12 years later

A cool breeze danced through the air, providing a few precious seconds of relief from the scorching heat. It was a blazing hot Saturday morning, and instead of residing myself to my nice warm bed, I was at a Kindergarten field watching a bunch of four-year-olds trip up after a ball. 

It's not as weird as it sounds.... 

One of them was mine. 

My ears pricked as I heard a faint rustling sound coming from beside me. I snapped my head to the side and was met with a wide-eyed, guilty looking May.

 Her hand was dug deep into her pocket, and her cheeks were all puffed out, indicating she had something in her mouth. 

"What the fuck, May? You said you didn't have food!" I yelled.

 I must have said this a tad too loudly as some of the other parents turned in my direction to give me disapproving glances. 

Judgy assholes, like they didn't swear... 

May pulled her lips into her mouth in an attempt not to laugh. "Well, I lied," she shrugged. "And you really should stop swearing. That putty mouth of yours is exactly why little Zoe's first words were 'motherfucker'," she snorted.

 I bowed my head. "Oh, god, don't remind me," I muttered. "And just for the record, it was all Ethan's fault. He just laughed like an idiot, and more or less encouraged her," I protested. 

May laughed. "You kinda have to admit, it was kind of funny."

 The corner of my lips lifted slightly. "Maybe a little," I muttered.

 I looked out in the distance, to try and find that cute but naughty little girl of mine. I smiled as soon as I saw her. She seemed to be faster than the others at chasing after the ball, as she was leading the mob of children. I could scarcely believe she was mine sometimes since she was so beautiful. 

She had these striking baby blue eyes and wavy chocolate-colored hair that I had tied up into two cute little pigtails. She resembled Ethan far more than me, and I didn't mind one bit. 

We'd named her Zoe after Ethan's grandmother.

  Yes, the bat-shit crazy one...

We figured since she'd been waiting for a grandchild for so long, she deserved name rights. I remember the day we told her I was pregnant perfectly. She started laughing, then crying, and then she picked up her newspaper and started furiously whacking Ethan saying, 'About fucking time, Ethan, what took you so long?'

 And I'm not gonna lie, it was incredibly entertaining to watch my husband splutter out excuses as he got beat up by his grandma. 

I don't think she'd be too pleased to find out that Zoe was an accident. An adorable accident, but an accident none the less. 

Let's just say Ethan thinks it's an invitation when you forget to lock the bathroom door when you're having a shower. 

And in my defense, I was taking birth control. I swear to god, Ethan must have some kind of demonic, freakishly athletic sperm or some shit.

 Or, more realistically I might have skipped a day taking my birth control. 

Anyway, I could hardly complain about something which had blessed us with a little angel. 

Our little angel. Even after five years of marriage, and four years of having her, I still felt stupidly happy that I actually had a child with Ethan Blythe. 

I turned to face May with a scowl. "Where are the others? I thought they were supposed to be here twenty minutes ago?" I grumbled.

"Relax drama pants, we're here? I was hardly going to miss my son's game," Lucas' announced obnoxiously loudly from behind us. 

I didn't get a chance to turn around before I felt two long arms swoop themselves around my waist, and a head nuzzles itself into my neck. I breathed in his smell and relaxed into him. 

"Hey Chubs, why are we all grumpy?" Ethan whispered as he planted a kiss against my neck. I sighed. 

"I can't help it, I'm hot, hungry and h-"

"Horny?" he whispered ever so quietly into my ear. I didn't even need to look at the idiot to know he was smirking against my ear. 

I elbowed him hard in the stomach. "Ouch," he cried in between cackles of laughter. 

I ripped myself out of his arms and turned to face him with a scowl. "You're an idiot, you know that, right?" I snapped.

 His laughter eased down and looked down at me fondly. "An idiot, that you married," he mumbled as he reached out and tucked a strand of hair behind my ear.

 I returned his smile, and my heart stupidly fluttered. It was ridiculous how after all this time, his touch still had the same effect. Through high school, college, married life my feelings never changed. And I certainly didn't want them to, not now and not ever. 

I raised an eyebrow. "Be honest, Ethan. Were you really going to settle for any other answer but yes, when you asked me to marry you?" I teased.

 His eyes lit up with amusement, and he grabbed my hips and pulled me closer to him. "Mia Collins, are you accusing me of bullying you into marrying me," he gasped dramatically. 

