Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Epilogue |
You smile, wiping the droplet of water from your temple with the back of your hand, looking down at your work. The white ilies you had planted were looking beautiful, and you felt pride swell in your heart to know you had made them grow all by yourself, without anyone’s help this time. You put down the cup of water, walking out of the greenhouse to wash your hands. You bend down and let the water stream over your hands, washing off the dirt and muck. When you stand up again, two strong arms wrap around you from behind, tugging you to his chest, and you smile widely when you feel a kiss being pressed on the back of your neck swiftly.
“What is my Queen doing with her hands in the soil, huh?”
“I’m not Queen anymore. I was just working on the flowers.”
“You still are my Queen.”
You smile when you turn around in his hold, pushing a kiss to his parted lips chastely, slipping from his hold to walk back to the greenhouse. Jackson follows you silently, looking at you with a soft smile that was unwilling to fade.
“How are they doing?”
You look up from where you were cleaning up the supplies, glowing as you point at your flowers.
“They are beautiful! They are growing so well, I can’t help but feel proud.”
Jackson chuckles as you grab his hand, pulling him closer to the flowers. They were indeed beautiful. You smile in childish excitement, and his heart skips a beat when you hold onto his shoulder, nuzzling your face to him. You had glowed up so much ever since- Well, even if he swore you could never become more beautiful, you seemed to be adamant on proving him wrong every new day. When you let go of Jackson, he puts his hands around your waist, suddenly pulling you flush against him and you look up in surprise. A big smile quickly comes on his face when he sees your expression, but before you can say anything, he pulls you even closer, kissing your lips. His kisses are always soft and gentle, though they aren’t always as sweet as this one. You smile into his mouth, your hands coming around to hold onto his shoulders tightly. When you pull back, Jackson can’t keep a happy smile from slipping on his face again.
“My wife.”
You roll your eyes, slapping his chest playfully as you wiggle to escape him again, but he holds you tight, laughing with you.
“What? You are. My beautiful wife.”
“Stop calling me your wife. It’s not a title, Jackson!”
He laughs even harder at pout, bending down to press another kiss to them.
“My wife! You are my wife. I’ll never get tired of saying that.”
You smile at him, your hands grabbing his shirt at the top, pulling him towards you.
“My amazing husband.”
Jackson’s face lights up, and he let’s out a little squeal when you kiss his nose from your tippy toes, before you step back down and skip out of the greenhouse. The garden looks beautiful in the beginning of summer, the grass a bright green, littered with small white and blue flowers. You turn around, a giant smile slipping onto your face as you hear the happy squeals in front of you. Mark is running around, your little miracle chasing behind him while giggling and murmuring some sounds. You giggle as Mark acts as if he gets a cramp, doubling over in fake pain as he lets your baby girl catch up to him, her small hands reaching out to grab him. That must have been the sixth cramp he’s had in as many minutes. You laugh, shaking your head slightly, the wind blowing your hair behind your shoulders.
“What are you looking at?”
“Our angel.”
Jackson hums, staring out over the garden as well, his eyes lingering on the little ball of joy running through the flowers. When Mark looks up, he smiles at the two of you, waving before starting to run after your bright daughter now, the roles switched. You turn to Jackson with a smile, and even though you don’t speak, you know he feels what you mean. Thank you, for everything. I love you so much. He frowns a little, before his eyes turn away. You don’t hesitate to hold his face and make him look at you again.
“What is it?”
“I just… I can’t believe I almost lost you. I can’t believe you are actually mine yet, even now. I just keep thinking this is a dream and that I’ll wake up any second.”
You shake your head, taking hold of his larger hands in yours, squeezing softly.
“You are stuck to me for good, my Lord.”
He pulls a face at that, poking your belly gently.
“I’m not your Lord. I’m not anyone’s Lord.”
You nod, resting your face in the crook of his neck and place a soft kiss on the exposed skin there.
“I know, darling. I was joking. You are stuck to me though. Not only for me, but also for her.”
He hums, his hands running over your hair protectively as the two of you stand in silence for a bit, thinking about your history together. When the two of you break apart, you can hear feet rushing toward you and you look up at the sound. Mark was running up, the little girl happily bouncing up and down in his neck, gently holding his hair as support. You smile at the adorable sight.
“Here she is. She wanted mommy.”
You smile as you reach your arms up to pick her from his neck, the baby giggling in delight. You pull her small body close to your chest, holding her tightly. Jackson pauses as he looks at the two of you, his eyes focused and you know he’s remembering this moment for later. Mark let’s out a relieved sigh, running his fingers carelessly through his hair, before turning to his friend.
“The Emperor is back in town soon.”
Jackson nods, humming in agreement when he turns to the older man with a smile.
“I’ll have to send him my thanks again then, won’t I.”
You giggle softly, making them look at you as you shift your baby to your hip and kiss the top of her head.
“I’m pretty sure Youngjae is quite sick of your thankfulness by now.”
Mark smiles, nodding.
“He surely is.”
“I can never express how thankful I am for him to take the Kingdom into the alliance, my dear people. Without him, we would never have been able to live in this humble abode.”
You shake your head, looking down at your girl again, her eyes big as they look up at you. Then you look around at the life the four of you had now. Your house was big, though it was nowhere near a castle, and for that you were thankful. When you had escaped, Jackson had given up the defences of the Kingdom, and contacted The Emperor of the neighboring land. Youngjae had been so nice to take Jackson’s people into protection, the ruling now falling in his hand instead, while you all disappeared. Youngjae had really saved all of you, and you would forever be in his debt. As if Jackson could see what you were thinking about, he walks over, pulling you closer to him, the baby giggling brightly.
“I love you. Let’s go see Yugyeom and Bambam later, yeah?”
You nod, a smile slipping on your face again. You then turn to Mark.
“Is your sister coming as well.”
Mark smiles brightly as he pokes your baby’s cheek, before answering.
“Of course. She wouldn’t miss it.”
You nod, smiling brightly down at your baby girl. Your little Mako, the one you were the most grateful for. You stroke her head softly, kissing her chubby cheeks and pressing a kiss to the two moles above her eye, looking up at Jackson. You were one happy family, and you couldn’t be more grateful.
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I loved this series so much, and all the love you gave it. This will officially be the last part of Until it stops. Thank you all. ~Sienna
