2 years later

I don't know whether I'm dreaming or not but my back feels so relaxed. Reality hits me soon enough and I realise that I am currently receiving back rubs, my eyes open softly. I don't think Carter realised that he was touching me, he's actually on his phone. I shift and he finally looks down after noticing that I've woken up, "Morning beautiful"

I yawn before humming in response, "That feels nice" I murmur as I pull the comforter higher

It is beyond freezing, not to mention that I'm completely naked under the sheets. "You cold?" He asks, I nod slightly and he reaches over before giving me one of his sweaters

I sit up slightly, "Thanks"

He kisses my head in return, "We still on for lunch?"

"I'll have to see, I've got work with Aaron" He says apologetically

They both work at a sports club downtown, I hear that the pay is good.... The teenagers however are such pervs, "Make me breakfast before you go?"

"Only because you said please"

"I gave you head, have empathy"

He snorts before getting up, "Breakfast will be done in ten"

I tilt my head to the side as I take a good look at that sexy back of his, he's started going back to the gym and let me just say that I'm enjoying the view way too much. I even spot a couple of back scratches

My bad

I frown, "You didn't tell me the scratches were that bad"

He opens the door before shrugging, "I'm dealing with an animal, nothing new"

I roll my eyes before reaching for the phone rested on the nightstand, I answer it as I get out of bed, "Hey daddy"

"Mi hija, how are you?"

I spread toothpaste onto my toothbrush, "I'm ok, what about you?"

"I'm doing fine, just missing all of my children"

One by one each Rodriguez has left the nest, Lola and Matty are the only ones left. With her being seventeen and him being thirteen, it's only a matter of time before it's just dad. "We saw you yesterday"

"It feels like it's been days"

I smile a little, "I'll come back soon" I promise

"I don't doubt that you will"

"How's my little psychologist doing?" He then asks

Honestly, I study it for fun but I'm thinking that it may not be so bad career wise. However the education process is so long and I'm pretty sure I'd have to go to grad school. Then again I've started researching mental health nursing and I've got the grades for all of this shit so I believe I could do it. "Great, I'm trying not to study too hard"

"I'm proud of you" He says softly

"Thanks"

"Alright I'll speak to you later, I just wanted to call before work"

Honestly my dad is the sweetest and I don't know where I'd be without him, Isabella left him to deal with seven kids on his own.... He deserves the world.

"Bye dad"

I turn off my phone before resuming with brushing my teeth.

*

"I could've done that"

"I know but I wanted to" Melissa replies to her son

It's a good thing I had a shower, otherwise I would've walked into the kitchen without any underwear on. "What a wonderful surprise" I say amused

Melissa puts down a plate of breakfast as I sit at the island, "Hi honey"

Carter gives me a kiss

"When did you get here?", I ask as he pulls away

"Ten minutes ago, just wanted to check in on you guys"

"Did you bring Grace?"

"She's at home with Maya"

Carter sniffs me and I frown, "You smell like me"

"It's your aftershave" I reply with a mouthful of food

What, mens spray is better than woman's spray... Sue me

"Alright I should be going.... and so should you"

Carter takes his keys, "Yeah I know I'll make it"

"You better" she fixes his hair quickly before kissing me on the head and heading out, I laugh

"I swear it's like I never left home" He mumbles

"She's right though, you should be gone"

He checks the time, "Shit your right" He gives me a quick kiss and I hold onto his shirt before prolonging it

"You can always stay for an extra five" I murmur

"Last time I did that it turned into an hour remember?"

"It was worth a try"

"See you later"

I wave as he heads out quickly

And now onto the next few lonely hours of my life.

