Ten years later….

“Phillip Cole Carlile, please stop bugging Uncle Tino!” I sternly addressed my oldest son. I was preparing a big pot of macaroni and cheese for my husband and all five kids. Well, two of them were mine, but the other three acted like kids most of the time.

“You have just as much energy as the man you were named after!” Tino grumbled a laugh and went back to reading the newspaper as my brown haired son crawled out of Tino’s lap and came to eat lunch.

“Where’s Amity?” I asked Aaron. Alan was out picking some stuff up and should be home any minute and Austin had mysteriously disappeared.

“With Austin, I thought…” Aaron trailed off before getting up and starting to look for my four year old daughter. Phil was six and Amity was four.

Amity Skye Carlile poked her head around the corner. A very tired Austin was trailing in the young girl’s wake. Her frosted brown hair was tangled in knots and I couldn’t help but think I’d have to assist her in brushing it out later.

“Lunch time!” Amity cheered and stomped towards us in the kitchen. I took bowls out and handed each child a small portion of the delicious meal. Austin came over and kissed my temple, leaning against me for support.

“So what did Amity make you do this time?” I asked Aus. He sighed and rubbed the tiredness out of his eyes. I think I saw a few stray glitter sparkles in his hair.

“Play princess. Alan is SOOOO much better at that than I am.” Aus grumbled. I rubbed his shoulder affectionately and turned back to the front door, which was just starting to open. Alan held hands with a girl who came in after him.

“Alan!” Phil cheered. Alan smiled behind his shades. The girl was Alan’s girlfriend that had somehow managed to keep up with the craziness in our house for two years.

“Yay! Lily-Grace is here!” Amity cheered. As soon as they finished swallowing their lunch whole, they placed the bowls in the sink and ran to greet Alan and Lily-Grace. The older girl was always happy to play with Amity, so I was glad Austin and I got a break watching the children.

Besides, it was Alan’s turn for child duty.

“Hey, Jack and Alex are coming over in two hours!” Alan called to me as he headed back to play a combination of space pirates and princess with the two kids.

“Oh, and Ghost sent tickets in the mail for a concert in Sacramento.” Austin explained as I started to clean up. Smiling, I thought back to the fond memories of Ghost, Chris, and the Balz puns.

I think they still owned that passenger car on the train. From what I knew, Quinn and Iren were traveling with them full time on the road and helping out with whatever was available for them to do.

“What day?” I asked him. Austin picked up a letter.

“On September nineteenth, in two weeks.” He read. I turned to Aaron. He already nodded, knowing what I was about to ask him.

“Already done. I can watch the kids and Tino can help.” Tino grumbled at being volunteered, but didn’t argue.

Yeah, this was basically what our house was like.

“Are they married yet?”

“Who?”

“Jack and Alex.” I asked as I scrubbed the used dishware. Austin thought for a moment before answering. The two boys hadn’t moved out of Isolation, but we remained in close touch and they often visited because they claimed not to have anything else to do.

“No, but they might as well be. They say no, but I say yes!” Aaron chirped in from the side room. I smiled a little and remembered their cartoon watching antics when I visited them so many years ago.

“Well, I can’t wait to see them anyways.” I pressed on. I looked out the window and saw Alan and Lily-Grace sitting on the grass, watching Amity and Phil chase each other around and around. When they thought no one was looking, Alan leaned over and stole a quick peck on Lily-Grace’s cheek. She blushed brightly and the pink bloomed in her cheeks.

This was my house and this was my family. We had been through a lot, but we gained much more than the pain that the situations had caused. This house may be small for the amount of people that lived in it, but the house was cozy.

As I was piled under my thoughts, Austin leaned over and kissed my cheek affectionately. I smiled just as much as the girl outside was. Sometimes life was hectic, but I could always rely on Austin at my side and my family standing with me.

I wouldn’t trade this for anything.

Notes

Basically....
-Kynder lives happily with Austin and the boys
-Alan has a girlfriend (They get married later, fyi :D)
-Phil's memory is living on in the oldest son of Kyn and Aus.
-Amity's memory is living on in the youngest daughter of Kyn and Aus.
-Jack and Alex become Jalex <3
-Everyone finally is at peace.

Thanks again for reading! Stay beautiful!