Chapter 41: Prom and Forever After’s

Prom is in an hour and everything that could possibly go wrong is going wrong.

Carolina randomly got the flu three days ago.

None of us know how she got it, heck, she doesn't even know how she got it.

Kayden spontaneously fractured his arm five days ago.

I think Carolina and him bumped each other too hard, if you know what I mean.

And Charlotte is stressing out more than normal.

It's gotten to the point where she's locked herself in the dining room.

She's been acting weird for a few days now.

Whenever her phone rings, she immediately checks it. After reading the notification she either makes a lame excuse as to why she has to leave or she just gets up and leaves.

I've tried to talk to her about it but she just blocks me out.

I'm not the only one that thinks that is weird, right?

"What the hell is happening?" I yell out in frustration as Kayden walks into the kitchen I'm so confused.

How did all of this happen in such a short amount of time!

"You're asking the wrong person" he says as he reaches up and takes a cosmic brownie from my snack cabinet. He attempts to open it but ultimately fails since he only has one arm.

"Hey, that's mine!" I yell at him with annoyance but don't take it from him since he's recently been injured Whatever, I'll just start hiding my snacks.

"Aspen, have some sympathy for us crippled people" Kayden says with an eye roll Is he serious right now?

"In case you haven't noticed I have the same cast" I say as I hold up my three-week-old cast I'm so happy that I'm getting it taken off next week.

He glances over at me and sucks his lips into his mouth as he turns his attention back to the, still unopened, cosmic brownie.

"Oh" he says with a tone of realization

"Yeah, oh" I say with an eye roll I suddenly see someone moving, rather slowly, out the corner of my eye.

I turn my head in the direction of the figure only for my eyes to widen in shock when they land on a lifeless looking Carolina that's leaning against the kitchen door frame.

She looks worse than she did this morning.

She's very pale.

Her messy bun is basically a knot on the top of her head.

Her under eye bags are a grey-is color.

And she can barely stand on her own two feet.

"Carolina?" I say in shock which causes Kayden to drop his brownie and face her with wide eyes "Babe, what are you doing?" He says with a half scolding half soft tone as he makes his way towards her "I missed you" she rasps out quietly as she slowly closes her eyes

What I've noticed is that Carolina has been way clingier towards Kayden ever since she's been sick.

Kayden doesn't seem to mind though.

"I missed you too, but you need to stay in bed" he says with a sweet tone as he grabs her hands "Can you please lay with me? It's boring without you" she says with a tired tone She kind of looks like she's on the verge of falling asleep right now.

"Of course," he says with a smile before he carefully picks her up and carries her out of the kitchen Wow.

They're so random.

Prom started an hour ago.

I'm currently dressed and ready for prom but Charlotte still won't come out of the dining room.

I wouldn't be so concerned if it wasn't dead silent in there.

I knock on the dining room door for the fifth time in thirty minutes.

"Babe, can you please come out" I ask as I lean against the doorframe I suddenly hear the doorknob violently jiggle which causes me to jump back in shock. The door swings open to reveal a stressed looking Charlotte.

Her beautiful blonde hair is in a messy bun.

Her gorgeous green eyes are slightly dull but hid behind a pair of reading glasses.

Her lips are very red and swollen which tells me that she's been biting them.

Plus, she's slightly biting them right now.

"Hey, are you okay?" I ask her in a worried tone as I place a hand lovingly on her shoulder so that I could get a better look at her face She looks down at me and smiles.

"Have I ever told you how cute you are?" She says as she wraps her arms around my waist

"Charlotte" I say in a warning tone "Aspen, please," she says as the smile falls from her face "I don't want to talk about it" she says

"Fine, but when you are ready, I'll be there for you" I say which makes her smile "Is that a 'Friend’s' reference?" She questions which causes me to blush "Maybe," I say as she laughs "Go get ready your dork, we're already an hour late" I say as I gently push her away from me "Yes, your highness" she teases as she walks out of the kitchen and up the stairs I roll my eyes at her as I inwardly laugh.

She's such a goofball, but I hope she's okay.

Not too long after Charlotte got dressed in her basic tux, we arrived at our high school where we paid for our tickets and entered our school’s prom.

We walked down the main hall before reaching our main gym.

