Detour, or a blizzard in a white winter forest

Chapter 8

Epilogue

Charlie felt Bass' hand low on her back, while she walked closely beside him on the small path that lead to the house in front of them. They had just arrived in Jasper, Bass' home town, and the town where Miles, her father and Bass had shared many years together growing up. It had been happy years, filled with school, skipping school.

Long summers spent running through tall grass and in the forests around the little town, pretending to be soldiers in battles that existed only in their minds.

Charlie always liked being in this town. It was not the first time she would meet them, but it was the first time she would meet them with Bass.

It was autumn, and the sun was still warm. Golden leaves where on the trees and Charlie wore a simple, but in Bass' eyes very effective, dress that fitted her body perfectly. Their second night in that cabin, hidden in a winter forest, was almost two years ago. Charlie had graduated and a new phase of her life had started. She was busy looking for a job. She loved this new part, most of all because Bass was there with her.

Things had not been exactly easy. Between them things had worked out fine, although they found out they were really good at arguing along the way. She could be furious when she ranted about his ego, he was frustrated beyond anything about her stubbornness. But luckily, they were even better at making up, and they did that often, with passion.

Ben had accepted her and Bass, when he saw how they both felt, and how Bass took care of her, respected her and eventually, loved her.

Rachel, however, well, Bass thought, if her icy eyes had been able to kill, he had been death many times now. But she was slowly coming around, realising that her daughter's happiness was something that Charlie deserved.

And Miles, he could still be a giant ass, but somehow he always intervened when it came to Charlie, him and the rest. He was there on more than one occasion to intervene and calm things the hell down. So, yeah, still an ass, but a good friend too. That was how thing were from the beginning between the two men. It turned out, that being with Charlie, did not change anything between those brothers. They both cared for Charlie, and both would go to the end of the world and back again for her.

The house in front of them was modest and inviting, and was close to the centre of the small town. The street was quiet, and it was obvious that somebody took care of the garden with great care.

Before they had a chance to ring the doorbell, the front door swung open. Charlie felt her heartbeat pick up a little. An older man, tall and with the same jaw line as Bass, stood in the doorway. Not much later, a woman appeared close to his side. Charlie understood then, where he got those intense blue eyes from. He got them from his mother.

'Bass, Charlie, you are here,' Gail Monroe said with warmth in her voice, while she gestured to the both of them, welcome, welcome.'

When Charlie reached her, she put out her hand to greet her but Gail only laughed at her and pulled her into a embrace. 'It is so good to see you, Charlie. We were wondering when Bass would take you home, so we could finally meet you. We have been hearing so much about you.'

Charlie turned to Bass for a moment, who blushed when he really tried not do and play things cool. Well, this was new, she thought with a smile.

And then, Gail stepped towards Bas and hugged her son closely for a moment. Bass returned her hug.

'Charlie, I am William Monroe,' the older man shook her hand, and nodded at her with a smile.

'Dad,' Bass smiled at him, while his father patted him on the shoulder, in the way a father did, a moment between father and son. 'Son, I am glad you decided to visit your old man again, it has been a while.'

Charlie was guided into the house by Gail, while she informed about their journey. Charlie took in the house, she immediately felt at home. There were lots of family pictures on the wall, a cosy living room with a piano against the wall and a large kitchen that smelled like apple and cinnamon. That was, of course, because there was a huge apple pie waiting for them on the kitchen counter. Charlie was not even out of her coat when she heard two woman behind her.

'Hey big brother, there he is!' Two blond and energetic woman stood in front of her, giving Bass an enthusiastic greeting of their own. One of the woman was carrying a little boy on her arm. Charlie remembered meeting them once, but it had been years since she met them. Charlie had some troubles remembering who was who.

'Charlie, these are my little sisters, Cynthia and Angela.' Charlie could hear the warm pride in his voice when he introduced them again, helping her out with who was who.

'And this, this is little Ross,' Angela said, when she walked over with baby Ross. The little boy looked at Charlie with big eyes and smiled at her shyly. Charlie felt Bass standing just behind her.

'I am sorry we left our guys at home, they both had to work,' Cynthia apologized, 'you'll meet them next time, I am sure,' she smiled at Charlie.

'Please sit down, Charlie,' William nodded to the comfortable living area. Charlie felt the tension leaving her body. She had not been sure how Bass' family would react to her, but their welcome had been open and inviting.

'You like some coffee?' Cynthia added.

Charlie nodded yes with a smile.

'She practically lives on coffee,' Bass teased her.

'Well, you just got through college, so that means coffee was your life line, right?' Angela winked at Charlie, helping her out while she poked Bass in the shoulder.

