Bonus 3

That's me with my first ever bestie up there. We still talk today, lol, and neither of our faces have changed. He just looks like he's seventeen (he's my age) and I look like I'm ten... so yeah. Even though he's a day older than me, he looks seven years older than me... so that's fun. I jus put this up here cuz this photo reminds me of young Amy and young Max, lol.

Anydoodle!

I know you guys aren't here for that, you're here for another Bonus chapter! And guess what! You're not gonna get one...

Yet.

Did I get you? No? Well, I tried.

I know the title says this is a bonus, and it is, but I just wanted to make sure to put this not before it because I've gotten some suggestions and questions so I just wanna address them.

Alrighty, here we go.

Sequel?: Sorry guys, but it's not gonna happen. Even the sequel with Alexander or a spin-off of Oscar and Kyle, or Audrey and West, or whoever else. But don't think I've given up on these guys! I most certainly haven't.

That brings me to a really cool idea that I've had that I think you guys will like.

All of my books will be in the same universe. So, that means you'll see a bit more of these characters in my other books. Even in Heaven on Fire or The Wanted Children (my other books). So if you haven't had enough of Amy, Max, and company, then head on over to my other books! (If you want Alexander to get a girlfriend you might wanna head on over to Heaven on Fire *wink wink*)

ALRIGHTY THEN— sorry, that was aggressive— let's get onto the next chapter!

P.S.— play the song above when you see the 🎶

•Maximus•

These little rascals... I thought to myself as I was watching Niagara, Andreas and Jasper— the youngest of the five King children— wrestling on the couch while Syren and Aadya were patiently watching them. Well, Syren was patiently watching them while Aadya looked like she was trying her best not to get in there and get them to stop.

Syren and Jasper were our second set of twins that were born a lovely five years ago. They were just like Niagara and Aadya in the sense that they were nothing alike personality wise. Unlike those two, the two of them didn't look alike all that much.

Syren Liric King was five minutes older than her younger brother and definitely liked her mom more than me. She loved me, I knew that, she just didn't like me.

Syren had bone straight red hair with natural blonde highlights, greyish-hazel eyes, long eyelashes, tan skin, high cheekbones, and thick lips. She was definitely a mommy's girl who loved to write, glare at people, and watch her siblings destroy the house. Although she was only five years old, she had Andreas, Jasper, and— sadly— me wrapped around her little finger. She rarely ever smiled, but when she did the whole world would just light up.

She was just like her mother that way.

Another way she was like her mother was being an overachiever. Little Syren was able to speak English, Italian, and Spanish fluently at the young age of three and just loved to talk to her siblings in one language and switch to another to mess with them. She was also an introvert who hated participating in violence of any sort like her mother. But unlike her mother and more like me, she was a scheming little child who loved to mess with her siblings and wouldn't be afraid to bash someone's head in if they went against her or her family.

Then there was Jasper. Jasper Stone-King. He had light brown hair with natural blonde highlights, greyish-hazel eyes, long eyelashes, freckles across the bridge of his nose, fair skin, high cheekbones, and a sharp jawline. He was definitely a daddy's boy and loved to box just I like I did. He hated music, something I never thought a person could hate, but was still really supportive of his parents' passion for music. He had the cutest little lisp that Niagara always made fun of him for, while everyone else loved it. He spoke fluent Italian and a little bit of Spanish and had the mouth of a sailor— much like his older sister and parents.

Jasper was quite protective of his siblings, especially Aadya. He broke a girl's arm when she called Aadya fat and ugly at school. He would've continued too if Aadya hadn't yelled for him to stop. When I told him that no true man should ever lay his hands on a woman, he replied with "No woman would ever put another woman down."

He was a wise little asshole. I mean, he shouldn't have broken the girl's arm, that was too overboard, but he made a great point.