"Wow" I say as I enter the gym and see the beautiful job that the decorating committee did They replicated an 'under the sea' type of look and it's amazing.

There are blue lights all around the gym which makes it appear a dark blue shade. There are also some various shades of blue balloons all over the gym floor, walls, and ceiling.

They also put out some cardboard cutouts of buried treasure, fishes, and starfishes. Along with streamers and a disco ball.

They went overboard in a good way.

"They did a good job" Charlotte says as we make our way towards an empty table As soon as we reach the table, I go to pull out my chair only for Charlotte to beat me to it. I blush as I thank her and take a seat in the chair.

She quickly sits across from me just as our principal walks on stage.

"Hello, Sea wood High students," he greets with a professional tone "I'm here to announce that the prom queen and prom king drawing will be held soon, so make sure you vote which is being held out in the hallway" he says with an emotionless tone Charlotte and I both decided that we weren't going to vote for anyone.

Mainly because we don't know anyone on the ballot.

I see some girls and their dates stand up and briefly exit the gym before making their way towards the voting table.

"If you need a quick refreshment or snack the snack table is over there against the wall," he says as he points to the right side of the room where the large snack table is resting They put a bunch of treats over there.

Like multiple types of wafers, some packs of gummy candy, various types of Oreo cookies, buffalo wings, pepperoni and cheese pizzas, bags of chips, chocolate and vanilla cupcakes, various types of finger sandwiches, various cans of soda, and two punch bowls.

"That's all" he says before he strides off the stage with a stiff posture The DJ resumes her catchy upbeat music that makes the whole gym vibrate because of how loud the speakers are.

Many couples make their way onto the dance floor and dance as if nobody is watching.

"Do you want to dance?" Charlotte asks me with an amused expression as she notices me staring at the dance floor Shit, she caught me.

"Yeah" I say as I start to blush from embarrassment since she caught me staring We stand up and make our way towards the makeshift dance floor.

Once we reach it, we just move our bodies around and hope that it resembles dancing.

Because let’s be honest, we have no idea how to dance.

"Attention boys and girls, I'm here to announce this year’s prom king and queen" our principal says as if he's in a bad mood Charlotte and I clap from our table, as well as the whole gym.

We sat down a couple minutes ago after dancing for almost an hour.

I took off my heels because it felt like I was walking on Legos. I wasn't the only one though considering the fact that most of the girls put their shoes in the back corner of the gym.

After I took my heels off Charlotte carried me back to our table since she 'didn't trust our schools’ floors'.

I don't know what she means by that nor do I want to know.

"Sea wood High Schools prom king of twenty-twenty is," he says as he grabs an envelope from our school’s vice principal

He quickly opens the envelope and takes out the paper before unfolding it and reading it.

"Chad Anderson" our principal calls out which causes a random, dirty blonde haired, dude to stand up and do a complicated handshake with another boy I'm just going to assume that they're friends.

If I'm being honest, he looks like his parents own a popular cruise business.

He quickly walks up onto the stage and stand in the middle. Our assistant principal grabs a big crown from a table and places it on Chad's head.

"Congratulations Chad," our principal says with a sarcastic tone. I try to hold in my laughter which earns an amused look from Charlotte.

"Now, Sea wood High Schools prom queen of twenty-twenty is," he says as he looks down at the paper again "Lexi Carrington" our principal reads off I see a girl with brown highlighted hair scream out in excitement as she shakes the girl to her right.

I'm also going to assume that they're friends.

If I'm being honest, she looks like her parents overly spoil her.

She practically jogs up onto the stage and stands next to Chad.

Our assistant principal picks up the tiara from the table and gently places it on Lexi's head.

She squeals with excitement before gesturing something to her friends.

"Congratulations, Lexi," our principal says with an eye roll Wow, he's really not in a good mood.

"Have fun everyone" he says monotonously before quickly walking off stage and out of the gym "Do you know them?" I ask curiously as I turn to Charlotte

She doesn't seem like she knows them, but Charlotte is full of surprises.

She tightens her arms around my waist so that I don't fall out of her lap.

