I love you guys so much, so enjoy the epilogue.

Ariya

Some years later:

"Okay, now press your foot down on the gas."

"What if I crash us?"

"You won't, I'm right here."

"It's not that hard, dad."

When Rylan turned sixteen I taught him how to drive, that's around the time Khyson expressed to me how to wanted to start driving again.

After he lost his parents and his grandfather? The thought of him returning behind the wheel scared him, and possibly me also.

Rylan knew how to drive and so did I, so we both helped him.

"Reverse, Reverse, Reverse!" Rylan yelled.

"Stop yelling!" Khyson yelled.

"You're yelling now!"

"No I'm not, you are!"

"Mom!"

"Guys, my head is pounding, both of you guys just shut up." I shook my head, sipping on my drink from the fast food we just got.

"See, you made her mad." I heard Rylan whisper.

"Just press your foot on the gas and go, it's that simple." I placed a hand on his knee and he shifted the gear.

"Okay, I'm gonna go.. I'm gonna go." He trailed on.

"Khyson, look here." I guided his chin to stare at me. He glanced down in disappointment.

"Up here, come on."

His eyes finally met mine and I smiled.

"If you're not ready it's fine j-"

"I am, I am ready." He held my hand while running his thumbs over my knuckles.

"Okay." I nodded.

"You two are disgusting." Rylan retorted, leaning back in the seat.

I leaned forward and kissed him on the lips before hearing Rylans groan in pain.

"I love you." I whispered.

"I love you too." He whispered back.

He shifted the gears and steadied his hands on the wheel.

"Slowly." I reminded him.

The car began to move slowly and I smiled to myself. Until it sped up faster, and faster.

"Khyson break."

"Dad hit the break."

"Break."

I began to worry.

"Break!"

Suddenly the car jerked to a stop, Khyson put his hand out to prevent me from hitting my head. Although we all heard Rylans head bang straight onto the back of my seat.

"Jesus, Khyson. Rylan, this is a perfect example why you should always wear a seatbelt, come here." I unbuckled my belt and twisted my back to see Rylan groaning with his hand on his head.

He dropped his hands and moved foreword. I cradled his head in my hands, rubbing my thumb over his skin to make sure there was no bump or irritation.

"Here." I pressed my lips to his forehead and patted his shoulders.

"You're good."

"Dad, let me drive us home." Rylan shook his head. Khyson was frozen still, in shock. I placed a worried hand on his shoulder.

"I fucking drove! Ariya, did you see!?" He smiled to me. I let out a reliving breath and unbuckled his seatbelt. He grabbed my cheeks and kissed me passionately. My arms fell and my eyes widened at his passion.

His tongue slipped into my mouth, everything around us disappeared and I wrapped my arms around his neck.

"Fuck, I love you." He groaned.

"We need to get home-finish this off I-"

"I'm leaving! Can you guys stop! Fuck!" I heard Rylan's voice. I pulled back from Khyson and wiped his lips of my gloss.

-

"You ready for your game tonight?" I asked Rylan, twirling some spaghetti on my fork.

"Yeah." He nodded.

"The scouts from UCLA are gonna be there, so you better impress them." Khyson challenged him.

"I know, I know, mom tell him to stop bothering me." Rylan dropped his head back.

"Stop bothering him, Khyson. He knows what he's doing."

"I could've went pro, you know." Khyson complains about this every time we bring up Rylans games.

"We know, you told us fifty billion times." Rylans groaned. I laughed to myself and continued to eat.

"I got a full sports scholarship to brown, until I decided to pursue stupid business, let this be a lesson, Rylan. Follow your dreams." Rylan mouthed the last sentence annoyingly like he's heard he more than once, well he has.

"You guys are such nerds, mom went to Berkeley and you went to Brown. It's always "oh my god! Your dad is Khysom Johnson! You must be so rich!" It's like fuck off, people have no boundaries."

Since Khyson's business was so publicized it was no surprise when news articles came out about his sudden mysterious new son, a wife, a girlfriend. Tabloids were all over that shit.

Khuson Johnson involved in maternity scandal?

Khyson Johnson adopts son?

Khyson Johnson marries Highschool sweetheart.

They were never right, except maybe the last one. We were definitely well off with Khyson's money, but I told him I refused to be a housewife. I picked up on my writing, a couple years later a had a few books out.

