5 years later
~—•—~

"John?" Alexander called out. "Come on, we have to get going if we want to avoid the traffic."

"Yes, yes, I'm coming," John yelled back chuckling. "I just need to wake up the kids."

"They aren't awake yet?" He asked before taking another sip - or perhaps a gulp - of his coffee.

"Alexander, they won't be awake at 4 AM like you always do," he rolled his eyes then started walking to their children's bedroom.

"But, I wanna be like Pops!"

John swiftly turned around and saw Philip, their six-year-old, sipping coffee from Alexander's mug. Alex noticed his husband's gaze and removed the coffee from Philip's lips.

John frowned. "Lex, he's six. He's too young to have caffeine."

"His mental age is older."

"I'm talking about physical age," he sighed. "Alright, Pip, go wake up your sister, I'll get Pegs."

"What am I supposed to do?" Alex pouted. "Let me do...parent stuff-"

"Stay there and try not to drink more coffee," he laughed and continued what he was supposed to do on the first place.

He opened the door first on the left, their bedroom, where Peggy stayed for the night.

"Peggy, time to wake up."

The little girl whined. She was the youngest among the 3 siblings. "Dad, it's too early, let me sleep."

"Come on, we're visiting Auntie Peggy."

"Who's that? And why does she have the same name as me?" She asked rubbing her eyes.

John grinned. "You'll see. Now, would you like to get up so we could visit her?"

Peggy eagerly nodded and bolted out of her room suddenly getting hyper.

He smiled and went to follow his daughter.

~~×~~

"Pa, are we there yet?" Frances, the eldest, asked for the umpteenth time.

Alexander shook his head trying to keep his eyes on the road. "No, Frances, we aren't."

"How long until we reach...the ceme - cemene - cetery?" She asked.

"What's a cetery?" Peggy asked.

"I think she meant celery," Philip whispered to his younger sister.

"Ohhh." She nodded. "That's my favorite veggie!"

John laughed. "We're almost at the 'cetery'. Just one more minute," he answered. "Oh, and, Alex, take a left right there."

Seconds passed and the family arrived at the cemetery.

"Why are we at the place where dead people are?" Philip asked and hid behind Alexander.

"Don't worry, Pip, there won't be any ghosts," Alex reassured and followed John and the two girls while dragging Philip along.

"Who's Auntie Peggy?" Peggy asked as they were walking.

"Oh, she was a friend of your dad and mine," John said with a smile. "Honestly, I don't think your Pa and I would be together without her."

"Oh, really?" Alexander smirked. "I could've easily said I liked you."

"Sure," he chuckled.

"Yeah, I could! Have a little faith in meeee!"

"She used to be the most childish person in our friend group when we were in college-"

"What's college?" The little girl interrupted.

"That means very hard and stressful school," Alex said.

"Seriously?" John muttered. "Anyway, that was until Alex came around. She would try to make the people she...what's another word for ship? Ah, um, she wanted certain people to be in a relationship."

"Like you and Pa?" She asked.

"Yeah, like me and Pa," he grinned. "She was the ultimate shipper, she was also Aunt Angie and Eliza's sister."

"Don't forget she's an extremely hyper yellow dandelion!" Alex cut in.

"Yes, that as well," John laughed. "And she was my best friend."

"Where's Auntie Peggy?" Peggy asked as they stopped walking.

"Oh, she's right beside us," John replied and pointed to a white gravestone.

"...is she dead?" She asked innocently.

"Yeah, she is," he mumbled.

"Up!" She exclaimed doing grabby hands. John smiled and carried his daughter. "I like Auntie Peggy."

He sighed. "Who wouldn't?"

"Oh, I don't know...Paine?" Alexander reminded.

John elbowed his husband and rolled his eyes. "Don't."

"Pops, can we go play?" Philip asked tugging on Alexander's sleeves and pointing on a faraway tree.

"Sure, just don't fall down!" He called out to Frances and Philil who were already out of earshot.

"Peggy seems like a nice person," Peggy said softly. "Can I meet her, Dad?"

"Soon, you will," John smiled. "Now, go ahead and play with your siblings," he said letting her down.

"See you later, Dad!" She giggled and ran off towards the tree.

"You alright?" Alex asked noticing the tears John has been trying to hold for a while.

"Yeah, I am," he murmured.

"Hey, we'll be alright," he reassured. "hopefully. 'Cause I'll be there for you. Unless the author planned a plot twist and ruins everything, but other than that, we'll still be there."

John laughed seeing that there really is no hope for the wall. "Yeah, I guess we would."

"But ya know, you're wrong for one thing," John continued. Alexander raised an eyebrow in curiosity.

"We'll be there for each other."

The End

~—•—~

i survived-

ANYHOW thank you so much for reading my uh first fanfic. This would now be officially under minor rewriting, if not major, due to the fact of the higher cringe levels at the first few chapters.
And I'm sure there are grammar errors in each part.
SO THANK YOU, THAT'S ALL I HAVE TO SAY-

Have a nice day/night/afternoon/evening/morning/noon/etc-