Audrey

Thomas went to shower after we finished breakfast. I lost at rock, paper, scissors; resulting in me being the one to wait for room service. I knew I should've picked paper instead of scissors. Of course he would pick rock.

I shook my head at myself. "I'm mad at myself for losing a kid's game" I chuckled, plopping onto the couch. Remembering that the worker felt uncomfortable, I went to the room and slipped on pants before returning back to the couch. As I got comfortable, there was a knock on the door. "Damn. Horrible timing" I muttered, standing up.

The same worker from earlier was standing at the door. "Hello again, Mrs. Laney" he greeted me. I smiled, waving him inside. "I hope breakfast was to your liking" he said while moving to the cart of dirty dishes. I nodded my head and pulled a few billed out of my wallet. "Oh. I can't take this. Mr. Laney is a cherished customer. No need for that" the worker stated.

I thrusted it towards him. "This money isn't from Mr. Laney. It is from me. And I insist you take it. Or you will be going against the wants of a cherished customer's guest" I threatened. He lightly chuckled at me, hesitantly taking the money.

He started pushing the cart out again. "Have a good day, Mrs. Laney" he said kindly.

"You too" I closed and locked the door. "Oh, shit!" I exclaimed, seeing my mate standing behind me. "You scared me!" I scolded him, taking deep breaths.

Thomas smiled and pulled me closer to him. He wrapped his arms around my waist, but didn't pull me into his chest. "I'm sorry, Mrs. Laney" my mate said with an innocent smile. I rolled my eyes, loosely wrapping my arms around his neck. "The shower is available for you, Mrs. Laney" he stated.

I moved away from him to go shower. "Mrs. Laney" he muttered, making me stop in my tracks. "Has a nice ring to it" he mumbled. I didn't know if he knew that I heard him. But I played it off as I didn't hear. I continued walking to the shower then hopped in.

Mrs? That implies being a wife- which implies getting married- which implies long term commitment- which actually scares me a little. I really love Thomas. But marriage? At 18? Last night we were just talking about how I want to reconnect with everyone and figure out all this stuff involving Keith. Putting a marriage on top of that, my life would be crazy. I just don't want to be a bad wife trying to manage all this stuff. Marriage is a serious thing. If- When we get married, I want to put my all into it. I want to do it right. I want it to be as perfect as possible.

Not to mention the fact that the whole mating process is usually completed before marriage. I'm not marked. Thomas isn't marked. Maybe it's time to speed things up. Maybe we should-

"Audrey?" Thomas called out. "You've been in there for almost half an hour" he informed me.

I wiped the water off of my face before responding. "Yeah. I'll be out in a sec!" I shouted back. After washing the soap out of my hair, I turned off the water and wrapped my hair in a towel. I actually hesitated grabbing the other towel. Walking into the bedroom nude would definitely start something, but my concern was if I would be able to finish that something.

Shaking my head, I wrapped a towel around my body and walked into the bedroom. I slipped on the clothes I bought before walking out of the bedroom. Thomas was sitting on the couch, texting on his phone. "So I was thinking" I started.

"No way!" Thomas exclaimed. I rolled my eyes at him and slapped his chest. "I'm kidding. Continue" he urged, pulling me onto his lap.

I chewed on my lip, thinking of a way to tell him about my shower thoughts. "You know how you said that Mrs. Laney has a nice ring to it?" I asked, hesitantly.

Thomas slowly nodded his head. "I didn't think you heard me" he admitted.

I took a couple moments to think again. Well, just yank off the bandaid right? "I think we should start the process" I blurted.

My mate stared at me. Maybe he didn't agree with me. What if he was just joking around about the Mrs. thing? And I just took it seriously. "Like, mark each other?" he questioned. I nodded my head, avoiding his eyes. "Finally!" he exclaimed. I jumped at his sudden shouting. "I didn't want to say anything in case you weren't ready. I've joked around about it just to like hint. And I don't think you got the message" he said sheepishly.

I laughed. "So, you agree with me?" Thomas nodded in confirmation. "We don't have any plans at the moment, right?" I asked. He shook his head. "Good" I got up and pulled him towards the bedroom.

***

"Are you sure, you're not pregnant?" Stacy questioned. We had the phone on speaker as everyone was on the other line.

I laughed along with my mate. "Mom. It just happened. We don't know for sure. But probably not. We did use protection" he informed her. I heard a few of the guys groan and mutter about too much information. The girls were muttered about how there won't be a baby to spoil.

Thomas chuckled, kissing my newly made mark. "Oh, Thomas. The package for Audrey just arrived" my mother stated.

He thanked her. "What package?" I wondered.

"A very large package" he stated. Damn. Two large packages in such little time. Thomas chuckled, placing small kisses on my neck. "Naughty thoughts, Audrey. We are on the phone with your family. That is very inappropriate" he scolded me quietly.

I turned in his lap so I was straddling him. "It's a great gift, Thomas. How long have you planned this?" my dad asked. While Thomas answered, I began teasing him by kissing and sucking on his mark.

His voice became shaky as his hold on me tightened. "Close your mind, Thomas!" Keith exclaimed. I pulled away from his neck and cringed. We have now learned that the bond between Thomas and I has extended to Keith. Which is very uncomfortable. But it is easy to block him out. This crosses so many boundaries. "You guys are horrible people" he muttered.

