My back fell flat against the mattress, chest heaving up and down as I attempted to regain my breath.

"Jesus, Carter." Ashton panted next to me, also trying to catch his breath. "Are you sure you've never done this before?"

At this I let out a laugh and turned on my side so I could look at him, him doing the same.

"Yes I'm sure." I gave him a cheeky little smile and he connected his lips to mine perfectly.

I snuggled up into him and one of his hands began to gently play with some strands of my hair.

"So I hate to be the kill joy of the group, but what time do we have to leave?" I asked.

"Checkout is at noon." He said.

"What time is it now?"

"9:30."

I hummed at this and breathed in his scent one more time before making myself get up.

Still naked, I quickly fled to the bathroom and started the shower to hopefully get the sex smell off of me before we had to go back to Ender and Gracie.

After I showered, Ashton took his turn to wash off and went back in the bedroom while I stood at the counter fixing my hair and face.

He came back in with just the towel around his waist and shaving kit in hand, taking the sink on the other end of the counter.

In just my bra and underwear I went to change into white shorts and a black tee while Ashton finished in the bathroom and came back to get dressed and ordered us room service.

I was in the bedroom packing our suitcases when there was a knock on our door.

"Car, breakfast is here!" Ashton called to me.

"Okay!" I said cheerfully back and zipped up his bag before joining him in the living room where there was a rolling cart with several plates filled with pancakes, eggs, bacon, fruit, and a fresh pot of coffee since ours had gotten cold.

"Wow, this is nice." I commented and helped him move the plates to the coffee table so we could eat.

Every time my hand flashed in front of my eyes I saw the glint of the promise ring on my finger and would get a rush of excited feelings run through me.

Once we had eaten our fill, I finished packing up my bag and then we had time to kill until noon.

I walked out into the living room where Ashton was sat on the sofa, his arm stretched across part of the back as he played on his phone.

Every time I would look at him I could feel my cheeks blush with the thoughts of what we had done and said last night running through my head.

I took a seat on the opposite end of the couch and he looked up at me, setting his phone down on the table behind him.

"Hey, come here." He motioned with his hand and I scooted down the cushions until he was able to use his hands to pull me into his lap.

"I don't want our special date to end." I whined as I thumped my head lightly against his collarbone.

"Aw, babe." He giggled at me.

"It was perfect." I sighed happily and he began to rub at my arm.

"I couldn't agree with you more." He said.

"So do you think Gracie did okay?" I asked him.

"I'm sure she did fine." He kissed my ear. "That little girl is strong, just like you."

He held me like that until it was time for us to checkout of our room; hailing us a cab and loading our luggage into the trunk before holding the door open for me to get in the back.

The entire drive back to his house I leaned up against his arm and he rested his head on mine, placing the occasional kiss there.

When we arrived he paid the driver and we took our suitcases, opening the front door and walking inside of the house.

"We're back!" Ashton called and I heard the pounding of feet across the wood floors, Gracie and Ender rounding the corner.

"Mommy!" Gracie shouted and I bent down to catch her as she gave me a hug.

"Hi, baby girl!" I grinned as I held her to me. "Did you have a good day?"

"Mhmm, Grandma took us to the playground." She said excitedly.

"That sounds fun." I smiled.

"Daddy!" She squealed as she looked behind me and Ashton reached down to pick her up, giving her a hug.

"Hey there sweetheart." He beamed, tickling her stomach.

"Hey, Car." Ender said and I walked over to give him a side hug.

"How was your weekend?" I asked him.

"Good." He nodded nonchalantly.

"How was Gracie?"

"She was good, she cried at bed time and this morning until Ann picked her up, but other than that she was okay."

I smiled and Ender went to greet Ashton while I said hello to Ann.

"Thank you so much." I said sincerely and she waved it away.

"Don't worry about it, I had a blast." She said and gave me a hug as well.

Once we were all in the doorway I sent Gracie and Ender to get their things while Ashton and I stayed with Ann in the kitchen.

"So how was your date night?" She asked.

"It was really good." I nodded, glancing at Ashton from the corner of my eye and noticed the scarlet creeping up on his neck.

"I'm glad." She smiled.

I really didn't feel like talking about my erotic night with her son to her so I made an excuse to help Gracie and Ender get their things together; Ashton loading the bags in his jeep while me and the kids said our goodbyes.

Ashton came in and hugged Ann and then we were off, on our way back home to Haven.

Gracie fell asleep in her car seat and Ender snoozed with his head resting back against the head rest of the car.

I sat in the passenger seat, absentmindedly twisting my new ring around my finger until eventually I dozed off as well.

