Darkness Before Dawn

Elijah. He jumps up on the bed, making Dean groan in pain, before he climbs off and runs to his dad. Watching Connor pick him up and swing him before kissing both of his full cheeks is a beautiful sight, only trumped by the following, which is Connor carrying Elijah while he gives a huge kiss to Sandra.
    That is what family looks like, I think with tears in my eyes as I wave my goodbye to Dean and walk away holding Cole's hand.
    We step into the empty elevator and press the parking garage button before Cole backs me into the elevator wall behind me. He ducks his head and leans into my ear, running his soft bottom lip up and down the outer shell.
    "One day, baby," he whispers before sucking on my earlobe. "You're going to have so many little Coles running around, that you're not gonna know what to do with them." My breath hitches when he gyrates his hip into my pelvis. "We're going to have our own little baseball team," he continues to whisper seductively. "And you're going to be the hottest mom to ever walk the planet."
    He runs his lips down my jaw and to my mouth, kissing it deeply when he reaches it and backing away when the elevator chimes.
    "I'm probably going to be fat," I reply breathily.
    "I won't care," he responds with a shrug and a smile.
    My eyes trail down his ridiculously fit figure and I wonder how true his statement is right before I make a mental note to sign up for a spinning class or four.
    Later that night after dinner, Cole heads to the gym and I curl up in front of the TV with a cup of ice cream in my hand. As I flip through channels I find Father of The Bride playing and leave it on. The dynamic of families has always been intriguing to me, I guess since I never had what you would call a normal family. The only thing I know about normal families is what I've learned from the Cosby's, the Tanners, and all the movies I watched growing up. In retrospect, I think the reason I got stuck on Home Alone was because the kid had a big family and they left him. Completely forgot about him and went on vacation while he battled with those two bad guys throughout the movie.
    I sniffle back my tears as I watch Steve Martin walk his daughter down the aisle and put my ice cream down before I lose it completely. I wipe my face when I hear the door open and the keys tossed on the kitchen counter, but Cole takes one look and rushes to me, kneeling down in front of me to ask me what's wrong.
    "I...I don't have anybody!" I wail. "I don't have a father to walk me down the aisle!"
    "Oh, baby," Cole coos sadly. "I'm sorry," he says, pulling me down to the floor and sitting me on his lap. "I didn't even think about that. Is that why you're so hung up on the dad issue?"
    My lip quivers as I exhale a shuddering breath. "No! It's not like I'm going to ask him to walk me!" I sob. "I don't know what's wrong with me!"
    "Shh...it'll be okay. Would you want Mark to walk you?" he asks quietly, drying my tears with his thumbs.
    I shake my head slowly as new tears roll down my face. "I should've never started watching that stupid movie," I mumble under my breath, turning to switch the TV off.
    "You have the right to feel sad, Blake. It sucks to not have a normal family, it does. But you need to stop classifying what a family is by the movies and shows you watch. We may not have had a mom and a dad growing up but we always had love and we always had each other. We learned everything that people learn from their families from each other. You have two brothers, you have a sister, now you're gaining another sister. You have me. Your life is full of love, babe. Full of love."
    I swallow back my tears and nod with a smile as I let his words sink in. My life is full of love.
    I jog into the bathroom as Cole showers and open the door, coughing when the steam hits me in the face. "I'm going out, I'll be right back."
    "What? Where are you going? What time is it?" he asks anxiously, turning around to meet my eyes.
    "It's nine, I'll be back soon, I swear," I say quickly.
    "Take your phone! Remember we don't have security anymore!" he shouts when I close the door and shuffle my feet back to the living room.
    "We don't need them anymore!" I shout back loudly before scribbling a note telling him where I went.
    I pull out my phone on the way to the elevator and make a quick phone call. In the elevator I make small talk with a cute little old lady who tells me all about the hot young men that live in our building. I laugh at her description of a