Epilogue - Griffin
The laughter from outside grows quieter as I walk into the house, my arms full of dirty cups and plates, the kids doing a fantastic job of making a complete mess.
“Oh, good. Tidy up as we go,” Savannah says without looking at me. Instead, she’s concentrating on putting the finishing touches on the cake.
“That looks amazing!” I’m honest, it does. If I didn’t already know how talented my wife is, this birthday cake for Tommy is outstanding.
“You like it?” I look at my son’s birthday cake in awe. It’s a large cupcake. One that would feed over fifty people. Given there are about that many outside on the lawn, I’m glad she made a big one.
“Like it? I can’t wait to eat it!” I tell her, as I step forward and curse.
“Motherfu—” I pause and hold my breath, and Savannah looks at me.
“What’s the pain out of ten?” she watches me carefully as I lean over, picking up the little green army man from the floor.
“Seven.” I grimace as I grab another two I spot across the kitchen floor, waiting to dig into my bare feet.
To say my house is now a family home would be an understatement. Not only is my kitchen a complete baker’s delight, with ingredients, pans, recipe books, and food everywhere, but the rest of the house has toys scattered from one end to the other. And I couldn’t be happier.
Right now, kids are everywhere outside, and along with a juggling clown, a jumping castle, and a small carousel, Tommy’s giggling his little heart out as a new two-year-old.
We’ve come a long way, my little family and me.
When we got through all our past family issues, I took Tommy and Savannah away.
We all needed a break. A circuit breaker from the life we had, we needed to regroup, spend quality time without the heaviness of our past. So we spent a month at my house in Hawaii, where we picked fresh pineapples and Tommy splashed at the beach and ate sand almost every day.
He’s a water baby, for sure, and now the highlight of my day is an early morning swim with him here at the house when it’s warm enough.
After that trip, we came home and got back to work.
Savannah had help over the months from all the girls, but Debbie has been our saving grace.
Annabelle introduced us to her months ago.
Debbie was her boys’ babysitter and she’s known by every one of our friends who all vouched for her.
She started coming into the bakery and watching Tommy in the kitchen while Savannah worked.
We then progressed to her taking him upstairs to the apartment while she worked, reading him books, singing him songs, feeding him, and putting him down for naptime. Now she’s with Tommy almost every day while Savannah builds the bakery business and looking at a possible expansion.
“You know, they wouldn’t be a problem if you didn’t buy them.
” My wife gives me that look. The one that says I told you so.
I grin. It’s true. When I took Tommy into the local toy store a few months ago and saw the bag of green army men, I knew I had to buy them for Tommy.
The way they’re scattered around the house makes me feel good.
Although my bare feet can barely take it.
“Okay, so the cake table is ready.” Lacy and Victoria walk into the kitchen with arms full of dirty dishes, while the rest of our friends are outside watching the kids, eating all my food, and probably taking a bet on how long the clown will last in the heat.
“Wow. That’s amazing!” Lacy sees the cake, her eyes widening.
“I need a photo of this.” Victoria quickly grabs her cell and snaps a picture.
To say these girls have been a godsend is an understatement.
They’ve been by Savannah’s side for everything, becoming the true sisters she needed.
I dart my eyes then, spotting the photo wall down the hall, now covered with framed photos of us, of Savannah, Tommy and me.
And there, in the middle, is my brother.
The toothy smile photo I kept locked away for years is now on full display.
He would’ve loved to be here today. He would’ve been lined up for the first piece of this cake, that’s for sure.
“You alright?” Savannah’s voice is quieter as the girls clatter around in the kitchen behind us.
“Better than alright.” I reach out for her, and she comes to me, fitting into my side like she always has.
“Can you believe our boy is two already?”
“No. I can’t. He’s growing so fast.” She hugs me tight.
I have loved being Tommy’s father. I make sure I’m there for every doctor’s visit and nighttime wake up. I also continue to wake up early, spending breakfast time with Tommy. The little routine I started when he was a newborn, one I’ve carried on.
“You outdid yourself with this cake, sweetness.”
Giving me a quick kiss, she smiles as she lifts the cake, and we take it outside.
I follow behind the women as the crowd starts singing “Happy Birthday” as we walk through to Tommy. He’s perched at the kids’ table, waiting, a look of glee on his face.
He’s a little pocket rocket like his mom.
Can’t sit still for long, so I know this is killing him.
Especially with all the activities spread out across our lawn.