When Syren's writing journal was stolen by a bunch of second grade boys who loved to mess with her, Jasper gave each of them a black eye and kick in the balls for good measure. Syren obviously suggested that. Jasper was a lot like Niagara, which is probably the reason they don't like each other very much. Except when it came to pranking their other siblings.

They got along just fine for that.

Which brings me to three of my five children wrestling on our fluffy, white carpet in their matching Christmas onesies. Niagara, ever the household bully, had decided that waking up her brothers with Nerf gun bullets was a good idea. Not only that, but she hid theirs so that neither of them could fight back and would just have to sit there... helpless.

I'm not gonna lie, I did that to Audrey and Alexander when we were younger. Speaking of which, our closest family members would be coming over today to celebrate.

"'Reas!" Syren called. "I wanna piggy back ride."

Andreas instantly stopped yanking Niagara's hair and turned to his baby sister. "Can it wait, bella?"

Syren shook her head. "No, I'm bored 'reas."

The young boy sighed before getting up from our rug and going over to fulfill his sister's request.

"Where do you wanna go, mia piccola bella?" Andreas wondered. Both him and Syren spoke three languages, so they had a habit of talking to each other in Italian or Spanish. (My little beauty) AN: I was able to write this without using Google Translate thanks to reading all of the books with Italian male leads on Wattpad 😂

"You're my magical unicorn and I'm the princess who's gonna save the kingdom!" Syren said with a giggle. She loved to play pretend.

"Your wish is my command, Princess Syren," Andreas said in his most regal voice. Just as he was about to prance away, Jasper stopped wresting with Niagara and ran in front of them.

"Don't you want to have your pet dragon to help you instead?" Jasper asked, trying to get Syren to play with him instead of Andreas.

Syren rolled her eyes. "You hate playing pretend with me, Jasper."

Jasper shook his head. "Not today! I'll play with you today!"

Syren shrugged. "Okay. But you're the big bad demon that I have to kill to protect my kingdom!"

Jasper started to growl. "I'll destroy your kingdom, Princess Syren!"

Syren pointed towards Jasper. "Onward, 'reas! We must defeat the evil demon!"

The three siblings then ran off, leaving me to sigh and rub my eyes tiredly. There was never a dull moment in the King household, that's for sure.

Just then, the doorbell rang. Before I could even move to get it, Amy bursted from our room and ran over to the door. She looked as gorgeous as ever in her white party dress with the slit on the side. I don't know how she did it, but after college, planning our wedding, nursing school, and having five children, Amy still managed to look like a goddess at thirty-five years old.

Amy's dress

"Hey you guys!" Amy greeted Audrey and West happily.

As Audrey and Amy were embracing each other, West walked in with East and Mateo climbing all over him. He still had a bright smile on his face and waved when he saw me.

"'Sup Max! How's it been man?" West dapped me up for our greeting.

I smirked. "Niagara, Jasper, and Andreas were fighting to the death just five minutes before you came."

West chuckled. "What'd my niece do this time?"

"I shot them with Nerf guns, Uncle West!" Niagara bragged.

"Hi Niagara!" East greeted in sign language. The little girl was very hard of hearing and could only hear about twenty percent in her left ear and was completely deaf in the right.

Niagara said hello to her younger cousin while also signing it in case East couldn't read her lips.

Mateo just nodded his head hello, being his silent self as usual.

"Why don't you two go and find something to do while the rest of the family comes?" West suggested.

East and Mateo jumped down from their father and ran away, probably to go and find Jasper, Syren, and Andreas while Niagara and Aadya greeted their aunt and uncle.

After just as Audrey and West got settled in, Kyle, Oscar, Samantha, Xander, Kace, and Axel and their wives Gianna and Dori arrived at the same time. It was a good thing that our house was large enough for all of these people, or else it would feel cramped as soon and my siblings parents and Amy's parents came over.

