Page 37 of Blinded By Forever
He said I put too much seasoning in the chicken.
All I did was follow my mom’s recipe but I guess I put too much seasoning.
“I underestimated my measurements. It happens to everyone.” I roll my eyes at him.
Easton snorts from across the table, already halfway through his second plate.
He always loved my food, and would demand more food from me when he was a kid.
He’s seventeen and still growing. His dark hair is messy in an artist or rebel look. He is wearing worn out paint splattered sweats and a hoodie from some art gallery in New York. My son, he got my creative side that’s for sure.
He moved out at a very young age since he got into a private school in New York for art. He took up art in secondary school here and showed me his drawings and I told him he should go to school for it, especially if it makes him happy.
Easton never really got along with kids from his school and that’s because they just didn’t understand his mind.
But he’s talented and doing great at school in New York. He visits whenever he can.
Hayden still doesn’t understand how his son made a small career out of drawing, but God help anyone who criticizes him in front of his father.
“Mom's cooking isn’t even bad. You’re being dramatic.” River rolls her eyes.
She’s twelve now and fiercely independent.
She is still young and figuring herself out but she is doing great at school and has made a lot of friends for her age. I’m not worried about her, not yet at least.
She is curled up next to Hayden who is sitting beside me. She has one hand tucked into the crook of his arm and the other holding a mug of hot chocolate with extra marshmallows. Her curls are tied up in a messy bun and her voice has already started to change from that girlish tone to something more defined and confident which makes me proud.
I promised myself I would always make sure she is strong and only sees herself in a beautiful light instead of darkness like I had.
Hayden looks at our kids with a proud look on his face, almost like a ‘we made it’ expression.
He hasn’t gone back to Killian, not once and life has been peaceful and beautiful. I stopped worrying and overthinking and he stopped lying.
He chose me, our family.
Killian and him are still friends but he doesn’t do any favors for him anymore.
We made it.
After everything, we truly made it.
The night passes by in a blur.
The kids argue and we play one round of UNO before they go upstairs to their rooms for bed.
Hayden and I stay downstairs to clean, the lights are dim and I stand by the sink.
“You didn’t let me help.” He wraps his arms around my waist and whispers into my neck.
“You helped enough,” I whisper back, leaning into him. “You cut the chicken and even managed to go through the evening without swearing.”
“Personal growth.” He shrugs.
I turn around in his arms and there he is, just as he's always been. Dangerous, tender, broken, and whole. A man who has been to hell and back with fire in his eyes and heart still intact.
And here I am, surviving everything we’ve gone through together.
“Did you see them tonight?” I ask softly, cupping his face.