"Yes, yes, I am," I remarked bluntly. "After your proposal speech your exact words were, 'I swear to god, Mia if you say no, I will repeat this speech to you every day until you get fed up of me annoying you and say, yes," I said intimidating in him in a ridiculously deep voice. 

He paused and then frowned. "Shut up," he mumbled.

 I laughed and stood on my tiptoes, so my mouth brushed up by his ears. "Don't worry, I would have always said, yes," I whispered before pecking him on the lips.

"Eww, PDA, gross," we heard Lucas call. As he said that we suddenly felt popcorn hitting hard against the side of our face. 

We pulled apart and saw Lucas eyeing both of us with disgust while holding a packet of popcorn in his hands. 

I scoffed."I'm not sure who's more of a four-year-old, you or your son?" I said shaking my head at him in disbelief.

 "Definitely, Lucas, trust me," May laughed.

 Lucas rolled his eyes and turned his attention back to the field. "Where's my little rascal anyway?" he asked as his eyes darted around the field to try and locate him. 

"Will, looked close to wetting himself, so Chloe took him to the bathroom a couple of minutes ago," I chuckled. 

Even though Chloe didn't have any children yet, she was more maternal than both of us combined. May and I instantly bagsied not being the one who had to take him, but Chloe just shrugged her shoulders and didn't seem to mind at all.

 So, in short-Chloe was a much better person than us. 

"Wait, where's Ben? I thought he was going to come around to ours tonight." Lucas asked in confusion. 

"He is, he says he's gonna meet us there," I explained. "Apparently, he needs to get his hair just right to impress Chloe," I teased. 

"No fucking way! He likes Chloe?" Lucas laughed. 

I bit my lip and nodded my head. 

"God, I'm gonna tease the shit out of him when we see him at work," he said with a fond smile. I just laughed. 

Strangely, enough Ethan, Lucas, and Ben all work at the same hospital. Ethan was a pediatrician; Ben was a cardiologist, and Lucas was the clown they brought in to entertain the sick people. 

No, I'm kidding, Lucas was a research scientist at the hospital. 

The boy was smarter than he presented himself...

And since working there all three of them were now best buddies. It was strange, considering there was a time Ethan punched Ben in the face. 

"Did you hear that Ethan, we've got to put our best bullying hats on," Lucas called out with a laugh. 

I didn't hear Ethan respond, so I turned to him in confusion. His eyes were fixedly staring at the field, with a proud smile on his face. 

"Yo, Ethan," Lucas said as he waved his hand in front of Ethan's face. 

Ethan just continued to stare forward, his concentration not wavering for a second. "God, Zoe's amazing for a four-year-old, isn't she? She takes after me in soccer, for sure," he murmured in amazement. 

I raised a hand. "Hold on, Mr cocky pants, I have you know, I think she takes a little after me with her athleticism," I scoffed as I flicked my hair over my shoulder.

 As soon as I said that everyone stopped what they were doing, turned to face me, and raised their eyebrows. 

"Chubs, babe, love you, but no," Ethan smiled. 

"Well, that was rude...," I frowned. 

Ethan moved beside me and wrapped an arm around my shoulder. "Don't worry, I didn't fall in love with you for your athleticism," he chuckled.

 I crossed my arms in a huff. "Wonderful, since we're confessing, I didn't fall in love with you for your kindness, either," I snapped. 

"Oh, come on, don't be petty Chubs," he laughed.

I'll be as fucking petty as I want to... 

He leaned down to my ear. "I think your very athletic in the bedroom if that counts," he whispered gruffly. 

His words caused my body to heat up in excitement. 

Stupid, sexy, seductive piece of crap... 

I pushed him away from me angrily. "That's it, you're sleeping on the couch," I snapped. Ethan's eyes shined with amusement, as though I had just said something funny. "Well, that's not going to happen, is it?" he snorted. 

"And why not?" I spat. 

"Because last time you told me to sleep on the couch, you came back downstairs literally five minutes later and yelled at me to come back to bed and cuddle you. I think your exact words were, 'Come cuddle me, you bitch!" he teased, intimidating me an overly high falsetto voice. 

"Only because I was cold," I protested. 

"We live in California!" he laughed. 

