dedicated to @goingtocamphalfblood for the cover above❤

Epilogue: "Back In The Olden Days."

I LOOKED AT THE model over my camera. Someone, a girl who had started today and yet forgotten to give me her name-or maybe she did and it slipped my mind, handed me a bottle of water. I took it from her with a smile, mentally telling myself to give her a talk on how she was doing good on her first say.

There was a lot of commotion behind me but I didn't want to be interrupted. I could hear the yelling, the sound of a cart moving, people rushing and lights flashing all around me but I blocked them out. I always did. If someone interrupted me I was on the verge what they called a Double M- also known as a 'Macy Meltdown'.

No one, not even me, wanted that.

And I've always hated the cranky type of bosses when I was younger and now that I was one I wasn't about to live up to that. My employees, the ones who were definitely doing a lot and scrambling around me, working with the agency whose shoots were were producing today, we're doing a good job for what had been one of the busiest weeks of our lives. 

"That was good," I told her. "Probably the best one all day. But I need more from you." I needed a different angle.

The girl who had handed me the water came to take it back and she was staring at the model before clearing her throat. "How about the couch?"

My eyes moved over to what she was talking about and I smiled, nodding. "That's it. The couch." I told the model before turning to the girl. "Thank you. Take a break, hun you deserve one. I've seen what you've been doing all day."

Her face flushed red at the praise and I smiled. "Thank you Mrs. Cahill."

"No worries and it's Macy. Remember that." She scurried off and I mentally checked myself. I've been pulling a Liz since I started this- since Liz had helped me start it after I graduated from university all those years ago. It was pretty tough at first, trying to get others see what I could do with a camera but Liz had connections and she pulled me through her chain of connections to get me where I am today as a photographer. To her I was forever grateful. I made a mental note to call her later from where she was probably with Vince on some private island on the other side of the world. 

The model moved to the and she did give me what I had asked. And I could see why she was a model. From my perspective with her facial expressions to the angular structure of her face, I guess she was probably stuck into this at an early age or someone discovered her. I wouldn't even be surprised if I knew the person who had discovered her.

She was great. Probably one of the best I've worked with. In the years of doing this business, I've worked with a lot of models, actors, singers, tycoons the list went on and I knew what I was talking about. But the day itself had been going on for so long and I was kind of glad that with this last photo it was all over.

I sighed in relief when the shoot was over and smiled at her tiredly. "We're good."

She returned her gratitude with some words and a smile but I could barely focus on her when I heard a voice behind me and little footsteps. "Mommy!"

I could feel the tired smile on my face change into a wide grin as I put my camera down and turned around to face the little girl. She jumped into my arms, her curly hair hitting me right in the face but I didn't mind. I never minded. "Hey, how was school today?"

"It was good," She said, munching on a cookie that my assistant, Janice probably gave to her. "I got to look at this book and saw this thing called multi-pa something."

"Multiplication?" I suggested, biting back a smile.

"Yeah!" She nodded in excitement. "I know that two times two is ..."

"Is?" I encourage her to finish, watching her brown eyes flicker around the room as if the answer was somewhere around here.

"Four! It's four!" She laughed loudly and I held her even closer as she continued eating. "Like two plus two."

"Did Janice give that to you?" I asked her and she nodded. "Did you say thank you?" That's when she acted like she didn't hear me and continued eating. "Annabeth." I said sternly.

She swallowed and when she was about to open her mouth, I held her back at arm's length.

  "THANK YOU JANICE!"

Despite my metaphorically eardrums shattering, I shook my head and smiled. I thought I was a loud person but clearly this six year old with my genetics had beaten my loudness. I could only wish she could learn to control it but I highly doubt she would as she grew older.

"You're welcome sweetheart!" Janice yelled back.

"Where's your sister?" I asked her, looking around.

I spoke too soon, another little body colliding with mine. My hand reached out to hold her steady; she was always a little clumsy. I smoothed her wavy hair, not helping the smile that came to my face at the sight of her. "Hi mom." Lauren grinned at me, a little book with a dog on the cover in her hands.

"Hi sweetheart."

"Are we going to see Daddy soon?" Annabeth asked me with her big brown eyes looking up at mine, her voice uplifted with hope. Her eyes were a little bit darker than my hazel ones and because of a certain someone who had a problem with naming people by their eye color, some people called her Coco sometimes.

