Chapter 29- Epilogue

*Please read the authors note at the end*

Luna lets out a deep sigh as he glances at the clock for the third time. 6:51. He grabs the pot from the stove and pours it's brown contaminants into two shiny white mugs before turning off the burners. Large swirls of whipped cream are placed on top each mug before they're each decorated with a single pepper mint stick. As Luna carries the mugs of hot cocoa over to the living room, the front door jiggles a bit before his husband comes bursting through, frantically ripping his suit jacket off of his body.

"I'm here! I'm here!" he exclaims, rushing inside. Since they'd gotten married, it's been two years of watching a cheesy holiday movie every year on Christmas Eve. Somehow, Adrian had managed to almost be late to every single one.

"Took you long enough. Maybe you can try again next year," Luna giggles and places the mugs on the coffee table before heading back into the kitchen. "Go change and get the movie ready while I finish with the snacks."

"Sorry!" Adrian calls as he rushes upstairs. It doesn't take long for him to return, holding multiple blankets in his arms as he heads for the living room. He quickly plugs up the Christmas lights on the tree before plopping down on the couch and grabbing the remote. "Babe, it's starting!" he says once he settles on the holiday channel. Luna comes into the living room, holding a bowl of popcorn before placing it on the coffee table. He sits down on his husband's lap, cuddling into his chest as Adrian tries his best to lay the blanket over both of their legs. Once comfortable, he wraps his arm around Luna's torso and presses a kiss to the crown of his head. "I missed you," he mumbles into the man's curly hair, inhaling the smell of his apple-scented shampoo.

Luna looks up at him with a smile. "Yeah? Maybe you would've missed me a bit less if you got here on time."

"Eh, I would have missed you, no matter what time I got here," Adrian grins, leaning down to pepper small kisses along the side of Luna's face.

"Are you being sweet and kissing me so I'll let you off the hook?" Luna raises an eyebrow.

"Is it working?"

Luna lets out a soft giggle. "I don't know. Guess you'll have to keep going so we can find out."

"Cute," Adrian chuckles and pulls him closer into his chest as Riot climbs on the couch. "You know you're not supposed to be up here, bud."

"Leave my baby alone," Luna grabs Riot into his arms and places a kiss on his head. "He just wants to watch a movie with his parents."

"Fine. I'll only allow it because it's Christmas Eve and we're gonna have to stop giving him our full attention, soon," Adrian sighs, trying his best not to smile at his husband who stares up at him with a pout. He leans down to place a gentle kiss on Luna's pouty lips before he spots Riot up to no good. "Riot! No!" he grabs the dog from Luna's arms, where he was slowly edging himself closer and closer to Luna's cup of hot chocolate.

"Aw, Ri...I was trying to stick up for you," Luna frowns as Adrian places the dog on the floor.

"This is why we can never have nice things."

"Eh, you were going to find a way to get him away from us, no matter what. You just want me all to yourself," he teases as he cuddles deeper into his husband's chest.

Adrian lets out a soft chuckle and presses his lips to Luna's forehead. "Can't deny that," he mumbles before turning his attention to the movie on the screen. The next couple of hours are spent with cuddles and light kisses as they watch the movies that come onto the screen. By the time they're over, Luna is fast asleep in Adrian's arms, gently clutching his husband's shirt as he lets out soft snores. Adrian, who is starting to doze off, himself, quietly turns the television off and stands up, holding Luna's sleeping body in his arms. He makes his way upstairs to their bedroom and gently places Luna on their bed. As he pulls away, Luna's grip on his shirt suddenly tightens. "Luna..." he sighs.

"Come to bed," Luna whines, his eyes still shut as he attempts to pull Adrian onto the bed with him.

Adrian gently pries Luna's fingers off of his shirt. "I'm coming but I have to go clean up downstairs, honey." With a pout, Luna immediately falls into another slumber causing Adrian to chuckle as he exits the bedroom. He heads back to the living room and quickly tidies up the living room, making sure to refold the blankets and bring the dishes to the kitchen. Before going back to the bedroom, he makes sure everything is locked and turned off before bringing Riot to his bed and making his way upstairs. When he enters the room, he quietly slips under the comforter, and pulls his husband into his arms. He presses a gentle kiss to Luna's head and whispers, "Goodnight, baby," before closing his eyes.