The whole group settled down in the living room. There were questions and there was more than enough time for each other. Charlie let her eyes fall on the pictures around the fire place, while her hands were wrapped around her coffee mug. She realised she was looking at a younger Bass with her father and Miles.

The picture was taken in the summer, and three young men sat at the edge of a swimming pool. The blue water shining in the sun. Bass and Miles had their arms around each other's shoulders and tried to look as badass as they could.

She locked eyes with Bass for a moment, and Bass really liked to see her here, with the people he loved and cared about, his family, in the town that would always be his home. Somehow it felt like she had always been there.

Angela and Cynthia exchanged looks. While Angela walked towards the books on the other side of the room. There were many books on the shelves left and right of the fire place.

Bass pulled his hand through his hair, and rested his elbows on his knees again. 'Girls, what are you up to?' He knew his little sisters long enough to know something was up.

Angela walked over to Charlie with a large photo album in her hands, while Cynthia was not far behind. Gail walked into the living room with a large tray filled with a second round of the delicious parts of the apple pie for all of them and more fresh coffee.

'So Charlie,' Angela asked, obvious mischief in her eyes, 'ever seen some baby pictures of Bass?'

Bass groaned not for away from her. 'Ang, no, I am sure she doesn't want to...'

'Oh Bass, I think I really want to.' Charlie smirked at him, while Angela opened the album. A baby, big blue eyes and blonde curls, a little thumb in his mouth, smiled at her from the first picture.

'Oh yes, Bass, I remember,' Gail started, ' You were three months there..'

While Bass shut his eyes for a moment, his mother started to tell the story behind the picture. Bass looked at the clock and asked himself it was time for a drink already. Charlie, on the other hand, could not get enough. When Angela turned another page, Charlie and his sisters started to giggle with bright smiles.

He looked away. He knew which picture would be next. Him sitting in a bucket of water, midsummer, and very naked at 6 months. His sisters, Charlie and his mother, who had joined them and sat behind them on the back of the couch were soon lost in memories and picture through the years. Charlie saw Bass grow up in front of her eyes, when they turned more pages from the album.

There were more giggles when Angela showed her the picture of Bass wearing pink butterfly wings, when he had joined his little sisters for a princess butterfly party in their room.

Woman...Bass thought with a groan. Yeah, it was time for a drink. He was glad as hell that Miles was not here, to add more to this moment of pure torture. Of course, his sisters made sure that Charlie would see every picture in that album. Great.

'What do you say son, shall we give the ladies some time alone so we can get a drink in the kitchen?' His father had walked his way and nodded to the kitchen with a smile.

Coffee and warm apple pie turned into dinner. Angela and Cynthia wanted to know everything about her plans after graduating, while little Ross tried to eat a banana with his little hands. Of course, most of that banana ended up on the floor and on Bass, who had to perform his uncle duties, like Cynthia had said to him, dropping in the baby on his knee around desert.

Bass had moved to the other end of the table, and talked about his business with his father, while both men enjoyed another drink. Ross clapped his hands, and his laughter filled the whole room while he tried to grab Bass' drink soon after.

'That's right little man, you are enjoying your time with the boys over here don't you?' Bass laughed at the little boy in his arms.

'Bass, if his first word is whiskey or woman, I swear...,' Cynthia said drily.

When Charlie was sure she could eat no more, she looked at Bass from across the table. He was busy talking to his dad, Ross sitting close to him, deciding that he was not too young for some whiskey when he tried to put his lips towards the glass. The rest of the room faded away from a moment, and when Bass looked up and his eyes searched for hers, she smiled at him. Bass looked kind of real good with that little boy in his arms.

They spent the night in his old room. Charlie walked inside, and it was like she walked back in time. It was the room of a high school teenager, and his mom had never the heart to change anything. He would not spent the night at his parents that often, but it felt good to revisit this part in time, this part of his life.

'So, where am I sleeping?' Charlie raised an eyebrow at him, while she looked at all the little things out of Bass' past that could be found around the room and then her eye had fell on the small bed in the middle of the room.

'You,' Bass paused, while he pulled a spare mattress from under his bed, 'sleep in the bed, while I be the gentleman and sleep on this mattress next to you.'

Charlie let out a giggle.

It was late and Charlie slipped under the covers with a happy sigh while bass turned off the small lamp by the bed. The house was quiet and the town outside too. The light of the streetlights outside filled the room. Bass was laying next to her on his back, his hands folded behind his head. Charlie threw back the covers and slipped out of bed, and joined Bass on the mattress on the ground.