Although I'm pretty sure it won't feel any different considering that Carter and I text during the whole time that he's supposed to be working

I gasp as I walk through two glass doors, "Hi baby"

A mixed race toddler runs towards me and I smile happily before picking him up. "C C!" He squeals

"Hey Xavi" I kiss him on the cheek and he giggles whilst chewing on the pacifier

Xavier Reed, Zoe and Aaron's two year old son. Zoe wanted to call him Jayden but Aaron said that it would make him a red flag in the future.... And that it was what every mixed race boy is called these days

Which is true

Hes got a mix of Caribbean and Irish roots thanks to his parents, although you'd never expect his mother to be a redhead. "Hey" Zoe says

"Hey, sorry I'm late I had to deal with Santi" I sigh

To put it this way, my brothers extra activities are quite dangerous

"Hello?"

I hear a sigh, "Hey I'm sorry for the call but your brother won't listen to me and I keep trying to convince him to stop racing"

I frown as I stop at a red light, "Did something happen?"

"Yes, he skidded too far and someone else ended up driving into him" Maya replies

I widen my eyes, "Shit where are you guys?"

"Still at the place, he's refusing to go to the hospital"

I make a left down the busy street, "Alright give me ten and I'll be there"

"Thank you"

I end the call before tossing my phone aside and finishing off with my bagel quickly. Honestly, I don't like the people that Santiago hangs around with. And it's not because they're pricks or whatever- they're nice-, I just think that maybe if he hadn't met them then he wouldn't be racing.

And on top of that, he's supposed to be focusing on basketball, "What the fuck is wrong with you" I step over the crashed motorcycle that's rested on the floor. There's two fricking ambulances and a crowd of people surrounding the place, it took far too long for me to locate my brother.

He frowns at me as Maya rests an ice pack on his head, "Carmen?"

"This is a suicide mission Santi!" I scoff

He looks back at his girlfriend, "Why would you call her"

"Because maybe she'll have better luck trying to get you to listen"

He rolls his eyes before looking back at me, "It's just a bit of fun Carmen, relax"

"And how long until that fun gets you killed?" I question

"I'll worry about that-

"No we all will. Do you honestly think I wanna see you getting hurt?" Maya says annoyed

"Baby I'm fine-

"No your lucky you had a helmet on, and the next time you decide to put your life at risk don't call me" She gets up before walking away and he sighs

"She cares about you Santi"

"I know" My brother mumbles, I pat his back

"Then you know what you need to do to fix it"

**

"Dang, motorcycling?" Zoe asks knowingly

"Exactly that, where's the boys?"

"Outside, it's quite packed today"

"Dada" Xavier says excitedly whilst looking out the window

"Yeah we're gonna see your dada" I say amused

Zoe opens the door that leads to the field and we walk through before making our way across the grass. The weather was bipolar today, it wasn't too hot or too cold.... But it was warm enough to wear revealing clothes. I kept it simple and went with a pair of ripped jeans and a cropped tank top, plus a jacket to be safe.

Anyway back to the sports club session though. On one side of the field there's eleven to thirteen year olds, they're playing soccer, I can spot Matty standing with his friends.

Then on a separate pitch there's fourteen to sixteen year olds, they're playing football. "Where's all the older kids?" I ask as I put Xavier down

"Since we're only twenty they would have to wait a few years before coaching them" Zoe replies

Makes sense

"Hey what happened to June?" She then asks me

"Her and Logan had a fight, she said they fucked it out though"

Honestly it's always the same with those two, the pointless bickering and disagreements, when June tells me about it I don't even get concerned anymore because within an hour they're ok again..... does that count as toxic?

"Typical" She mutters

Xavier let's go of his mothers leg before running right across the field, we widen our eyes

"Not too far Xavi!" Zoe calls out

He giggles as he keeps on running, Matty kicks the ball right about the same time and we get up. Thankfully his dad was aware and picked him up by the arm just in time, Zoe breaths a sigh of relief.

"Close one"

Xavier looks up at his dad happily, "You've got a crazy one, I'll tell you that" I say amused

"Indeed"

We conversed with one another for the rest of the time left, I was relived when I heard Carter and Aaron congratulate the boys.... That meant that playing time was over.

Of course the first thing I do is run onto the field and pull my brother into a headlock, it took him by surprise. "When did you get here?" His muffled voice questions

"I was here long enough to see that goal you scored" I reply whilst ruffling his hair

He fixes it as I walk with him across the field, "When are you coming home?"