Apparently teen readers love steamy romance books, hm, who would've knew?

We made sure Rylan built his success himself, he got a job when he was fourteen and saved up his own money to buy a car, and he even pays his own phone bill. A year ago he temped down at a sports paper office in the summer. He can take care of himself really well, which gives me a little more ease for when he goes off to school in September.

"And then people are all like "shit! Your mom is Ariya Kingston-Johnson! I love her books, can you get them signed!" It's so good damn annoying." He shook his head.

I based my fist book off of Khyson and I, just switched up the names.

Khyson - Kaden

Ariya - Ava

Rylan - Raymond

I still remember the very night I let Khyson read it, he was so speechless I had thought he hated it. But instead he told me how great it was, and expressed his love for it a little more that night.

"This girl dated me for three weeks just because she wanted signed books from you."

"I remember that." I laughed.

"That reminds me, can I invite cass over tonight?" Rylan picked up our plates and took them to the kitchen.

"Cassidy? I have a weird feeling about that girl." I shook my head.

"Come on mom! She's a nice girl! She really wants to meet you guys!" Rylan yelled from the kitchen.

"I met her one day while coming back from work, she's nice, give her a chance, Ariya." Khyson kissed the side of my head and I sighed.

"Mhm, okay. I'm gonna go lay down call me when you guys are ready to leave."

Khyson

I watched her stand up and make her way up the stairs. She's been so tired lately, probably all the writing.

"What's up with mom?" Rylan asked. I walked into the kitchen and helped him clean the kitchen.

"She's probably just burnt out from all the writing."

"I know, I got up last night at like three in the morning to get some food and I saw her on the table with her computer still writing."

I laughed to myself while picturing her with bags and a cup of coffee at the table.

"She's.. determined."

"Tell me about it."

"Go get ready." I told him. He nodded and followed upstairs. I shut the lights off and stared at the picture of us on the fridge.

It was the morning after we told Rylan, Ariya snapped the picture on her phone when she was awake and Rylan was sprawled over my body asleep, so was I.

She printed it out and stuck it on the fridge without us knowing and wrote in the corner:

My favourite boys :)

And a little smiley face written in sharpie.

She always refers to us as her boys.

I love it.

I shut the lights off and jogged upstairs, opening the door to her room and slipping in. She was laying in bed, staring up at the ceiling. The moment her eyes caught mine she smiled while sitting up.

"Hey."

"Hey." I smiled.

"What's up?" I asked, sitting on the edge of the bed while pulling my socks off.

"Just tired." She shrugged.

"Come here." I rolled over and pulled her onto my chest. She smiled while fitting herself on me, resting her chin on my stomach.

"I'm nervous for, Rylan." She admitted.

"Why?" I asked, tucking her hair out of her face. She re adjusted her head and I grinned.

"Don't get me wrong, he's amazing, but I know how he cracks under pressure.. and with these scouts watching him I can't imagine how nervous he is. Remember last week when he had that final, I found him hunched over the toilet, he was so nervous he couldn't eat." She winced at her own words, at the bare thought of her own memory.

"He gets that from both of us.. unfortunately." I relaxed a breath from my lips.

"I'll go check on him, okay?" I nodded I head, watching her roll off of me and slip off the bed. I took a few minutes in bed, watching her walk into our closet.

"Tell him he can bring, Carmela, Cassie-whatever her name is-over tonight." She told me from the closet.

"Okay." I laughed.

I got up and walked down the hall to Rylan's room.

Rylan and I were close, we talked, I talked to him about sex, and puberty and shit, he told me when he started dating that Cassidy girl, not Ariya because he said he was scared. But we never talked about feelings, Ariya was always good at that. Calming him down, reassuring him. And I feel as if a little part of me always thinks they'll be closer because of the years I missed with him.

I knocked on the door.

"Come in!"

Turning the knob while stepping in I sat down on his desk chair. He kept playing with his phone and I clutched my hands together while leaning over.

Rylan pressed on to stay the fittest he could, he had a pull up bar in his door and even some weights in one corner of his room.

"You okay?" I asked.

"Yeah, why?"

"It's just, these scouts can determine your future I thought-I thought you'd be more nervous?"

"I'm fine." He shook his head while standing up.