'Can't sleep?' he said, his voice hoarse from the long day and the drinks he shared with his dad, while he moved to his side to make room for her.

'Don't want to sleep just yet,' she whispered in his ear, while she moved closer to his body under the blankets.

Bass gentle touched her arm, and pulled her closer to his side.

'I really love your family.'

'I'm glad you do Charlie. I don't know what I would be without them,' he pressed a light kiss on her shoulder, 'Love them so much.' He swallowed with difficulty.

'I know do you do, Bass' Charlie whispered. That's what she liked so much about Bass. She loved all the manly manliness about him, but when she got to know and see more of him, he had let her in, let her in completely, in a way that touched her beyond words.

Both of them, chest to chest, his chin on her head, said nothing for a moment, while Bass moved his hand over her arm in slow movements.

'Want to make out?' Bass said, while he moved one of his hands towards her thigh, his fingers on the inside of her leg.

Her answer was a giggle under the blankets, when she moved her lips over the skin of his neck. Charlie and Bass made love on that small mattress that night.

When he finally had her out of her pyjama shorts and tank and she had gotten rid up his pants, he moved his whole body over her, his weight landing on her soft breasts and curves. He grabbed her hands kissed them before he pushed her hands and her body back in the mattress, on either side of her. She let her fingers find his, and moved her hips so her folds found the head of his hardness. He slid in softly, they knew each other's body so well at this point, that they just found each with only the right angle of their bodies.

Both of them tried to stay as quiet as they could. Bass helped her be still by smothering every one of her moans with his mouth, as he bit on her shoulder when he was about to let go. Charlie felt sheltered, hidden under the blanket and under Bass, while their bodies were entangled in each other.

He kept thrusting in to her, and found every spot she loved so very much. Just as she loved right before they would both lose control, and come close to one another, she kissed that one spot in his neck that always made him groan.

'I love you, Bass,' she whispered in his ear, her breath hot on his skin.

'Sweet Charlie, baby, I love you too.'

And then he looked at her. He kissed her. She kissed him back. Let her hands go through his curls, when they both found their release together.

That night Charlie would not sleep in his bed, they both slept on the small mattress on the floor of his old room, her body safely against his, his arm around her when she would glide into soft dreams.

It turned out, they did not only made love that night. In a couple of months, they would both hear another heartbeat between them, and it was going to be the best sound they ever heard, while his hand would wrap itself around hers and silent tears would fill their eyes.

Three years after that night in Jasper, Charlie and Bass were back at that cabin. Or better said, their cabin, because Bass had bought it.

When the owner had called him, telling him he wanted to sell the small house in the woods and asking him if he would be interested, Bass knew what he would give Charlie for Christmas. When Charlie had woken up that one Christmas morning, there was a small key in a box under a large green Christmas tree in the home she now shared with Bass. Bass had laughed at her surprise, when he had told her the rest of the present was too big to wrap. When Charlie had gotten out of the car later that day, and had walked into the now empty cabin, she had thrown herself around his neck with gratitude. She loved this place. She loved it because it was theirs. Of course, minutes later, they had made love on the kitchen counter.

It had become their second home, the house had been filled memories and with furniture that suited the cabin. They had spent a lot of weekends there, with just the two of them, or with her family and his.

And now, Charlie stood in the doorway of the cabin, while she was playing with her wedding ring around her finger. The wedding had been short and sweet, with family and friends and a wonderful wedding cake. Ben had given her away, Miles had been Bass' best man. She had asked Danny to be hers, while Bass' sisters had been her bridesmaids. When she said yes, William, Gail, her own parents and Miles with Nora, had been sitting all around them. It was a happy day, followed by an even happier marriage. Life was good. Not always easy. But so very good.

It was winter, and another Christmas was close. There had been snow that night, and the forest had turned into that white place of silver snow and winter silence she loved so much.

In front of her were prints of little boots next to bigger ones in the snow and when she followed those tracks her eyes fell on a little girl, with soft blue eyes that was running through the snow with her bright laughter filling the air.

Bass was not very far behind and when he caught the little girl, pulled her close and held her high in the air. She spread her little arms.

'Look mommy, I can fly.' She cried out with joy.

'You sure can, sweetheart.' Charlie laughed at her excitement and looked at Kaithlyn.

She walked outside, grabbed some snow and hit Bass in the chest with a perfect snowball.

He looked at her with a hint of heat in his eyes, while the little lines around his eyes crinkled at her.

'You are so going to pay for that later, Charlie.'

'You promise?' She grinned back at him.