"No, but I do know that they're cousins," she informs as she stares at a random spot on the gym floor where some balloons were popped "Lexi is a cheerleader while Chad is a football player, he's a running back I think" she says "Wow, how ironic" I comment with genuine surprise

"Yep" she says as she sits up as places a kiss on my cheek "I'm starving, let's eat" I claim as I stand up from Charlotte's lap which causes her to laugh.

Charlotte and I just ate from the snack table and it was amazing.

If I could eat that for a week straight, I would.

Actually, I probably have ate that for a week straight at one point in my life.

Prom is starting to die down.

Nobody is actually dancing anymore, only dry humping.

Which is kind of uncomfortable to be around.

Some couples are making out at table.

Which is normal and expected.

Some of them already left and went to the hotel down the street.

Pretty convenient, am I right?

"Do you want to get out of here?" I ask Charlotte since I'm not in the mood to throw up all the food I just ate "Yes, please" she says.

We quickly grab our belongings before exiting the gym and walking to her car.

"You know, I was thinking" I say as we get into her car and buckle our seatbelts "Oh no, that's never good" she teases which makes me playfully roll my eyes at her "Anyway, I was thinking about our sex life" I say as she starts the car "Yeah, it's been pretty much nonexistent since this semester started" she says with a playful eye roll "Well, since it's a Friday we'll have two days and a couple hours to make up for that" I say as sensually as I can

I honestly have no idea what the hell I'm doing.

"A couple hours?" She questions the last part of my statement

"It's starting as soon as we get home" I say, more like demand, which causes her to pop up with excitement

"Fuck, I love you so much" she states

"I love you too, babe" I say as she continues to drive down the road.

Yeah, we practically fucked like rabbit for the rest of the weekend.

Actually, we were probably worse than rabbits.

I did have to take a break at one point so that I could gain my energy back.

But all in all, our relationship has been really great and it's only growing stronger.

There's only one thing I can't figure out.

How the hell did I fall in love with my best friend?

You know what, I don't care.

I'm just glad that I have her.

Epilogue 1.0

My birthday is tomorrow and I'm freaking out.

Two days ago, I was fine, I wasn't even thinking of it.

Now, I can't think of anything else.

Charlotte wanted to help me plan my party, so I let her.

Who wouldn't let their girlfriend help plan their birthday if she wanted to?

That was a bad idea.

People have been questioning Charlotte and I about the party decorations all day.

If I wasn't getting asked the same question every two minutes then maybe it would be different.

I've never wanted to punch an innocent person in the face so bad before.

Oh, in case you didn't know, I'm turning seventeen in less than twenty-four hours.

"Charlotte fucking Wilder, if you don't get your ass down here in two seconds, I'll permanently move into the guest room" I yell out from the living room

I am so angry at her right now.

These two-party workers were talking to me about how many people I wanted at my party.

The problem?

I gave Charlotte a guest list two hours ago and told her to add whoever she wanted to it. When she was done, she was supposed to give it to one of the party planners.

I hear her rush down the stairs with a panicked facial expression.

"Woah, babe, you can't make threats like that" she says as she stops in front of me "Want to bet" I say with a glare "I love you; I don't tell you that enough" she says as she pulls me into a hug and holds me tight "I love you too" I say with a nicer tone since I can't resist her hugs She lets out a breath of relief which causes me to internally laugh before remembering why I called her down her in the first place.

I push her away from me and cross my arms.

"What did you do with the guest list I gave you two hours ago?" I question her She stiffens as she brings her hand up to scratch her neck nervously.

"Define guest list" she says with a nervous tone Is she serious right now?

"Guest list, that white piece of paper that I gave to you in the kitchen at exactly two-fifty-one in the afternoon" I say in a clipped tone "Yeah, um, babe, we need to talk about that" she says with the same nervous tone "Unbelievable," I shout in a tone of annoyance

"I specially told you not to lose that because it was the only copy" I say with a scolding tone "I didn't mean to lose it; can we please just talk about this in private?" She says as she grabs a hair tie and puts her hair up in a bun Fuck, she knows how much I love that.

No, stay strong, Aspen.

"No, because I have to go make another guest list" I say as I turn away and walk towards Carolina's room "Oh, and babe," I say as I turn to quickly face her "I'm sleeping in the guest room" I say before walking into Carolina's room "Are you fucking kidding me?" Charlotte yells out as I close the door I turn towards Carolina who's watching me with an amused expression.

