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~ Day Dreams ~
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~ Epilogue ~*~ Part One ~
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~ Chilling Twilight ~
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~ Twenty-Four-Years-Old ~
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~ Hazel's POV ~
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"Noah, let's hurry to the barn before it starts raining, okay?" I said gathering an empty basket with seeds for the chickens, and an empty bucket for the dairy cow, and hay for the horse.

"Okay, mommy," my two-year-old son, Noah said sitting on the kitchen, wooden floorboards sliding his faded, yellow rain boots on and stands to his feet as I pass him the basket and seeds for him to carry.

"Okay, so on the count of three I'll race you to the barn and whoever comes last is a rotten egg," I say laughing, "One... three!"

Opening the back kitchen door, Noah and I amble alongside each other as we hurry towards the oak barn. Jake and I decided to build a barn to have a family of animals and then Noah came into our lives. The greying skies roar in the distant afternoon horizon as the dark clouds form underneath our country cottage near the coastline of the ocean of, Seaside Florida. The smell of fresh rain intoxicates my nostrils, as our rain boots slosh through the wet meadows of endless fresh flowers surrounding the block of land and the view of the ocean in the distance.

Wild birds flying overhead as they sing along to the thunder as the tropical storm nears. Heavy raindrops finally fall upon my freckled, pale skin as rain and fog cascade around the farmland. The wild wind whistles through my long curls of apricot hair as Noah leads his way down the hill and nears the oak barn, and pushes the wide, wooden doors open.

"Yay, I won," Noah jumps with glee, his overalls and blonde curly hair soaking wet. "Mommy's a r-rotten egg."

I laugh and catch my breath, taking shelter before my oversized overalls become drenched, "So it seems. You were just at lightning speed and silly mommy couldn't catch you."

"Ha-ha, silly mommy," Noah repeats, his smile reaching his light green eyes.

"So, I'm afraid we will have to wait out the storm until it passes," I say closing the wooden doors before the strong wind blows us away. "Once we finish our chores, we can have some ice-cream. How does that sound, buddy?"

Noah's eyes widen and energetically nods his head as he rushes off to feed the chickens and collect the eggs, I, however, milk the dairy cow and feed her in the enclosure. Then I maintain the stables and feed and groom the horse. Once Noah and I finish our chores we enter the attached granny flat, storing the eggs and milk in the fridge, and raid the freezer for ice-cream as we eat our snack in the middle of the barn.

Noah and I lounge upon hay bales in the small oak barn with ice-cream bowls in our hands. The animals wale in their enclosures and the chickens roam their pen like well... chickens; due to the dense, raging storm outside.

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"Mommy," Noah pauses and questions, "When will daddy be home?"

"I'm not sure, buddy, but I'm positive he'll be home soon," I said comforting Noah with one arm around him as my other hand rests and rubs my overgrown stomach. "Noah, we forgot about the puppies and the kittens. May you please feed them for mommy?" I said and add, "While you do that I'll clean the dirty dishes. Or do you want to do the dishes instead?" I question with a smile, knowing which one Noah will choose.

Noah's eyes gape, pacing towards the barn's cupboard grabbing the boxes of cat and dog biscuits and vanishes towards the indoor kennels. The animals we sheller while their owners were on holiday. I laugh and slowly stand to my feet and clean the mess, on my way back from the kitchen a sudden noise comes from the barn's front doors causing me to jump out of my olive rubber boots.

"Hazel, are you and Noah in there?" Jake questions knocking on the wood of the door.

I pace towards the wooden door and unlock the padlock and once the door opens I am face to face with a soaking wet fiancé of mine. I almost jump in his arms but his gentle arm forms around my back and the other rests on the bump of my stomach as he kisses me all over my face. I grab Jake's t-shirt and pull him out of the pouring rain and close the wooden door behind us. "I missed you like crazy, but what are doing here? I thought you were supposed to be home not until tomorrow?"

"Practice ended early so I caught the earliest flight home," Jake I stand in the middle of the cozy barn soaking wet, "But I missed you like crazy too." Silence surrounds both of us as we gaze into each other's eyes. "What's playing on your mind, Carrots?" Jake squeezes my hands with his strong ones.

"Uh... you know, the whole pregnancy emotional thing and not being able to teach at the college," I said shrugging my shoulders.

