THE MORROW

to everyone complaining about the book ending, i did warn you all a few chapters ago, i think that just shows me how many people read the little authors notes i leave at the end of the chapters. anyway, enjoy the final chapter.

10 years later

The sun stretched across the golden sand of the beach, it was a warm day for a month that was usually so cold and the early birds had already started walking their dogs or going for jogs. The few cars that the seaside town had trundled along the roads, their sound was all that could be heard alongside the annoying sound of birds chirping in their trees.

Of course, one person, who was known for being an early bird, was sat on the balcony of her house that she shared with her husband and two children. She had her cup of tea in her hand and a pair of glasses pushed over her ears as she looked down onto the beach. An elderly couple were walking along the sand, their dog was jumping in and out of the sea and their granddaughter was collecting pebbles and seashells.

"Morning," She hears, causing her to look round, past the open double doors and at her husband. He was lying shirtless under the white duvet, his arms stretched above his head and his mouth open, yawning.

"Morning," She smiles, her eyes trailing over his face. Yes, they had grown a little older, but their faces had remained young.

"Fancy taking the kids to the beach?" He asks her with a small smile.

"Sure, but you can wake them up, it is a Saturday and they're used to their lie ins," She chuckles and he throws the duvet off and gets up, walking over to his wife. He pulls her close to him and presses a kiss to her lips.

"I love you," He whispers against her kiss.

"I love you too," She says and she watches him pull away. He pulls a t-shirt over his head before exiting the bedroom.

The woman stands still in her room before turning to look at a photo album that was sat on her dressing table. She opens it up and smiles at the photo of her son, he was 10 years old there. A photo of her wedding day, her best friend was her maid of honour and her husbands 6 best friends all came together to celebrate even after they had gone their separate ways- that was 5 years ago.

She smiled at the photos of her two beautiful children before her thoughts were disturbed by the calling of her name; "ALEX!"

"What?!" She calls, heading out of the bedroom and down the hall. She pushes open the bedroom door that read: Elizabeth.

"She's attacking me for waking her up!" Her husband says as she rolls her eyes in the doorway.

"Beth, get up sweetie, we have a busy day ahead," Alex smiles at her daughter. Her daughter looked very much like Alex, apart from the golden hair of course which both her children seemed to have inherited from their father.

"But mom-"

"Don't 'but mom' me, just get up sweetie," Alex says and the girls father smiles at his daughter.

"Listen, honey, you might be 10 now, but you that won't stop me tickling you till you fall out of bed," Simon says and Elizabeth rolls her eyes before throwing off her yellow duvet.

"I hate you both," The girls says, a yawn escaping her lips as she runs a hand through her long blonde hair.

"Just get dressed, we're going to the beach," Alex says and Simon follows Alex out of their daughters room.

"If you thought she was hard to convince wait till we go into Nate's room," Simon says and Alex rolls her eyes.

"Trust me pal, I can wake him up, he's still a mommy's boy," Alex says and she physically rolls up her sleeves before knocking on her son's door which appropriately had a sign saying KEEP OUT on it.

"Go away! Its like 7am! On a Saturday!" The muffled voice of a 16 year old Nathan can be heard inside.

"We're going to the beach, wake up," Alex calls and she hears a load groan from inside.

"C'mon Nate, its family time kiddo," Simon calls and an even louder mumble can be heard and then the sound of footsteps.

The door swings open and there stands a messy haired Nathan Seth Minter. His blonde hair had darkened a little over the years, but those bright blue eyes remained exactly the same. He stood, taller than Alex and just a little shorter than his father, and he had the same ring that all the boys in the Minter family had on his pinkie finger. After Alex and Simon got married 5 years ago, Nathan decided he wanted the last name Minter which his sister and mother both had.

"Is Beth going too?" Nathan asks, pushing his hair out of his eyes.

"She is," Alex says as Nathan follows his parents downstairs. Nathan had his phone in the pocket of his joggers which beeped with a text message as he sat down at the kitchen table.