Kayden won't be here sadly since his parents wanted to spend more time with him.

"Aww, sit down" Carolina says and pats the bed space beside her I sigh as I walk over to her and sit down on her pillow-like bed.

I almost moan in delight as I finally get to rest my feet.

"What's wrong?" She asks as she wraps her arm around my shoulders "I'm one of the worst people ever" I say as I just blankly stare at her door "What makes you say that?" She says with a motherly tone "I just took my stress out on Charlotte and I feel awful about it" I say

"Well, do you have any idea why you might've done that?" She questions gently

"She accidentally lost the guest list I made her and I guess that just fueled my stress," I say as I lean my head on her shoulder "God, I'm such an idiot, she was under stress too but she would've never taken hers out on me" I say mainly to myself "I'm such a bad girlfriend" I say as the memory of me yelling at her replays in my head like a broken tape "No, you're not, you're just not thinking right," she says as she gently rubs my shoulder

"Go apologize to Charlotte, I'm sure she'll understand" Carolina says with a hopeful tone "Okay" I say as I stand up and make my way towards her door. I stop myself as soon as I touch her door knob and turn to face her.

"Thank you, Carolina, I really needed that" I say which makes her smile

"Anytime" she says before laying on her bed and opening a book I twist her door knob and exit her room, closing the door behind me. I make my way towards the stairs so that I can go to Charlotte and I's bedroom, where I'm hoping she is.

I quickly jog up the stairs and walk towards our room.

I knock on the closed door which earns a groan from the other side.

"Leave me alone" Charlotte groans I sigh as I grab the door knob and open the door. I walk into our room and see her pacing the room with a neutral facial expression.

"Can I apologize first?" I question which causes her head to snap in my direction with shock "Aspen?" She asks with a surprised tone "Hi" I say awkwardly as I step into our room and close the door behind myself "Can we talk?" I ask her as I nervously play with my hands She nods her head as if she's a kid being scolded by their mother.

We walk over and take a seat on her bed.

I quickly crack my knuckles to rid my nerves before turning towards my girlfriend.

Fun fact about me, I actually hate cracking my knuckles.

I only do it when I need to feel something other than nervousness.

Weird?

I know.

"Charlotte, Babe," I say as I gently grab her hand I don't want to force her to look at me.

It's her choice if she chooses to forgive me or not.

"I'm so sorry for yelling at you," I add which causes her to look at me

"I could've just taken your offer and talked to you about that in private," I continue as I start to nervously play with her fingers

"I realize how unprofessional I sounded and I'm ready to accept full responsibility for my actions" I say which makes her laugh I look up at her and notice that she's just smiling at me.

"Aspen, I forgive you, but why do you sound like you're apologizing to an adult" she says with an amused tone "I don't know" I say with a shrug off my shoulders

I climb on her lap, so that I'm straddling her, before I wrap my arms around her neck. She places her face in my neck as she wraps her arms around my waist.

"I missed this" I say as I just bask in her warm embrace

"So have I" She says just as there's a knock at the door "Charlotte, the cake decorators are here to get the cake order" Carolina says from outside of our room Charlotte groans out in annoyance as she falls back onto the bed with me on top of her.

"Just ask for a triple layered, Neapolitan cake with vanilla icing" I yell out so that she can hear me "With or without sprinkles?" Carolina questions

"With" I say before hearing her walk away from our door "I just want an hour alone with you" she says with a desperate tone "You'll get tomorrow night alone with me" I say matter of fatly with a wink "No, don't turn me on, I won't be able to stop myself" she says as she closes her eyes "Who's asking you to stop, because I'm not?" I say which causes her to open her eyes "Let’s not right now, I haven't gotten my room soundproofed yet" she says "I should get your room soundproofed for your birthday" I say which makes her smile "You mean our room" she says Fuck, I love this girl.

After seeing my party, I felt so bad about wanting to punch the decorators faces.

They did a wonderful job taking my ideas and turn them into a reality.

I wanted a simple party since I'm not the fondest of extravagant things.

Charlotte and I decided to have my party in her back yard.

We left her pool open just in case anyone wanted to swim in the pool.

There was fairly light hanging from trees and bushes along with silver tinsel.