I opened my mouth to argue, but then I stopped myself when I couldn't come up with a good response. 

"Whatever, fine, sleep in the bed. I just hope you're aware that nothing more exciting than cuddling is gonna be happening tonight," I sneered. 

Ethan's smile was instantly wiped clean from his face and was instead replaced with one of fear. "But-but that's not fair," he whined. "Oh, come on, Mia. Are you sure you've thought this through? You promi-"

"Hey, Ethan, look at Zoe. She's about to make a goal," Lucas interrupted in an overly excited voice. 

Ethan turned his attention back to the field, and a radiant smile stretched over his face as he spotted his daughter. I glanced over his face fondly.

 Ethan had certainly aged well, and he'd lost his last few boyish features over the decade. His jawline has sharpened, and his hair was more polished and clean-cut giving him a more sophisticated look.

 So, basically, he'd gotten hotter. 

He cupped his hand over his mouth. "Go, Zoe! Go! Aim straight, and don't overthink!" he yelled out like he was some kind of professional soccer coach. Our little Zoe looked towards us and gave us a big toothy grin before kicking the ball with all her might. 

All four of us cheered as it whizzed past the clueless 4-year old goalkeeper and into the goal. 

"THAT'S MY GIRL! YES!" Ethan yelled in such an aggressively loud voice that some of the other parents gave us funny looks. 

The coach (aka their kindergarten teacher) soon blew the whistle to indicate the match was over. 

Zoe immediately pushed herself off the ground, and her little legs ran their way towards us as fast as they could.

 I opened my arms wide for me, but then she ran right past me. 

"Daddyyyy," she screamed as she ran into Ethan's waiting arms. 

What the fuck am I then, a tree? 

Honestly, you push someone out of your vagina for three hours straight, and then they forget you exist...

Ethan tightened his arms around her and then pulled her high and up into his arms. He kissed her cheek.

 "You were amazing Zoe! I was so impressed. I hate to admit it, but you were almost as good as me," he lied as he smiled up at her with an affectionate smile. 

 Her small little face lit up with excitement. "Really?" she gasped.

 Ethan nodded his head. "Really, Zoe. And you are for sure better than your, Uncle Lucas," he joked as he winked at a very peeved off looking Lucas. 

He put her down with a sigh. "Now show your mummy some affection because she looks seconds away from killing me," he teased. 

She looked towards me with a big goofy smile, and any resentment I felt was instantly evaporated. 

She could melt the coldest of hearts with that cute little face.

 "Why do you want to kill Daddy," she giggled.

 I bent down to her level and straightened out her pigtails with a smile. "Because he's a very naughty boy, and he's very cheeky to Mummy," I explained. 

Ethan raised an eyebrow. "I'm naughty, am I?" he chuckled. "Well, you're always welcome to punish me, Chubs. I hear there's a lot of effective kinds. Methods in which I'm more than happy to demonstrate on you if you'd like," he winked.

 My jaw dropped, shocked by the kinky shit that was leaving his mouth in front of our innocent little four-year-old.

 Zoe's face scrunched up in confusion. "What's he talking about, Mummy?" 

I scowled at Ethan. "Absolutely nothing. Your Daddy is a very silly boy," I scolded. 

Zoe looked up at Ethan with a smile. "Haha, you got told off by Mummy, now you have to sit on the naughty step," she taunted as she pointed at Ethan accusingly. 

Ethan playfully gasped. "Why you cheeky little devil!" Zoe squealed as Ethan grabbed her around the waist and lifted her in the air before flipping her upside down. 

She threw about her small little arms and legs frantically as she screamed in excitement. I just watched the two of them interact with a wildly happy smile on my face.

"Oh, what's going on here. Is Zoe being attacked by her very own father," I heard Chloe gasp in an overly animated voice from behind me. 

I turned around and took in the sight of Chloe leading little Will towards us by his hand. Will, was an absolutely gorgeous mixed-race child with wide brown eyes, and bucket loads of curly brown hair. He seemed quite shy at first, but then when he opened up he was quite loud and bossy. 

Ethan returned Zoe back down to the ground with a chuckle. "She was being cheeky, that's why," he teased as he playfully ruffled her hair. 

"Zoe's always being cheeky!" Will randomly and loudly retorted.

