One Night Stand With My Husband’s Brother

TWO YEARS LATER

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“Five! Four! Three! Two! One! Happy New year!” Calista and Cameron screamed at the top of their lungs, jumping and huggoing each other while bursting with excitement.

Chase and Mackenzie were not left out of the celebration. Chase hugged Mackenzie tight as they stood on the balcony of their cottage – the family’s latest property in North Dakota – watching the fire works light up the sky.

Little baby Emily cried in Mackenzie’s arms. Mackenzie looked down at her daughter’s dark eyes and blew her kisses. Soon, the baby started to smile.

“Mummy, do you think Emily would have loved to scream with us?” Calista asked, tiptoeing just so she could see her little sister.

Cameron turned to look at everyone, and stood beside his father. The more he grew, the more he turned into a spitting image of Chase. His father had often joked that by the time Cameron was Chase’s present age, they wouldn’t be able to tell their pictures apart.

Emily was the only one who had resemblance to Mackenzie, even at that, she still had the colour of her father’s eyes.

Chase had often taunted her about how strong his genes were, and Mackenzie would always laugh about it.

“Of course, princess. One day, Emily would be old enough to scream too, and she can join us all on the balcony.” Chase replied. He held both Calista and Cameron and led them back into the house. It was freezing outside despite their coats and gloves.

“By the way, grandpa and grandma would be here soon, and aunt Felicity and uncle West as well. We all have to join mummy to set the dinner table, because team work…”

“Makes the dream work!” Calista and Cameron chorused. Brother and sister “fist bumped” themselves, before landing their father a solid high five.

Mackenzie watched from the balcony with a smile on her face.

How had she gotten this lucky and blessed again?

Two years ago, she and Chase had gotten married on an island, somewhere in the Maldives. Yes, they both had their ups and downs, individually and together, but knowing that she would always return home to find him, to their family, gave her the strength to face everything head on. And she was sure it did the same for him too.

Eleanor and Jeffrey were still in prison, and had not been granted bail for any reason. The case had gone to court, and they were both found guilty of numerous charges, including fraud.

Selene, on the other hand, had disappeared after her online melt down. While some said she was hiding somewhere in Europe from the American police, there were other nasty rumours, many of which Mackenzie did not want to bother herself about.

They were happy now, and she wanted to enjoy every bit of it.

Richard could have been there with them if he did not have an urgent meeting to attend to. Charlotte was also out for a work conference in China, so she had to celebrate new year’s there.

Mackenzie heaved a sigh. She couldn’t wait for everyone to be back in the country again. She told herself she would make sure they all went on a vacation outside the country. No work, just family and friends spending quality time together.

Chase and the kids helped set the table. The sauced turkey being the main dish attraction for the night. Less than two hours later, Mackenzie’s father and Beatrice arrived. Felicty and West followed shortly after, and even if they arrived together, Felicity was willing to swear on her life that she did not come along with him.

The way she blushed everytime Mackenzie raised the topic as a joke made Mackenzie smile. Her friend was slowly falling for the Axford brat after all – as Felicity liked to call him – and she had no idea, at least not yet.

They all had dinner in less than thirty minutes, with jokes and lots of wine in between. The children stuck to orange and apple juice of course. After that, they all gathered at the fireplace, while West and Felicity decided to put on a show for everyone.

“… I knew I loved you then, but I never showed! I held it back cause I was scared of letting go…” As Felicity and West screamed their drunken heads off in the name of karaoke, Mackenzie sat on the floor by the fire place, baby Emily lay on her lap asleep.

Chase busied himself with playing cards with Calista and Cameron, but he also kept his eyes on his cousin and Felicity.

“They are in love, aren’t they?” Beautrice said aloud.

Mackenzie blushed as she turned to the older woman.

“Trust me, Felicity would deny it with her entire existence. Girl forgets we can see through her sometimes.”

“The West boy seems like a good boy too, don’t you think?” Pops spoke this time, slowly sipping on his cup of steaming hot chocolate. Chase smiled at his cousin.

“Daddy, it’s your time to play!” Cameron called out, and Chase snapped out of his reverie. He placed a card on the floor, and saw Calista and Cameron throw their hands in the air, celebrating.

“We won daddy! We won daddy!”

It was only when Chase looked down at the cards on the floor that he understood the reason for their happiness.

He shook his head with a smile plastered on his face and looked back at West.

“I’ve got to say, West can be very difficult sometimes, but believe me when I say his heart is always in the right place.”

After three hours of pure torture, West and Felicity finally fell asleep beside each other on the rug. Chase went into the room and got separate blankets for each of them.

Pops and Beautrice had retired into the bedroom reserved for them, and so did the kids – including Emily, thankfully, leaving Chase and Mackenzie downstairs to cater to Felicity and West.Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

As Mackenzie put a blanket over Felicity, Chase did the same for West.

When they were done, Mackenzie and Chase exchanged knowing glances, wide smirks spread across both their cheeks.

“What do you think is going to happen when they wake up and find themselves together, on the floor?” Mackenzie asked, and Chase took her hand in his before he replied.

“Why don’t we go to bed now, so we can wake up early enough to find out?”

Mackenzie appeared thoughtful for a while, before she looked down at Felicity’s sleeping face, and up at Chase’s smiling one again.

“That sounds like a good plan.” She allowed him hold her hand and lead her out of the living room.

“That’s because it is.”

“Oh, get over yourself, Mr. Axford.”

Chase pulled her closer by her waist, and Mackenzie blushed.

“Admit it, Mrs. Chase Axford, you love it when I gloat.”

Mackenzie threw her head backwards in a resounding laughter, and Chase joined in as they walked hand in hand to their bedroom, satisfied by the end of another new year, and looking forward to an eternity together.