested in another child... but that didn't mean we couldn't practice, right? "Emerson, control yourself. I see that look in your eyes, we're already coming late. Don't worry, I promise to fulfill all your needs and then some when we're home tonight." He said, winking at me and sporting that devilish smile of his that I fell in love with every single day.

"Ew, you guys are gross." Our son said, sticking out his tongue and screwing up his face.

"If it weren't for us being gross you wouldn't be here right now, Killian." I told him, bending down to kiss his cheek. He rolled his eyes and wiped off my kiss, making a beeline for my car and buckling himself in the backseat. "Help your sister in the car, son!" I shouted, grabbing my purse and Gideon's hand, intwining our fingers together.