I remember dreaming of this moment. Of having a kid and having a birthday party here.
Now to see it in full color, the feeling is surreal.
I’ve tried to give him and Savannah everything.
Ever since I took them to Hawaii, we’ve traveled a little bit.
So far, I’ve taken them to Colorado, Sonoma, and Sundown Valley—where Savannah and I tasted the most amazing wine ever at the Stonemore Estate—and we have a trip to New York planned for the holidays to see the snow.
It was Savannah’s first time flying, and now I have the jet stocked full of Tommy’s things, like his toys, food, and blankets.
I might as well rename the jet to Tommy’s Second Home.
Tommy looks up at me with such happiness, I almost stumble. With the cake placed in front of him, Savannah and I stand nearby as the song comes to an end and he takes a big breath.
“Don’t forget to make a wish!” Savannah says to him quickly, and he giggles and proceeds to blow out the two candles, causing everyone to cheer.
“Go play, and I’ll call you over when I’ve cut it up,” she tells the kids before she starts cutting the large cupcake and our friends all gather around.
“This is great, guys. Who would have thought that you would have a kids’ party here, Griff, when you hated attending ours so much?” Hudson teases, and Lacy laughs.
“I never hated them…” I mumble, only speaking half-truths. I didn’t love kids’ parties back then, but now that I have a child of my own, I could have a party here every week.
“Oh, by the way, I had a new mom come in this week. I gave her information on the new program.” Hudson nods while lifting his beer, and I grin.
“That’s good?” My eyes catch Savannah’s, whose shine at me with pride. One of the things I did this year was work with Hudson on a new mother’s program called Forth Trimester. It’s an online and face-to-face program for new moms so they have support after delivery.
Experiencing pregnancy and birth with Savannah and going through all that we did when Tommy was born, made us realize that many others aren’t as lucky with support, finances, and community.
So we made it possible for them with the new program.
We offer fully vetted nannies, food delivery services, Mother Maven products, and online support groups.
So now Whispers has a prenatal support program that Tanner funds and a postnatal program that I fund.
Meaning, kids in this town are thriving.
“Whiskey anyone?” Tanner walks up with a bottle of Builder’s Arms. The only whiskey that I allow in this house.
It’s turning out to be one of Tanner’s best sellers, alongside The Shadow Gentleman, which Sutton promotes, and Next Door, which was inspired by Victoria.
It could be because I buy batches of it wherever I go, singlehandedly funding my own profit.
“About time,” Sawyer says, stepping up with Annabelle.
“You boys and your whiskey…” Daisy shakes her head and grins as she and Connor join us.
“I need to get out of this suit…” Sutton says as we all look at him and laugh. He turned up today dressed in his famous superhero costume for the kids. They have all been begging him for months, and he finally did it.
“I can’t believe you still have it on,” Charlotte teases him, and I look at all our friends and smile.
“How about some cake to go with the whiskey?” Savannah starts handing out the pieces of cake and little forks.
“I hope it’s good…” She watches me, waiting for my thoughts, but I’m not sure why. Whatever she makes is delicious.
I grab the plate and fork and shove a piece into my mouth. Red velvet, one of my favorites, with what I suspect is a strawberry icing.
My eyes widen as I chew, trying to school my features. I look at the boys, who have all stopped mid-chew.
“Well?” Her eyebrows rise.
I can’t move. I can’t talk. I stand staring at her with a mouth full of cake that tastes like day old socks.
“Oh…” Victoria says as I see her take a bite. Out the corner of my eye, Hudson stops Lacy before the cake gets to her mouth.
I finally swallow it down, and the realization dawns on me.
“We’re having a baby?” I look at her in disbelief.
“Wait? What?” She looks confused before everyone around us starts spitting out the cake into their napkins and the kids all throw theirs away.
She quickly grabs a plate and spoons some cake into her mouth and chews.
“What? It’s fine…” She looks at all of us like we’re crazy before it dawns on her.
“I’ve lost my taste…”
“We’re having a baby?” I smile as she takes it in.
“Oh my God… I mean, I am late…” Her hand slaps over her mouth, eyes wide, before a laugh escapes her.
“We’re having a baby!” I yell, pure happiness overtaking me as I scoop her up and twirl her in my arms. She giggles, still in shock, but just as excited as our friends all holler and cheer and the kids run around, completely oblivious.
Yeah. Our life here in Whispers is going pretty darn well.