Page 38 of Forever After All (Pine Harbour #2)

Alice - Five years later

I t is a beautifully warm day in Autumn's yard, celebrating what we think is Jed's tenth birthday. Autumn didn't know how old he was when she adopted him but gave him a birthday and stuck to it.

Ten years of this sweet, little old man.

He still chases people, still fervently gets the zoomies, and is still the most intuitive, loyal dog you've ever met.

Jed now just comes with a powdered sugar muzzle, some achy bones, a little more sleep, and a lot more willingness to ignore you when you ask him to do something.

Jed and our daughter became inseparable immediately after she was born.

The first time he met her, at three days old, it was love.

He sniffed her tiny toes through her little booties as she rocked in her bouncer and rested his head at her feet.

Never taking his eyes off her as she cooed. It set the tone for their bond.

It couldn't be any more fitting that they became their own little duo. Our lives are now more or less the Emma and Jed Show . Carter, Autumn, Sawyer, and I are just along for the ride.

"No, Mummy!" Emma yells in her hybrid English-American accent. "Stop telling me what to do! That's mean." She backs away from me before giggling with a mischievous glint in her eyes.

"Emma Autumn Green, come here right now," I shout across the yard at my daughter, scowling at her, as she pokes her tongue out at me as she runs away, tearing after Jed. "That attitude is going to be the death of me," I say to my husband.

"Really?" Carter laughs, looking me up and down. "You're kidding?"

"What?" I ask with mocking bewilderment. My poor husband was shit out of luck when he met me, then had a kid with me who turned out to be…well…me. He had no hope in hell of having a quiet life ever again.

"Where do you think she gets that attitude from, princess? Because it ain't her daddy." He laughs again, and I feel personally attacked.

"He has a point, Ali," Autumn agrees. Her dark hair blowing in the breeze as she lines pupcakes up on the table for Jed and pulls a bowl of seasoned meats from the cooler ready for the crackling barbeque.

She looks up to shoot a grin at me, and I frown at her in jest. "But I'm glad she's got an attitude like her mummy. She won't take shit from anyone."

"Excuse me, you're my best friend, remember." I flip Autumn the bird and laugh. "Stop siding with him."

Watching Jed and Emma run around together fills my heart with so much happiness.

Carter and I talked very often about getting our own dog.

I've wanted a German Shepherd since I was a young kid and dreamed about having one.

But Emma came along, and our priorities changed, so we stopped visiting the conversation.

Jed feels like he is as much mine as he is Autumn's.

Soon after Emma was born, I went back to work, gaining a promotion to events coordinator.

Life has been…crazy for the last five years.

Carter's dream of starting his own sports camp for kids came crashing into our lives a year later.

Every available second he had was spent building it from the ground up, and he was still the most present father I could have ever dreamed of.

In that time of him chasing his dream, we also moved onto the land next to Autumn and Sawyer, so we could all be closer.

Life has been non-stop for all of us. Emma started pre-k recently, and things have felt a little easier.

I love my daughter with every atom of my being and do not begrudge how hard it’s been.

But she’s now at the point where she needs to learn how to interact with other kids, grow, and become more independent, beyond what I can show her little mind.

Emma said her first word at ten months old, and nothing could prepare me for the inquisitive, animal-loving, intelligent girl she catapulted into over the months and years that followed.

My mum and dad immigrated here not long after she was born, not wanting to be away from their granddaughter as she grew.

For the first few years, we all tackled the childcare together.

Mum, Dad, Autumn, Sawyer, Carter, and I all tagged in to help raise the little hellion that is currently swinging from a branch.

"Yep, he definitely has a point about the attitude," she says, raising her eyebrow at me "Doesn't he, baby?" Autumn asks her husband.

"I am not getting involved." Sawyer puts his hands up in front of him and pretends to back off from us.

"Either way, I'm gonna be in the wrong. You two will end up making me out to be the bad guy and cackling together like witches while I wonder why I didn't just keep my mouth shut to begin with.

" Sawyer rubs his hand through his silver beard and palms the back of his neck in defeat, puffing out a small sigh.