When the sun rises the next morning, Luna is already awake, tracing lines on his lover's chest as he waits for him to wake up. As the hours pass on, he begins to grow a bit agitated and settles on waking Adrian up, himself. "Ow! Luna, what the f*ck?!" Adrian yells, his eyes popping open as he feels a hard twist on his nipple.

With a giggle, Luna hops out of the bed. "Merry Christmas!"

"You think that was funny?" Adrian raises an eyebrow.

"I-I think your reaction was funny..." he tries to hide a smile before letting out a loud squeak as Adrian lunges towards him, throwing his body down on the bed. "Babe!"

Adrian hovers over Luna's body, leaning down close to his face. "Say sorry," he grumbles.

Luna wrinkles his nose up. "Get out of my face! Your breath smells terrible!"

"So does yours, stinky!" he uses his fingers to lightly tickle Luna's torso as they start to settle down. He leans down to gently peck his husband's lips. "Merry Christmas, babe."

Luna grins and wraps his arms around Adrian's neck. "Carry me to the bathroom, Mr. Petìt-Hafler."

"You're not as light as you think you are," Adrian tells him as he carries him into their shared bathroom, placing him on the counter.

"It's because I'm so thick," Luna smirks, squirting a bit of toothpaste onto both of their brushes.

Adrian frowns and places his hand against Luna's forehead. "You okay? I think you're hallucinating. You might have a fever or something."

"I think you're just a hater," Luna sticks his tongue out at him before they start to brush their teeth. "You ready for today?"

"A little nervous, but yeah. I'm more excited than anything," he replies, a mouth full of toothpaste.

"It's our first time having anyone in our new house," he sighs. After the wedding, they'd spent about a year and a half building and designing the perfect house for them. It'd ended up being a large contemporary 6 bedroom home on the outskirts of the city. With a large white gourmet kitchen, two beautiful family rooms, and a resort-style backyard with a pool and outdoor kitchen, it was their dream home. They'd spent a bit less than 8 million to build and furnish the house, and make sure everything was fit to their liking, no matter what the price was. This, being the house that they'd hoped to grow a family in, was their top priority after getting married and it'd turned out even better than they could have possibly imagined.

"What about the announcement? You excited?"

"Of course. I'm more excited about that than anything," Luna shoots him a toothpaste filled grin before giggling and rinsing his mouth.

Adrian does the same before wrapping his arms around Luna's waist. "It'll be life changing," he chuckles and kisses his cheek.

By the time they exit the bathroom, Riot is upstairs, running around their bedroom, getting into whatever he can. Luna lifts him into his arms and places a kiss on his head. "Merry Christmas, Ri! We got you so many presents, honey!"

"We spoil him too much," Adrian sighs and grabs Riot from Luna's arms, taking his turn to kiss the dog's head. They head downstairs, into the living room, sitting down next to the large white and gold decorated tree that they'd prepared, weeks prior. Adrian takes a look at the wide variety of wrapped gifts under the tree before looking at his lover. "You think we overdid it?"

"Don't we always?" Luna raises an eyebrow. Adrian shrugs and nods before pulling Luna into his lap. They pull out an abundance of small presents and lay them out for Riot to rip open and begin to play with. After a moment of playing with the excited dog and his brand new toys, they finally decide to move onto the gifts they'd gotten for each other.

"You want to go first?" Adrian asks, raising an eyebrow at Luna.

"Nope! Gimme, gimme, gimme!"

"Gosh..." he playfully rolls his eyes as he grabs a present from under the tree. "Since Christmas is about giving and not receiving, I will go first."

Luna squeaks and snatches the gift from Adrian's hands, not waiting even a second before ripping it open. "Yes!" he screeches, hopping out of Adrian's lap and dancing around the living room as he sees the gift.

Frozen at the sight, Adrian stares at him. "Babe...it's a whisk."

"Sshh..." Luna hushes as he plops back down on the floor. "I love it."

"Well, I'm glad you love your..whisk.." he chuckles. Luna reaches over to grab a gift from the tree. He pulls out a small box-shaped item wrapped in gold wrapping paper. "That for me?"

