Epilogue
AZRAEL
4 years later
“ T hey’re so cute together, aren’t they?” Hwan said, looking out at the swings where Levi, his and Parker’s son, pushed Noah, who was laughing his head off as if it were the best thing that had ever happened to him.
“Do you honestly expect any of us to refute that?” Duke asked, and Hwan rolled his eyes.
“Obviously not. I’m just saying. I can’t believe this is our life.”
“What I can’t believe is how we had a head-start, yet you’re the ones with the ten-year-old kid,” Duke said.
“Well, what can I say? We’re special, aren’t we, babe?” Hwan turned to Parker and kissed him for a little longer than necessary.
“Are you putting on a show for us?” I asked.
“Us? Hell no,” Hwan said, but why didn’t I believe him?
Life hadn’t been kind to their son during the first few years of his life, but thankfully, Hwan and Parker came into Levi’s life when he was five and rescued him, first by being wonderful foster parents and then his real ones.
It didn’t matter that they were different from him. That their skin colors didn’t match. All Levi saw in his white and Asian dads was love and family. And at the end of the day, if the years had taught me anything, it was that families were made of many different things and blood wasn’t always the most important element.
In fact, with all the gay couples around here, it usually never was.
There was a scream, and we all turned to look at the kids. Noah was on the ground holding his elbow and crying his eyes out while Levi was patting his head and talking to him. If I knew the kid, he was probably telling Noah it would be okay and it was okay to cry. That kid was the most empathetic, intuitive kid I’d ever met. And despite his learning difficulties, he always knew what to say. I couldn’t wait to see who he became as he grew older.
Neither Duke nor I ran to him. Noah knew to come to us for help when needed, just like he knew to sit with his feelings when he wanted. Which was why he took his moment to cry and then got up and ran to us, Levi following on his tail.
“Daddy. Daddy! Look.” He showed Duke his boo-boo.
“Oh no. How did that happen, Mr. Man?” Duke ran his finger over the scrape that was superficial at best and gave a little pout.
“I slipped. Will you kiss it better, Daddy?” he asked, and Duke obliged him, as always.
“I can’t believe this kid,” I huffed.
“Problem?” Duke asked, smirking my way.
“Noah, you do realize I’m the people doctor in the family, right?”
Noah nodded.
“And you know Daddy is the vet. Meaning he looks after animals?”
“Your point?” Duke could barely contain himself.
This always happened. Whenever Noah needed help or a shoulder to cry on, Duke was his first choice.
“My point is, why won’t you come to me, Noah? I can actually make it better,” I told my son.
“Because,” Noah said. “Daddy is better.”
I exhaled loudly and dramatically.
“I’m losing in my own home.”
“There, there.” Duke patted my back cockily.
I didn’t actually mind. Noah loving Duke like a real dad was a gift. It wasn’t a surprise, but it was endearing and heartwarming all the same.
We were a real family. As real as it got.
“Maybe you should have another kid,” Hwan suggested. “You know. To even out the score.”
I shrugged.
“That kid will still take Duke’s side,” I replied.
Duke raised an eyebrow. “So are you saying you don’t want another kid?”
“No.” I shook my head. “That’s not what I said. I don’t want another kid. I want ten.”
Duke’s eyes bulged, and Hwan laughed. Parker was Parker. He was too busy cuddling his son to pay us any mind.
“Um…sweetheart, maybe let’s start with one, and we’ll see about the rest.” Duke patted my leg. “I’m only human, after all.”
That wasn’t true. He wasn’t human. He was superhuman. One of a kind. A hell of a guy. And everything he’d been through had only made him a more wonderful, beautiful being than ever before.
“That’s a start,” I said. “We’ll start tonight.”
“I can’t tonight. I’ll have a headache.”
I gasped.
“So that’s how it is, huh?”
“I could be cured with some dinner and a nice bubble bath though.”
Hwan grabbed Noah and pointedly covered his ears, which only made me laugh harder.
Life was good.
Noah was a healthy, wonderful kid.
My family lived on the island and were just as happy to have not just one grandchild but many since all our friends had started procreating.
Salieri was a distant memory.
The sanctuary was thriving.
And Duke was still cancer-free.
Life was more than good.
Life was great.
But it wasn’t over, and God would still bless us with many more miracles, just like he’d blessed me with Duke.
I was sure of that.
I put my hands in the pockets of my jacket and felt something poking at my fingers. I retrieved and unfolded the scrap of old paper.
Call me, Audrey, it read followed by a number.
“What is that?” Duke asked and took the scrap from my hands.
I narrowed my eyes looking at it still, trying to figure out what it was until it all clicked.
The number of that waitress before I came to the island for the first time.
That was a whole lifetime ago.
A lifetime without Duke, or Noah.
I couldn’t believe I’d once been that man who saw potential wives everywhere he looked when my husband was sitting alone on an island going through hell.
“Who’s Audrey?” Duke raised an eyebrow.
“Why? Are you jealous?” I asked.
“Always,” he replied, narrowing his eyes.
“You know I only ever have eyes for you.”
“Yeah?” he asked as I took him in my arms and held him tight.
As if he still wondered if I meant it. As if we hadn’t built a wonderful life together that I wouldn’t trade for all the riches in the world.
“Yes, my love,” I said. “My eyes, my heart, my soul are only ever for you and you only.”
I knew he was being playful, but I knew there was some insecurity under that snark, even after all these years.
But it didn’t matter to me, because I’d happily spend the rest of my life reassuring him and loving him with all of me.
Because that was why I’d been on this Earth. To love and cherish him for all he was, and he was my everything.
If you haven’t guessed it already, next up is Teddy Olsen looking for a new start as single dad to his nephew. Who better to help him than the kind elementary school teacher Wesley?