"Are you sure because.. we can talk Y'know." I inches closer to him.

"I don't care about that dad, I care about mom meeting Cass okay?" He finally let out a stressed breath. I raked a hand over my head and stepped back in relaxation.

"Why? I met her, she's nice?" I sat down on his bed.

"She's.. mom hates her and she hasn't even met her yet. She was really nice to you because your.. my dad, she wanted to meet you. Her mom died a couple years ago and she's so nervous about making an impression on mom, I don't want mom to ruin that for her." He pressed his hands in his face.

"How about I go tell your mom, and we work from there?" I cleared my throat while standing up.

"Okay." He shook his head.

I lifted my wrist and looked at my watch.

"We're gonna leave in a half an hour." I told him before leaving.

-

Ariya

"He offered me a scholarship! Mom! Oh my god!" Rylan hugged me, despite his sweat and in need of a shower I hugged him back.

"I'm so proud of you, baby." I ran my hand over his head and smiled to Khyson who stood in front of me.

"Why don't we eat out, you can bring Cassidy." I told him. He pulled back abruptly and I smiled.

"Really!? Okay, let me go tell her."

Khyson told me about her, and I only feel bad now for assuming how she would act. I aspire to make the best impression.

"It's final, we raised an athlete." I hugged Khyson's torso upon his kiss to the top of my head.

"I'm so proud." He whispered.

I glanced behind him to see him and Cassidy speaking.

"Look." I mumbled. He spun around and glanced over at him.

Rylan spoke a few words and Cassidy hugged him tightly with a smile, she ran her hands up his biceps and kissed him softly.

"I'm so proud." I think she said, I couldn't exactly hear.

Rylan

I'll meet you in the car, wait for me

Okay, take your time

I showed my phone to Khyson and he nodded while grasping my hand.

I felt a tap at my shoulder and turned my back.

The man introduced himself as a scout from UCLA and I smiled while shaking his hand.

"Your son has lots of potential, we'd love to welcome him in the fall." He adjusted his glasses on his face.

I turned my back and smiled to Khyson who inched me forward to speak. We spoke for a bit before he took down my email.

"Wait, Ariya Kingston-Johnson?" He stopped. I nodded, feeling Khyson's arms coming around my waist.

"I love your books."

"Thank you." I nodded.

And with those two words he left.

"My wife is famous." He joked into my ear, twisting my wedding band on my finger.

"Mhm, whatever come on." I laughed, leading him to the car.

We walked within the crowds of kids and adults to the parking lot. Khyson unlocked the car and we both slipped inside.

I settled myself in the drivers seat and adjusted the rear view mirror before leaning back.

"Wanna make out until Rylan comes back?" I heard him whisper.

"Yes."

There was a moment of us both unmoving before he grabbed my cheeks and connected our lips. I linked my arms around his neck while fiddling with the small peach fuzz on his skin.

His hand dropped down to my waist, digging the tips of his fingers into my shirt. I curled my lips into a smile when I felt his tongue slip itself into my mouth. My stomach began to knot.

Sex is not as common as it used to be, we try not to when Rylan is in the house. We've realized that in the shower is the best option, his room is in very close proximity to ours. One time he did hear us and I found out he moved into the spare room for the night. I felt bad.

Sometimes I'll go to Khyson's office and we'll do it there.

"Khyson." I moaned against his lips, running my soft fingertips against his stubble.

"Can you guys stop face fucking and let me in! It's cold!"

"Shit." I mumbled, pulling my lips back and wiping Khyson's mouth of my lipstick. I looked at Khyson to see him with the red tint all over his lips and cheek.

I unlocked the doors and he slipped into the backseat.

Khyson smirked at my words. He always eyed me when I cursed.

"You guys love each other too much, it's weird." He shook his head.

"Whatever."

-

"How many, table for.. three-four, four please." I told the server, he grabbed a few menus and walked us to a booth. I sat beside Khyson on one side with Cassidy and Rylan in the other.

"It's so great to meet you miss Kingston." She shook my hand over the table.

"Please call me, Ariya." I shook my head.

"How did you two meet?" I asked nicely with a smile.

"I was at a Party, I walked outside to get some fresh air and I saw Rylan playing basketball. He asked me why I wasn't partying and I said I was tired of it and we just started talking."