 "No, I'm not," Zoe protested as she stuck her tongue out at him childishly.

 I frowned. "Zoe, we do not stick our tongues out at people; it's very immature," I scolded. 

 "But you did it to Daddy just last week," she argued. 

Well shit. 

"You should do as I say not do as I do," I said quickly. 

I'd reached a new level of low where I was throwing out some cheaply thought out, recycled shit that I'd heard my parents say. 

Lucas cleared his throat. "Before any more bad parenting goes on, I think it's about time to leave," he interrupted. "Is everyone ready?" he asked. 

There was a chorus of yeah's, some more enthusiastic than others before everyone headed over to the parking lot.

-----------------------------------------------

Everyone was gathered and scattered around the sofas at Lucas and May's house. Ben had finally graced us with his presence and was sat next to Chloe on one of the sofas.

 And it hadn't gone unnoticed by me, how closely he had decided to squish himself up by her side. And, it also hadn't gone unnoticed by me that she hadn't moved away.

 If anything, she had moved closer.

 Chloe was a very much a workaholic and had worked herself up the business ladder of a fashion magazine company. She was more than content with life and hadn't very much been into long term relationships. Just short flings and that was it.

 Even though this was all good and seemed to be working for her, I had a feeling that things were about to change...

I looked back at Lucas with a sigh. He was standing bang smack in the center of the room and was making weird growling sounds and throwing his arms around wildly. 

Don't worry, he hadn't lost his mind, we were playing charades. 

"Beauty and the Beast," Ethan yelled out. Lucas shook his head.

 "Harry Potter," Zoe called out loudly from her position on the floor beside my feet.

 I bit my lip and tried to suppress the urge to laugh. Lucas just kindly smiled at her and shook his head. 

My poor confused little girl was yelling out Harry potter for every single round, no matter what the person was doing.

 I cupped my hand around my mouth. "The incredible hulk," I called out. 

"Yes!" Lucas said as he pointed to me in excitement. "Your go next," he said as he gestured to the hat full of paper in the center of the table.

 I pulled myself off the sofa with a sigh and clambered my way over to the table. 

I had no idea why, but I was suddenly hit with a wave of nausea as I stood up. I just ignored the feeling and picked out a piece of paper before holding it up to my face. 

I barely got a chance to read it at all before I suddenly felt bile rising up my throat. I instinctively cupped a hand over my mouth and dashed out of the room. 

I rushed quickly to their upside bathroom, before emptying my entire fried breakfast into the empty toilet bowl. I groaned after the retch and rubbed my head. Then more bile rose, and I bent over the toilet once again. On my third retch, I heard the bathroom door swing open wider, and footsteps approach. 

I heard a clatter as something was placed down on the countertop by the sink. Then, whoever it was, knelt beside me and pulled the hair away from my face. 

"That's it, Chubs, not much more now," I heard Ethan whispered comfortingly from behind me as he rubbed soothing circles against my back. 

When I had finally emptied my entire stomach, I groaned and slammed the lid down of the toilet. I wiped my mouth and twisted around to face a concerned-looking Ethan. I leaned back against the wall with a sigh. 

"God, I hate throwing up. It's so disgusting," I croaked.

 Ethan gave me a kind smile. "Well, it's over now," he whispered.

 He quickly stood up, plucked a glass of water off the counter, and knelt back down beside me. He held up the glass to my lips 

"Here, have some water before you get dehydrated," he said softly.

 I nodded my head, and took the cup off of him, and started to gulp it down slowly. When I was finished, I placed it down onto the ground and leaned my head back against the tiled walls of the bathroom. 

"So, doctor, Ethan, do you reckon I've got food poisoning, or do you think I caught another bug," I chuckled weakly. 

I held a finger up before he could speak. "And do not say bug. Honestly, Ethan, I'll cry like a baby if I have to miss another day at my restaurant," I grumbled. 

 My restaurant was my absolute pride and joy and was something I'd work hard on over the years. It was incredibly apprehensive at starting my own business because I knew the potential for failure was huge. 

But, Ethan refused to let me give up on the idea and hit me with persuasive speech after persuasive speech. He kept saying, 'They always say do what you love, Chubs, and you really love food.'

 And he had a point. 

But what eventually won me over was when he bargained that if I gave it a shot, he'd never sleep with a top again.

