Years Later

4 Years Later…

"What did mommy prep for breakfast this morning?" Punk said, opening the fridge and looking for his kid's breakfast which his wife was so great at preparing, normally consisting of some kind of overnight oats or pancake mix for him to cook.

"Cake?" Rudy asked, sitting at the table with her brother, scribbling her crayons over some paper, working on a new addition for their wall of fame. Otherwise known as the fridge with messy pictures.

"You can't have cake for breakfast." Punk told her.

"Why?" Rudy asked. Her favourite word at the minute. Everything either AJ or Punk said was normally followed by 'why?'

"Because you're not supposed to have cake for breakfast." Punk said.

"Why?" Rudy asked again, choosing a different crayon whilst Thomas sat playing with his toy cars, running them over his sister's drawing to which she smacked them off the table.

"Hey." Thomas said unhappily, "Daddy, Rudy threw my car away."

"No, I didn't." Rudy insisted whilst Punk kept his head in the fridge, struggling to find any sort of pre-made breakfast for them.

"I don't think mommy made anything." Punk realised.

"You have to make something." Thomas told him, picking his toy car from the floor and returning back to his chair, this time staying well away from Rudy.

"What do you guys want?" Punk turned to them.

"Cake." Rudy nodded as Punk rolled his eyes.

"I thought we went over this." Punk said.

"I saw mommy eat cake for breakfast." Thomas nodded.

"Mommy is allowed. You aren't." Punk concluded, "Who wants Cheerios?" He said, taking the cereal box out and shaking it triumphantly.

"Boring." Rudy rolled her eyes, "Mommy would never give us Cheerios."

"She says they're for emergencies." Thomas added.

"There is nothing wrong with Cheerios." Punk said, taking out two bowls and pouring some in for them.

They were kids who got spoiled by their mother's cooking and baking, so much so that boxes of cereal were hidden in the cupboard and never opened. Unless he was in charge of the morning.

"I will do my milk." Rudy insisted, kneeling up on the chair.

"Sorry, already poured it." Punk hummed as Rudy huffed. What she didn't know was that he poured it quickly, so she didn't get the chance to do it herself. They'd lost many pints of milk to Rudy pouring her own milk.

"Can we go see mommy at The Blueberry?" Thomas asked whilst Punk sat the cereal down for them.

"It's Brewberry." Rudy looked at him unhappily.

"I said that." Thomas argued back.

"No, you didn't." Rudy said sassily.

"No, we're not going to see mommy. She's working. And you're going to pre-k." He told them.

"I think my throat hurts." Rudy said.

"Nice try, babe. Eat your cereal." Punk told them.

"What are you doing today?" Thomas asked with a mouthful of cereal.

"I'm going to work." Punk said, "Your Abuela will pick you up." He told them as they both grinned mischievously. They loved spending time with Nico. She played fun games with them, let them watch TV and doped them up with sugary treats to AJ and Punk's disproval.

"What will you do at work?" Rudy asked him whilst he packed their lunch in their little lunch boxes.

"I will pour people coffee and serve them food. And I will try and get more customers than your mother." He added playfully.

"Mommy says that never happens." Rudy said.

"Mommy is lying." Punk nodded with a smile.

The twins were at an age where they loved to talk. Non-stop. All day. They had turned four last month and ever since he swore, they got chattier and chattier. Often challenging everything he said and arguing profusely with each other.

"Phil on drop off duty today?" Lyla asked whilst making a coffee at the machine for a customer whilst AJ put out fresh pastries.

"Yeah, and I forgot to prep breakfast for the kids." AJ said.

"You spoil them." Lyla smiled.

"Wrong. I just use them as guinea pigs for new recipes." AJ smiled, "There's nothing more critical than two four-year-olds. Thomas actually spat out a muffin I made last week. Spat it out onto the floor." AJ said as Lyla chuckled.