Charlotte and I decided to put two long tables together so that everyone had a place to sit.

We ended up inviting some of my close family and some of Charlotte's close family, minus Henry and Charlotte's parents.

Ocean even ended up showing up for a couple of minutes before going down to see Maddie.

According to her they're officially dating, plus she's been helping Maddie make better choices.

When Charlotte's family arrived, I'd be lying if I said that I didn't want to lock myself in an empty room and stay there.

The reason being, one, that she comes from a tall family.

Like seriously what do they eat?

And two, her aunts were cooing over me the whole time.

I don't think I've ever blushed so much before.

"Hey, babe, what are you thinking about?" Charlotte asks me as she walks into the room and locks the door behind her

"My party" I say with a shrug as I lean against the headboard

My party ended two hours ago, but some of our family members stayed behind to help us clean.

Charlotte decided to show them out while I changed out of my red dress.

"It went well, didn't it?" She asks as she removes her shirt and walks into her closet Shit, I was hoping for a show.

"Yeah, it went better than that" I say matter of fatly She walks out of her closet wearing a black Calvin Klein sports bra and a pair of black basketball shorts.

"That's good" She says with a smile I get up from my crisscrossed position on her bed and slowly walk towards her before wrapping my arms around her neck.

She smirks at me before bringing her hands down to grip my thighs. She lifts me up which causes me to squeak as I quickly wrap my legs around her hips.

She walks us over to the bed where she places me down and pulls something out of her pocket.

"Can I give you your present now?" She asks with the same mischievous smirk on her face What is she planning?

"I told you that I didn't want any present" I say with a slight pout "Believe me, you'll enjoy this one" she says as she retrieves a blindfold from her pocket This is new.

"What are you planning, Wilder?" I question her "It's a game called 'how many'," She says as she carefully wraps the blindfold around my eyes "It's basically just me doing whatever I can to pleasure you until you tap out or pass out" she finishes as she ties the back of the blindfold

"Then why is it called 'how many'?" I question as the pads of her thumbs gently massage my hipbones

"How many times I can get you to cum until you give up" she says putting emphasis on the words 'how many'

"Oh" I say with realization

"Are you in?" She questions as she uses her thumbs to hook the sides of my panties "Sure, why not" I say with a shrug I hear her chuckle quietly before she slowly pulls my panties down my legs and throws them somewhere in the room.

I hear her gasp which causes me to be on high alert.

"What?" I ask with a nervous tone "I almost forgot how beautiful your pussy was" she says which causes me to roll my eyes under the blindfold

Is she serious right now?

"Charlotte it's only been two days since we've had sex" I state "And that is two days too many" she says as she starts to lightly rub my clit in small circles I'm unable to control my hips as they buck up from the sudden pressure applied to my ball of nerves.

My girlfriend chuckles at this which makes me groan in frustration.

As soon as my hips buck up for the second time, she removes her hands from my body.

I try to use my other senses to find out where she is only to come up empty handed.

A couple seconds later she uses her hands to push my thighs open as she situates herself comfortably between my legs.

At least that's what it sounds like.

I feel her breath lightly fan against my heat which makes me whine with neediness.

"Remember, when you want to tap out, just scream the word 'kitty'" she says casually

"Wait what-" I say but cut myself off when I feel something warm and wet suck my clit "Oh, my goodness" I say in delight as my body starts to shake Wow, that was quick.

"Right there" I moan as her tongue starts to massage my clit She laughs which causes the vibrations from her vocal cords to travel from her mouth to my heat.

Fuck, if she continues this, I'll be a goner.

"Right here?" She says in a slight deeper tone as she starts to wiggle and twist her tongue against my, now swollen, clit I gasp as I reach down and tangle my fingers in her hair.

"Yes" I say as my voice cracks I'm so close.

I've never jumped this fast before.

Or maybe I have and I just don't remember.

I feel her bring her hands up to my thighs. She places the pads of her thumbs on my pussy-lips.

I suddenly feel a wave of air hit my wetness as her thumbs pull my pussy lips apart.

"Right there, please don't fucking stop" I scream as my back arches off the bed If it's even possible, she somehow started abusing my clit faster which caused my ultimate downfall.

