Thanks for all the comments and bumps girls!
I'm sad to say that this fic... and this entire series... is over for good :(
Kerry and I have really enjoyed this Joint... but all good things must come to an end.. and that time is now. We'd like to thank you all for sticking with us through this whole series. You all are the best, and we love you all! :D
Thank you so much for reading, and enjoy the epilogue!
Epilogue:
Chrystal’s POV
“Ugh…” I groaned to myself, “Will the work ever end?!”
Kerry and I had been working like crazy for the past month. Our magazine was due to come out in about a week, and both of us and all of our employees were working our butts of to get it out in time.
Running our own magazine was nothing like either of us had expected. Sure we knew it was going to be a lot of work, but we had no idea it would be this much work.
My phone rang on my desk, and I quickly picked it up.
“Hello,” I said, letting out an exasperated sigh at the same time.
“Hey Chrys,” Kerry’s voice rang through the telephone.
“Hi Kerr,” I groaned in to the phone.
“Wow… that bad huh?” she chuckled.
“This is so stressful, Mushroom. What did we get ourselves into?”
“Oh come on Pinky, it’s not that bad,” I groaned, my eyes scanning over the pile of photos that needed to be approved for the first issue.
“Speak for yourself Kerr.”
“Why don’t you take a break sweetie,” she suggested, “How much work do you have left?”
“Not that much, but I really need to get all of this approving done before tomorrow,” I said, my fingers beginning to sift through the pile.
“Take a break Chrystal. The work can wait… and remember… you’re the boss now… so if you don’t want to do something, you can just get someone else to do it,” she laughed. She had a point there.
“Ok, we’ll see,” I said hesitantly.
“Nick was just over here dropping off Kevin, so he should be home any minute anyway,” Kerry said, and just like clockwork, I heard the front door open.
“He just got here,” I said, as I heard a couple of high-pitched squeals and the pitter-patter of little feet running through the house.
“Take a break, Chrys. We both know how much you’ve been complaining about not getting to spend enough time with Nick.”
“Ok… I might take a break,” I said, only half sure that I actually would end up taking a break.
Kerry let out an exasperated sigh, “I’ll talk to you later sweetie. Don’t work too hard.”
“Bye Kerr.” Just as I hung up the phone I felt a pair of familiar hands on my shoulders.
“Hey sugar,” Nick said quietly, pressing a soft kiss to my cheek, “How are you?”
“Stressed,” I groaned, beginning to flip through the pile of photos on my desk.
“You should take a break,” he said, his fingers doing wonders on the taught muscles in my shoulders.
“Why does everyone want me to take a break?” I asked, swiveling in my chair to face him.
“Because you need one,” Nick said, grabbing my hands, and pulling me out of the chair.
“But I-“
“No, no buts,” Nick said, wrapping his arms around my waist, “Kerry told me to make sure that you’re not working yourself too hard… and it looks like you are… so you’re taking a break.”
“Nick…” I whined.
“Come on baby,” he said, leaning in to run kisses down my neck.
“Mmm… I guess a break would be nice,” I said, as Nick continued to gently nibble on my neck.
“Come on,” Nick said, smiling as he removed his lips from my skin, “Let’s go put the kids down for their nap… and then Mommy and Daddy can play some games.” I giggled quietly as Nick winked at me, leading me out of the office.
One of the many perks of working from home…
Kerry’s POV
“Ok well hopefully Chrystal is going to take a break, and that means I don’t feel so guilty for taking one,” I said, turning towards Kevin after hanging up the phone.
“I’m sure Nick will be able to convince Chrystal to take a break,” Kevin said, smiling sweetly at me as he wrapped his arms around my waist.
I leaned into his chest, letting out a content sigh as Kevin’s fingers ran through my hair.
“I just put the kids down for their nap,” I said, tilting my head back slightly to smile up at him.
“Ok great,” he said. I laced my fingers in his curls, and pulled him closer to me for a kiss. I began trailing kisses down Kevin’s neck, as his hands slid just under the bottom of my shirt.
“We should go to our bedroom…” I said against his neck.
“Um… Kerr…” I could tell that Kevin was being sorta hesitant to move things to our bedroom, which caused me to look up at him with worry in my eyes, “Why don’t we go out into the family room?”
“The family room?” But what if-“
Kevin cut me off, “I just want to sit with you for a while Kerr… and you know… not do anything…”
“You don’t want to have sex?” I questioned. This was very unlike Kevin Jonas.
“Trust me sunshine… it’s not that I don’t want to… because trust me, I always want to,” he chuckled, tucking some of my hair behind my ear, “It’s just… lately I feel like we don’t really just spend time together doing nothing… and I kinda miss just sitting with you in my arms. So, I was wondering if maybe we could do that…”
“Kevin Jonas, you are the sweetest man in the whole world,” I said, cupping his cheek with my hand.
“Oh good,” he breathed, “I thought you would be upset.”
“Kevin, I like having sex just as much as the next girl,” I laughed, “But more than anything I just like being with you… anyway I can get it.” A smile spread across Kevin’s lips.
“I love you Kerry,” he said, leaning down to kiss me softly.
“I love you too Kevin. I always will.”
Kevin grabbed my hand, and led me out into the family room. He plopped down on the couch, and pulled me with him. I curled up on his lap, nuzzling my face into his neck.
“I’m really proud of you Kerr,” Kevin said as he stroked my hair soothingly.
“Proud? Why?”
“This month you’ve been able to go back to work, and you’ve continued to be an amazing mother and wife,” he said, smiling at me.
