Long Haul- The Complete Series Bundle

by Harper Logan

  “Cheese!” April and Isabelle said.

  The timer stopped flashing, and they all stood for a few seconds holding the pose.

  “Did it take it?” Lexie asked.

  “Go check it, Adrian,” Mom said, and he went over to look.

  “Perfect,” he said, giving them a thumb’s up. “This one’s going into the photo album.”

  “All right,” Chandler said. “Y’all ready to do some skating?”

  “Yeah!” April and Isabelle shouted.

  It was Christmas afternoon, and one of the local ponds had frozen over during the weekend, attracting the neighborhood to come and use it as a skating rink.

  “I,” Mom announced, “will watch with Koko, I think.” She raised her hand and Koko came to her, sitting obediently by her side. “We’re just a couple of creaky old hags. We don’t belong out there on the ice.” She attached a leash to Koko’s collar, and the two of them walked off towards a bench overlooking the pond.

  April and Isabelle hit the ice first, giggling as they zipped around, hand in hand. Lexie followed after them, turning around to beckon to Chandler and Adrian.

  “C’mon, guys!”

  They stepped onto the ice. Chandler grabbed Adrian’s hand as his balance wavered for a second, but he managed to catch himself. “I got this,” he said. “There we go.”

  They picked up speed, circling the pond and following after the three girls.

  “So,” Adrian said. “What’s next for us?”

  “What’s next?”

  “Yeah. We got the dog we’ve always talked about. Business is doing well. April is killing it in school. Things are perfect.”

  “Yeah,” Chandler agreed.

  “Perfect is boring,” Adrian said. “You and I both know we like a little chaos in our lives.”

  Chandler snorted. “Maybe you do. I ain’t the one who once thought being a truck driver would be a fun job.”

  “It was a fun job,” Adrian said. “And it brought me back to you.”

  “I dunno about chaos,” Chandler said. “But I like an adventure. That is true.”

  “Yeah. So, the next thing.”

  Chandler smirked at him. “Alright, tell me what the next thing is.”

  Adrian looked back at him, suddenly looking a little shy. He looked away.

  “Uh, uh,” Chandler said. “What’s with that look? You tell me what you got in mind, right now.”

  “What do you think about adoption?” Adrian asked.

  Any stability that Chandler had gathered suddenly vanished, and he slipped and fell, sliding along on his ass.

  Adrian laughed and helped him up. “You alright?”

  “Adoption?” Chandler replied, shocked.

  “Yeah. And you know, April always keeps asking about a sibling.”

  “Jesus,” Chandler muttered, rubbing the back of his neck. He sighed, his breath turning to a cloud of vapor, and smiled. “You know? I’ve always wondered what it’d be like to have a son.”

  The two of them laughed together. Adrian slipped his arm around Chandler’s waist, as Chandler wrapped his around Adrian’s shoulder. April skated up to them, doing an expert slide-stop in front of them.

  “What are you laughing about?” she asked.

  They exchanged a look. “Nothing, honey,” Adrian said. “Just talking about the future.”

  She went between them, and they took both of her hands, and the three of them skated together, moving in slow synchronization beneath the December sun.

  Afterword

  Thank you again for reading!

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