Later, Bass' parents, sisters, their children and Connor would join them with her own parents, Danny and his wife Liv. Miles and Nora, who against all odds turned out to be the woman who would stay in Miles' life, after years of being a single guy, would arrive not much later in his car.

They would set up a large table in the small cabin, a tradition that had formed over the years, and there would be food, drinks and family and complete sweet family chaos in front of the fire place in their cabin in the forest where things had begun for them so long ago.

But right now, she would take her family for a long walk in the forest. It would be her, Bass and their little girl and a silent path under the trees.

'What do you say sweetheart, want to go for a walk with me and your mom?' Bass had kneeled down before Kaithlyn.

He lifted her in his arms again, and he placed her on his shoulders, her tiny arms wrapped around his neck. Charlie closed the door behind her. Bass threw an arm around her shoulder, while Kaithlyn looked to the sky with wonder, when small snowflakes fell from the winter sky.

The sky was filled with soft yellow's and purple, sunset not far away, and the pastel colours of winter around them gave their faces a soft glow.

When they were almost back at the cabin, Charlie stopped for a moment. The cabin was so small, almost hidden in the trees, but it had given her, and both of them, so much.

When she looked up at Bass, his eyes were already waiting for her. He pressed a kiss in her hair.

'You will pay for that one later, you know, when we are alone,' he whispered in her ear, while his hand went dangerously close to her ass.

The sound of a car brought them back to reality. Their family was arriving, and William was waving at the both of them, followed by the everybody else. Charlie threw her arm around his waist, and the new young family walked over to greet their family. Kaithlyn struggled to get away from Bass' shoulders when she started running towards William.

'Grandpa, grandpa...' she cried out, little legs running through the snow. William embraced his granddaughter lovingly. The both of them had been close from the moment she was born.

Kaithlyn looked at the pocket of his jacket, with anticipation in her eyes.

'Go ahead, sweetheart,' William said softly.

Kaithlyn let her hand disappear into the pocket of his jacket and little fingers found another treasure. It was a chocolate butterfly, covered in silver paper.

'All yours little one.'

'Daddy, look!' Kaithlyn held up her present with pride in her eyes before she run inside the home to show her now present to the rest of the family, Connor being her first victim.

Bass laughed at her, and shot a grin to his dad.

His father's pockets had always been filled with hidden treasures for himself and his sisters when he was young. Charlie leaned against his back for a moment, her arms completely around his waist. Then, Bass turned and wrapped her in his arms.

'Let's join the party, shall we?' Bass said in a low voice. They really wanted to, but then they made the mistake to lock eyes for just a moment. Charlie felt the scruff of his beard against her skin, and his warm breath against her lips when the forest around them was getting dark and more quiet.

'Hey you idiots,' it was Miles that appeared in the doorway of the cabin, Kaithlyn now hanging upside down in his arms, crying out and laughing with delight and fun, ' any chance you want to tell me where you hid all the good whiskey?'

'Second cabinet on the right,' he growled at Miles, and then he was kissing Charlie again. Snow started falling more heavily around them, but neither of them seemed to notice. Bass lifted Charlie from her feet and his mouth covered hers.

'Come on kid,' Miles said to Kaithlyn, while he moved her again in his arms, so she was sitting on his arm, her tiny hands on his shoulder, 'let's give your parents some time alone.'

When Bass pressed one last kiss, for now, on her forehead they both walked inside. Bass closed the door behind her. And when the snow fell outside, the rest of the evening was filled with a lot of family in one small cabin. Food was being passed around the table and stories were told. The quiet forest around them was filled with the sounds of laughter and family enjoying each other's company.

But between all the chatter and family, they both locked eyes during the evening. And it was just them for a moment. Bass finding Charlie, Charlie finding Bass. Just like that one moment when they had met at her college. Bass had been waiting for her, leaning against his car, locking eyes with Charlie for the very first time.

Bass would always remember her that way, that beautiful woman, who walked towards him on that snowy day, a lock of her around her face, struggling with her bags and those amazing blue eyes that found him, before he would give her a ride home.

It turned out that she would become his home.

I really wanted to introduce Bass' his family in this story, because I finally, this once, had the oppurtinuty to do so. It is my wish you liked that turn in this story, because I loved writing it.

We say goodbye to Charlie and Bass in this story, in that one special cabin in that winter forest, surrounded by their family. I hope you enjoyed the story. It was a lot of fun to write an AU story! Sometimes, you meet somebody on the road, and the road takes you to an amazing place, just like in this story. Life has its detours, but sometimes, thats how you end up right where you should be.

Thank you all for reviewing and reading, I appreciate that so very much!

Love from Love