Happily Ever After
A/n: Possibly a fast-forward of Once Upon A Time, but completely unrelated. Future set.
Dedication: To Jeni, in honor of our upcoming AF4. Which reminds me.
We've decided to do something new. In honor of The April Fool 4, Lune-Solei and I are holding a contest. The winners will be chosen based on correctness, creativity, and first entries. The top three winners [chosen by us! will receive a much coveted excerpt from the new April Fool story two weeks before it's launched on April 1st.
The grand prize winner will receive a dedication and an insert in AF5 as a secondary character!! For details, check either of our profiles! Thanks everyone.
Just like every fairy tale you ever heard as a child, theirs ends happily ever after. But what exactly does 'happily ever after' entail? Well, it's not what you might think. There is no peace, there is no quiet. No days lived out with only blue skies and no perfect day dream without interruption. There is chaos and tears and absolute love. Happily ever after is simply the hope you feed your heart to believe there is such a thing. And there is. It's just not as one would expect.
Groggily, the brunette opened his eyes, turning his head with much effort to look over his shoulder at his alarm clock. The blaring green numbers alerted him that the time was eight-oh-two in the morning. Perfect. He didn't have to be at work for another … half hour.
"Shoot," he grumbled to himself, throwing back his blankets and hurrying into the master bathroom conjoined with his room. He blasted the hot water, only to find it like ice on his skin a second later. Cursing under his breath he shut off the water and grabbed a towel hanging from the metal towel rack on the wall. Now fully awake, towel wrapped around his waist, he noticed the blue hand prints on the marble sink he had missed in his rush.
"Ava," he sighed. He hurried into his closet, quickly changing into his clothes. A squeal came from the hallway.
"Daddy!" a small voice called. "Mommy says you're late!" He let himself out the door and scooped the little girl up into his arms, making her squeal even louder. He held her with one arm on his hip.
"Ava? Did you get finger paint on my sink?" He carried her down the hall toward the kitchen. She hid her hands behind her back innocently.
"No." Wavy dark hair fell in her eye and she quickly shoved it back. He shifted her to the hip, tickling her stomach and throwing her over his shoulder.
"Caught red handed!" The girl squealed even more, laughing red faced.
"But Daddy! It's blue!" she defended. The four year old was exactly like her mother, in his eyes. Which was bad for him, because her older sister was exactly the same way. He'd be an early gray.
"Ulrich! Hurry up!" Yumi yelled from the kitchen. He rounded the corner, setting Ava in her seat at the kitchen table and leaning down to kiss the top of the petite brunette's head sitting in his seat at the head of the table.
" Good morning, Olivia." She tilted her head back, nose scrunched up.
"Morning Daddy. I think my milk is bad." She held up the child size pink glass for him. He held it up to his nose, not smelling anything toxic took a sip. The sour milk nearly mad him gag as he handed the glass back.
"Yep, it's gone bad," he coughed. "Have orange juice instead." The oldest of the Stern girls pouted.
"I wanted milk." Her father rolled his eyes, moving past the table to where his wife stood in front of the dishwasher, foot poised to kick the life from the machine. Grabbing her around the waist, he pulled her away from it a safe distance so she couldn't do any permanent damage.
"Morning, Yumi." He kissed her cheek, smiling brightly.
"Ulrich! The stupid dishwasher stopped working again," she growled.
"I just fixed it on Tuesday," he defended. She looked up at him, the back of her head resting against his chest.
"Will you fix it again?" He kissed her forehead this time.
"I'll be home at five thirty and it will be fixed before dinner," he promised. Yumi smiled brightly.
"I love you…oh and the washing machine, too?" Ulrich groaned.
"You've got to be kidding." She laughed turning around and wrapping her arms around his neck.
"Sorry." She pressed a kiss to his lips.
"Eww!" Olivia and Ava whined in unison.
"Eww!" Ulrich echoed, moving back to the table to steal a piece of toast from Ava's plate.
"Hey!" she protested.
"Gotta go, girls." He picked a file off the counter and his gym bag off the floor, tossing it over his shoulder. "Team has early practice and then I have a meeting with a client about tomorrow's case."
"Drop Olivia off on your way?" Olivia was already making a mad dash for her backpack. "Olivia Grace, you better brush your teeth right this instant," Yumi chided. Defeated in her plot to make a break for it, the girl ran into the bathroom. Less than a moment later, she came back out, wiping the extra water on her sleeve. She smiled a toothy smile for her mother to see she had done what she was told and then ran out to the car.
"Love you, Yumi. See you at five-thirty. I will be on time or may lightning strike me." He held his arms up dramatically as he backed towards the door.
"Wait! Then who will fix the washing machine!?" Yumi teased with an expression of mock concern.
"Bye, Daddy!" Ava waved.
"Ava Aelita Stern, why on Earth are your hands blue?" Eyes wide, the girl hid her hands under the table, a guilty look painted on her face. Ulrich laughed, shutting the door on his way out.
Just another day in paradise. Chaotic, crazy, unpredictable paradise. Happily ever after was not getting through one day, but rather living that day in its normalcy as something amazing. Because it was their paradise. From finger paints to bills. From birthday parties to baby showers. This was truly more than they could have ever dreamed up. If asked to sum up the end of their story, they'd simply say 'Happily Ever After', because no one but them could understand the perfection in their everyday imperfections.
Everyone remeber to hit up my profile! The count down has started!!