bonus #9

He missed her.

It had only been an hour since Aurora had left for work, having been called to a sudden meeting with a client, and already, he was desperately missing his wife. If he had it his way, she would be at home, spending the day with their kids, and most importantly with him.

Perhaps, they could've cuddled a bit longer in bed before the kids woke up because God knows that once the kids woke up, he basically wasn't allowed near Aurora— twins' orders. He was glad Xander grew out of that phase, but sadly, Jared and Jayden were at that exact age where they were possessive over their mother.

When Xander was younger, he was able to sneak a few touches and kisses here and there. But now, it was like having two little munchkins with impeccable radars hovering over Aurora at all times. He wondered how it was even possible that they knew he was about to show his wife some affection at times. They could be in the other room, but come running right away when he gave Aurora a hug or short kiss.

I mean, come on, Aurora was his to begin with.

And no, he wasn't jealous of his own kids.

Was h— nope, he wasn't. Swear to god.

But, of course, he loved those little monsters to death. They were just a bit of a handful, especially the twins. While Xander grew into the role of being the oldest child at 6 years old, often looking after his younger siblings, the twins, who had just turned 4, loved causing havoc around the house, often bringing innocent little Ayla along for the ride.

"Daddy, pway?"

Xavier placed the pan back onto the stove before looking down at his adorable daughter. She was staring up at him, with her big doe-like eyes that instantly made his heart melt. God, she was practically the fun-sized version of Aurora and he fucking loved it. Tucked in one of her arms was her favorite blanket, and what seemed like a few small bottles of baby-safe nail polish that Aurora had gotten from Target.

"Hi, pretty girl." Bending down, he picked Ayla up and held her close in his arms, before brushing away a few strands of her soft brunette hair that had gotten loose from her hair tie.

"How about we play after we eat lunch, princess?" He offered, gently taking the nail polish from her small hands, and placing them onto the counter. Ayla scrunched her nose up, the same way Aurora often did, before nodding hesitantly. "Then we can paint your nail the pretty pink that you like— maybe we can ask your brothers if they want to help."

"Bubba, help?" Her eyes widened before she nodded more enthusiastically.

Xavier smiled at the nickname she had picked up for her brothers. He placed a kiss on her forehead, before giving his daughter a little boop on her nose that made her giggle as she wrapped her arms around her dad.

"Alright, princess, let's go see what kind of trouble your brothers causing now," murmured Xavier, leaving the kitchen with Ayla in his arms to find his boys, who were no doubt being too quiet. There was an endless amount of possibilities as to what they were up to, and Xavier was already thinking of how he was going to scold them.

One thing that he hated doing, especially when it came to his children, was being strict. The first time one of the boys had gotten in trouble, after scolding them, he immediately felt a lot of guilt. Seeing them tear up and cry from being scolded broke his heart every time, but Aurora had reassured that this was how their kids wouldn't be spoiled as they grew up.

They had even begun to implicate timeouts as a way to teach them that bad behavior was not acceptable, and yes, at first it was difficult, but now it seemed like at least one of the boys, either Jayden or Jared, would be put in one at least once a day.

They were a handful, but Ayla, on the other hand, was an absolute angel. Sure, she had her temper tantrums here and there, but compared to how wild her older brothers were, she was a blessing. Besides, when it came to Ayla, Xavier was absolutely weak. She could get away with practically anything and still have her dad wrapped around her tiny fingers.

All of their children resembled the both of them, but he still couldn't get over the fact that Ayla was practically a miniature version of Aurora.

Oh, and speaking of Aurora, he missed her.

Did he mention that already?

The game room in which the boys were often playing in was completely silent as Xavier and Ayla approached the entrance. Quietly, Xavier peeked his head in, hoping that the boys weren't causing any trouble.

The scene immediately brought a smile to his face. Xander sat on the floor, with his back against the couch, playing a game on his iPad. The twins were propped up on their elbows behind him on the couch, watching him play over his shoulders. He had never seen the boys this quiet and peaceful, and he wanted to share the moment with Aurora.

Quickly, he grabbed his phone from his back pocket of his jeans and snapped a few photos, sending them to Aurora. Her reply was almost instant, having missed her family already.