Lauren had the same eye color too but her nickname was Chocolate- due to creative yet not creative reasons made six years ago when they were born. They were fraternal twins that were so unlike each other. Annabeth was the one who dressed up to be a princess while Lauren was the one who wanted to build a fort. The most the two shared beside their physical traits were that they were picky eaters.

"Yeah but we need to pick up your brother when his soccer practice is over then we'll get on the plane. I already have your things, alright?" Lauren gave me a big smile and I returned it, putting Annabeth back on the ground and holding both their hands.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Is he coming out soon?" Annabeth asked impatiently, tapping her foot on the ground.

Her face was painted and she was wearing the team visor on her hands. She begged me this morning to put it on her quickly and I did as she asked, making her happy on the way to the stadium. She was standing on her seat as we looked down at the other team making their way to the center.

"Soon." I told her as we looked over the field and I felt a hint of nostalgia hit me. It always hit me watching any game of soccer but that didn't stop me from trying to play it a bit when I had the chance.

After my injury, my recovery hadn't turned out the way everyone had wanted. My  knee was okay but it wasn't the same. Neither was the sport I loved. I felt like I wasn't playing the sport like I once did and although I'll love soccer for as long I'm still breathing, it wasn't like it was before. It took me a while to realize this. Why my shots were off, why I was constantly frustrated with myself whenever I tried to play. When I had finally come to terms that I would never play soccer professionally, I moved onto another love of mine. Photography.

So now I had a better reason to carry a camera around my neck every time rather than just telling someone 'memories'. Annabeth tapped me on the shoulder, grabbing my attention. "Where's Laurie?" Annabeth asked of her sister, looking in the direction of where we just came in.

"Right 'ere!" Caleb said with my other six year old on his shoulders as he made his way over to us with a large grin on his face. Caleb put Lauren down as she moved to sit next to her sister, the both of them peering over the railing with bright eyes, trying to spot their father. 

I looked up at Caleb and he greeted me with a a wide smile on his face. Caleb was a face that ahd to be here today. So when he was already in England doing a signing in a city not too far from the stadium, he made sure he could make it for his best friend. On a day like today.

Charlie walked in behind Caleb as he practically vacuumed a hot dog in his mouth. Oh God. He looked so much like his father it was insane. Same curly hair just lighter like mine with vivid green eyes. He looked up at me when he finished his hot dog. "What?"

"I told you ten thousand times. Chew properly before swallowing or else you're going to choke."

"Can I have money to buy another?" He asked, ignoring what I had previously told him.

"Later." I told him and he accepted that, reaching over to grab a piece of Annabeth's cotton candy. Annabeth swatted him when he only managed to take a little bit, retracting her arm.

"You didn't ask!"

"Beth, can I have some?"

"No." She said, turning the other way. I was so ready to separate the two of them. Annabeth and Charlie were the ones that fought one another. Maybe because they both liked the same things and constantly competed to get them. Or maybe it was Annabeth's attitude or Charlie's pride but Lauren was like the glue that held the siblings together and she didn't even know it.

She shushed the both of them before Charlie could say something. "Let's see dad come out."

Charlie grumbled under his breath before taking the seat in between Caleb and I. "Mom, when is dad coming out? We've been here for like an hour."

"Now." I said, looking down at the field and pointing over.

I heard Annabeth and Lauren identically squeal when the announcer said his name throughout the large stadium. I didn't even have to hear the announcer say his name, the crowd around us cheering was well enough. I knew the stadium would be packed especially on a day like today with people sporting the team's colors on the final game of the season.

I watched number 11, walk towards the field with the rest of his team. He walked behind the goalie as they made their way to the center along with the opposing team. His head moved upward and I could tell those green eyes were scanning the stadium trying to find his family.

That's when he found me. A smile made its way to my face and I could see the grin on his face as well.

I could hear the loud sound of the stadium cheering and our children screaming along with them but I kept my eyes on Sam. Like every game he played, he tapped a hand to his chest and I grabbed the pendant hanging from my necklace that I've never taken off those many years ago.

"YES!" I could hear Caleb yell as Sam stood with the people who he had played with a years, possibly loud enough for everyone to hear. "THAT'S MY BEST FRIEND!"