"Aw you miss me?"

"No"

I roll my eyes

"Matty!"

We both turn around as his friend shields his eyes from the sun, "You coming to the diner?"

He looks back at me and I nod before handing him twenty dollars, he smiles a thank you. "Bye C"

I wave as he walks away, "Your sisters hot" His friend murmurs as they walk away

Here we go

I then zip up my jacket as I walk over to Carter, it's so easy to spot him in his hoodie and his pair of sweats.... Incase you didn't know, that's my favourite combo

Beautiful

"Hey coach"

He turns around, "Hey pretty"

I wrap my arms around him, "You did good today"

"Of course I did"

I lean up to kiss him, "Gum?"

"None left" I reply

"I know, I was asking for the one in your mouth"

I poke my tongue out and he uses his teeth to pick it up, "Still don't get how you can do that" I murmur

"Your tongue is in my mouth everyday" He says amused

"True.... You ready to go?"

He nods before taking my hand, "I'm absolutely starving-

"Carter!"

We both turn around at the same time, "Your girlfriends pretty!" One of the sixteen year olds call out

"I know!"

"Guys really have no shame"

"You too? I had three of them come up to me"

I look back at Zoe, "What can I say, we're just that amazing"

"Mazing" Xavier repeats

"Come here little man" Carter takes him from his mother before throwing him up into the air, he giggles

"Not too high" Zoe says wearily

"Relax Zo" He throws him up once more before catching his arm with one hand

"Ok now your just showing off"

After leaving the sports club we said goodbye to Aaron and Zoe, we'll see them later when we go out for dinner.

Then we went to Stacey's house. It's just her, Chloe and her mother now. Martha came to her senses and left Jacob -and got to keep the house too-, now Carter and Grace are much closer with the family. Plus their little sister Chloe

"Maybe try to find another girl?" Carter suggests

"I don't want another girl, I want Lola" Stacey mumbles into the couch pillow

They broke up a few months ago, my sister got drunk and accidentally made out with some guy at a party, "Have you spoken to her?" I ask as Chloe sits on my lap

She sighs as she sits up, "I can't"

"Why not?"

"Because....I just can't"

As far as I'm concerned Lola's sorry and wants to fix things, however it's a little hard to do when Stacey has blocked her on everything and never lets her into the house when she knocks.

"You don't need a girlfriend" Chloe says

"Shut up Chlo" She murmurs

Her sister frowns, "Hey she was being supportive" I defend

Look if this had been anyone else I'd gladly stay and give relationship advice, but this is to do with my sister so I'd rather not intervene otherwise I'd be wrongfully biased. Thankfully Grace walks into the front room with a donut, "You ready to go?"

She nods, "Martha says bye"

"Where is she?"

"Shower"

Carter gets up, lJust try and talk to her Stace.... Otherwise you need to figure out how to move on"

"Easy for you to say"

She's taking this a lot more different than I thought. I mean the irony is amazing, she despises my sister yet she's still in her clothes.

"Are you going?" Chloe asks me

I nod before tying up her hair for her, "I'll see you later ok?"

She smiles before nodding

The three of us then leave shortly. Stacey and Lola need to figure out their shit on their own

"Can we go to McDonald's?" Grace asks

Carter shuts his door, "Nice try, Martha told me you had some already"

I look back at her, "Of course we can"

"No we can't" Her brother replies

"Can"

"Can't-

"Ok well I haven't reached two thousand calories today"

He mutters under his breath before starting the engine and I high five his sister, "Stick with me Gracie and you can have everything you want"

"I'll remember that" She replies

I smile and Carter rolls his eyes in return, "I don't even have any money-

"Didn't you buy me a Chanel purse last week?"

He doesn't reply and I take his silence as a win. Carter actually has a lot more money than he lets on, not only from his job but his trust fund too. And me, I'm absolutely shit at saving so whatever I make, he saves for me and in return buys what I need

It's a smart concept