We all laughed. A knock sounded at the door. I got up from Thomas' lap as he continued talking to everyone. "Mrs. Laney. I have brought some champagne" the man said politely. I ushered him in as he placed an ice bucket and the pottle of bubbly on a table. Thomas stood up and held out some money to the worker, who shook his head. I grabbed it from Thomas and held it out, raising an eyebrow at him. He smiled at me, shaking his head. "On the house. Have a great night, Mr. and Mrs. Laney" he walked out of the door.

Right after the door clicked shut, squealing filled the room. "He called you Mrs. Laney!" the girls squealed. I winced at the high pitched shouting. Thomas kissed my forehead, pulling me back to the couch.

I sat down as he poured some champagne in each of the glasses. "That is illegal! You're only 18!" Dad exclaimed with a chuckle.

Thomas smiled before making me stand so I could sit on his lap. "Hey, go get some champagne too" Thomas instructed. David said he would get some and we all waited in silence. A minute later, we heard the bottle being popped open before it was poured into glasses. "Even though we can't see you guys, I wanna make a toast" my mate announced.

I cuddled closer to him, placing a kiss on his cheek. "Most of us haven't known each other our whole lives. Some of us, we've even met recently. But nonetheless, we are a family. A delusional, crazy, complicated family. A family that just keeps getting bigger. So here's to our family that will never stop growing" There was cheering on the other end, but I just pulled my mate in for a kiss.

"If this family is gonna grow, I need some grandchildren!" Stacy exclaimed.

I laughed, pecking Thomas' lips before lifting up my glass and toasting his. "I love you" I stated.

"I love you too"

"I love Bay, too!" I laughed, smiling at the phone. "When are you coming back?" Riley asked in her sweetly innocent voice.

I looked at Thomas, who shrugged. "Soon, Ri-Ri. But soon will be even sooner if you go to sleep. It's past your bedtime" I stated. I could just imagine the pout on her face.

"But everyone else is up" she muttered.

Well, I didn't know what to say to that. "Everyone else is an adult" David told her. "When you're an adult, you can stay up late. But kids need lots of sleep so they could be very strong adults okay?"

"I wanna be an adult" Riley whined.

I laughed, making Thomas pinch my side so I would shush. I gave him a sheepish smile. Laughing is very inappropriate when talking to a child about why they have to do specific things. Actually, laughing whenever you're talking to a kid is bad; they might think it's all a joke or something. "You can't just be an adult, sweetheart. That takes time" David informed her.

"But I wanna be one now!" she huffed.

David sighed. "Riley" I spoke up. "Adults have to work. Do you wanna get a job?" I questioned.

"Goodnight, Dave! Goodnight, Bay! Goodnight, Lila! Goodnight, everyone! It's my bedtime now" she blurted.

I heard her small footsteps fade away before everyone laughed. "Just scare her with working. Brilliant" Lila chuckled. "I'm going to bed" Lila announced before saying goodnight.

"And since she's dragging me away, I'm going too. Night guys!" Dave called out from afar. I chuckled as the older adults shouted about grandchildren. "If Lila doesn't make me pu-"

"Too personal!" Gardenia shouted. I cringed, understanding how he felt when Thomas spoke about using protection. "Marco and I are going to bed too. Night"

One after another, all the couples began to leave. "Damn. Everyone is going off to have sex" Keith huffed.

I laughed. "Isn't Em there?" I asked.

"Yeah, I'm here. But I'm not having sex with him" she said, letting out a gross sound. "No one is in the game room" Emily announced.

Then it was completely silent. "I think they forgot about the phone" I told Thomas. He shrugged and hung up before pressing our lips together. "Are you never satisfied?" I asked as he trailed kisses down my neck.

"Not when it comes to you" he said cheekily.

I rolled my eyes as he pecked my lips. "So are you gonna tell me what that package is?" I inquired. Thomas shook his head. "Please?" I said with a pout.

He laughed. "Nope. You'll see when we get back to the castle. Have patience" he stated.

"But I'm not a doctor"

"That was a horrible pun" he informed me. I nodded in agreement. It was a really bad pun. "That pun ruined my mood. I'm never having sex ever again because of that pun" he declared.

Shrugging, I got off his lap. "You can tell your mother that then" I stated, throwing him his phone. Thomas laughed, pulling me back. I stood in front of him and began running my hands through his hair. "I like this. The getaway, relaxing. Just some us time. I really enjoyed this" I told him honestly.

Thomas smiled at me. "I did too" he stated. "You know, we should make this a thing. Like once a month or something. Just have a weekend getaway" he suggested. That would be amazing. But that would also increase the chances of pregnancy. "Naughty thoughts" Thomas scolded me.

I shrugged. "They're not on the phone anymore" I pointed out. "So I could do this" I kissed his mark, causing a shiver to go through his body.

His grip on my waist tightened. "Don't start something you're not gonna finish. I only brought one" he stated, referring to the protection.

"Well, our parents do want grandkids" I reminded him.

His response wasn't verbal. He simply lifted me up and carried me to the bedroom.  

_______________

"Sometimes you have to get knocked down lower than you have ever been to stand back up taller than you ever were"

-Black Veil Brides

I have decided that Living A Lie will soon be coming to an end. I'm going up to Chapter 40 then there will be an epilogue. I just need to tie up a few loose ends and ta-da! End of the sequel. Thanks for sticking with me through this story and my other books. I'm truly grateful. I love you guys!

Kayyyyzzz Byeeezzz

~A.J.