Epilogue
MARNIN
Five Years Later
Love changes everything.
It changes people, most of all…like me.
I barely recognized myself after the five best years of my life—four of which I’d spent married to Ennio. Yup, like I told our dad, I didn’t wait long to ask him to marry me…and Ennio said yes without hesitation.
Our wedding had been small and intimate, held in Auden and Keaton’s backyard. My black tux had been classic, though newly purchased, but Ennio had stolen the show. He’d been dressed in an ivory suit made of the same fabric as wedding dresses, covered with lace. He’d been stunning, and it had taken me a few minutes to stop staring at him.
Dad had married us after obtaining a special license from the state, and it had been the most perfect thing ever. With Auden as my best man and Cas as Ennio’s, everyone we loved most had surrounded us. And in a gesture that had made me tear up, we’d lit a candle for Sarah Frant, honoring her impact on my life. I had imagined she was looking down on us and smiling.
And no, that didn’t sound like me at all—hence my point that love changes everything. Oh, I wasn’t suddenly Mr. Optimistic, like my husband, but I had learned to trust a little more, to embrace the good life could give. Above all, I’d learned to love.
Therapy had helped. I’d found an amazing therapist who had helped me work through things I hadn’t even known I was still angry about. Or sad. Or scared of. Like Ennio walking out on me the way my mother had. So I’d learned to talk about that, which had been one of the hardest things I’d ever done, but it had helped.
Ennio and I had grown close. We’d also done couple’s therapy, learning to talk to each other. Communicating still didn’t come easily to me, but he was blessed with endless patience. And if I annoyed him too much, a good hard fuck usually got me back in his good graces. Yeah, I wasn’t above using sex. Like I said, I was still me, and my libido had shown no signs of decreasing, much to my relief.
Moving back to Forestville had turned out to be the best decision ever. Sunshine Corner was still going strong after five years, and tables were usually booked a month in advance—though Ennio always kept a few tables free for locals and friends.
Our group of friends spent a lot more time together now that we were all back in town. Auden, Tomás, Tiago, and I hung out often, often joined by York and all our partners. Every first Monday of the month, we all had dinner at Sunshine Corner, which was always closed on Mondays. Ennio would test new recipes on us, often aided in the kitchen by Tiago, who had become quite the hobby cook.
Two years ago, I’d received an email from a man named Kaden Switzer, who had introduced himself as my brother. He’d wanted to meet. My first instinct had been to decline, but after talking it over with Ennio, I’d acquiesced.
Well, it turned out he wasn’t my half-brother, as I had expected, but my brother. Unbeknownst to anyone, my mother had been pregnant when she’d left my sperm donor, and once in Detroit, she’d given birth to Kaden. She’d given him up for adoption, and he’d only recently found out who his birth mother was.
He and I had a lot in common—though he was straight and divorced with three kids—and we’d hit it off instantly. He was considering moving to Forestville, and I genuinely hoped he would. I liked the idea of having another brother nearby…because Auden was and always would be my first brother.
But Ennio? Ennio was my everything. He still wore those lace panties that drove me crazy. He still cooked healthy meals for me as often as he could. And he still held me close when there was a thunderstorm because I still hated them.
Like I said, love changes everything.
Including me.
Thank you for reading Comforting the Grump !