Epilogue

Kaddian tried to quickly remove clinging children from his legs and shoulders.

"To bed, all of you" he growled playfully, patting his niece on the bottom. An obstinate four year old, too much like her mother, giggled as she ran away, then turned to shoot him a scowl. She grabbed her younger brother, a cow licked toddler who could barely walk, then carried him carefully upstairs. A smaller, thinner, outrageously blond girl followed the siblings upstairs, taking steps too big for her little body. Although only a year younger, the girl looked two or three years younger because of her petite size. Soon, the other two year old toddler would be bigger than her. Kaddian blamed the little one's mother.

Sarai wasn't exactly the biggest woman in the world. Sarai and Porter's daughter had been blessed with Sarai's physique and violent blond hair, but their newborn boy had hair pitch as black, like his father. Kaddian watched as she finally made it up to the second landing.

He heard Kyrrian yell "there you are!" Followed by happy giggles. Soon after, Porter chased his daughter quickly from one end of the upstairs to the other, clothes clasped in his hands, and her naked as the day she was born.

It was nice having his whole family home for the thanksgiving holiday, even if his quaint home was crowded with people and loud children. Kaddian glanced at an exhausted Scottlin who lay asleep on the downstairs couch, a bunny in one hand and marker lines on his face.

Kaddian did a few chores then turned out the lights in the kitchen once everything had quieted down. When Kaddian went in to the living room, he chuckled as he realized Sarai had come back downstairs and fallen asleep on her husband. With a smile, Kaddian turned the light off and then headed through the kitchen to get to the back porch. He made sure to grab the book that had been set on the table by the door, smiling when he read the title. He walked into the silence of the night and took his customary seat in the rocking chair furthest down the porch. Soon, he heard the screen door open quietly and shut, and his wife joined him on the porch. She shuffled close to him, reaching over his head to click on the lamp he intentionally left off. As Lauren leaned over him, her recently showing belly came into his reach. He gently placed his hands on her hips as she began to straighten, leaning in to place his lips on her slightly rounding belly. Lauren ran her hands through his hair in a soothing and nurturing way as he nuzzled her stomach, knowing how excited their first made him every time he thought about it. Reluctantly, he released her as she pulled away, wrapping her blanket around her shoulders. She took her seat in a slightly cumbersome way, then closed her eyes and smiled, knowing he was watching her, waiting for her to be comfortable. When she was, he began reading in his low timbre, the first sentence of his wife's favorite book.

"It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife-"