"You we're at a party?" Khyson asked. I stomped on his foot before he shut up.

"Where are you going in September?" I asked her.

"I'm going to Stanford."

I smiled and took a sip of my water.

"That's great."

"Yeah." She laughed nervously.

"Can I start you guys off with some drinks?" The waiter asked.

"A beer, please." Khyson spoke with a a sigh and leaned back.

"I'll have a coke." I smiled.

"Two waters." Rylan spoke.

I eyed her, trying to figure out her mannerisms.

She fiddled her fingers under the table, glancing everywhere.

"Do you have job, Cassidy?" I questioned.

"I work at the chapters down the street, I've read a couple of your books, actually." She smiled. I nodded, pulling open the menu.

"You like to read?"

"Sometimes, I usually only read on the job out-side not so much." She shook her head.

"Do you play any sports?" Khyson asked.

"I used to swim, but I got injured a couple years back so I had to stop." Her eyes fell and I could sense the pain behind her eyes.

Khyson said her mom died a couple years back, and she said she got an injury a couple years back.

Car accident?

"I'm sorry." I shook my head. She rose her hand while plastering on a fake smile I knew oh too well.

"It's okay."

"Okay, so the beer, coke and waters." The waiter placed our drinks down.

"Can I start you guys with some apps or just the mains?" She pulled out her notebook and smiled at us.

"You guys ready?" I asked.

"Yeah, we'll share the chicken parm." Rylan said, motioning between him and Cassidy.

The waiter moved to us and I spoke.

"I'll have the Shrimp Alfredo."

"I'll have the crispy chicken burger." Khyson smiled.

"Do you want to keep the fries or sub in a salad?"

I knew how much Khyson loved salads, I'm convinced that's how he keeps his immaculate shape.

"Ooh! Can I sub in a Cesar salad?" He beamed while I passed him my menu.

"Of course! With bacon or without?"

"Bacon, please." She nodded excitedly, I patted his back as he turned his head and smiled at me.

"That's all?" She said while picking up menu's with a smile.

"Yes, thank you."

The table suddenly went quiet so I spoke.

"Are living on campus or off?" I asked her. She glanced down: which I noticed as a habit of hers.

"Yeah, I'm recalling trying to become more independent."

"That's good." Cassidy was a well aware girl, present of her surroundings and knowing of her limits. But she was always on edge.

She was distracted, off gazing into the crowd of tables. Rylan tapped her arm and she flinched.

"you okay?" He mouthed with a concerned smile. She nodded while smiling.

A waiter came over with a tray of drinks for another table before a small child ran by, knocking the tray over. The waiter managed to keep his balance, before one of the waters came tumbling down on Cassidy's lap. She mumbled a curse before sitting straight up.

"I'm so sorry." The waiter said, placing the tray down and aiding to her needs.

"it's okay." She immediately calmed down while taking a deep breath.

"I have some extra clothes in my car." I could see the tears on the verge in her eyes before she headed for the door. Rylan looked back before slipping out to follow her. I placed a hand on his shoulder to halt his movements.

"I'll go, stay here with your father." I smiled. Khyson let me slide over his lap as I took a few steps out.

I pushed the door open while feeling the breeze slap against my arms. I hugged my body before seeing her slumped down on an old wooden bench with tears down her face. I took slow strides to let her know I was here and sat down.

"I'm sorry." She sniffed, wiping the underside of her nose with her wrist. I wrapped my arm around her shoulders without saying anything. I kept silent, and after a bit she leaned her head on my shoulder. I laid my own head on top of hers.

"Why are you apologizing?" I whispered.

"I wanted to make a good first impression, and I-I-blew it, I'm sorry, I should-" She stood up before I pulled her back down.

"What's up?"

"Pardon?" She mumbled.

"You've been on edge since we got here, tell me?" I asked.

"Do you like me?" My voice was hoarse, with a hint of pain.

"Of course I do, honey." I cupped her cheeks, wiping the tears with my thumb. The moment my eyes locked with hers she began to cry even harder.

"I'm sorry." She kept apologizing.

"Rylan told me, about your mother." Her bones stiffened at my words.

"I just-I wanted to make a good impression because-because I-I"

"You don't have another mother figure." I finished her sentence.

"Yeah.. that."