Kyle and Oscar's little girls Yuna and Neveah came running in, wearing obnoxious, pink, poofy dresses that I'm sure Kyle picked out. Yuna was Chinese and they adopted her when she was born eight years ago. Neveah was Native American and they adopted her two years ago when she was five, saving her from an abusive foster home. She was blind in one eye while Yuna had Asperger's, which was very rare for girls to have. They were both adored by their fathers, though, and were treated like any other family member by everyone else.

Samantha and Xander's little girls Killian and Hunter came in as well as Stephanie's baby boy Giancarlo and Xander's baby girl Poppy.

You might be a bit confused as to why I phrased it like that. Samantha and Xander didn't last through college. Samantha got pregnant during her Sophomore year of university with both Killian and Hunter, before Xavier had even proposed. With all of the pressure from school and the babies, the two decided it was best for them to break up and just be friends. Samantha then married her ex-husband Finch— who cheated on her with Killian and Hunter's babysitter, hence why he's her ex-husband now— and got pregnant with Giancarlo. Sadly, though, after Samantha found out that he was cheating, Finch filed for a divorce and left her to raise her baby on her own. Xavier had already had a baby with his girlfriend at the time, but she couldn't handle the stress of being a parent and just left him one day with Poppy and a poorly written apology note.

So now the two are co-parents and help each other as much as they can. They've decided to just stay single, but anyone can see that the two of them are slowly becoming more than friends once again.

Kace and Gianna's puppy Bruno, who was a humongous Great Dane, and their other dog Jamie, who was a gigantic Dalmatian, came sprinting into the house and almost knocked me over when they came to greet me.

Then Axel and Dori came in last, probably because Dori was eight months pregnant and could barely move with how large her baby bump was.

After that Alexander, Ainsley, and Noah came, along with both Amy and my parents. Noelani and Ethan weren't able to come, seeing and Noelani got married and was on her honeymoon while Ethan was in Japan for an important business deal.

It seemed like just yesterday when Noelani and Ainsley were just babies. Now they were twenty-three with jobs and shit. Ainsley was a model and fashion designer who loved to party and was known as a major playgirl around the world— I wish I didn't know that—,while Noelani was a neurosurgeon who was currently marrying the love of her life, who just so happens to be the professor that taught her in medical school. He was only ten years older than her, so I didn't freak out too much when she told me who she would be marrying.

Alexander, on the other hand, was a professional gamer and was still looking for a nice lady to settle down with. He was still friends with Austin, the little Australian that had a huge crush and Amy, and the two of them are known as the best team in the gaming world. No one has ever beaten them at anything when they're together.

My mother and father were still blissfully in love and were so happy to have seven grandchildren (fourteen-and-a-half if you count Yuna, Neveah, Killian, Hunter, Giancarlo, Poppy, and Dori's baby girl Phoebe).

Mr. and Mrs. Stone were also quite happy with the large family that seemed to keep getting bigger and bigger every year.

Once everyone was there, we took about a thousand pictures and laughed, ate, and sang for what felt like hours.

When the night was over and everyone went to the guest rooms to sleep, Amy and I went into our room to get ready for bed.

"So, tonight was fun," Amy said as she was taking out her hair in the bathroom.

I walked up behind her and wrapped my arms around her waist. I placed a soft kiss on her neck before speaking into her ear. "You looked absolutely ravishing tonight in that dress, shortie."

Amy blushed, much like I thought she would and leaned into my touch. "Thank you. I was really worried that the kids would get it dirty or something, but surprisingly that didn't happen."

I slowly started to turn her so that she could look at me. When Amy looked into my eyes, she bit her plump, pink lips at the sight of my darkened irises and dilated pupils. I bent down and gave the corner of her mouth a kiss, causing her breath to catch.

"K-knight, we have to get to bed," She said as I was trailing my kisses down her neck and towards her chest.

I smirked against her skin. "Eager, are we?"

Amy gasped softly when I nipped at the top of her breasts. "Max, our parents are here." I know that she was trying to sound stern, but the want in her voice just made the sentence come out in a whimper.

