...Ten Years Later...

"Ricky! Charlie!" My daughter thumped down the stairs, and charged at my friends with such vigor that I had no doubt she'd knock them over. My daughter, Kristen, was born a year after Alan and I got married. It was really a nice wedding. Nana had offered to pay for the whole thing that we were grateful for since we were only twenty and twenty one and just starting businesses. I fell in love with my dress, which was a sleek and modern strapless one than flowed to the floor and shimmered in the light every time I took a step. Apparently Alan liked what was underneath it better, if you get what I'm saying. I didn’t wear a veil over my face, but a mid-length one that was held up by a small jeweled clip was just reaching the back of my head where I wore my hair down. I can remember walking down the isle arm in arm with Charlie, who I’d asked to give me away since I had no idea where my real father was and I didn’t invite my mother. She was also maid of honor wearing a baby blue knee high dress. Of course Tara, Mackenzie, and Phoenix were there standing side by side at the end of the isle next to the outdoor canopy; inside that was Alan beaming more than usual and this old priest guy. What made me laugh was seeing my old D-Tent friends in suits standing quietly and patiently. Then…I became Mrs. Smith. I honestly never thought I was ever going to get married. Now I have a kid! Well, three in total. Kristen has my wavy dark hair and deep green eyes. The twins look like their father. Charlie and Ricky had gotten a bit... reckless, and a year before Kristen was born, they had a son named Matthew. He was the spitting image of his father, with his mother's pale skin. After their second son, Ricky finally proposed to Charlie giving her this beautiful triple diamond ring. They had both been very successful in their lives. Ricky studied hard and become NASA’s CEO, ironically he had gotten over his fear of aliens and even wrote some sci-fi. Charlie went back to England, taking Ricky with her to Oxford University where they got accepted. She studied security technology, which she got a PHD for and then started a thriving locks and alarms business that went worldwide. They had a country house with a farm in the fields of Yorkshire in England and they bought the house next door to ours for summer time.  

 We were still living in the same big estate. Sadly Nana died a few years before, she was very much missed. She put everything she owned to myself and Charlie in her will, which my mother didn’t like very much. I can remember her coming into the house in the middle of the night and shouting at me in front of my daughter. Litttle Kristen burst into tears, and then Alan ran into the room as soon as my mother slapped me across the face. He demanded her to get out of the house. That was the last time I ever saw her. At least she wasn’t in my daughter’s life so far. That’s basically what has happened.

The very shy Matthew peeked out from behind his father’s legs. Noticing him, my confident, hyperactive daughter charged at the boy and tackled him into a hug.

"Matty!"

"Krissy!" He yelped trying to squirm out of her grip. That was my daughter's nickname. I loved her more than words could express. In my arms I held my son, Andrew, or 'A' as we had taken to calling him. He had just turned two with his twin, Connor.

“Mummy, Matthew is attacking a girl.” Charlie’s second son, Robert or Bob pulled on her leg. He had straight light brown hair and sapphire eyes, like his mother. Robert Roberts. I literally screamed at Charlie when i found out what he was called.

"Where's Squid- I mean Alan?" Ricky asked tearing Krissy and Matt apart.

"Nice to see you too. Alan! We’ve got company! Bring down Connor!" I yelled. My husband came racing down the stairs, jiggling 'C' , who started to giggle and swooped me into a kiss. I heard two simultaneous Ew's from the pre-scholars, and the baby in Charlie’s arms started to cry. Oh, yeah, I forgot to say that little Elena was the third child of the Roberts family. 

"Sorry, hey Kathlyn." Ricky said. He pulled me into a hug and I kissed him on the cheek.

"How'd the two of you like being tackled by Krissy?" I asked. They laughed and I joined in. My daughter was wild and a daredevil. Speaking of Kristen, she had raced outside to show Matthew her swing set that we replaced since the old one was very rickety.

"I loved it. Hey." Charlie hugged me. I laughed at her non-sarcastic response.

They both hugged my husband as I went into the kitchen to pour some wine. Ah, alcohol. I drank it, but would never turn into my mother.

“When are the other’s coming?” Alan asked putting Connor down to run after his brother. Us four adults sat down in the living room as Charlie calmed Elena down. She was now burbling in her stroller next to the couch.