  And, that ladies and gentleman was an offer, I wasn't about to refuse... 

It started as a small bakery with only May and I working there, but then the demand grew stronger, and more and more customers started to stream in until eventually, we moved into a massive department warehouse with over one hundred employees working for us.

 And, now we had the odd celebrity coming in to pay thousands of dollars for a fancy wedding cake design. It took a lot of time, money, effort, and a whole heap of extra cooking classes to get there, but the restaurant was more than successful in the end. 

And the effort I put in building it up is exactly why I refuse to part with it for more than a few days at a time. My sickness or otherwise.

Ethan winced, and I instantly knew he was warming up to deliver me the bad news. "I'm so sorry, Chubs, but it does look like you have a bug and-"

Suddenly, Ethan cut himself off and paused. His eyebrows knitted together as he seemed to contemplate something. 

"Wait a second..." he murmured as a look of excitement flashed in his eyes. 

He grabbed my hand in excitement. "When was your last period, Chubs?" he asked as a wildly happy smile started to stretch out across his face. 

I gave him a funny look. "I don't know maybe a month ago, two months ago. It's been a little dodgy as of later," I shrugged.

 "Why is this relevant?" I asked in confusion.

 His smile grew even wider. So wide that I was afraid it must hurt. 

Ethan cleared his throat overdramatically. "Would you like to hear my doctor diagnosis, Mrs. Blythe?" he tried to say in a formal tone as he fought the urge to smile.

 I rolled my eyes. "Go on then Dr. Blythe, hit me with your worse. How many days do I have to live?" I joked. 

"Nine months," he said seriously.

 My eyes widened in alarm. "What the fuck? I'm actually dying!" I yelled in panic. 

Ethan laughed. "No, you idiot, you're pregnant," he smiled. 

My shoulders sagged down in relief at the fact I wasn't dying. Then I processed what he said.

 "No, I'm not. I think I'd realize I'm pregnant before you," I snorted. 

"Chubs, you are so pregnant. Think about it, you're throwing up for no reason, your boobs are massive, you're hornier than normal," he said causally listing them off on his fingers as though they were just solid facts.

 I held up my hand to stop him from talking further. "Are you seriously a doctor, Ethan? Because 'hornier than normal' doesn't sound like a clinical symptom to me," I scoffed. 

He chuckled. "I know, but as my wife, you have to put up with my special terminology," he winked.

Before I could say another word, he pushed himself off the floor with his hands and headed over to their bathroom cabinet. 

"What the hell are you doing?" I called out as I heard him rustling through the cabinets. 

"Proving to you, you're pregnant with another baby Blythe," he teased. 

"Ah-ha, there it is," he said as he plucked something from the cupboard. He walked back over to me, grabbed my wrist before dropping a strip of plastic into the center of my palm. 

"Pee on this," he said bluntly. 

I raised an eyebrow. "A pregnancy test? Really, Ethan?"

"Yes, really, you're pregnant. End of story. Pee on this, and I guarantee double red lines will appear," he said plainly. 

"Fine," I snapped. "I'll pee on it, just to humor you," I huffed as climbed up to my feet. I lifted the lid of the toilet and then paused as I realized Ethan was still here.

 "Erm...," I said as I turned back to face him. "As close as we are, Ethan, watching me pee is where I draw the line, so bye," I said as I gave him a rather aggressive push towards the door.

 Ethan just chuckled and rolled his eyes. "You're so dramatic, I've seen everything like a million times. You wouldn't be pregnant if I didn't," he mumbled as he made his way through the door. 

As soon as the door closed behind him, I flipped off the lid of the pregnancy test and got to work. When I was done, I placed it down by the edge of the bathtub before letting Ethan back into the room. 

He walked in with the confident stride of someone who clearly thought, no knew, he was about to be right.

 "So, do you reckon it's gonna be a boy or girl, this time?" he smiled as he leaned himself up against the wall.

 "Hopefully, not a boy because the last thing we need is another overly confident dick in this household," I snapped as I threw myself down on the closed lid of the toilet. 

"Well, ouch," Ethan laughed as he held a hand up to his chest. 

We waited for the full five minutes that the test recommended. I tried to wait in silence, but Ethan didn't know how to shut up and kept sprouting out random baby names.