After a few moments the youngest of the family came downstairs wearing a pair of dungarees, her glasses her sat on her face and her hair was pulled back into a braid. Elizabeth Rachel Minter was a stunning girl, even at the young age of 10 she was one of the cutest girl in her class and she already had boys all over her, which of course, she said was disgusting.

"Morning sleepyhead," Simon says as his daughter sits down at the table.

"Ugh," Beth mumbles, looking at her brother who was practically inhaling his cereal, "You're such a pig,"

"I know," Nathan laughs and as much as she didn't want to, Elizabeth also let out a small chuckle.

"You two eat up, we have a big beach day ahead," Alex smiles, taking a bite of her toast.

Simon had gulped back his glass of orange juice as quickly as he'd poured it before taking another slice of toast.

"If anyone is a pig, its dad, look at him," Nathan says, a smug grin on his face.

Alex took note of how much he'd grown to look like his father and also how much Elizabeth looked like herself. It was perfect in a way.

"Right, Nathan, get dressed, Simon, get dressed and then we can go," Alex says, clapping her hands, "Chop, chop,"

Simon and Nathan headed upstairs, talking about the latest football scores as they did so while Alex and Elizabeth finished their breakfast.

"You and dad...You weren't always so close were you?" Elizabeth asks out of the blue, her eyes glancing from her mother to a photo of Alex and Simon on their wedding day.

"No, we weren't, we had an...off period shall we say- why?" Alex says and Elizabeth shrugs.

"I don't know...But I might have a problem," The girl says and Alex sits down opposite her daughter and gives her a soft smile.

"Well, I'm here for you, Beth, so whats wrong?" Alex asks and Elizabeth looks away and back.

"I don't think I like boys," Beth says and Alex nods softly.

"Okay...And whats the issue with that?" Alex asks and Beth shrugs.

"I know there isn't one, I mean, being a lesbian or being gay is a regular thing- its not like it was a few years back...But I just feel...uneasy," Elizabeth says and Alex takes her hand.

"Listen, you can like whoever you want, if you want to like boys then you like boys, if you want to like girls you like girls...hell, if you want to like both- you can," Alex says, "Don't feel stressed to put a label on yourself, I know Nathan is always on about how he's got a girlfriend and all, but that doesn't matter, darling, you like who you want to like,"

Elizabeth smiles at her mother, and she nods her head softly, "Thanks mom, really, thank you so much,"

After a few more minutes of light conversation, Simon and Nathan come downstairs dressed and ready to go.

"Lets go then," Alex smiles and she grabs her coat and shrugs it on before passing Elizabeth her coat.

Alex and Simon's fingers intertwined as they walked towards the beach, Nathan walked in front wearing his typical black bomber jacket, his hands pressed into his pockets as he walked, his head turned slightly as she spoke to his shorter, younger sister. She laughed at one of his jokes as she pushed a strand of hair behind her ear, her eyes scanning over the sea as they walked down over the sand.

"This will forever be my favourite place, I mean, London was great, but here...Its incredible," Elizabeth smiles and Alex lays out a large blanket on the sand for the family to sit on.

The two children remove their shoes, Nathan rolls up his jeans and Elizabeth pulls her dungaree bottoms up to her knees.

"Race ya!" Nathan calls before taking off on a run, and Elizabeth follows with a determined look on her face.

"Don't you wish you could go back, to when we were that age?" Simon asks Alex and Alex shrugs.

"When we were that age I was pregnant," Alex says and Simon frowns.

"Okay, you were, but...I mean like, don't you wish we could turn back time? And change our mistakes?" Simon asks and Alex shakes her head.

She turns to look at him before smiling widely, "No, because those were some of the best mistakes I ever made," 

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Thank you for reading!

This has been an amazing journey and I appreciate the amount of support that you've all shown me throughout this story and I hope you can all join me in the next adventure, whatever that may be.

Thanks again everyone!

~KatnissBajanCanadian❤