"Good to know they keep you humbled." Lyla said as AJ smiled, "How are things coming along with the contractors?"

"Oh, I am letting Phil deal with all of that. Far too stressful for my delicate little brain." AJ said, "He wanted to build a house so… I'm just letting him get on with it."

"I love how he said he's building you a house when he's really just hiring people to build it." Lyla said.

"He did design it. Which I thought was impressive." AJ said, "He's a man of many talents."

"And clearly lots of money." Lyla raised her eyebrows.

"Former lawyer, dead parents and a successful business will do that to you." AJ nodded to her, "And have you seen him? He wears the same three t-shirts. He hates spending money."

"So do you." Lyla laughed.

"I think it's a poor kid thing." AJ shrugged.

"Guess what?!" Becca yelled as she arrived at The Brewberry for her shift, causing many of their customers to turn around, and then proceed to ignore her as they knew how loud she could be.

"You've bought us earmuffs for Christmas?" Lyla asked.

"No. Cheeky." Becca pointed, rushing over to the front counter, "Mister Eckles is downsizing."

"He's moving? What about our milk? We need our milk." AJ panicked immediately.

"He's not moving out of town. Just… moving out from the farmhouse." Becca said.

"And you're happy because?" Lyla waited.

"He's insisting on Patrick and I moving in there." Becca grinned as AJ and Lyla looked at her with confusion.

"I… I thought you already lived there." AJ shook her head.

"Well, we do. But Mister Eckles wants Patrick to have it. Officially. So, it'll be just the two of us. It'll be our house." Becca smiled.

"Does this mean you're finally going to admit that you're a farmer?" Lyla nodded.

"No. I am a farmer's wife. I am lady of the farm." Becca insisted.

"You're a farmer." AJ nodded, "Which is great. But I hope this doesn't mean you're going to leave us. I can't survive without Shiv and you. My heart won't take it." AJ huffed.

"No, I'm not leaving. Despite you teasing, I'm not actually a farmer. I just feed the animals occasionally. I still need my job. I need my sanity." Becca said, walking round the counter and hanging her coat up, "And you didn't lose Shiv. She works across the road with your husband."

"Still… it's not the same." AJ said, "Even if you told me you were leaving, I wouldn't let you go." She told Becca.

"I'm not going anywhere." Becca assured her, all three of them turning their attention to the door where two squealing cherubs came running in along with their father.

"Hey, sweet things." AJ smiled happily, beaming at her favourite little people rushing to see her.

"They wanted to visit before going to pre-k." Punk said, holding their two lunch boxes, one with Barbie on it and one with Spiderman.

"Daddy gave us Cheerios." Rudy told her mother immediately as AJ came out from behind the counter.

"Oh, Phil." Becca tutted with disgust, "Shame on you."

"I didn't have time to think of something." Punk defended, nudging Rudy lightly as she grinned mischievously.

"I know, I forgot to prepare something." AJ said, "I'll forgive you." She smiled to him.

"I liked them." Thomas shrugged.

"And did daddy tell you your Abuela is picking you up?" She asked, crouching down to them.

"Yeah." They both nodded in sync as AJ smiled. It always fascinated her to see the connection they had. The way they finished each other's sentence sometimes or said the exact same thing at the exact same time. When they were first beginning to talk, they even had their own made-up language which only they understood. She felt blessed every day to be a twin mama.

"Ok. I'm glad you guys are wrapped up." She said, fixing their beanies and pressing kisses on their cheeks, "It's cold out."

"Look at them." Rudy smiled, rushing over to the glass partition where lots of cakes and pastries sat lined up for customers to look at. She pressed her hands on the glass and leaned up on her tip toes, gazing lovingly at the fluffy and flaky treats.

"She's her mother's daughter." Lyla smiled watching.

"C'mon guys. We're gonna be late." Punk said.

"You guys have a good day, ok? I'll see you later." AJ said, pressing more kisses on top of their beanie covered heads as they ran back to Punk.