"Right there"

"Fuck" I squeak out as my thighs start to violently shake I bite my lip to stop myself from screaming out even more profanities as I violently cum for the first time in two days.

When I'm done, I slump down on the bed and just focus on my breathing.

Without even waiting for me to catch my breath she moves her head down to my pussy where she hungrily licks up my release.

I start to close my legs from oversensitivity only for Charlotte to forcefully push them back open.

"Babe" I complain

She removes her head from my heat and starts to kiss her way down my thigh.

She takes her time, making sure to leave a mark in her trail.

As she continues her way down my thigh, I start to quickly become more wetter than before.

"Charlotte" I whine again

"Someone's a little needy" She teases She starts to lightly trace her finger through my soaked folds.

I'm about to whine again when she suddenly plunges her finger into me. Not giving me time to respond she plunges another finger into me.

She's not being soft at all.

She's basically pounding her fingers into me as if she were angry.

I tilt my head back in bliss as she curls her fingers up inside of me.

"H-harder" I moan out which she complies to. She somehow massages a place inside of me which has me seeing stars.

I let my mouth hang open as I release silent moans of enjoyment.

I feel a strong pressure start to build up in the pit of my stomach.

I reach down and try to wrap my hand around her wrist but ultimately fail as I get hit by an orgasm.

My first orgasm.

I feel my eyes roll to the back of my head as I gasp for air. I feel my body arch so far off the bed that Charlotte has to use her other hand to push me back down.

All while this is happening my girlfriend decides to continue to finger me which prolongs it longer than expected.

I finally gain the strength to pull her skilled fingers out of my pussy.

Fucking hell.

I don't know how much longer I can go.

I don't get to think of anything else as her mouth is suddenly back on my pussy.

She slowly cleans me off, but not before getting me to quickly release one more time.

"Fuck, Charlotte" I say as my body starts to shake again "I-I don't the-think I c-can do the-this anymore" I stutter out as I try to calm down "MH" she hums onto my pussy which causes me to bite my lip Shit, I'm about to cum, again.

I feel my release slowly climb up my belly before it crashes down.

I squeeze my eyes tight as I fist the sheets in my hands.

Wave after wave of climax flows out of my body before I relax onto the bed and pant out the words, I was hoping I wouldn't have to say.

"Kitty" I pant out hoarsely before I pass out from exhaustion.

Epilogue 2.0

Okay, where do I start?

Charlotte and I currently have three children.

Crazy right?

Charlotte and I made the decision to adopt fifteen years ago.

Fifteen years ago, we adopted our, currently, fifteen-year-old daughter.

We named her Hanna Rose Wilder.

Five years later we adopted our, currently, ten-year-old daughter.

We named her Isabella Marie Wilder.

And lastly three years later we adopted our final daughter. She's currently seven years old.

We named her Haley Brooks Wilder.

Charlotte and I have accomplished so much in the last fifteen years.

We moved into a three-story house not that far from her other house.

I tried to tell her that we didn't need a house that big, but of course she didn’t listen to me.

When we made the huge decision to adopt our first child we decided to switch to online school for college.

It just made it easier for us to watch after her.

We loved raising baby Hanna so much that we adopted again and again.

Sadly, they cut us off since they thought that Charlotte and I 'weren't the ideal age'.

We didn't stress too much over it since that was an expected outcome.

However, we were having baby fever again.

"Mom" Hanna yells from upstairs

I groan from frustration.

Hanna just recently lost one of her closest friends from elementary school.

Hanna was dating this boy, who Charlotte and I were never really fond of.

Anyway, they had been dating for ten months.

Hanna decided to surprise him by driving up to his house unannounced, his mother was informed of course.

She said that when she arrived, she heard weird sounds coming from his room. So, she opened the door and saw her boyfriend going down on her best friend.

When she was explaining it to me, I could hear her voice cracking.

Don't get me wrong, I love her.

But I have a bunch of chores that I need to get done around the house.

Luckily my mom wanted to spend a couple of hours with Isabella and Haley.

"I'll go see what she wants" Charlotte says as she hops off the counter

"Thank you, I'll make it up to you, I promise" I say with a smile "I can't wait" she teases with a wink before leaning down and placing a peck on my lips "Mom!" Hanna yells louder this time "Coming" Charlotte yells before jogging out of the laundry room and up the stairs I smile as I continue to fold the girl's laundry and separate them so that they go to the correct room.