I could see some of the paparazzi down near the field turn their cameras onto Caleb Romero Henderson. His identity that was well known and worldwide made him famous in ways that the guy could never imagine. He smiled down at the cameras waving. I don't think there;s been that many negative reviews on Caleb, there were a lot concerning what was going on through his head most of the time but even his close friends and family.

"Uncle Caleb shh." Annabeth made a face, reaching over to pull him down in his seat.

Caleb laughed and we waited for the moment that the teams got ready. We waited for the whistle to blow and I held my camera up, capturing the moments of Sam having one of the best times of his life, playing the game he loved.

This was Sam's last game. That's what made it so important.

He was retiring. He had to. He was 36 and he loved the game. He loved it more than anything but his own body was starting to give up on him and that was what he hated.

I noticed it first. It was two years ago and he had suffered a knee injury and was out of the season for seven weeks. Getting back into it he didn't tell anyone that his knee was bothering him but after a while I had noticed. So after a very long time to get Sam to realize what he had to do especially since he was at the age of the typical soccer players retirement he decided to do so.

And I could tell that this was one of the hardest things he could ever do.

He felt like he was giving it all up: the fame, the sport and more. But he didn't just have this-soccer- under his belt. He had other stuff. Way more stuff than we had originally thought that linked in to his profession.

But more than that, more than what would happen in the future Sam was going to leave behind something that the world of soccer knew he would. A legacy.

He was that soccer player. The one little boys and girls had hung up in a poster in their rooms. The one when people saw him, they would get him to sign whatever they had in their hands or ask to take a picture with him. He was the one who was a record breaking player, philanthropist, sponsored by so many companies and loved by many.

His legacy here wouldn't die and our kids were something to remind him of that. Charlie, the 10 year old beside me could be just as good as his father, possibly even better. He looked up to Sam especially in the respect of playing just like him.

I remember the first time Charlie ever scored in a soccer game and Sam was there to see it. Charlie had said, "I did it for you." and I remembered the look on Sam' face at those words. They hit him as much as it hit me.

But Sam wasn't just giving up the biggest part of his profession for the sake of his health but he was doing it for us too. I knew that. Soccer was a big part that sometimes kept him from being in his kids' lives and he wanted to experience it all.

I just hoped that despite letting it go, he would still be at his happiest. My hopes were possibly confirmed when I snapped a picture of him shooting the ball right before it had gone into the net. Unlike most soccer players, Sam didn't do his victory run over to the corner where he would at most slide to his knees, basking in the glory with his hands on his face and his team running behind him. Instead, he ran over to the side of the field where we were, his arms up and pointing at us.

Annabeth and Lauren were cheering and Charlie stood, leaning over the railing with a wide smile. "Yes dad!"

And in that moment I realized how proud Sam was of himself when the people he loved were proud of him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Mom?" Charlie yelled and I could hear him running down the stairs before I saw him with the soccer ball in his hand.

"Yeah?" I leaned against the counter, waiting for the same question he's been asking for the past couple of days.

"Can I have a cellphone?" He begged.

I thought about it like I usually did before coming to a proper conclusion. "No."

"Please!" he begged, dropping the ball and moving over to me. He looked up at me with wide green eyes that when he was five worked on me all the time but now that he was ten, I learned not to fall for it.

"No."

"What are we saying no to?" Sam asked as he walked into the kitchen with Lauren on his shoulders.

He spun around in a fast circle, making her laugh loudly before setting her on the ground. Annabeth came trudging in behind her and they both took seats at the counter, grabbing pizza slices from the boxes. Annabeth took a veggie one and Lauren took one with plain cheese.

I tore my eyes away from them as Sam stood next to Charlie, eyes flickering between the both of us. "What's going on here?"

"I want a phone and mom won't let me get one."

"For the last time, you were born in this country, you were raised in this country-why is it that you three can't say mum?" Sam asked.

"I like mom." Lauren told him.

"Yeah, mum sounds weird." Annabeth agreed.

"I just want a phone." Charlie mumbled.

Sam looked over at me before walking over to the twins, putting himself in the middle of their chairs beside the island. "How long has your brother been asking for a phone?" he asked Annabeth.

"Three days, four hours and twenty six minutes." She said, picking the cheese off the pizza to save for later. It was funny. Annabeth had been stuck on the concept of time for such a young age while Lauren struggled with it. On the other hand, Lauren was a reader. She loved reading and was the type to run away from the dolls and head straight into a bookstore. Especially whenever Caleb came over.

