Chapter 62: side story: Epilogue

Lily was eight years old, she loved spending time with her family but today, of all days, she was alone in the house.

It was her father's birthday but none of the family members were home, how were they going to celebrate?

She sighed and rolled around on the floor to get to the cooler side.

"I'm so bored~" she stared at the ceiling. "Mommy~" she called out to her mother who wasn't there and hoped she'll bring back the stuff for the birthday.

Lily then stood up and picked up the house phone to talk to her dad.

The phone rang for a while but he didn't pick up. Disappointed, she placed the receiver back and trotted back to the lounge to lay on the cool floor again.

Just as she laid on the floor the phone rang, she hopped up and ran to receive it.

"Hello~?" She answered.

"Hey princess." It was her father, "Did you call?"

"Yes. There's no one at home. So I was bored."

"Where are your brothers and your mom?"

"Mommy took Leo and Theo to the hospital."

"The hospital?"

"Yes. They both got a fever."

"Ah. I see."

"Daddy? Why is it that they both always get sick together?"

"I guess it's a twin thing."

"What's a twin thing?"

Her father laughed lightly, "They were born together, so they are connected by many things, more than normal people."

"I don't get it."

"You'll get it, when you're older."

"Daddy, are you gonna come home tonight? You didn't come back yesterday either."

"I'll try princess."

Being a CEO wasn't easy. There were times Lexus had to spend nights at the company. Especially whenever there was a big event. And this time, they were preparing for the company's anniversary events. He wasn't getting any sleep and had been coming home on and off. It didn't even click him that today was special. He had completely forgotten his own birthday.

But Lily was too young to understand that.

"Okay…"

"Well I have to go now."

"OK Bye bye." She placed the receiver back and wondered when her two redhead brothers and mother were coming back. It felt like ages since they left.

This time Lily decided to lay upside down on the sofa. To her it felt that the world had flipped and she enjoyed that.

The door opened and came in her ever hyper brothers, her mother behind them.

"Hi mommy~" she waved her hand, still in the same position.

"Hey sweetie." Her mother was carrying a lot of things and was focused on that.

"Lily's a bat!" Leo and Theo spoke together after they saw their sister upside on the sofa back. They ran to jump on the sofa and join her. They loved their bat position a lot.

Rosalie finally looked over after placing the things down and smirked.

"Leone, Theone and Lily. Come down this instant. We have a place to decorate."

The children grinned and ran to their mother, she handed them some balloons to blow. The thing about decorations wasn't really for her husband only, he was too old for this, but the kids loved it. Furthermore, it made it feel more like a happy family.

Lily blew her balloons and then helped her brothers out. By nightfall they were done, they had decorated the lounge and made dinner and a birthday cake. All that was left was to wait for their father.

But unfortunately for the kids, their father was too busy. He had so many plans to go through and correct all the things that weren't adding up.

Time passed and he didn't notice.

By the time he did manage to get things on track, it was midnight.

Lexus took a deep breath.

'Maybe I should sleep here tonight too. He stretched and sighed.'

Ah!

'I should go home, I wonder how the twins are doing.'

Lexus had always preferred going home at the end of the day but sometimes, the situation didn't allow it, so he had to sleep in the penthouse.

He took his coat and left the building. It didn't matter if everyone was asleep, he just felt better when he saw his family.

When he reached home, he noticed how the lights were still on.

Strange, the kids should be asleep by now or perhaps they ended up sleeping while playing. Since summer still hadn't ended yet, Rosalie was being lenient with them too and Lexus often found the kids sleeping on the sofa and then he and his wife would put them to bed.

He entered the house and smiled. His suspicion was right just that this time, his wife was asleep on the sofa as well, with Leo sleeping on her lap as he hugged her while Lily and Theo on her sides.

He then noticed the decorations and the cake, with a candle burning on top of it, the flame dying out as the candle had almost melted too. There was a cup beneath it so that it wouldn't harm the cake.

Lexus scratched the back of his head and sighed.

"They must have been looking forward to this…" He was a bit disappointed in himself that he completely forgot. He walked to the table and blew the flame out. There was no point in having the food out now, so he quietly placed it in the fridge.

Then he looked back at the family, they were all sound asleep, so one by one he put them all to bed. First he took her daughter, then his sons and finally he picked up his wife and took her to bed with him.

As he placed her down she opened her eyes momentarily

"Lexus?" She whispered.

He stroked her hair, "It's okay, sleep."

And she closed her eyes again, he slid next to her, hugging her gently. It didn't take him much time to fall asleep, he was already sleep-deprived enough. After all, he had the best sleep at home, by his wife's side.

The next morning when he woke up, he heard the kids in the lounge. Rosalie was already up too, so he dragged his feet out, just as he did, he heard a pop and confetti fell everywhere.

"Happy birthday Daddy!!" The kids yelled and he smiled even before he could focus his vision on them.

When the confetti was out of the way he looked at them standing by the kitchen counter. The chocolate icing cake in front of them.

"Happy birthday Lexus. You came home too late yesterday."

He walked to them, "Yea… I completely forgot."

"Daddy you always forget." Lily giggled.

"Daddy cake!" The twins tugged his pants and he picked them both up in his arms. They were three so picking them up wasn't a problem.

"Okay team! Let's have some cake!" Lexus spoke and blew out the candle.

It was a pretty normal birthday but that's all that he always wanted, a normal day, a normal routine and a normal family.

He let down the twins as their mother served them cake.

"Cake for breakfast?" Lexus leaned against the counter while the kids took their plates to the table.

"Who's fault is that?" His wife teased him and he sneaked a kiss when the kids weren't looking.

"Cake is good. It's good for health." He tried covering for himself.

"It is not!"

Lexus laughed.

Yes. This was what he had always wished for.

A happy family.

side-stories: End