“Phoenix and Hector can’t come since they’re in Africa.” Hector became a paleontologist. Or rather, is studying to become one. He did say he liked to dig... and dig he does. “Neither can Theodore because he’s busy with his wife and her world tour…” I explained. His wife was some world wide famous singer who I can’t remember the name of at the moment. Great, my memory is going… “X-Ray is busy with work…” Rex is a doctor. Now we all have an excuse to call him X-Ray, because he actually does work with X-Rays. “Tara and José are on their way…” Jose’s studying to become a vet. Tara and him own a pet hospital. They have one kid, a daughter, Sophía was same age as my own. “Don’t really know where Mack and Stanley are.” Now Mackenzie and Stanley are an interesting couple. I still didn’t like Stanley that much but Mack was my friend. Stanley became an inventor like his father. 'Nuff said. Oh, and he wrote a book about Camp Green Lake, about his life there. What really annoyed me was that neither Charlie nor me were in it! I mean come on! We must’a not been important to him. It was christened Holes, ironically. Not only did it become a worldwide bestseller but also they made a movie (which was kinda creepy) and the government decided that they would reopen Camp Green Lake but have better regulators. I feel sorry for the next generation of kids that are there, its probably not as good as it was…Anyways, going back to the topic of Stanley and Mackenzie, they have four kids already. But, Mackenzie told me she wanted six. Six. I don’t know how she could cope. But, Mack is always good at these sorta things.

“Mommy!” Krissy slid into the room. “Mommy! Daddy! Daddy!” She scrambled over to Alan and me and was pulling at the hem of my dress. “Andrew pushed Connor over, now he’s crying!” I got up and hurried outside. The doorbell rang.

“I’ll get it.” Ricky walked over to the door. By the swings I saw Matt and Bob hovering over a wailing Connor. Andrew was looking guilty standing behind the slide. I rushed over and picked him up he blubbered into my shoulder. His knees were cut and his palms scratched. I brushed his short fringe out of his face and looked in his light hazel eyes.

“What happened, sweetheart?” I cooed trying to calm him down.

“They were fighting over the swing.” Matt stated, getting a punch on the arm from my daughter.

“Your not meant to say!” She hissed and stormed off, in a sarcastic manner.

“Sorry!” He yelped following her back to the house believing it. Connor had calmed down and the blubbering turned to hiccups. I brushed a strand of my hair away from my face.

“Now Lil’ C what happened?” I asked down to him. He widened his big round eyes and blinked. Then he looked over to the yellow slide. I knew Connor wasn’t a tattletale; he was very honest and sweet. All I had to do was wait. And on cue the other little twin shot out from behind the yellow slide and knocked me down in a hug.

“I’m sorry mommy, I’m sorry!” He howled, “ I didn’t mean to! I’m sorry!” I laughed and got up pulling them both close.

“It’s not me who you should be apologizing to, it’s your brother.” I said then pulled them both of me to look at them in the eyes. “Now what do you say?”

“Sorry…” Andrew mumbled.

“That didn’t really sound meaningful, come on enthusiasm!” I cheered making them both laugh.

“I’m very very sorry my twin brother Connor.” He shouted at the top of his lungs in a pretend British accent.

“Thank you!” Connor shouted back.

“Yay! We’re all good now!” I joined in with the clamor. “Now lets get back inside, I think Sophía is here.” I pushed myself of the ground and brushed myself off, walking back towards the house. Two little blurs zoomed past me and crashed into the door, laughing and shouting. I sighed and shut the door behind me. An uproar of children talking and giggling hit me when I walked into the main hall. The dark haired tan skinned child of Tara and José were tugging on her dad’s pants, begging in Spanish to go and play with the others. Krissy sudden appeared and the hall and squealed with delight at the sight of her friend. Tara shooed them away blabbering away in the language to her daughter she basically had to learn. She then turned and saw me beaming at her.

“Why hello!” She said coming over and giving me a hug. “Sorry we’re late, bad traffic.”

“Oh its okay, you did make it though!” I moved over to José who towered over me but I still hugged him.

“What a long way we all have come…chica.” I laughed and brought them into the living room where the others greeted them. I sat back down next to Alan and lay on his chest. He looked down.

“You okay?” He asked, his brow creased and concerned. I looked up and smiled.

“Yeah, I am. What about you?”

“I’m good.” He kissed my head and joined in conversation with the others. I grinned at myself. José was right, we have come a long way, but we still had a way ahead. The rest of our lives, well, that's for another story.

Finally...

The End.