"Possibly," Luna shrugs before breaking into a smile and handing it to Adrian.

"Thank you," Adrian rips open the packaging and opens the box. "Yay...another watch..." he gives Luna a small smile.

"You could at least pretend to like it!" Luna bursts into laughter. "I pretended to like your whisk!"

"So you didn't like the whisk?" Adrian raises an eyebrow, holding back his smile.

"Absolutely not! You've given me kitchen utensils for the past three years!"

"Well, you've given me watches for the past three years! I don't even wear them!"

"It's the 21st century, Adrian! What do I need a whisk for if I have a mixer?!"

"I think we should just stop trying to give each other gifts. What could you possibly give a person that already has everything?"

"What could you possible give a person that can afford his own private island?" Luna sticks his tongue out.

"We're married. You can afford it too."

"Right, I forgot. What's yours is mine and what's mine is also mine."

"Whatever," Adrian chuckles and rolls his eyes. "You're not getting a gift next year."

"'Marriage is fun' they said.." Luna groans and stomps his way into the kitchen. "Do you want start cleaning while I cook? Everybody will be over at around three."

"No breakfast?" Adrian pouts as he follows his husband into the kitchen.

Luna smiles and stands on his tip-toes to press his lips to Adrian's jaw. "Cute. There's cereal in the pantry."

"Rude," Adrian grabs an apple from the fridge before exiting the kitchen, ignoring Luna's loud cackling. They spend the next few hours cooking and cleaning as they prepare to host their first event in the new house. By the time they're finished, the smell of roasted chicken and vegetables fill the air, and the white marble flooring throughout the house is sparkling clean. Adrian, who'd finished his task first, makes his way upstairs to get ready. He quickly showers and styles his hair before dressing himself in a black, turtle neck sweater with a pair of grey plaid pants. As he throws on a few pieces of silver jewelry, Luna enters the room and heads into the bathroom to freshen up. When he's done, he heads into his closet to throw on a white, satin button up with a pair of black pants. Similar to his husband, he throws on a few pieces of silver jewelry before styling his short curly hair. "People are here, baby! I just buzzed someone through the gate!" Adrian calls up to Luna.

"Okay, I'm coming!" Luna responds, checking himself in the mirror once more before heading downstairs.

"You ready, Gorgeous?" Adrian asks as he walks out of the kitchen.

"As ready as I'll ever be!" Luna grins.

Adrian chuckles and leans down to place a gently press their lips together. "I love you."

"I love you too," he pecks Adrian's lips once more as the doorbell rings. He follows his lover to the door, waiting patiently as Adrian opens the door, revealing the faces of his family.

"My beautiful son-in-law!" Nick exclaims, pushing Adrian out of the way to throwing his arms around Luna's body. "It's so wonderful to see you!"

"What about your actual son? You always do this," Adrian rolls his eyes.

"I just enjoy Luna's presence," Nick shrugs, pulling his son into his arms. "How ya doing, kiddo?"

"I'm good, Dad. How are you? You taking your medicine? Drinking your prune juice? Your retirement checks coming in well? Got your dentures in tight?" Adrian raises an eyebrow.

Luna frowns and softly nudges his husband's side. "Don't be rude to your father."

"I assume your mother is coming?" Nick asks, earning a nod from his son, causing him to sigh.

"Behave, Nicholas," Belle scolds, shooting Adrian a small smile as he pulls her into a hug. They enter the house, leaving their shoes and jackets near the door, before heading into the kitchen.

It doesn't take long before their home is filled with all of their close family and friends. They surround the long dining room table, chowing down on the food that Luna had, earlier, spent hours slaving away at. The table is filled with loud laughter and conversation as everyone enjoys each other's company. Eventually, the family migrates toward the living room, spread out on the couches and chairs. Luna, however, remains in the kitchen as he tries his best to clean up before they get into all of the festivities.

"You know you don't have to clean up every little thing, honey," Alyssa says as she enters the kitchen. Luna looks up from his dishes with a small smile.

"I don't like leaving things dirty," he responds, handing her a drying towel. "Wonder who I got that from."

"Your father cleaned the house twice before we left. Once to actually clean it, and a second time because I spilled my water on the kitchen counter," she says and quickly begins to dry the dishes.