"Hazel, you know you are the smartest, dream-chasing, and stubborn person I know, who so happens to be my beautiful fiancé, soon to be my wedded wife." I giggle. "Honey, they have to accept you. They'll be stupid not too and how can they not accept you?" The man, soon to be my wedded husband, offers a genuine squeeze of my hands, which has its effects of comfort.

Deep in thought, I release a weighing down sigh, "But you know who exactly wouldn't accept me..."

"I know, but let's not dwell over something that hasn't happened yet, and instead be hopeful of the unknown," Jake said, comforting me with his warm hands as they guide down my back in circular motions.

I nod in response my head laying against Jake's hard chest. My hands reach for the sky and fall around Jake's neck as his secure arms wrap their way around my body. We sway to the extensive and heavenly musical raindrops dancing on the tin rooftop above. We waltz, but my clumsy two left feet fall out of rhythm with his. My muddy, dirty boots collide with his clean ones as I trip over but he catches me beforehand. We laugh listening to the faint howling and whistling wind that whispers through the cracks of the barn while the storm escalates outside.

"So, have your nightmares still been troubling you while I've been training?" Jake said glancing into my emerald blue eyes with those alluring ocean blue eyes of his.

"They've crept their way back in, but now that you're home I'm sure they'll subside," I smile in his arms.

"Is it still the same dreams?" Jake rubs my back in order to comfort me.

"Unfortunately, yes," I gaze at flint on Jake's shirt and pick at the fabric, "They're always the same dreams, they never seem to change course."

"But don't you still visit Fiona sometimes? Do you still feel sacred around her?" Jake said pulling away from me and glancing into my eyes.

"It's hard to say, I had so much trauma from that woman it's going to take a long time before I can trust her. I can forgive but I can't forget." I explain fiddling with my fingers.

"Well, I'm home now, so no more nightmares and it's not good for the little one," Jake said, lingering and strong hand on my belly bump over my large overalls.

"Yeah, your right. Anyway, how was training, Jay?"

"Well, I actually beat my personal best, so the Olympics is looking strong."

"Wow... congratulations, Jay,"

"Thanks, Carrots,"

Jake draws me for another hug and feeling the warmth of his embrace, I snuggle closing the proximity distance between us. Henceforth, causing my numb face to squish further into the depths of his hard chest. Jake plants a kiss on top of my head; thus, obtaining himself a mouthful of red hair. I peer at him as he places his hands on either side of my numb tomato, freckled cheeks. Being the humorous jerk that he is, he pinches both cheeks and struggles not to laugh. Our laughing happy faces gaze into the depths of one another's wondering eyes. Freeing my innocent cheeks from his grasp I pout, smoothing the reddened sore area.

Jake disconnects our embrace, resting his big hand on my overgrown bump. There are sudden noises that form toward the joint stables.

"Daddy!" Noah exclaims over the rumbling thunderclaps, not even phased by the thunderstorm. A red pair of chubby, baby cheeks emerges from the stables. He skips through the door with his teddy bear, Teddy in hand. Teddy was Jake's teddy bear than mine and now our son's.

"Hey little, man. I missed you," Jake said, picking up Noah and tickling him.

"I missed you too, daddy," Noah said, laughing and squirreling.

I smile at my two favorite boys in the world and linger a hand on my belly as another girl or boy miracle infant grows inside me. I shiver from a cold breeze that escapes through the cracks of the barn. I slowly massage my belly with my hand as the thunder continues to roar outside. The howling storm bellows and laughter echoes vibrating the barn's wooden walls.

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Please, tell me in the comments what you thought about Epilogue ~*~ Part One? 🙈 I'll be greatly appreciated, thank you, you very kind soul!
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~ Epilogue ~*~ Part One ~
~ Dedications ~
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HeliiBoh
DebMorey
PeterPetruzzella
CaitlinWoodward9
DaniJones_14
ChloeMayerhofer
savvvy1998
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You guys should totally check out PeterPetruzzella short story! Lighthouse. It's amazing! Please also go check out Peter's YouTube account pure56 for awesome content on movies, tv-shows, and game reviews!
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You guys should totally check out ChloeMayerhofer story! Fallen! It's awesome!
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C.Morey 🥕 xoxo
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