"Really?"

"Yeah." Lauren answered, taking small bites.

Sam moved away from them, walking back over to Charlie and me. He looked down at Charlie. "Why do you want a phone?"

Charlie looked down at the ground before looking back up at his dad. "Everyone has one."

Sam chuckled. "That's the worst reason to have something." He sat down at the table, facing the girls.

Charlie looked like Sam had just told him the weirdest thing in the world, rushing over to him. "What? Why?"

"Because you're following a trend."

"What's a trend?" Lauren asked.

"A trend is something that everybody is doing." I told her, kissing the top of her head.

"And none of you are going to tell me or your mom that you want something just because everyone else is has it, got it?"

"Yeah." Lauren and Annabeth said in unison.

"Whatever." Charlie mumbled, taking a seat on the other side of the island, looking disappointed.

I looked at Sam who was already staring at me as if to say 'what are we going to do with him?' He tore his eyes away from my gaze, taking the pizza Charlie was about to put on his plate and putting it back in the box. He picked up the boxes and started moving towards the living room.

I could already hear Lauren whine for the food, instantly grabbing her plate and rushing after him. Annabeth was already on their path but Charlie stayed behind, glancing at me. "What's dad doing?"

I put a hand on his shoulder, giving him a small smile. "Let's go see."

Sam was kneeling on the ground, my laptop in his hand and connecting it to the flat TV perched on the wall. Annabeth and Lauren were already on one couch eating away and Charlie settled on the other, his soccer ball in his hands. "What are we watching?"

I sat down in between the girls as Sam flashed Charlie a smile. "Want to see how your mom looked like back in the day?"

I shot Sam a pointed look but when the girls chimed yes, I exhaled loudly. That's usually how we would get Charlie to forget a situation- move his attention to something else. Sam grabbed the laptop sitting down beside Charlie and Annabeth as the screen lit up with a video of me when I was eight running past Andrew with a soccer ball.

"Is that Uncle Drew?" Annabeth asked with wide eyes, and pizza sauce on the corner of her lip.

I wiped it off with a napkin, nodding. I talked to Andrew almost everyday of the week and the kids loved him almost as much as Caleb. Out of all of my friends, I was pretty sure Andrew was the person I was forever going to stay close too despite us being in different places. He was happy. He lived in America with his own family but I made sure we saw him at least five times a year despite living in England.

Sam moved the mouse over to a different scene and I could see a picture of Jon Ming, Andrew, Austin, Jacob and Brandon from ninth grade along with Drake on the soccer team.

"Mommy, why are you the only girl?" Lauren asked.

"There wasn't a girls team so I had to be in the boys team." I explained.

"That sucks." Charlie said, sitting up. 

"Not really," I admitted. "Wasn't a big fan of girls when I was younger."

"But mom, you're a girl!" Annabeth exclaimed.

I could see Sam holding in his laughter and I held in an eye roll at him before looking at her. "I know honey."

"You didn't like yourself?" Lauren asked, a confused expression on her face.

I tried to find a way to explain it but Charlie beat me to it before I had the chance, his eyes still on the screen. "She means she didn't like the way other girls were like."

"But don't be like that, okay?" I told her. "I didn't like that I was like that when I was younger. Make friends with whoever you want even if they're very different from how you are. Sometimes different is awesome. Girls are awesome." 

"Girls are awesome." Lauren agreed. 

"Oh." Annabeth said and I could see that she was fully invested in this conversation because her body turned to me and she spread herself on the couch, laying her feet up on her dad's lap. "Did you have any girls that were your friends?"

"Like back then in the olden days." Lauren said with a sneaky smile, turning herself to look up at me. 

"You calling me old?" I narrowed my eyes at Lauren and she giggled, turning her body to hide her face into her father's chest. "Remember when you were four and we saw that lady with the-"

"Wait, the pretty blonde lady?" Annabeth asked.  The memory of seeing Stevie those two years ago when we had gone to Los Angeles came rushing back. She had a kid around Charlie's age. I remember when she had gotten pregnant halfway through college. Sam's brother Cedric, wasn't the father and in this a whole bunch of problems had come from the result of them cheating on one another apparently but I wasn't really in Stevie's life at that time to know the whole story.