"Bubba!" Ayla's voice caused the boys' heads to turn towards the entrance where Xavier and a squirming Ayla stood in the entrance. Bending down, he set Ayla on the ground, where she immediately launched herself into Xander's arms.

"Lunch time, boys," Xavier smiled softly, walking up to where they were still sitting. "I cooked your favorites— we can play after you eat."

"Food!" Jared's eyes sparkled in excitement at the mention of food, immediately jumping up from his position. "Race ya!"

Everything seemed to be a competition to the twins and almost immediately, Jared ran out of the room, with Jayden running at full speed after his twin.

"Don't run in the house!" Shouted Xavier, despite knowing that the twins weren't going to listen to him. Shaking his head, he looked at the two left behind, watching as Xander helped Ayla to her feet.

Wanting to be held, Ayla made grabbing arms at Xavier, who immediately picked her up. The trio made their way downstairs, with Xander trailing after his dad, still completely engrossed in his game. Even before he entered the dining room, Xavier could already hear the twins' excited chatter.

Routinely, he strapped Ayla in her highchair, making her protest, but as soon as Xander took his seat beside her and handed her his iPad, she immediately quieted down. Despite only being 6 years old, when it came to his younger siblings, Xander was always one to look out for them.

Xavier quickly made his way to the kitchen, where he had cooked some of their favorites, including Mac n' cheese and fried sausages. He even heated up some of their grandmother's fried rice that she had dropped off the day before since she knew that it was one of her grandchildren's favorite dishes.

He quickly placed the food into each of their individual plates and bowls, knowing exactly how much each of them ate. He always made sure to cook extra, knowing how much the boys could eat when they were extremely hungry.

"Bubba, eat?" Asked Ayla, looking up at her dad curiously.

"Yes, princess," he said, securing her bib before brushing her hair back and smoothly retying her hair. "Bubbas' are going to eat and then we can go play, okay?"

She nodded happily, immediately picking up a piece of chopped-up sausage into her hand.

Glancing up at the time, Xavier wondered why their daily visitor, well, more like a pest, hasn't appeared just yet. Perhaps today was the day he wouldn't show up, immediately making him breathe out a relieved sigh.

He already had to look after 4 kids— add another one to the bunch, one who was literally in his twenties, but still had the mentality of a little kid, and Xavier was surely going to go crazy. For now, Xavier prayed that he wouldn't show up.

"God damn, it smells good in here."

He spoke too soon.

Elijah's appearance immediately caused Xavier to groan at the sight of his younger brother. Elijah was now playing professional hockey, having gotten scouted immediately after university, and it just so happened to be off-season.

This meant Elijah was constantly over, blessing them with his presence as he leeched off of free food. It seemed like Elijah learned his bad habits from his idiotic friend— Xavier swore Elijah hung out too often with Liam.

How Elijah was even able to obtain a copy of the keys to their home was a complete mystery. Note to self: change the locks and perhaps hire new security since they keep letting him in.

"Uncle Eli!"

The kids' excited voices greeted their uncle, whom they had just seen the day before.

"My favorite nephews— don't tell Colton," Elijah ruffled each of the boys' hairs as he passed by, before leaning down, placing a kiss on Ayla's forehead, making her giggle. "Hi, princess."

Ayla immediately dropped her spoon onto the table, placing her hands on Elijah's cheeks, before squishing them together happily. Elijah couldn't help but smile at his niece, knowing full on that she had him in the palm of her hands— just like all the men in the family. She was the only girl, and being the baby, meant she was even more doted on.

Elijah swiftly took a seat on the other side of Ayla, sliding her closer as he grabbed the spoon and began to help feed her. Having been over often, he already knew Ayla preferred using her hands when it came to eating.

Xavier sighed, placing an already prepared plate of food in front of Elijah. He would never admit it, but Elijah was pretty good with the kids, and with him here, it made his job easier.

To some extent.

"This is why you're my favorite brother," Elijah grinned, taking a bite of the fried rice.

"I don't understand why you come over every single day," Xavier grumpily took a seat in between the twins with his own plate, before helping the twins— not that they needed any help since they were already almost done with their plates.

"You know you love me over," Elijah smirked, placing the spoon into Ayla's hand. "Let's try using the spoon, okay, princess?"