As soon as I'm finished separating them Charlotte jogs downstairs with a scarred expression.

"She wants ice cream, I think" she says I laugh at her facial expression as I grab Hanna's pile of clothes. I walk over towards the deep freezer and grab a bucket of cookies n' cream ice cream.

It's the only flavor she likes.

On my way out of the kitchen I make sure to grab a spoon before jogging up the stairs.

I walk towards Hanna's room where I hear 'The Fault in Our Stars' playing.

I knock on the door before swiftly opening it to reveal a disheveled looking Hanna.

Her blonde hair is up in a messy bun while her eyes and cheeks are red from crying. Her lips are also dry and cracking.

She's probably so dehydrated.

I look beside her and notice the mountain of used tissues beside her.

Her hazel eyes flicker towards me which makes me smile.

"Hey, I brought you some ice cream" I say as I hold it out so that she can see it "Thanks" she says with a dry and raspy voice as she reaches out and grabs the ice cream from my hand. I place the spoon on her lap before walking into her closet.

As I'm putting her clothes away, I notice a decently sized vibrating dildo in her drawer.

I choose not to comment on it since I know that I'd be embarrassed if I got caught with one.

When I'm finished putting her clothes away, I walk out of her closet only to see Hanna fast asleep.

I walk over to her and grab the ice cream bucket, along with the spoon, before exiting her room and closing her door.

I walk downstairs and see Charlotte eating a slice of pizza.

"Hanna is asleep" I say as I put the ice cream away "Do you think she's going to be okay?" Charlotte asks as I walk up next to her "Yeah, it's her first break up. She just needs time to heal and realize that a real man wouldn't cheat on his girlfriend with her best friend" I say and take a bite of Charlotte's pizza "I hope that she realizes soon, I hate to see her in pain" Charlotte says with a sad tone "So do I" I respond

I suddenly hear the doorbell ring which causes me to place my slice of pizza on the plate before I walk towards the door.

I check the cameras so that I can see who it is.

Charlotte had the cameras installed before we had baby Hanna.

I see the image of my mom, Carolina, Kayden, Isabella and Haley.

I walk over to the door and unlock it before letting them in.

"Mommy" Haley says as she runs up to me "Hey, my little bumble bee" I say as I bend down to pick her up and place her on my hip "How was your day?" I say with a smile "Amazing, auntie took us to the zoo" Haley says with animated hand movements "I got to see a gaff and a zebra" she says which causes me to give a confused look "A gaff?" I ask as I turn towards my mom "She means a giraffe" my mom replies with a laugh I chuckle too as I turn to look at a tired looking Isabella.

"How about the both of you go up to your room and I'll bring you your dinner" I say as I place Haley down "Okay" Haley and Isabella respond in sync before they make their way towards the stairs

As soon as they're upstairs I turn towards Kayden and Carolina who are watching me with amusement.

Kayden and Carolina have of course had their downs but they've mostly had ups.

Five years ago, Carolina had a healthy baby girl.

They named her Jersey.

I'm honestly still surprised how she was able to hide her pregnancy so easily for two months.

Anyway, she's currently pregnant again, this time with a boy.

She's currently seven and a half months.

"I haven't seen you guys in so long" I say as I go up to hug them I make sure to avoid Carolina's bump.

"Since we had Jersey" Kayden corrects which causes Carolina to swat his shoulder

"You guys can come into the kitchen if you want, I was just going to start making the kid's meals" I say as I turn around and make my way into the kitchen -

When I'm finished preparing the kid's meals, with Charlotte's help, I can't help but feel proud.

I made a baked chicken along with chicken nuggets since Haley doesn't eat regular chicken.

While Charlotte made green beans and stretchy mac and cheese.

We played the food before going upstairs and delivering it to our girl's.

I peak inside of Hanna's room and notice that she's still asleep so I place a bottle of water on her bedside table.

As I walk downstairs, I catch our guests before they leave.

"Bye, Aspen, we'll see you soon" Kayden says with a smile as they all wave and head out I don't blame them, it's almost one in the morning.

I decide to pack the extra food into the kid's lunch boxes and place them in the fridge.