I wasn't really in most of my high school friends' lives anymore. It even took me a second to realize the group I used to hang out with. Our of my university friends Maddy and I were still friends. Really good ones actually. The kids loved her especially Annabeth.

"Yeah, she was one of my girl friends from high school."

"Who else?" Lauren asked just as I saw a face appear on the screen. A young version of Jasmine was laughing at the camera I was probably pointing at her in the middle of us at my old house after school when we were probably 14. Andrew was laying on my bed, his face buried in the pillow while Jasmine swirled a fake light saber in her hands before pointing it at me. "I'm sick with it I know."

I could hear myself laugh behind the camera and say. "You're such a dork."

She laughed too, trying o push the camera away from my face and Sam paused the video on her mid smile. "That was Jasmine."

"How come we haven't heard of her?" Lauren asked.

"Jasmine was an old friend of mine," I told them getting a nostalgia feeling from the videos and mention of these people. "We grew up together."

"You don't talk anymore?" Charlie asked.

"Nope."

"Why?" Annabeth asked.

"Some friendships don't just work out sweetheart." Sam told her.

"Well, Lauren is my best friend forever." Annabeth said and I could see the grin on Lauren's face at her sister's words, making my heart warm at their bond.

I looked over at Charlie who grabbed a slice of pizza and tapped his dad on the knee. "Can we see more?"

Sam continued the film with the click of a button and the first thing I heard was, "Fuck you!" Sam stopped the video as fast as he could and Charlie burst out laughing, falling onto the floor.

"Oh my God." Charlie gasped for air as Lauren's eyes went wide.

"He said a bad word!"Lauren then studied the person on the screen. "Is that Uncle Brandon?"

I shook my head, sighing as Sam nudged Charlie with his foot, making him laugh even more. He was too much like his father sometimes. "That's his brother, Jacob."

"How come we've never heard of Jacob?"

"Because Jacob is someone that doesn't exactly show himself around anymore." Brandon and Jacob haven't spoken to one another in ten years. I haven't spoken to Jacob a while after the wedding after multiple fights between Brandon and Jacob that I wasn't even sure about. But Jacob wasn't really connected to anyone I knew from high school anymore. Brandon didn't even check up on him.

"What does fu-" Sam put a hand over Annabeth's mouth.

"We don't say that word. It's a very bad word, do you understand Beth?" Annabeth's head nodded but Sam narrowed his eyes at her. "Annabeth."

Annabeth took his hand off her mouth. "I promise not to say it."

"Good because if you do I'm gonna take that new doll away from you."

"But I just got it!" She exclaimed with wide eyes.

"I know."

Annabeth made a mad face, crossing her arms. "I don't like you anymore."

"You don't like me? Okay." There was a moment of silence before Sam spoke up. "I'll just take this last pizza-" Annabeth swatted his hand away, reaching for it herself with a bright smile. Sam glanced at me and cracked a smile.

Later that night, the kids were in their beds and I had just put my laptop away, walking towards the bedroom when Sam appeared with a childish grin on his face."So," His hands lingered on my waist and looked down at them then back up at his face.

"So what?"

"Tonight. You. Me. Our soundproof bedroom. Let's go."

"Sam." I laughed as he kissed my neck.

"Look," He cupped my face in his hands. "I'll be here even more often. Guess what? That means that we go for baby number four."

I laughed, pushing him back and the grin on his face turned into a confused expression. "What? You're not in the mood? When are you not in the mood? Are you on your japan?"

I laughed again. "Relax, I am in the mood and no I'm not on japan." That sneaky grin appeared on his face once more and I rolled my eyes. "We're taking the kids out tomorrow?"

"London?" Sam asked and just then his phone beeped in his pocket. He glanced down at it and his smile turned into a deep frown, making me upset.

"What?"

"They, uh," He cleared his throat, looking from the phone to me. "They want me in for an interview tomorrow."

There was a pause. I glanced at the ground, sighing. I would be okay with that. I understood it. But it was the kids. I don't think they could go another day of being part of almost the same routine of school especially since it was the weekend for them now. And I was certain they wanted to spend more time with their dad. Sam wanted to as well and years of playing what he loved kind of took a little time away from his kids. One game he had almost made him miss Charlie's birthday last year.

Sam had the phone up to his ear in the middle of a call. "Hey, yeah, yeah I got your text...Yeah, I know..."

