Epilogue
ONE YEAR LATER
I t was a sunny day in our home in Evanston, about an hour north of Chicago, and it was as perfect a day as you could ask for.
The sky was blue, the waters were calm, and inside, my wife—finally, my wife!—Layla sat on the couch while I stood on the balcony, overlooking the great lake.
We had just come back from our honeymoon in Greece.
It had come on the heels of what had been the absolute perfect wedding.
I had everyone there I had ever loved in my life—my mother, my brother, and my birth mother.
Layla had brought her own family members, though she excluded Craig for obvious reasons.
Our ceremony was relatively small, but we treated our guests well.
The funny thing about being with Layla, though, was that despite all our combined wealth, I no longer cared about spending money.
I was no Edwin Hunt, but I didn’t spend my days thinking about Edwin.
I spent my days trying to plan how to best take care of orphans, how to raise awareness, and how to effectively use my money for it.
That I had billions of dollars in the bank was a luxury, not something that I felt necessary to broadcast every single day.
And so, that actual wedding had taken place not out in the Hamptons, not somewhere within New York City, not in Chicago, but right near where my birth parents lived, a place where Layla also had relatives. It was quiet, tranquil, and peaceful—just how we liked it now.
I sat drinking a glass of water, peering out in the distance. We really had come a long, long way. We still had our ups and downs, but those ups and downs were resolved in a manner so peaceful I think both of us wondered at first why we had never managed to resolve arguments so peacefully.
Perhaps no matter proved this more than when Sarah came back to New York City.
I communicated this to Layla, who not only was understanding, she asked to come.
I had to admit, it was a little weird having all three of us hanging out, but everyone got along better than I could have ever anticipated.
That, I realized, was the peace I had long sought in my mind with Sarah—not the thrill of sex or the desire of making her the false dream girl, but being someone whom I could be around and whose company I could enjoy without outside circumstances affecting how we interacted.
Today, though, was a great day. It was emblematic of all days, and—
“Oh my God!”
I heard Layla scream with excitement from what sounded like the bathroom. I hurried over, finding her smiling as she stared at…
A pregnancy test.
“Layla…”
She didn’t have to say anything else. I knew already.
“We’re going to have a child, Chance,” she said. “Our very own child.”
I hugged her and lifted her in my arms, twirling her. I kissed her multiple times.
“God, I love you so much,” I said as I kissed her again.
“And I love you more,” she said.
We both shared a laugh. I looked down at her belly, knelt and kissed it.
“Hey, little baby,” I said. “I know you probably don’t even have ears yet. But I know you’ll hear this anyways.”
I cleared my throat, looked up at Layla, and smiled before turning my head back down.
“We’re always going to be here for you,” I said. “No matter what you go through, no matter what happens, no matter who you wind up being, we will never abandon you. You are ours forever.”
I rested my ears onto her stomach as Layla ran her fingers over my head.
“We will be a family. And we will all love each other.”