"Hey, Tommy. You got something on your jacket." Becca called over to Thomas as the four-year-old looked down, "Ha! Made you look." Becca teased as Thomas rolled his eyes and Rudy giggled.

"Not funny, Auntie Becca." Thomas huffed as Becca made a face at him.

"Let's go." Punk chuckled, "I'll see you later." He nodded to AJ.

"See you later, baby." AJ smiled, watching as her three favourite people left the coffee shop.

"I can't get over how much they look like you." Lyla shook her head as AJ made her way back behind the counter.

"You think?" AJ smiled.

"Oh, it's insane." Lyla nodded, "Phil had nothing to do with their creation. I'm sure of it."

"Stop." AJ chuckled, "They got his attitude for sure." She smiled.

"You guys be good today, ok?" Punk said, walking into the pre-k building which was attached to the town's elementary and high school.

"I'm always good." Rudy assured him.

"Don't I know it." Punk said, crouching down in front of them, "Who is picking you up today?" He reminded them.

"Abuela." Thomas nodded.

"Good." Punk nodded, ruffling his dark hair with his hand, "I'll see you guys later, yeah?"

"Bye, daddy." Rudy said, running off into the cloakroom to take her jacket off, greeting her teacher and heading into the class whilst Thomas stayed with Punk.

"You ok, buddy?" Punk asked him.

"Yeah." Thomas nodded, "But Rudy has more friends than me." He huffed.

They'd only recently started pre-k, and it was a learning curve for both of them. Rudy seemed to flourish in a noisy and chaotic environment, but Thomas wasn't so convinced.

"That doesn't matter." Punk assured, "You got your own friends, right?"

"Yeah." Thomas said.

"Then that's all that matters. I only got one best friend and that's completely fine." He shrugged.

"Who?" Thomas asked.

"Mommy." Punk smiled.

"She can't be your best friend. She's mommy." Thomas shook his head and laughed.

"She can be both." Punk nodded, "And you don't need to have lots of friends. A few good ones are better than tons of horrible ones." He assured him.

"Ok." Thomas nodded with more enthusiasm.

"Ok. You have a good day." Punk smiled, standing up and watching Thomas run off to the cloakroom, dumping his bag and heading into the class.

"Morning." Shiv smiled, walking into the reception area for the class where Punk was standing after dropping the twins off.

"Hey, girls." Punk smiled.

"We struggled getting out of bed this morning, didn't we?" Shiv said, looking down at the three-year old standing beside her holding her hand.

"Always hard when it's cold." Punk nodded.

"Brianna, tell Uncle Phil who made you lunch today?" Shiv said.

"Finn." Brianna said quietly.

"Lucky you. Finn makes a good sandwich." Punk smiled.

"Yeah, we popped by on the way here and he insisted." Shiv said.

"Are you going to work?" Brianna looked up at Shiv.

"Yeah, we're going to work in the coffee shop. And then I'll come pick you up later." Shiv said, "Do you need me to help you with your jacket?" She asked, crouching down in front of the small girl.

"No. I can do it." Brianna said in a quiet voice as Punk smiled.

"Ok, Miss Independent." Shiv teased in a funny voice as Brianna giggled, "Go on then. Have a good day." She kissed Brianna's cheek.

"Bye, mommy." Brianna said, skipping away into the class as Shiv stood back up.

"You ready for another day of providing caffeine and smiles to our lovely towns folk?" Punk asked Shiv as they began to walk out of the pre-k building.

"You mean another day of people looking at me like I have three heads?" Shiv asked him, "Always." She nodded as he chuckled.

A lot had happened in four years. She never could have imagined her life turning out the way it had.

A/N: Thanks for the reviews, everyone! I thought it was time to enter a new phase of this story. I plan to do some flashbacks now and then to cover what happened in the 4 years we've jumped. But for now, this is where we're at... enjoy and stay tuned.