Chapter 208 - Epilogue 2
[Time Moves On]
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Artem
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I celebrated my first valentine\'s day with my wife. She had never really understood what the holiday was about, but it had been a great experience. We celebrated the one year anniversary of the day that I became the Alpha. The day after the Alpha anniversary, Star\'s baby sister, Sage, was born. She was the first baby girl for the house, and she was already spoiled. Even my parents were going gaga over that baby. There had been fourteen boys, and now, there was a girl.
Chay had gotten married to Bailey, and the ceremony had been at the house. She was steadily growing larger now as well. She was due in the summer, and I just knew that she was going to be a good mother, even though I was sad to see her growing up.
The others were due between the middle of August and the beginning of September. It was going to be a busy time for babies, but I also knew that it was going to be really nice as well. There were a lot of weddings over these last few months as all the mothers and fathers wanted to get married before their babies were brought into this world.
Brayden was growing well. He was starting to scoot himself across the floor, and he was getting into everything that he could get his hands onto. All of the boys were growing. Nico, who wasn\'t mine, but was still family to me, was seventeen now, and he was nearly as tall as Kent. He had grown so much over the last several months that you wouldn\'t believe that he had been so small for so long. Not to mention, he was strong enough to be a beta when he was older.
Several of the other boys had grown very tall as well. They had shot up after they stopped worrying about their pasts. They were getting stronger, and they were all so smart. Flint had brought a girl home toward the end of April and introduced her to us. Likewise, Julian brought someone to meet us as well. Julian had come home with Spencer from Will\'s pack. They wanted permission to date, and I could see the fear in Julian\'s eyes.
"Are you happy, Julian?" I asked him as I put a hand onto his shoulder.
"Yes, I am." He looked at me wearily.
"Then that is all that matters." I smiled at him. "I don\'t care who you\'re with as long as you are happy. That\'s what it means to be a loving family." I hugged him. "And you, Spencer? Are you happy with my son?"
"I am, Sir." He smiled at me. "I love him."
"Then I am happy." I put a hand on Spencer\'s shoulder and gripped him firmly. "Just don\'t move too fast and be respectful to each other. That is my only warning, alright?"
"That is exactly what my father said as well." Spencer blushed. "Don\'t worry, Sir, I will respect him." Julian was blushing, but smiling happily at Spencer.
"Julian, do you think that Spencer might be your mate?" I had to wonder.
"I don\'t know. I guess we will find out after I\'m eighteen." He grinned at me. "But I really do hope so."
Time was moving quickly for us all. I honestly couldn\'t believe that two of the boys that I adopted were already dating someone. It was nice to see them happy, though. And Rebecca, Flint\'s girlfriend, was a nice girl. The two of them were inseparable whenever they were near each other. I knew that they couldn\'t technically find their mates until they were eighteen, but I had my hopes for them. I didn\'t want any of my kids to experience heartache.
More proof of the advancement that was happening among the family over time was that the boys revealed to us all their unique talents. One of those being Cohen who had been accepted into a summer art program. It was an application-based program that only accepted people with a certain level of skill or natural talent. Cohen had been putting his all into his creations lately, and Star and I were more than happy to help him grow in that area. Likewise Dalton, Gil, Zack, and Ricky were really good at music and had started a bit of a band together. Benton, Timothy, Leslie, and Will were naturals at sports; they each had their own sport they wanted to try, and they had excelled at it.
Julian was an honors student, who had been placed into the advanced classes. Flint had joined the drama club and was co-starring in the spring play. Kevin and Marcus were taking up dancing. They were learning three different styles at once and often practiced when the other boys played their music. They had all bonded and become as close as true brothers. I was beyond happy that they had this kind of relationship with each other. They were all such amazing kids. All of them.
I really couldn\'t believe that they had all found their niche so soon. Part of me couldn\'t wait until Brayden grew up so I could see what he was going to do with his life. There was no need to rush it though. I was happy to have him as a little baby. And so was everyone else. His older brothers were always there to play with him and protect him. They were the best bunch of kids that I could have asked for.
The night before Chay gave birth to her baby, we found out that Star was pregnant again. She was due in December so this meant the babies wouldn\'t even be a year apart from each other. Chay had given birth to her little girl on June the seventeenth, just a week early. And that little girl was so adorable. She looked a lot like Brayden, the resemblance was there. Only my boy had his mommy\'s eyes, and Chay\'s little girl, Kayla, had her mommy\'s eyes. I had to wonder if any of our babies were ever going to have their daddy\'s eyes.
Oh, they did. When Kent\'s baby was born, it was clear that he was going to have his daddy\'s eyes. The same went for Morgan\'s son; Reed and Toby, though, had little girls who had their mommy\'s eyes. Doc had twins, and one looked just like him while the other looked like Leelin. Hanna, who had been so shy when things got started with us here, had come out of her shell the most when the babies started to come, especially her little brother and sister. She stopped being a wallflower that hid away and didn\'t talk and started to be a more outgoing person. I could tell that Doc and Leelin were happy about that.
All in all, life has been going very well for all of us. Especially now that all the kids were getting ready to start school again. Nico was going to be a senior, Julian was a junior and Flint was a freshman now, the three of them in high school. Leslie would be there soon too, since he was in the last year of middle school. The rest were scattered between middle school and elementary classes. They were all growing up so fast. And now that Brayden was eight months old he was trying to walk already. Doc said he was truly advanced in that aspect. I really couldn\'t believe that he was doing as much stuff as he was. I know that it also got to Star, seeing him grow up so fast. It was sweet, but also heart wrenching.
And I am happy to report that Brayden got along well with his Aunt Sage. It was going to be funny when they were older, trying to explain to them that Sage was the aunt even though Brayden was older. They were growing up more like cousins though. And Star\'s great great grandfather was thrilled with all the love and happiness that was in the house right now.
The day that the boys had gone back to school we learned something else. Doc had done an ultrasound for us to see if he could tell if our second baby was going to be a boy or a girl. I guess we were never going to break the line of boys for our own children. Thirteen adopted boys and now soon to be two biological. Our second baby was going to be our fifteenth son. If we ever do have a daughter, she is going to have a whole gang of overprotective brothers standing guard behind her. Maybe it\'s best if we don\'t have a daughter. The boys can all protect their cousins and aunt. They didn\'t need to go psycho on their sister\'s boyfriends in the future. That would probably cause all the guys to run away screaming.
Did I mention yet that I was the happiest man in the world with the best possible family there ever was? This was truly the best life I could be living.