Epilogue One
One year later
“Ipromise, Dad, I am only a phone call away,” Morgan assures me, wiping a tear from my cheek with the pad of her thumb. “Please don’t cry…”
“I’m just so proud of you,” I reply, sniffing. She hugs me, and I squeeze her so tightly. “Who allowed you to grow up on me, anyway? I want to file a complaint,” I murmur into her hair.
She giggles, but it sounds wet with tears also. “I swear, I couldn’t help it. If I find out who, I’ll thwart them before they get a chance to get to Tally.”
“I’d be up dung creek without a paddle if it weren’t for you, Morgs,” I tell her, rubbing her back and finally letting her go. “Please video chat with me when you’re all moved in and set up.”
She rolls her eyes. “Aspyn already tacked a reminder on my bulletin board.”
“That’s a good roomie, right there.” I chuckle. “I’m glad they paired you two up.”
“From camp cabins to dorm rooms,” she titters, “we’re inseparable, I guess.”
“Whelp,” huffs Evan, once he catches up with us in the parking lot, “pretty sure that’s the last of it. We did all the heavy lifting. You’re in charge of finding room to organize all that. I do hope the smell coming from one of those boxes was your cleats, and not some dead rodent.” He chuckles.
She leaps into his arms next, hugging him tightly. “Yes, it’s probably my cleats. Why upgrade to new ones, if those are still good, right? Thank you for helping me move in, Evster. ”
Evster has been her pet name for Evan ever since our wedding. Well, either that or DBA—dad by association. I’m not kidding, that’s what she actually wrote on her college paperwork, when she was filling in his relation to her.
“You’re welcome, Captain Morgs,” Evan squeezes her back, kissing her temple. “The house is going to be so quiet without you and Colt.” He chuckles, setting her down.
“Doubtful.” Morgan shoots a glance down at the uncharacteristically quiet two-year-old.
“Me! Sissy, me! Up!” Tallulah makes grabby hands at Morgan from her stroller, pacifier half hanging out of her mouth.
“Aw! I wouldn’t forget you, love!” Morgan scoops her up, yanking the paci out of her mouth, before placing a smacking kiss to her lips. “You’re the queen of the house now, big girl! Be sure to give your daddies a hard time for me, okay?” she asks, bouncing Tally on her hip.
“Me big!” Tally squeals, arms flapping. “No nap!”
Evan narrows his eyes at her, tickling her now healthy, pudgy belly—one she didn’t have when she was placed with us. “Ohh, ma’am. Yes, nap. Papa needs sleep too!”
She giggles and squirms, her brown curls bobbing.
Tallulah came into our lives shortly after Evan and I got married on Valentine’s Day this past year.
We got the call from DHHS right after we got back from our honeymoon in Venice.
He and I have been fostering her for a few months.
The plan is to adopt her soon. Both biological parents’ rights were just terminated, so we anticipate it becoming official anytime now.
It breaks my heart that they didn’t even try for this sweet girl, who came to us so in need of love and nurturing, but she has gotten it by the boatloads with us.
I can’t believe not wanting to put in the effort for her, but I guess if either of them had, it wouldn’t have landed us with Tally, who has been the most perfect gift.
Get this, her name literally is Native American for ‘leaping water,’ and it’s so fitting—girl loves to bounce.
Needless to say, she’s stolen both mine and Evan’s hearts, and we wholeheartedly believe she came to us by means of Ryann and Miranda.
“Mowgli!” Kai shouts, strolling out of the dorm next. “Hugs! I’m feeling a little left out here!”
Evan reaches out, so Morgan can deposit Tally into his arms. Morgan turns to give her uncle a hug. “How is that my fault?” she teases him, giggling. “What’d you do, get held up gossiping about frat boys with Aspyn?”
He chuckles. “Of course. You know once I get going, I can’t shut up.”
“I do,” she agrees, giving him another squeeze before releasing him. “I guess I should thank you for the muscles today also.”
He nods. “‘Course. That’s why I’ve been spending more time at the gym. Getting ripped to drop you kids off at college.”
“Uh-huh,” she hums, tongue-in-cheek, “totally that. Not so you can gawk at your boyfriend’s booty while he deadlifts.”
He smirks at her, nudging her. “Might have something to do with that, too.”
Evan passes Tally over to me next, so he can pull Kai in for a bro-hug. Clapping his back, he adds, “Thank you for helping today and with Colt last week.”
“No problem, man,” Kai tells him, clapping him back.
The sight of them interacting so amicably, after how they first met, still blows my mind. Did it get to this point easily? Heck no. I’ve had charley horses more pleasant than our meeting after Kai got out of rehab.
He’s in a way better place now, though, thankfully.
Clearheaded, and no longer mixing stimulants and alcohol in secrecy, Kai was able to take a solid look at where his life was headed.
He’s even settled down with his personal trainer.
I think they’ve been dating now for, oh, I don’t know, at least six months now.
That’s a record for him, not counting our former relationship…
which is something we discussed at length.
Amicably, I might add. Knowing that he needed help, but not knowing how to ask for it given my sensitivity regarding Ryann, is what led him to show up at camp last year.
Getting jealous over my budding relationship with Evan is what led him to spiral out of control.
Causing physical harm to Morgan, though unintentional, was his wake-up call.
“Brooks and I are probably going to grab some lunch while we’re out here. Feel like joining us?” Evan extends the offer to Kai.
Kai shakes his head. “Nah. Thanks though. Think Ty and I are pretty pooped from being on the go lately. Gonna have a date night in tonight. I gotta hit the road.”
“Alright, man. Take care,” Evan tells him.
“I ain’t leavin’ without getting a smooch from Tally-girl though!” Kai chuckles, reaching for her and blowing a raspberry on her belly.