“Well thanks,” I giggled, “I try my best. But are you serious Kev? Like you don’t feel like I’ve been neglecting you or anything… or the kids, have they said anything about me neglecting them?”
“Nope, we’re all good. No neglecting.”
“Ok good,” I smiled, “Thanks for being so amazing over the past month baby, and for letting me live out my dream.”
“No problem beautiful. Anything for you,” Kevin said, before leaning in to kiss me softly. We parted and I rested my head back on Kevin’s chest.
“Thank you so much for walking into my life Kevin. You’ve been the best thing to ever happen to me, and I couldn’t ask for a better husband or father for our children,” I said.
“I should be the one thanking you Kerry. You made my life so much better. From the moment my brothers and I walked into that studio at Jade… my life became perfect… and it was all because of you.”
“I love you,” I whispered, leaning in to kiss him, putting all of my love for Kevin into that one kiss.
“I love you too,” Kevin replied, pulling away only long enough to speak, before returning his lips to mine for an even more passionate kiss.
I tangled my fingers in his hair, and as Kevin rose from the couch, pulling me with him… what was meant to be an afternoon of cuddling turned into much more.
Chrystal’s POV
About a week later, all of the work for the first issue was done, and the first issue was already due to be on magazine stands. To celebrate, the entire Jonas clan (Me, Nick, Kerry, Kevin, Jen, Joe, and all the kids) was going out to lunch.
“Ready to go, sugar?” Nick asked, as he slipped on a leather jacket.
“Yep, let’s go,” I said, smiling at him.
“Jake! Lily! Time to go!” Nick called up the stairs, soon followed by the two of them coming bounding towards us. Nick and I held out our hands for the kids to grab onto, and we walked out of the house together.
We drove into downtown LA where we would be meeting the rest of our family. We walked a few blocks to the restaurant we would be having lunch. Nick and I spotted Kevin, Kerry, K3 and Sophie standing outside the restaurant staring at a nearby magazine stand.
Lily let out an excited squeal at the site of her Aunt, Uncle, and cousins, and quickly released Nick’s hand to go running up to them.
Kerry turned to face Nick and I, and smiled at me, “Hey Chrys! Come look!” She waved me over, and I picked up my pace slightly. Once I was close enough, Kerry wrapped her arm around my shoulders and pointed to a magazine on the rack. Our magazine.
“Wow, that’s amazing,” I said quietly.
“Good job, Pinky,” Kerry smiled, pulling me in for a hug.
“You too, Mushroom.” We parted and I returned to Nick’s side, smiling happily at him. He wrapped his arm around my waist, and gave me a quick squeeze as we watched Kevin talk animatedly with Lily, Jake, K3 and Sophie.
We were joined just minutes later by Joe and Jen who were each cradling a baby in their arms, Jarika walking between them with a big smile on her face.
“Hey,” Joe said, beaming at all of us, “Sorry we’re late guys. The twins were being a little temperamental this morning.”
“No problem,” Kerry said, smiling at both of them.
The whole gang soon made our way into the restaurant we had been standing outside of. It was a little place that had pretty much anything you could think of. It was no Red Rooster like back in New York, but it was close enough.
The hostess greeted us, and hurried off to make arrangements for a table big enough for all of us. I smiled up at Nick, who still had his arm wrapped around my waist. I snuggled into his side, and he placed a quick kiss on the top of my head.
“You know, this place is a lot like the Red Rooster,” Nick said.
“You remember that place?” I laughed.
“Of course I do,” he said, smiling at me, “That’s the place where I had lunch with this really cute photographer. It was like the best day of my life.”
“You’re such a dork,” I giggled.
Nick ignored my comment, “Well… best day next to the day you became my girlfriend… and the day you agreed to marry me… and our wedding day… and the day Lily was born… and the day Jake was born… and next to a whole lot of other really special moments we’ve head,” Nick wiggled his eyebrows at me, causing me to giggle, “But the day at the Red Rooster is definitely up there.”
“Did you ever imagine that you’d marry and have two amazing children with the klutzy photographer who fell flat on her face when we first met?” I chuckled.
“Imagined? Psh… I had the rest of our lives perfectly planned out from the first moment I laid my eyes on you. But our actual lives turned out way better than I could have ever planned.”
“I love you, snugglemuffin,” I said, smiling up at Nick.
“Love you too, sugar,” he replied, leaning in to kiss me.
“Come on lovebirds,” Joe said, interrupting us, “It’s lunch time!” Nick and I parted, and we followed the rest of the group towards the table the hostess was leading us towards.
We all got settled, and ordered our drinks before falling into an easy conversation. The table was soon silenced when we heard the tapping of a spoon against a glass.
“Hey everyone!” Kevin said, reaching over to grab Kerry’s hand, “I’d like to make a toast.” Our attention was turned to Kevin, as he smiled at all of us.
“To Kerry and Chrystal for their spectacular job on the magazine, and for continuing to be amazing wives and mothers. To five of the greatest kids this family could ever ask for. To the two newest Jonases. And a toast to future happiness for all of us. Now and forever.” Kevin clanked his glass against Kerry’s, and the clanking of glasses proceeded from there.
I looked around at our table. At the man who would now and forever be the love of my life. At the four other men and women who would now and forever continue to be the best sisters and brothers in law and best friends that I will ever have. And at the 7 children, including the two of my own, who would now and forever be the greatest kids, who will later in life grow up into amazing adults. With a family like ours, there was no doubt in my mind that our lives would continue to be filled with happiness… now and forever.
The End
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