I chuckled lowly. "Then I guess you'll have to be quiet then, right baby?"

"Quiet during what?" With the change in her voice, I knew that Amy had given in. I loved how her voice got when she was aroused. So innocent like it was our first time, yet so sultry like she'd been doing this for a while.

"Oh, my naughty baby, you know what I mean," I said as I led her towards our bed.

"Are we gonna have fun time—?"

"Daddy?"

Damn it! Not the person I wanted to hear calling me that.

I sighed in exasperation. "Yes, Aadya?"

"We were wondering if we could sleep with you and mommy," She said.

The look that Amy gives me tells me that she wants to say yes, causing me to curse under my breath. I couldn't say no to my baby girl.

And Aadya too.

"Sure, hun. Come on in," I said, exasperated.

"He said yes, guys," Aadya whispered to someone outside the door. All of our kids came scurrying into the room and jumped onto our bed. Niagara and Aadya sat at the end of the bed, Syren sat on Andreas' lap, and Jasper curled up next to his mom.

Lucky.

"Did you guys have a good Christmas?" Amy wondered.

It would've been better if the kids weren't in our room right now.

Everyone nodded their head or said a quiet "yes".

"Mama?" Jasper whispered after a beat of silence.

"Yes, amore mio?" She answered. (My love?)

"Can you and daddy sing the special song?" He wondered.

All of our kids started to beg for us to say yes, saying how much they love that song. It was the song that Amy and I had made just before she went into that coma. It was, coincidentally, the only song that Jasper liked and would actually sign along to.

Amy turned to Max. "What do you think?"

I shrugged. "It's up to you, shortie."

🎶

Amy smiled. "There's no combination of words I could put on the back of postcard."

"No song that I could sing but I could try for your heart," Aadya then joined in.

"Our dreams, they are made out of real things like shoeboxes of photographs and sepia-toned loving," Syren joined in.

"Love is the answer at least for most of the questions in my heart like: Why are we here? And where do we go? And how come it's so hard?

It's not always easy and sometimes life can be deceiving.

I'll tell you one thing it's always better when we're together."

Andreas and I joined in. "Mmm, it's always better when we're together

Yeah, we'll look at the stars and were together

Well, it's always better when we're together

Yeah, it's always better when we're together."

Everyone hummed the instrumental to themselves. Amy and I smiled to each other, looking at our adoring family that we created. Each of them were unique, little slices of Amy and I and I couldn't be happier with them.

"And all of these moments just might find their way into my dreams tonight," I sang.

"And I know that they'll be gone, when the morning light sings and brings new things. For tomorrow night you'll see that they'll be gone too

So many things I have to do,"

Andreas and Jasper joined in with me. "But if all these things just might find their way into my day-to-day scene

I'll be under the impression I was somewhere in between

With only two, just me and you

Not so many things we got to do

Or places we got to be we'll sit beneath the mango tree now."

As we all sang the chorus, I thought about how my life had gotten here. How the moment I walked in my kindergarten class, my eyes just gravitated towards Amethyst. How her large doe eyes have never left my thoughts and how her smile has always brightened up my day. How, even when I was sitting by her hospital bed, crying for her to wake up, to when we got pregnant for the first time, to now, I've never stopped loving her.

And now when I looked at the faces of my little angels, each of them looking so much like their mother in one way or another, I realize that I couldn't be happier. Who could be when you have such an amazing family like mine?

"I believe in memories they look so, so pretty when I sleep," Andreas, Jasper, I sang.

"And when I wake up, you look so pretty, sleeping next to me." Amy and I gazed into each other's eyes.

"But there is, not enough time

There is no, no song I could sing

There is no combination of words I could say but I will still, tell you one thing," The girls joined in.

"We're better together," just Amy and I sang.

And we were.

Merry Christmas! (I know it's after midnight but oh well)