“Un-ca!” she squeals, kicking her legs.
“Ay! Watch the face! That’s my money-maker!”
That’s another thing that’s happened this past year. When Kai got out of rehab, we had a—gasp—healthy conversation about our goals for Camp Healing Waters and his goals for the future. While still holding onto his other investment properties, he also wanted to give modeling a try.
Try and succeed, he certainly did. That money-maker face of his landed him on the cover of a fitness magazine that ran an article on his recovery from addiction, and how he’s refocused himself in the gym.
From there, he got scooped up by a modeling agency.
He and Ty have been doing a lot of travelling together.
He had just gotten back from a shoot near his hometown in Hawaii, and he still made time to help get both Morgs and Colton moved into their respective colleges.
I’m glad everything seems to be working out for him.
It’s working out well for Evan and I as well.
More than well, actually. Instead of making Evan and I buy out my half, Kai gifted his half to us.
He told Evan and I that he’d rather see both of us use the money Evan had scraped up to make improvements to the place…
and so I could finally upgrade the rust bucket.
I now drive a brand-new bucket, one without a single flake of rust and—get this!—power windows. Oooh! And! And! It’s got plenty of room in the backseat for things like car seats… and perhaps other—ahem—activities.
Kai wraps an arm around me and pulls me in for a side hug, still jostling Tally on his hip. “You’re gonna make me give her back to you, aren’t you?”
I nod.
He rolls his eyes. “Fiiiine,” he huffs. When I reach for her, he snatches her back.
“Syke! Give your uncle another kiss, kiddo, then you can go back to Daddy,” he tells her, and she plants a sloppy one right on his cheek.
“Atta girl! Here you go. Gah, she’s stinkin’ adorable. ” He chuckles, handing her back to me.
“Thanks. You and Ty thinking about kids yet?” I tease.
I’m met with an eyeroll. “He and I are quite alright with our nieces and nephews, but thank you,” he scoffs. “Well, I’m off. We still doing family dinner with your moms in a couple weeks?”
“Yep.” When it was clear to see that Kai was making a solid effort to steer clear of his old lifestyle, we started inviting him to our family dinners.
Instead of wild nights out, he and Ty have been coming out to Alder Notch a couple of times a month, and it’s been…
transformative, to say the least. I now have a firm set of boundaries with him, and he doesn’t try to cross them.
I know. Impressive, right?
“Alright, we’ll catch you then. Bye, Brooks. Later, Evan.”
He trots off towards his car, and I heave out a pent-up breath.
Evan gets Tally situated back in her stroller, and then he straightens and pulls me in by the waist. I brace myself against him with my hands pressed to his chest, my wedding band—more specifically, the compass engraved on it—glinting in the sun.
“Ready to go eat?” Evan asks me.
“Sure,” I sigh, looking back to see if I can catch a glimpse of Morgan. Of course, I can’t. Her dorm room is on the other side of the building. “Where to?”
“Figured since we’re already this close to Ternbay, might as well swing in and see my parents.
Stay the night at their place. Tally can hang with Nanna and Gramps, while I take my husband on a date.
” He smirks down at me. “I can ask Gan about borrowing the boat again too, if you want,” he adds, waggling his eyebrows, knowing darn well we had a doozy of a time on it the last time we ‘borrowed it.’
I’m quite certain Gannett bleached every surface in there after we returned it, finding him very angry with us on the dock.
“At least warn a guy, Evan! I thought someone stole it! I’ve got a GPS tracker on this thing, you know!
” he fumed at us. “Oh, and that’s just fuckin’ wrong, bro.
” He gagged, holding up the bottle of lube we’d emptied, pinched in his fingers.
“Oh, but who will feed Snarf and Tigger?” I ask, pulling myself from the reverie.
“The cats will be fiiine,” Evan drawls. “Sherri or Sully can go up and feed them… if, you know, they’re not too busy.” He snickers, because the two of them showed up this year officially as a couple. Pardon my language, but it was about fuckin’ time.
Tigger was Colton’s surprise. You see, Evan and Colton decided together, after much discussion, that returning to Ternbay would be too much of a temptation to return to a life of mischief.
Colton was very mature about it, stating that he wanted to buckle down and focus on his senior year, and he could do that in Alder Notch.
He drove home from what we thought was just a simple weekend back in Ternbay with Nikolas, claiming he had some important news.
“Dad, Brooks, we gotta talk…” he said, with a serious look on his face. “Please don’t be mad, but… I’m going to be a dad. I’m hoping you’ll understand, Dad, since, you know—me.”
This sent Evan and I into a bit of a panic.
Just as Evan was about to tear into him, Colton burst out laughing. Nikolas came strolling in with a cat carrier, containing the feisty, orange maniac now known affectionately as Tigger.
“Bruh, you should see the look on both y’alls faces. Dad, you’re not going to have a heart attack like Gramps, are you?” Colton asked as he continued laughing. “Meet Tigger. Look at him. He needed a friggin’ home, and Snarf-dude needed a bud. I swear he wasn’t this pissy in the shelter.”
“Congrats, grandads!” Nikolas teased, playfully. “But seriously, if he can’t stay here, my mom and dad said he’d be fine to stay at our place.”
We pretty much own stock in allergy meds now, and Evan can grumble about the cats all he wants—he’s the one that just built them a catio.
So yeah, a lot can happen in a year. Just like a lot happened in two months—ahem—like last summer.
I’m madly in love with, and incredibly pampered by, the most supportive man—my husband.
We have three amazing kids, two indoor fur babies, a wiley pair of raccoons, and with that, our family is complete.
And to think, I gave this whole amazing life an expiration date for the end of that summer. All I see now is forever.