Beginning of the School Year
Finn tore into Artemis and Holly's room on the morning of the first day of school. He leapt onto the bed and jumped around until Artemis rolled over, squinting up at him.
"What do you want Finn?"
"It's the first day of school Daddy. You and Mommy have to get up."
Artemis glanced over at Holly who was curled up and almost completely covered by the silky blue sheet. He smiled and looked at Finn.
"Alright, I'm getting up. Just stop jumping on the bed."
"But what about Mommy?" Finn whined, stopping his jumping and climbing off the bed.
"Mommy will get up soon, okay?" Artemis slipped out of bed, careful not to disturb Holly and pulled Finn from the room. "I'll make you some breakfast."
"But you can't cook like Mommy can," Finn complained, digging his heels into the carpet and looking back at the bedroom. "The last time you made me breakfast, you burnted it."
"I burnt it Finn, not burnted," Artemis corrected, wincing at the memory of the smoke filled kitchen and the black-ish...things on the counter that were supposed to be pancakes.
"I've gotten better," Artemis promised, pulling Finn down the stairs and into the kitchen. "Now sit and I'll make you something."
In truth, Artemis's cooking skills had not actually gotten much better and he burnt the toast twice before actually getting one right. He was just waving the smoke out of the kitchen when Holly appeared, wrapped in a dark blue robe.
"Oh Artemis," she sighed, smacking him on the arm and turning on the stove fan. "You really do still suck at cooking, don't you? And that's just toast."
"It's more difficult than it looks," Artemis defended, rubbing his arm.
"That's what you say about everything," Holly said, rolling her eyes and cracking a few eggs into a frying pan on the stove. "You could have asked Butler, you know."
Butler stuck his head in the kitchen, a broom in his hand. "Asked me what?"
"Didn't you see the smoke Butler?" Holly inquired. "Artemis will burn down the whole house if you aren't careful."
Artemis frowned. "I'm not that bad at it."
"Oh, yes you are." Holly scooped the egg and toast on a plate for Finn, placing it in front of the boy who was not grumpy and smelled a lot like burnt toast.
Butler nodded. "I'll have to agree with Holly." He pulled his head out of the kitchen before he got something thrown at him by a very annoyed looking Artemis.
"Fine," Artemis muttered. "I'm going to get dressed, then I'll take Finn to school."
"I'm coming too," Holly stated, handing Artemis a piece of toast. "Eat this first."
Artemis snatched the toast and stalked upstairs to get dressed, annoyed mainly because he knew that everyone was right. He most certainly could not cook.
Holly and Artemis waved from the car as Finn climbed out and ran up the steps and into the school. He was grinning broadly and he waved madly before entering the building.
Artemis smiled and drove off from the school, glancing over at Holly. "Now we just have to pray no one notices his ears."
She nodded in agreement, watching the school disappear in the side mirror of the car. She looked at Artemis when the school was no longer in sight. "So what do we do now?"
Artemis shrugged. Over the rest of the summer, the three of them had gone on hikes, horseback rides, walked along the beach and occasionally went on a sailboat. Now that Finn was in school again, they didn't have much to do. Artemis knew he would have to do some work soon, but until then, he was contented to just spend time with Holly.
"Is there something in particular that you want to do?" he inquired.
"How about we walk along the beach? It may not be as nice as it has been, but it's still something to do. Besides, we haven't been for a while."
Artemis nodded and took the turnoff to get to the beach.
When they arrived, Artemis and Holly climbed from the Bentley. Artemis walked around the other side and offered his hand to Holly. She took it with a smile and they walked to the path. The wind blew lightly and the sun broke through the thick cloud cover, sending shafts of light down to splotch the stone pathway. Holly looked out over the ocean and sighed.
"It was definitely worth it."
"What?" Artemis asked, looking at her.
"Coming up to the surface. I don't miss Haven one bit. The air down there is so stuffy compared to up here. And you never get to see this underground," she said, waving her hand over the scene in front of them.
"True," Artemis replied. "I am also glad that you chose to come up. I honestly don't think that I could handle living without you. I never once thought I'd say such a thing, but I know it is true. I would have killed myself long ago if it wasn't for Finn."
"Well, then, I'm glad that Finn was around, because if I had heard something like that on TV, I would have come up and killed you myself."
"Even though I would have already been dead?" Artemis asked, a smirk on his face.
Holly opened her mouth to say something, then closed it again, at a loss for words. Finally she settled on, "You know what I mean!"
"No, I actually don't," Artemis answered smugly, watching her expression.
"Oh, don't be so patronizing," Holly hissed, slapping him lightly with her free hand.
Artemis resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "Anyway, I'm glad you came and stayed."
Holly stopped and took his other hand. "Me too."
Artemis smiled a genuine smiled and took her into his arms, kissing her right in the middle of the path, people walking around them and glancing at the couple, some disdainfully, some with a sort of 'aww' expression on their faces.
Artemis and Holly didn't mind, they were lost with each other.
Fin.
Well, there you have it, the conclusion of my massive story. When I started I didn't think it would last this long. Maybe ten chapters or something. Wow, did I ever blow myself away. Anyway, keep watch for the alternate ending, which I will post on this story, I'm just not sure when. However, this story is otherwise finito. Thanks to everyone who reviewed and read faithfully to the very end, I can't thank you guys enough *Hands all an E-Truffle* See you guys on some of my other stories!
~TheSunlitEarth