Hours later a soft tickle at my ear made me stir in my sleep.

"Hey, love. Time to wake up." Ashton's angelic voice floated into my thoughts.

My eyelids fluttered open to reveal we were in the car lot by the house.

"Have a nice nap?" He smirked.

"Yes." I smiled sleepily and stretched in the seat.

We got out of the car and woke the two sleeping children in the backseat, carrying our bags to the house.

It was now dark outside so I wasted no time in getting the kids bathed and into bed.

"Sweet dreams, love you." I kissed Gracie's cheek as she cuddled up on her makeshift bed.

"Night, sweetheart." Ashton bent down to kiss her cheek.

I ran up to say good night to Ender and then went to my bedroom, changing into my pyjamas alongside Ash, the both of us climbing under the sheets.

"I miss our special weekend." I said as I got comfortable.

"I miss it too. But now we are home, and we can continue to spend time with the kids and each other, and be a family." He pulled me close to him.

"I like the sound of that." I smiled and he chuckled, his eyes flickering down to my lips and before I knew it I was lost in the feeling of his mouth on mine.

"I love you, a lot." He mumbled against my skin making me shiver.

"I love you too." I responded breathlessly.

Burrowing down into the covers I used his bicep as a pillow and intertwined my fingers with the ones of his outstretched hand.

My other hand came up to rest by my head when the silver of the new jewellery that donned my finger flashed in the dark room.

"So this promise ring...what exactly does it entail?" I asked him in the darkness.

"Well, it means that I promise that one day, when we're ready, I'm going to ask you to marry me, and replace that ring with an engagement ring." He said and my heart beat stopped short.

"Marriage?" I choked out.

"Is that not okay with you?" He asked, his voice suddenly anxious.

"No, it's just that...you think of me as marriage material?" I questioned and he relaxed, letting out a laugh.

"Yes, I do...no pun intended." He said and I snorted at the lame joke.

"Tell me more about our future." I said as I nestled into him.

"Okay, well we'd have two kids." He said and my eyes widened.

"Two kids? Ender and Gracie aren't enough?" I laughed.

"They are, but I want babies of our own. A boy and girl."

"A boy and a girl, huh? Do you already have the names picked out too?"

"Nope. I'll leave that up to you." He said and I could hear the smile in his voice.

"Boy or girl first?"

"It doesn't matter to me."

I lay there trying to collect my thoughts.

All of the talk about marriage and babies was making my head twirl, but I wasn't opposed to his plans. Definitely, we weren't ready yet, but maybe one day.

"Tell me what you're thinking." He said.

"I think that sounds like a great plan." I smiled into the inside of his arm.

Closing my eyes again, I tried to actually fall asleep but couldn't ignore the feeling I felt inside me. For a long while it felt like there had been a part of me missing, but right now, I felt complete.

I awoke shivering, scooting backwards to regain whatever contact with Ashton I had lost, but my back hit the wall instead.

Glancing at the alarm clock the red numbers read 2:43.

I waited for about five minutes and when he didn't come back I stood up, wrapping the blanket around me and using it like a cape as I went to go look for him.

He wasn't upstairs so I made my way down the steps and into the living room where my face broke out into a soft smile.

Ashton was sitting on the couch, his head resting against the back cushion, eyes closed and little snores escaping his mouth; obviously asleep. Gracie was in his lap, her arms around his neck and her head against his chest, she was asleep too.

Moving closer I could see the tear tracks that went down her cheeks. She must have been crying and Ashton came down stairs to check on her.

I took the blanket from around my shoulders and sat down next to Ashton on the sofa, spreading the blanket across the three of us. I used Ashton's arm as a pillow and cuddled myself into his side before going back to sleep.

--

The hospital hallway was bright and smelled like hand sanitiser.

"Okay Hal, the sign says they are in room 205. Are you ready to meet your little brother?" My Grandpa asked me with his short white hair and ageing blue eyes.

Nodding eagerly, he tugged lightly on my hand that he was holding and led me down the hallway until we stopped in front of a door.

He knocked twice and then opened it for me, pushing me in with the back of his hand.

On a weird looking bed was my mother holding something in her hands. My dad was standing next to the bed and my Grandma was sitting on the little sofa behind them.

"Hey there, Hal!" My dad grinned and I ended up running over to him.

"Wanna see your baby brother?" He asked as he picked me up and I looked to my mom who was holding a very tiny person in a blanket.

"Halle, this is your little brother Ender." My mom said as I stared at him.

"He's so small." I said, my seven year old brain not really knowing what a baby was.