I'll reheat the food before they go to school.

I didn't pack Hanna's just in case she wants to stay home.

As I finish washing the dishes, I feel Charlotte come up before wrapping her arms around my waist.

She places a couple of pecks on the side of my neck which makes me bite my lip so that I don't accidentally moan out loud.

I use a towel to dry my hands as she spins me around by my hips.

Charlotte wraps her arms around my waist as she leans down to peck my lips teasingly.

She slowly pecks the corners of my lips, making sure to take her time, before pulling away and gazing into my eyes.

"What's your next move, Wilder?" I tease with a smirk She doesn't respond as she smirks back at me and leans in to connect our lips.

When her lips touch mine, I feel a shiver go up my spine as my fingers start to tingle.

I stand on my tip toes and wrap my arms around her neck as she gently pins me against the counter.

I feel my cheeks start to heat up along with another region.

Even after all of these years she can still effortlessly make me hornier than a teenager.

I guess we were too caught up in our make out session to hear anyone coming down the stairs.

I suddenly hear a gasp which causes me to pull away from Charlotte as I gently push her away.

I rub my lips hoping to rid any evidence of our make out session but my attempts are pointless since they've already seen us.

I look over to the stairs where I see Hanna staring at us with wide eyes as her hands cover Isabella and Haley's eyes.

Haley being the curious little bean that she is, is peeking through her sisters’ fingers.

"Hello, my little munchkins," I try to play off with a steady tone "What can I do for you?" I ask "Well, you can start by not dry humping each other where our food is prepared" Hanna says as she continues to stare at us I nod slightly but Charlotte has other ideas.

"Please, that was not dry humping back in my day dry humping was-" Charlotte starts but I glare at her which causes her to immediately stop Hanna doesn't respond as she takes Isabella and Haley's plates and places them in the sink.

"Isabella, Haley, go upstairs we'll be up soon to tuck you in" Charlotte says with a smile

They nod before quickly running upstairs.

I walk over to the barstools and pull one out before carefully taking a seat as I watch Hanna nervously wash the girl's plates.

Fun fact, Hanna never washes dishes unless something is bothering her.

"I know what you're thinking," she says as she looks up from cleaning a plate

"I'm fine" she says with a barely convincing smile "Okay" I say as I raise my hands in surrender

"Seriously, I'm fine, actually I'm better than fine, I'm great" she says as if she's trying to convince herself more than me "Really?" I question her softly as Charlotte walks up beside me and leans on the counter

"Yep" she says

A couple of seconds go by before a tear falls down her cheek.

"Aww, my poor baby" I coo as I stand up and walk over to her. When I reach her, I wrap my arms tightly around her shoulders as she places her head on my chest.

Her tears start to become more prominent as she drops the plate in the sink full of soapy water.

I look over at Charlotte only to see her looking at Hanna with pity.

"Why doesn't he love me?" She quietly questions

"Because cheaters have no room in their hearts for love" I say as I rub her back soothingly "Why did all of this have to happen yesterday of all days?" She questions with a slight angry tone "Would you have rather it happened five months from now?" I ask "No, I guess not" she says with a sniffle

"Exactly, everything in life is set to happen at a specific time. When you meet 'the one' you'll know that you met them because it was the right time" I say as I continue to rub her back which seems to be calming her down "What if I don't heal from this?" She questions as she looks up from my shoulder to meet my eyes "You will heal from this; this will make you stronger in the long run" I say which makes her smile "Thanks, mom" She says as she pulls away from me and grabs an apple She quickly runs up the stairs and into her room.

"Now, where were we" I say to Charlotte as I hear Hanna close her door "I can show you better than I can tell you" she says before lifting me up bridal style and carrying me out of the kitchen.

Wow, life is such a beautiful thing.

We can either choose to live it or abuse it.

Charlotte proposed to me a year later with donuts.

Which I love.

We got married nine months after that in Hawaii where the whole gang was present, literally and figuratively.

Haley was even the flower girl.

Hanna quickly got over her ex-boyfriend and surprisingly met a new girl at school.

She's edgy and a little overprotective.

If I didn't know any better, I'd say that she secretly likes Hanna.

Isabella got hit by puberty at the bright age of eleven.

None of us were prepared for that.

But she handled it quite well.