 I looked down at my watch. "I guess, it's time," I sighed as I slowly walked over to the bathtub. Though I was trying to act cool, I picked it up with shaky hands.

 I really wanted to be pregnant.

 A wide grin stretched across my face as I read the results. I turned around to face Ethan and held it up with a goofy smile. 

"Guess who's the father of two kids," I teased.

 Ethan walked up to me with a wildly happy smile on his face, and he pulled me towards me by my hips. "I hate to tell you this, Chubs. But I told you s-" 

I didn't let him finish his sentence, and grabbed him by the scruff of his shirt and pulled his lips down onto mine. He groaned and glided his hand to the small of my back and kissed me back.

 I pulled away from the kiss gently. 

He smiled down at me fondly. "I enjoyed your way of telling me to shut up," he whispered.

 I pecked his lips. "I did too. Now let's go downstairs, and tell the others," I said. I took my hand in his and pulled him excitedly out of the bathroom.

Once we got downstairs, we entered back into the living room. I was surprised to find everyone sitting there silently and patiently with knowing smiles on their faces as though they were waiting for us to return.

 "So, when's the due date," Lucas called out with a laugh. 

Well, I'm guessing we didn't have to tell them...

Zoe then came barrelling towards me and wrapped her little arms around my legs. 

"Mummy, I'm so excited you're having a baby," she cried. I smiled and bent down to her level before lifting her into my arms.

 "Yes, I am, Zoe. You're going to be a big sister, how exciting is that?" I cooed.

 "Woah, Woah, Woah!" Ethan said in a stern voice as he ripped Zoe from my arms and into his own. 

"No, heavy lifting, you're pregnant. You need to look after yourself," he snapped. 

Oh, here we fucking go...

Ethan was a protective guy as it is, but he reached a whole new motherfucking level when I was in pregnancy. It was entertaining alright, but it could get ever so annoying when you were just trying to do something as simple as pick up your child. 

When I was pregnant with Zoe, he got so upset that he almost cried when he heard I unpacked the dishwasher without asking for his help.

  Yes, you heard me right, he got upset because I unpacked a dishwasher...

It was a miracle Zoe was two weeks premature, because, honestly, if I had to deal with two weeks more of that shit, I would have probably tried to kill him. 

And now I was going to have to go through it all over again. But, hopefully, Ethan would be more relaxed now since it was our second. 

Hopefully...

"Oh, I'm sorry Daddy, I didn't mean to hurt Mummy," Zoe cried as her bottom lip wobbling slightly. 

I gave Ethan a furious look as if to silently say, 'Look what your overprotective ass has done.'

 A look of guilt crossed over Ethan's face. "I know you didn't, honey, Daddy was just overreacting, okay?" he said softly. 

Her face lit up, and she nodded her head. "Will, why don't you take Zoe out with you to the garden, and show her your new ball?" May said.

 Will frowned but then slowly nodded his head. He wasn't stupid enough to argue with a mother like May. Ethan put Zoe down, and she jogged after Will, who was heading towards the backdoors of the house.

When they were gone, Ethan let out a sigh and walked over to the sofa and flopped down. Just as I was about to take a seat beside him, Ethan wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me onto his lap. 

"Ethan," I squeaked as I tried to get up, but he just ignored me and tightened his grip around my waist.

 "Let me hold you," he murmured.

 I couldn't argue with such a cute demand, so I relaxed into his arms.

"So, how'd you guys figure it out?" I asked as I looked around at everyone in the room. 

"Boobs," May bluntly retorted.

 "Oh, hey, me too," I heard Ethan call from behind me before stretching out to give May a high-five. 

I slapped his hand away before his high-five was received. I didn't like how they'd been paying such close attention to my boobs. 

"Well, it was the increased moodiness for me," Lucas snorted.

 I glowered at him. "How dare you?" I spat before grabbing a cushion from the sofa and chucking it at his head. 

He caught it, then held it up. "Exhibit A," Lucas laughed.

 "He's got a point, Chubs," Ethan whispered against my ear. 

I just responded with a harsh elbow to his stomach. The idiot seemed to find it funny and laughed. 

"Well, I figured it out, because you were glowing," Chloe smiled.

 I sent her a grateful smile. "Thank you, Chloe, for a sweet, unoffensive answer," I said as I gave a pointed look towards Lucas and May. 