Ayla pouted as she tried to maneuver the spoon with difficulty towards her small mouth, completely missing it as most of the food fell onto the table and into her bib. Elijah chuckled before helping her once again.

"You seriously need to find a girlfriend," grumbled Xavier. "Maybe then you'd stop coming over and mooching off of us."

"Sheesh man, don't need to rub in the fact that I'm still single in my face," Elijah threw a piece of sausage at Xavier's face, who immediately glared at his younger brother. "Where's Aurora, anyways?"

"She had a meeting with a client," Xavier warily watched the twins exchange a look as their hands immediately went to grab a slice of sausage, knowing that they wanted to copy what their uncle had just done. "Don't even think about it, boys."

Xavier gave them a warning look, causing them to pout, and instead, shove the food into their mouths. Elijah chuckled, causing Xavier to deepen his glare towards him.

"Damn, babe be workin' hard, as usual," Elijah sighed dramatically, completely ignoring the angry stare that Xavier was sending him. His brother was so easy to wound up, especially since Xavier was very possessive over Aurora. "What the hell do you even do?"

"Language," chastised Xavier, sending his brother a warning look.

"Language," mimicked Elijah, rolling his eyes. "Don't act like you don't curse around the house."

"I try not to— that's not the point," Xavier brought his voice down, as if he didn't want the kids to listen, not like they would understand anyway. "Aurora would kill me if she heard me cursing around them. And what do you mean, what do I do? I run a god damn business empire."

"So, what you're telling me, is that Aurora is the one in charge of the house," Elijah nodded, completely agreeing to his own statement. "Sounds about right," He shrugged. "You're fu— freaking whipped."

"And you're an idiot," grumbled Xavier. "That wasn't even what I was trying to say— what the hell goes through your god damn head?"

Before Elijah could add another comment to annoy his brother even further, the twins' voices interrupted them.

"Hell, hell, hell," chanted Jared, slamming his spoon onto the table.

"Dam, dam, dam," added Jayden, laughing at how funny the word sounded to his ears.

Hearing those words coming out of his younger brothers' mouths made Xander giggle. He knew they were saying bad words— his mama often told him that saying those words weren't nice. Didn't mean that it wasn't funny when papa or Uncle Eli said it though.

Xavier closed his eyes, bringing his hands up to rub his temples, turning to glare daggers at Elijah. "Look what you did, you- you-," God, he wanted to curse so badly. "You mother freaking duck face."

Elijah immediately threw his head back as he laughed until his stomach hurt. Hearing those words come out of Xavier was the funniest shit he had ever heard.

"You-" Elijah continued to laugh, his face turning red. He couldn't even finish a sentence without laughing as Xavier once again grew more and more annoyed. "You-"

"Continue that sentence and you're dead, you asswipe," threatened Xavier, pointing his fork at his still hysterical brother, not even catching the fact that he had just cursed in front of the kids.

Besides Elijah, Ayla looked at the scene around her with furrowed eyebrows, not sure why her daddy was glaring daggers at her laughing uncle. Taking deep breaths, Elijah tried to calm himself, but what came out of Ayla's mouth made Elijah burst into laughter again.

"You athwipe," repeated Ayla, slamming her spoon onto the table. She looked around innocently, as her uncle was now practically rolling on the floor, laughing his head off.

Xavier groaned, knowing he had just fucked up. Looks like Ayla just learned another new word— one that was going to get him in trouble.

Aurora was going to kill him.

❤︎ ❤︎ ❤︎

A new bonus chapter to celebrate 4 million reads! I also made a new story aesthetic on my instagram @ insouciiancy, so make sure to check it out!

I'll try to keep this author's note short, but today marks exactly 1 year since I've decided to post the first part of this story. I want to sincerely thank you all for the endless amount of love and support that you guys have shown me this past year. You guys are the reason why I continue to write and I am extremely grateful for you all.

I've been contemplating this for a while now, but I've finally decided that there will be spinoffs based on some of your favorite characters from this book. I'm already in the process of outlining their stories, but for now, I won't tell you guys who the books will be about. I'll definitely be updating you all through my instagram and posting sneak peaks on there as well. Stay tuned and sorry this author's note ended up not being short...