EXTENDED EPILOGUE
Colby
TWENTY YEARS LATER.
I never sold the penthouse.
After finding out Sienna was pregnant, we started looking for our dream home—somewhere to settle down and build our future and our family from the ground up.
It took us several months, but we eventually found the perfect plot of land right outside the inner city. Perfect meaning, it was close enough for us to commute to and from work every day and far enough away to see the stars at night without light pollution from the Strip.
I let my wife have creative control over the entire project, giving her everything she wanted, including a small dance studio.
Every once in a while, I would stop by our old home to stare out at the skyline—the whole reason I purchased it—and reminisce about where it all began for us.
I still worked for the Heavens Down Under show but on a significantly reduced schedule; twice a week unless otherwise necessary. Bartending at the Ultrapool at Neon Palms was still my daily job, except for the off-season when I wasn’t required to work.
Sienna continued to own and operate her Pilates studio, expanding the business to a more prominent location on Sunset Boulevard with a small staff of qualified and professionally trained instructors. The additional help enabled her to start teaching freestyle and ballet dance classes—all for fun and fueling her passion, of course.
After having kids, we were no longer at the top of Dustin's list for assignments, but to keep our status within the Men Under Revue, we had to complete at least two mandatory tasks per month—
“Colby.” Sienna’s soft voice called across the dimly lit room, returning my mind to the present.
It was cloudy and rainy outside, reminding me of the day I confessed my life to my wife—the day I let her see the real me—the boy I was before I found her.
Everything in the penthouse was the same as the day we left it, the space aging like a time capsule but with a thick layer of settled dust. Usually, I would stop by here on the way home from work and always came alone—but not this time.
“It’s almost as though so much has changed, and yet… nothing has changed at all.” She spoke as she stopped beside me, wrapping her arms around my waist and pressing her weight into my side. I wrapped my arm around Sienna, pulling her in close as I leaned against the window, admiring the view we left behind and remembering the sunsets I replaced with her warm smile.
“Where are the kids?” I murmured, pressing a kiss to her temple with a long sigh.
“They’ll be up shortly… Are you sure you want to do this?”
“I’ll never give this up, love. There are too many memories worth saving.”
“You know they’ll just trash it with parties and whatever else they have planned. It will become a frat boy clubhouse.” Sienna chuckled with a soft smile.
“Let them, as long as it still remains ours in the end, it doesn’t matter what they do with it.” I gripped my wife’s chin, tilting her head to face me.
I lovingly stared into her eyes that matched the weather, admiring their beauty as I remembered our time here and the life we built after.
Becoming a family man made me realize why my family had passed down their farm for generations—where the tradition started in the first place. I wanted something to pass down to my kids while keeping the memories of my past within arms reach.
Sienna had asked countless times why I never sold the penthouse—why I just left it here unoccupied and collecting dust for years.
“I hope you two realize what kind of madness you are about to unleash once the twins see this place.” Kelsey laughed, and we turned our attention to our oldest, who had just arrived.
Kelsey was starting her second year of college in two weeks and would be leaving us for UCLA in California. She wanted to be close enough to visit when she felt homesick but not too close that her brothers would bother her. They were the primary reason she transferred from LVU over the summer.
While they were younger, they acted as if they were her bodyguards—scaring off her last boyfriend after they threatened to tie him up in the basement for calling her a bitch in one of their petty fights.
I don’t know if that was the whole story, but she avoided talking to them for months after the breakup, and Sienna spent weeks trying to make her feel better.
“Well aware of what your brothers will do to this place.” I laughed, releasing my wife as she pulled away to embrace our daughter.
“Are you? Do you know what they will call it?” Kelsey added as she approached the windows and stood beside me, Sienna returning to nuzzle against my side.
“I have a few ideas in mind…” I smirked, knowing our sons all too well.
They were carbon copies of me in both looks and personality, while Kelsey was every ounce of her mother; she even performed on her high school’s varsity dance team for all four years of attendance. Sienna was hesitant for Kelsey to join a competitive dance team, but she couldn’t have been more proud of her. They would train together every evening after school, and in her junior year, she was voted in as the Varsity captain—
“Holy fuck, no way!” Nickolas shouted in awe as he exited the elevator and took everything in.
“This isn’t real, right? You guys don’t actually own this?” Elijah added, following his brother’s lead.
The twins were starting their first year at LVU, and what better graduation gift than a fully furnished penthouse where they could begin creating memories?
“There will be rules,” Sienna warned, glaring daggers at them as they ran through the kitchen and living room, taking in the expansive space and every single detail.
Nickolas jumped over the back of the couch, landing hard on the cushion and causing dust to stir around him. I just shook my head with a smile as Elijah joined him in the same manner, the two lounging and covered in years of unsettled dirt.
“Fucking animals,” Kelsey muttered, crossing her arms over her chest in disgust; she was always too proper for how they behaved—again, just like her Mum.
“Don’t be jealous, Sis. You’re more than welcome to crash at our mile-high bachelor pad whenever you feel like it.” Elijah teased, giving her a sly wink as he rested his hands behind his head.
“Gross… I’d rather sleep in an alley on the Strip and risk tetanus.” She rolled her eyes, turning her attention out the window and away from them.
“Still sour about Ethan, I see,” Nickolas mocked, high-fiving Elijah.
“You arrogant piece of—”
“Oi! None of that!” I barked at the three of them. “We didn’t bring you here to fight, so knock it the fuck off.”
“Colby.” Sienna hissed, and I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose. This was not how I had hoped this day would go.
“Look…” I started, squeezing Sienna’s hand in mine. “This penthouse was where it all began for your Mum and I, and we want to pass it down to you boys.” Looking down at my wife, I smiled warmly as my heart squeezed with all my adoration for her.
My wife, my love, and the radiant mother of my—sometimes not so sane—kids.
“A long time ago, your Dad moved to Las Vegas with nothing but a dream...” She spoke, staring deeply into my eyes. “And we found each other on our path for a purpose.”
I could feel the kids heavily rolling their eyes and cringing at us, but I didn’t care. They had their whole lives ahead of them to discover what love could do—how it could lead you down a path you never even imagined possible.
Not a day goes by that I don’t think about where I was, how I got here, how this beautiful woman came into my life and changed everything.
“You’ve never told us how you two met…” Kelsey stated with curiosity. “I knew Dad came here from Australia—obviously. But where did it all start?”
I huffed a laugh as I thought back to the first time I laid eyes on my wife and the one thing that immediately caught my attention.
“Did you know your Mum’s favorite color is hot pink?”
The End.