“With banana and raisins for you, Skye; just banana for you, Gabe,” I said, mostly for my own benefit as opposed to theirs. I’d committed to memory that Gabriel was, under no circumstances, ever to be given raisins again. I’d learned my lesson the first time, after Naomi and I were finding squashed raisins all over the apartment for weeks! He must have picked them out and slipped them into his pocket before liberally discarding them.
“Water, Mommy,” he demanded. Skye promptly followed suit.
“What do you say?”
“Please,” they chirped excitedly. They didn’t have to think about it — Naomi had drilled that into them at an early age, and they only ever seemed to leave it off with me. They’d decided quite early on which parent would let them get away with murder: me, naturally. I was the biggest, most unapologetic pushover when it came to my kids. More than once Naomi had had to reprimand me for it. But she got it. She knew all about my past, knew why it was almost impossible for me to say no to my kids.
I whipped together some oatmeal, set their bowls in front of them, kissed them on their foreheads, then slipped away to hurriedly get dressed before they noticed I was gone.
There was a missed call and voice message from Naomi. I played it while I picked out my outfit for the day.
“Hi honey, sorry I left without waking you. I know you hate that,” she started. I smiled to myself. I did hate that, waking up to find the bed empty and my wife gone. I never said as much, though I was sure she knew, but a stupid part of me feared she would never come back. It was incredibly foolish to think that way, considering how much she loved her family, and how happy we made her, but fear is sometimes irrational like that. There was also this darkness hanging over me, insisting that the happiness I had would be short-lived. Most days I ignored it, but every now and then it crept back into my subconscious, frightening me.
“…we’re nine hours behind them, hence the 5AM conference call,” she went on. “It won’t be a regular thing, I promise. Not this early, and not once we’ve got everything in place.”
She’d recently won a ginormous international account from a Dutch company called Neder Eats, and had been working her ass off for the obstinate, extremely fastidious CEO. In fact, we’d both been working hard on it. Every now and then, depending on the project, she brought me on as a consultant, for which I was paid handsomely by my old company. Same duties as before, except I only worked a couple of hours a day, and from home. It meant I got to work with my wife and earn my own money again. Not to mention it kept the creative juices flowing. Although I had no plans to return to work for good, I did like the idea of doing light work whenever I had the time. It was the perfect setup.
Holy crap! The dad!? THE DAD SHOWED UP!? Oh dear me, here comes some dramaaa…
Damn Heidi, this was AWESOME. Was totally grinning ear to ear the whole way through. THIS fic is totally what I yearned for after the epilogue. Been wanting the happy ending extended so badly. Finally seeing the aftermath of their life together has my heart doing all kinds of happy flip-flops. Thanks for the feels!
Also, it’s nice to read some well-written, grammatically correct, ultimately flawless fan fiction! So thanks for that added gift. You must have one hell of a beta team. Very well done, you. Can’t wait for the next chapter. —oh, I personally prefer chapters as their finished opposed to waiting for the whole story. More frequent updates, plus more time to reflect and appreciate what you’ve already written. But that’s just me.
Brilliant piece once again, Heidi! Thank you VERY much. Please never stop writing 😀
Haha! Yeah, bit of a cliffhanger there.
Glad you liked the chapter. The family dynamic was something I also couldn’t wait to explore. But you know it wouldn’t be one of my stories if it wasn’t filled with drama 😉
I’ve said this and I say it again you are one of my favorites hands down. Thank you so much for this series continuation. I can’t wait to see what happens next, now that the abusive dad has showed up.
Aww, thanks for the kind words. Glad you liked it.
Why would Dove bring their dad unannounced?! Is he being threatened? What about when Naomi and the twins come back? 😳 Just, wow!
Great work with this chapter! I loved seeing the marital bliss, Dakota navigating being a mom, and battling those nagging fears/struggles with self-worth. The scene at Naomi’s office – so beautiful ♥️
I prefer you to release the chapters as they’re ready. Thank you for this fantastic chapter!
Glad you liked it! And I’m sure Dove has his reasons 😉
Yeah, I really enjoyed writing the scenes with Dakota and the kids. I’m a sucker for that sort of thing, lol.
The consensus seems to be that people want the chapters posted as and when they’re ready, so that’s what it’ll be.
I’m completely intrigued and caught up now. I want..no..need to know what are the dynamics between Dak and her father. Please keep them coming. I can hardly wait!
Haha, me too! His arrival will NOT go down well, that’s all I’ll say. I’m sworn to secrecy 🙂
OMG! I just finished reading this book and it was one of my favorites of yours outside of “Her Lesson to Love” and “A Scarlet Kiss.” I was wondering about the characters Naomi and Dakota and how they fared. I was so happy to stumble upon this. It was nice to see that their love made it and they each saw happiness in their lives. Dakota especially was deserving of a good family, to give her anything less would rob her of what she truly deserved in life. Although my allegiance is to Naomi as my favorite of the two. Everyone needs a Naomi in their lives to love them. I can’t wait to read the other chapters. I hope this trend of yours continues with your other works.