Autumn and I look at each other and start to howl with laughter.

"Yep, Emma definitely gets her attitude from her mother, bro.

Don't worry, I've got you." Carter slaps his brother across the back so hard that it thumps.

"I forgot something at the house. I'll be back soon.

" I watch my husband's ass, taut in his jeans, as he walks away from the yard.

The wind tunnel from the front door opening, forces the back door to slam shut and it makes everyone jump a little.

Emma plods over to us, panting a little as her wild red hair falls loose from her braid.

She rubs her hands down the front of her yellow flowery dress, leaving a small trail of dirt behind.

I have no idea how we produced a redheaded daughter, but it matches her fiery personality.

Her little nose is dotted with freckles that match her locks, and her green eyes sparkle every time that little nose crinkles when she is about to as a question.

"Uncle Sawyer?" Emma asks, sounding exacerbated and looking up at her giant uncle, sweeping her untamed hair from her eyes.

"Yeah, half-pint?" Sawyer rocks on his feet, hands wedged into his jeans.

Looking down at her, pulling his eyebrows into a small frown.

He looks at me with concern, never knowing what might come out of her mouth next.

Sawyer is her uncle of choice, and unfortunately for him, she beelines for him every time she wants to ask anything.

She tugs his hand, looking a little sad, and he kneels to meet her at her height.

"You know that I can talk to doggies?" Emma asks the question and wrings her hands together. "Well…why can't they talk to me?" she whines a little and stamps her small foot into th e grass.

Sawyer, looking relieved, chuckles. "They can talk to you, Emma.

" He fluffs her hair with his hand, and she shakes her head with a big sigh before patting her unruly stray hairs back down again.

"They just don't talk to you like a person does.

Look at Jed," he continues trying to explain, as the lovely old boy himself plods over and nudges Emma's elbow.

She reaches up to scratch his ears. "He talks to you by showing you things.

He can't say 'I love you' but he can show you his love all the time, can't he? "

"I guess," she says, poking the tip of her tongue out and drawing her eyebrows into a frown to match her uncle's.

"Oh. Em. Gee," Emma says out loud, and props her hand on her hip as she looks between the sea of our legs. "Daddy. What did you do?" she asks.

"Oh, dear god, Alice, turn around right this second." Autumn beams at me so hard that I think her face might split into two.

A little confused, I spin on the ground to face my husband…and a puppy.

"Hi, Mummy." Carter waves a massive fluffy paw at me, attached to the most adorable fucking thing you have ever seen in your life. And the most adorable fucking thing you've ever seen in your life is wearing a little purple bow around its neck.

"Carter…what?" I ask and press my palm to my mouth to st em the shock.

"Sooo, don't be mad," he starts. "But this is Freya. She’s a German Shepherd and she is our kid.

" Carter looks at me, and I am completely taken back, looking at the fluffy cloud in his arms, his biceps flex as he holds her.

Freya's little ears prick up when someone talks, and then flop down again immediately, unable to support themselves.

"This is the cutest thing I've ever seen. Why would I be mad?" I squeal out, a few octaves higher than my usual voice.

Emma runs up to her dad as he sinks to his knees, allowing her to pet the wriggling cotton ball. Jed follows soon after and sniffs the puppy. Freya backs away a little and nestles her head in the crook of Carter's arm before peeking out again, to eyeball her new friend.

Jed bows in front of her, butt in the air, and wags his tail, before letting out a small woof of approval.

Emma leans down to pat Jed on the head. "It's okay, Jed. Don't worry. I loved you first and you're still my favourite boy," she whispers.

"A German Shepherd? Carter, you know this is my dream dog." I squeal again, finding it harder and harder to contain my excitement.

"I know, princess." He rises from his knees and walks Freya over to me, bundling her into my arms. She wriggles around against me before settling into the crook of my arm and looks up at me with her giant brown eyes.

"I told you once that I would spend every day of our lives reminding you why you said yes, and I would spend every day trying to surprise you. I love you, Alice." Carter brushes my cheek with the back of his fingers, and I look down at the little puppy, tears threatening to prick at my eyes.

"I love you too, big guy."