As the conversation continued, I retreated to the bathroom, grabbing my toothbrush to brush my teeth. Putting the toothbrush in my mouth first, I put my up in a high ponytail when Sam leaned against the frame of the door, watching me. "Yeah." I heard him say into the phone.

Rinsing my brush and putting toothpaste on it, I started brushing my teeth, looking at him through the mirror. He walked forward, leaning against the second sink next to mine. The second sink in the bathroom was so unnecessary since he loved fighting with me over it in the mornings.

He slid closer to me as I continued brushing my teeth, him listening to his manager on the phone.

When his hand reached my waist, resting his flat palm on my skin, I stilled in brushing my teeth but continued a second later. He moved behind me, his hand moving to rest on my stomach before saying into the phone, "Can we reschedule?"

I turned to look at him still brushing my teeth, confused. What?

"Yeah, I don't care...I need to spend time with my family. Yeah. Yeah. Bye, now." Sam hung up the call just as I was finished my routine, I turned to face him.

"Really?"

"Yeah." He put his other hand on my stomach, pulling me against him. "Let me be with you guys and with you right now."

"Sam-" He lifted me up and out of the bathroom without warning. I shrieked loudly before quickly cutting myself off and he froze at the sight of the little intruders at the doorway.

Sam dropped me, looking at our kids. "Did we not say bed time?"

"You said it. Didn't mean we did it." Lauren shot at him.

"You little-"

Lauren shrieked as Sam picked her up tossing her onto the bed. She laughed, and I turned to the other two.

"What were you doing with mom?" Annabeth asked.

I turned to Sam and he grinned. "We were having fun time."

"I want fun time." Annabeth said.

"You'll have fun time tomorrow when we go to London."

"We're going to London?" Charlie's eyes went wide. "Can we go to that field like last time?"

"Anything you want, bud." Sam smiled. "But you guys realize that if you want tomorrow to come quick you have to sleep, right?" Lauren and Annabeth were already out of the room but Charlie lingered, looking at his dad.

"Dad?" He asked.

"Yeah, son?"

"You did really good today."

Sam smiled. "On a scale of one to ten how good?"

"Like, a million." Charlie said.

Sam grinned, "You're going to do a million one day bud."

Charlie returned his smile before yawning. I walked over to him, "See? Sleep for you."

"Ok, night dad, night mom."

I kissed him on the forehead as he went to his room. I looked down the hallway to see if their doors were all closed. I knew Lauren's was going to stay open just a fraction. She was afraid of the dark.  

"I forgot to tell you," Sam said as we crawled into bed after he brushed his teeth. "I got a call from the school and Charlie got in trouble the other day."

"You're telling me this now?" I exclaimed.

"It's not like the kid got suspended."

"We don't want him to get suspended, Sam. We don't want him getting in trouble that could end up in him having a criminal record the second he turns thirteen."

"That's in three years. By the he won't even be worrying about doing the wrong things he'll only be focused on girls."

"He's your son, he already is focused on girls." I told him.

"Really?"

"Yes."

"Really?"

"Yes." I repeated.

"Charlie?"

"Why do you find this so hard to believe?"

Sam clapped his hands in astonishment. "So that's why he asked me that question."

I rolled over on top of him, my head on his chest. "What question?"

"He said he had a project and it was to do surveys on the girls in his class and he wanted to know what I would say so he asked me how I would ask a girl on a date- wait he also asked me what the right age was to get married."

"He asked me to give him money to buy him one of those candy rings and he had little cheerleaders at his soccer practice after school today."

"How many?"

"Maybe six."

Sam chucked, brushing my hair back from my face. "Yup, he's a ladies man."

"He's ten."

"And? It's okay, we established he can start dating at 14."

"Sixteen." I bargained.

"Why sixteen?"

"What age would you let Annabeth and Lauren date when they're older, hmm?" I challenged.

Sam thought about it. "When they're married."

I laughed. "Sam, that's so stupid."

"They're my little princesses they're never going to leave this house."

"Then Charlie is never going to leave this house." I argued.

Sam thought about it before speaking. "Okay for Annabeth and Lauren 18."

"Then Charlie when he's 18." I told him.

Sam thought about it a bit more before sighing. "Okay, all of them when they turn 16."

"That's a good way to not be sexist. Good for you." I patted him on the chest.