"And your boobs got bigger," Chloe added as an afterthought. 

Everyone started to cackle with laughter, and my smile instantly dropped from my face. 

"Screw you, guys," I snapped.

Lucas chuckled. "Ah god, I can't wait to collect my money from your brother, Ethan. I bet him twenty quid that you'd knock Mia up before Christmas," he smiled.

 "What the fuck?" I exclaimed. 

"You made a bet with my eighteen-year-old?" Ethan laughed.

 Lucas shrugged. "Well yeah, Dylan's got a lot of money," he said simply. 

To be honest, I wasn't surprised Dylan made a bet like that. With both Lucas and Ethan as role models, he'd grown up to be a dickhead just like them. But despite that dickheadness, I still loved Dylan all the same. He would always be that innocent six-year old boy I knew at heart.

Suddenly, I heard tiny footsteps padding the hardwood floor.

 "Daddy, Mummy," I heard my little Zoe cry. She came running into the room, and from the tone of her voice, I instantly knew she was upset. 

I climbed out of Ethan's lap and bent down to her level. I stroked her cheek. "What's wrong sweetie?" 

Ethan leaned forward in his seat, seeming equally as anxious to hear what was wrong as I did. 

"Will, kicked a ball at my face on purpose," she cried. 

"He what!" Ethan yelled. 

"He did, daddy, he really did," Zoe said as she nodded her head up and down vigorously. 

"Oh, my poor, baby," Ethan said as he reached out and pulled her onto his lap. "Where did the nasty boy hit you?" he frowned. 

"Right here," she said as she pointed a chubby little finger at the top of her forehead. 

Ethan kissed the spot. "There I gave you my special healing kiss," he smiled. 

Zoe giggled, and a happy grin stretched out over her face. 

"And don't worry, Daddy's going to yell at Will for you," Ethan stated plainly.

 Zoe seemed content with this answer as she jumped off Ethan's lap and ran towards the door. 

"Hey, Will, my dad says he's gonna yell at you," we heard her faintly call out in the distance.

As soon as she was gone, Ethan swerved his face towards Lucas with a frown. "Your little boy needs a strong talking to," Ethan snapped. "You sort him out, or I will."

 I rolled my eyes and crashed down beside him on the sofa. "Calm down, Ethan, he's four-years-old," I groaned.

 "Exactly, he should have learned manners, by now," he frowned.

 Lucas scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. "Sorry, man, I don't know what got into him. I thought he liked Zoe," he mumbled. 

"Well, he clearly doesn't if he threw a ball at her fucking face," Ethan snapped.

 May chuckled as though someone had just said a joke. "Actually, Ethan, I think you're wrong about that. I think Will really likes her. I think he likes her so much, he'd do anything to get her attention." 

I smiled. "Yeah, I have to agree with May. You'd be surprised the thing some guys do to get a girl's attention," I joked. 

Ethan didn't seem to get any of the massive hints we were dropping and frowned. 

"That's ridiculous! I've never heard of anything more stupid in my life. What kind of person would kick a ball at someone they liked? If you want a girl's attention, you should be nice to them, not torment them," He scoffed.

 Everyone in the room turned to look at Ethan. We all dug our eyes into him, scarcely believing the hypocritical words that were coming out of his mouth. 

"What?" Ethan yelled as he looked around at everyone in confusion. I tried to suppress the urge to laugh. 

"Think carefully about what you just said. "Doesn't, Will remind you of someone?" I asked softly. 

A frown remained on Ethan's face for a fair few seconds before it slowly started to fade, to instead be replaced by a look of realization. 

His eyes widened, and fear shone brightly through his eyes. 

"Oh, god, he's me," he whispered.

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Author's note:

Monster long chapter lol. Ironically, when I started writing this I had no idea what to even write. I literally thought this was going to be my shortest chapter XD

Oh, how wrong I was...

But anyway I hope you liked it xx

What you can read next: 

1. The last few remaining chapters of this book which are in Ethan's POV. (Middle school flashback and chapters 1 and 2 in his POV)

2. A whole separate version of this book in a book called, Ethan's POV (Chapter 3 onwards) - this is currently ongoing and can be found on my profile. 

3. Another completed book I've written called 'How to Destroy a Rich Boy', that can also be found on my profile.