"He's is small." My mother laughed lightly.

"And I'm his sister." I said.

"Yes, you are his sister." My dad said with a little laughter.

Ender began to squirm in my moms arms, his little hands moving.

My father set me down on the edge of the bed and I leaned over to get a better look at him. I pressed a little kiss to his minuscule forehead.

"I'm going to be the best big sister in the world." I said, beaming with pride at the new member of my family.

--

Something softly touching me was what drew me from me sleep, my eyes opening to see Gracie asleep on Ashton's lap below me.

Tilting my head up I was met with Ashton's heavenly face.His hand was running through my hair, his hazel eyes flitting down to meet mine, a little smile breaking across his face.

"Hey." He whispered.

"Morning." I said back. "I woke up and you weren't there."

"I heard her crying and came down here."

"What was wrong?"

"Bad dream." He answered and I nodded.

I had really hit the jackpot with him, there was no denying that.

Craning my neck up I pressed my lips against his jaw.

"What was that for?" He laughed.

"Because, you're a good dad." I smiled and a blush settled over his cheeks and he hugged me to his side with his arm.

We stayed like that for a bit longer until I got up to make the coffee, Gracie resuming her regime of me carrying her around.

We woke up Ender together and then got her dressed and ready for the day.

As always, everyone was scrambling around like normal trying to get dressed, eat, backpacks packed, and shoes on.

We finally got to the jeep and then to the school where we dropped Ender off.

Back at the house I helped Gracie remake her little temporary bed and then got started on laundry and other things that needed to be done.

Later on in the day when we went to go pick Ender up from school, he was joined by Coach Robin.

"Hey, how's it going?" I asked him as I got out of the jeep and shook his hand.

Coach Robin, only in his mid forties, had been my coach as well when I was on the schools girl football team. He had been disappointed when I had to quit but he understood that I had other responsibilities.

"It's going good. Ender here mentioned to me that you might be interested in the assistant coaches position."

"Yeah. I mean if it's still open, I'd love an interview." I said.

"Why don't you come in tomorrow at around three and we'll talk about it?"

"That sounds great. Thank you so much." I smiled and shook his hand again.

"See you at practice tomorrow Chase." Coach Robin said to Ender.

Ender nodded and then hopped in the jeep.

The moment we pulled away from the school and onto the street back home I let out a squeal of happiness.

"Oh my God! I might have another job!" I said, so incredibly happy that Coach Robin was even considering me.

Ashton shot me a little smile from the front seat and I suddenly got the feeling that he wasn't as into the whole job thing as I was.

I decided to talk to him about it that night when we were getting in bed.

"Do you not want me to get the job?" I asked him suddenly as I was sliding my shirt over my head.

"Why do you say that?" He asked.

"Because, you've been sulking around the entire afternoon and haven't said a word about it."

He sighed and then sat down on the edge of my bed.

"I just don't think this is the best time for you to be getting another job."

"Why?" I asked, standing in front of him with my arms crossed over my stomach.

"I mean Gracie is here, you don't even have a plan for what to do with her."

"I need the money Ashton." I frowned. "And Gracie can go with me."

"If it's the money you need then let me help." He suggested and I rolled my eyes.

"I'm not getting into this with you. I'm going for the interview tomorrow."

"Okay then." He said slightly huffy and then moved back into his spot on the bed.

I left my room for a moment to brush my teeth then came back, laying down so my back faced him, farther away from him then I normally would have.

I stayed like that for a minute until I felt his hands at my waist and he pulled me towards him.

"I'm sorry." He said softly. "I'm happy you got the offer, I really am. I'm just being selfish."

"What do you mean?" I asked him, still not ready to turn around.

"I don't like the thought of not being able to spend as much time with you."

"I'm not going to be there all day. Just for practices and games. I'm still going to be here to spend time with you and Gracie and Ender." I explained.

"Okay." He said and I sighed before turning around so I could look at him.

With my left hand I reached out to lace our fingers together and I placed my right hand on his cheek.

"I love you." I said and leaned up to press my lips to his.

"I love you too." He said back, a little smile poking through.

I nestled into him like I normally did and his arm came around my back to hold me.

"You're going to make a great assistant coach." He said against my temple.

"Thank you." I mumbled and pressed a kiss to his tee shirt covered chest.

I spent the rest of consciousness that night thinking about answers to questions coach Robin would probably ask me the next day at the interview.

--

Here's another little chapter to lead up to what's about to come!

(please don't hate me next chapter)

Anyways! As always, vote and comment if you'd like and I'll see you guys in the next chapter!

much love xx -m