"Sorry, it's just weird imagining them growing up every single day especially the twins. But then there's Charlie and he reminds me of how Phillip was at that age."

I scoffed at the thought of Phillip then smiled. "Where is he now?"

"New Zealand," Sam answered. "He's preparing for a competition there soon."

"Are we going to see him eventually?"

"Maybe next month, why?"

"Lauren." Lauren was the clumsy one despite being calmer than her sister most of the time. So, we had put her into gymnastics and Phillip, our worldwide famous Olympic gymnast was ecstatic. "Also, this morning I got a call from Natasha and she said Elliott was crawling."

"I know. Ivan sent the video to the group chat."

"The family one or just the brothers one?"

Sam shot me a look. "It's Ivan. Both. Toby and him got into an argument over how he sent it to both today."

"Is Toby going to, um, get back Austin anytime soon?"

Sam laughed. "Give them a week. They'll be married again in Vegas." Toby and Austin have probably remarried four times. I think. I don't know. But the amount of times they've gotten into huge blow outs that ended to them to stop their relationship, they always came back to one another.

"I wonder how Elena deals with Ivan as her father sometimes."

"She wants to come over during the summer," Sam said referring to Ivan and Natasha's first born. "Spend it with us."

"Really?" I honestly didn't think that brown headed, seventeen year old girl would want to spend the summer over in England. She was so used to New York, she lived and breathed the upper east side like something out of a TV show.

"I'm her favorite uncle, she tells me these things."Sam suddenly laughed, laying his head back on the pillow. "Caleb said the stupidest thing today."

"Caleb says stupid things everyday. Don't even bother telling me what he said, he'll probably call tomorrow and let me know. Did he fly back home today?"

"Yeah, he's visiting his brother before heading back to his family."

"I wonder how-" The sound of my phone buzzing cut me off and I grabbed it, looking at the text message. "Dad says he watched the game and said you did great."

Sam smiled, his eyes closed. "Tell him thanks and that I found the watch he wanted. We're heading back when the kids finish school right?"

"Yeah, him and Justin's at the old house." I put my phone away, adjusting my head on the pillow as I studied him. He looked like he was trying to appear like he was at peace but I knew he was still being bothered.

"Sam?" I exhaled.

He opened and drifted his eyes over to me, pulling a faint smile on his face. "Yeah, love?"

"It bothers you doesn't it? Letting it go?"

He tilted his head back. "Kind of. It's harder than I thought."

"I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault. It's my body giving up on me."

"You're making it sound like you're extremely old now."

"I kind of am."

"You're not even forty yet. Shut up."

He laughed before frowning. "I'm gunna miss the team. The crowd. That feeling of walking out onto the field and just hearing everything," He took my hand. "Seeing the kids yelling and our friends and family when they can make it yelling with them and you there being there with me mentally and physically. It always makes one of the best feelings ever."

My fingers went over the wedding ring on his ring and I glanced up at him like I had done for so many years with him by my side.

He suddenly spoke. "I guess it's the way I have to look at it. I have to see it as a good thing- a great thing because I'm leaving behind one thing to another, to be with you guys more. Fuck, I miss being with you guys and not missing out on such important events."

"You don't miss out on important events."

"I missed Annabeth walking for the first time. You know how much I hated that."

"I know." I whispered.

"And I always go to Charlie's first soccer games since the he could play and I missed this year's."

"Sam, you have from today to catch up on all those things you missed."

"I know." He pressed a kiss to the back of my hand.

"You know we're all really proud of you. The kids and myself."

And after years of being together, where people left and people came into our lives, we did have each other. He was with me for all the moments, all the minutes, all the seconds he could count. He was with me when I squeezed the life out of his hands during the birth of our first child. I was there when he had gotten his first tattoo, the ones of his sister's and his birthrate in roman numerals on his arm and her initials beside the date.

His sister was someone he spoke of whenever he got the chance to especially to Annabeth. The kids all knew the origins of their names. When Sam was going to Bath on the anniversary of his sister's death Annabeth offered to accompany him with us. She even left a flower. She felt like it was necessary.

Lauren reminded me of my mom a lot and Charlie reminded me of Sam's grandfather. They held the little traits I could see in them. Like how Charlie was most likely going to get a dog that he had been asking me for weeks before the phone tomorrow and how Lauren always carried a book with her.

The kids were like little pieces of the past wrapped in a bundle of the future.