"He cleaned the whole house because you spilled water? On the counter?" Luna laughs. "I'm clean but not that clean."

Some time after, they hear a load of small footsteps pattering the floor as Ava, and Logan enter the kitchen with Noah waddling behind them. "Uncle Luna! Uncle Luna!" Ava calls, running to his side. "Can we open the gifts now?"

"Please, LuLu!" Logan begs.

Noah looks at him before folding his hands. "Please, LuLu!" he copies Logan.

Luna smiles before picking him up off of the floor to place a kiss on his cheek. "Why don't you guys go ask Uncle Adrian?" he suggests as he places his nephew back on the ground.

"Okay!" Ava responds before they run out of the kitchen, calling for Adrian.

Luna giggles and begins to wipe down the kitchen counters as Alyssa heads out into the living room after putting away the dishes. As he comes to the end of his cleaning process, he feels strong arms slip around his waist causing him to look up. "Hi, Husband."

"You're not finished?" Adrian mumbles. "Children are harassing me."

"I'm coming right now," Luna says, taking a final glance at the kitchen before grabbing Adrian's hand to exit the kitchen.

***

"This is so cute!" Luna gushes as he holds up an outfit that Naomi had bought for Riot. "He'll hate to be in it but it's very cute."

"Can I see?" Ava asks, holding her hand out as she sits in her father's lap. Luna gently hands the tiny outfit to her. "Oh, Riot! I have a surprise for you!" she yells as she hops up and chases the dog out of the living room, the other children following close behind.

Adrian chuckles. "She's about to torture my dog," he mutters.

"Was that the last one?" Willow asks, looking around at the floor covered in opened gifts and torn wrapping paper.

"Uh...no. We have one more," Adrian tells them before quickly running upstairs. It takes a few minutes before he returns with three small gift boxes in his hands. "Mom, this one is for you," he hands one to his mother, Melody. "Belle," he gives one to Belle. "And Alyssa," he gives the last one to Luna's mother before sitting down on the loveseat.

"We already got gifts," Belle smiles as they examine the boxes. "You got us two?"

Luna nods and leans back into his husband's chest. "This one is a little more special." The women carefully tear into the boxes, opening them to reveal their presents. It only takes a few seconds before they're all looking up at the couple with wide eyes.

"No way..." Alyssa gasps.

"Seriously?" Belle breaks into a grin.

"You're kidding!" Melody exclaims.

Naomi peeks over Belle's shoulder, trying her best to get a glance at what was inside of the box. "What is it? What is it?"

"They're having a baby!" Alyssa announces and pulls a diamond charm bracelet out of the box, a small infant carrier charm dangling from the end. It doesn't take long for the entire family to burst into cheer and a roar of 'congratulations.'

"Surprise," Luna giggles as the couple watches their enthusiastic family.

"This is so exciting," Melody raves. "Do you guys know anything yet?"

"Well...our daughter will be here in April," Adrian tells them, causing even more of a frenzy as they all burst into chatter about the new addition to the family. "They seem to be more excited than we are."

"Even Dakota is freaking out...she gave us the eggs.."

"Yeah...that was an odd wedding gift but it came in handy," Luna shrugs.

"It sure did cause now we have a beautiful little girl on the way," Adrian presses his forehead against Luna.

A smile breaks out on Luna's face as he cups Adrian's cheeks. "I love you a lot. More than anything in the world."

"More than anything?" Adrian raises an eyebrow. Luna gives him a small nod. "You better," Adrian chuckles before leaning down to press their lips together in a gentle kiss.

——————

And that's a wrap! Thank you so much for reading and being apart of this journey with me. It's been a long 3 (?) years but it's been a very fun story to write. I've enjoyed every second of it and even though I get a lot of writers block, it helped me to become a lot more creative than I have been in the past. Thank you for all of your comments and votes and general support. I hope you all enjoyed reading this book as much as I enjoyed writing it. <3

But unfortunately I have separation issues so it's not over yet! There is a sequel to this book titled "The Dream We've Built" that focuses on Adrian and Luna's family life. And the best part of all? It's already been posted!

I hope to see you all over on the next book!