"Hazel," He got my attention. "What are you thinking about?"

I looked up at him, reaching over to turn the lights off before pressing a kiss to his lips. "I'm so in love with you."

"After all these years, you still are?" He chuckled, teasing.

"Yeah. How many years, days, months, minutes, seconds has it been?" I asked sarcastically.

"Since what Hazel? The first time we met? The first time we kissed? The first time you smiled at me? The first of everything between me and you?"

"Everything." I asked.

Sam blew a raspberry with his lips, putting his arm behind his head. "That's a lot of firsts."

"Yeah but they're with you and you know the time."

"I do but it doesn't matter, does it?"

"Not really." I whispered, looking into his green eyes.

"I'm in love with you too." He said. "Now, sleep. We've got a long day tomorrow. Dream of me." I didn't even have to look at him to see the smirk on his face.

I scoffed. "You're so cocky."

"You wouldn't have me any other way."

I laughed. "Night Sam."

"Night Hazel."

Three kids later, in the house that Sam's Grandfather had left for him so many years ago I slept with a smile on my face.

And in those years that I was certain Sam knew the time that had flown by in what felt like a blink of an eye, we grew up. From adolescence to adulthood to parenthood in a way that made it seem so difficult and challenging at times that I wondered what the hell I was doing or if the opportunities I had gotten were for me.

And through the ups and downs, the happy, angry, sad moments, I remembered something my mom had told me all those years ago. She told me that I would find a guy that would love me for all my flaws, all the weird parts of me and in a way for so much more than I thought I was.

Sam was that person. He was that guy when I was 17, a teenager who thought her future was set and didn't want anything to not go her way to when I was in my mid 30's with our three pieces of happiness sleeping in different rooms.

He was that guy then and he was that guy now. Sure, Sam has a weird way of counting seconds but I was certain that that was the one form of time we would have together: 

Forever.

THE END

Ended: Saturday, September 9, 2017

All Rights Reserved ©

68 Days and Counting

Listen. (or read? Probably read but listen sounds more affirmative)

This book wasn't even supposed to happen. This book shouldn't have taken that long to complete. I've had majority of the ideas for this story in my head for two years and now I've just completed it. I blame high school and times of no motivation and getting distracted by shows.

I'm going to tell you all that it's weird finishing this story. Finishing Sam and Macy's story because these two characters grew up and I grew up with them especially Macy. If you can pinpoint the differences between high school Macy and university Macy, there is a difference. Trust me. I see it in her and I see it in myself.

My stories are meant to set a sense of realism. Not everyone that is in your life now are going to be in your life in the future. Know that. Understand that. Get it through your possibly thick skull because life isn't fair. It's not mean to be. Just look at the moments you have and move on day by day. My stories are also meant to show diversity because having all white characters in a book during this day and age doesn't make any sense to me. At all.

I'm only 17 and I finally finished a story I didn't think would exist. This is the third book I finished and I'm shocked to be honest that I finished three books in the first place.

Now, for a 'sequel' to the 'sequel'? Take it in that this story wasn't even supposed to be made? Y'all really think I was going to make another book after this? The Macy and Sam saga is over. I have to accept that and I think some of you have to as well.

So the answer to that question is a no.

Possible spin-offs? If you have me on Instagram or Twitter than you possibly know of the Caleb ideas I have in my brain that may come to wattpad one day. Let me just tell you that I'm still figuring it all out. It wouldn't make sense not to have a story for Caleb. He's Caleb. We all love him and I feel like we should see what happens with him. Because in my opinion, Caleb is one character I know deserves happiness.

Now, to you guys. The readers. Some have stuck with me since I was 14 in 2014 when The Bad Boy and The Tomboy was a story on wattpad with very little amount of reads. Some have stuck when this book came out and laughed and felt nostalgic at the mention of the old characters. Some started both books this year and the last. To all of you, even those who like reading sequels first LMFAO:

Thank you. For reading, for voting, for commenting, for making me smile, making my heart warm with your comments, making me tear up especially when I shouldn't be crying in public, for the amazing fan art I get sent every now and then (and there are a lot) and for so much more that I can't even put into words.

But thank you so much. I love you all even the ghost readers with all my heart. I'll never forget your love and support.

Check out the fluffy chicklit Chase and a whole new world of stories on my profile.

-nikki