Epilogue
PINOCCHIO
TWENTY YEARS LATER
I turn the sign from Aperto to Chiuso and lock the door. I shut off the lamp lights, and as always, I’m grateful we have that new electricity installed. I grab the money box and make my way to deposit our daily earnings in the safe next door. For a non-holiday week, we’ve certainly sold much of our stock. Every day Geppetto & Sons is in business is a happy one for me.
“Goodnight, Papa.” I kiss my hand and touch the tiny portrait on the back wall, as per tradition. While we have Papa’s grave in town and a framed photograph of him in the house, I wanted to also hang his portrait on the wall of the shop. New patrons occasionally enjoy learning about the man who founded it, and I’m content to have my late father’s face as a presence in Geppetto & Sons.
I walk the several yards through our backyard to the house. The darkness is offset by all the latest streetlights installed five years ago. The town gains more and more electricity every day. The shop and our home remain mostly unchanged despite any advancements to technology. Sure, we’ve painted some walls a different color, but if I squint my eyes, they’re both my childhood homes.
After depositing the money in our safe by the kitchen, I notice the two bowls of food nearly untouched on the ground. Huh .
“Treble. Bass Clef. Where are you?” I sing-song. Right on cue, our two cats scamper in. They look so much like their mother, and their grandmother for that matter. I pet their little heads as the twins devour their food. “What took you so long, huh? Did your father kidnap you?”
I snicker and walk away from my two hungry beasts. Walking through the living room, I beam at the photo on the wall of me and Lampwick holding them and a tired-looking Arpeggio. Raising them as kittens was a busy time, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. Papa even got to be with them before he passed away seven years ago.
I follow the light to Papa’s old room, now a workroom for whenever I want to read or do any side projects. When Lampwick doesn’t notice me, I cross my arms and lean on the doorway. He’s lost in carpentry, sanding another marionette. The two of us may have more wrinkles, less hair on our heads, and rounder waists, but we remain evergreen. Lampwick has always been the most handsome man in the world to me, and being in our forties hasn’t changed that. His arm muscles look devastatingly chiseled as he strings up the toy.
“Work hours are over, Romeo,” I say with a teasing tone. He hates when I call him that.
My husband snickers and looks up at me. He wipes his forehead with his shirt, and my heart flutters. His freckles, tenuous scar, and green eyes take me back in time to those early days in school. Most mornings I say a prayer of gratitude, gratitude I got to live with Papa for so many years, grateful that I survived my run-in with the sea monster as a child, but most of all, I’m grateful Lampwick came back into my life. For the past several years, we haven’t had any more fantastical misadventures, and adulthood has been kind to us.
“I wanted to surprise you.”
I beam at him and take two steps to get into his space. Grabbing his hips, I ask, “What have you got that distracted the kitties?”
“A little something…” He pulls the strings up and I turn to my left. “For our anniversary.”
“That was last week!”
“Yeah, well perfection takes time,” he replies. He finagles the toy so it’s standing upright.
As I hold him close, I look at his project of the night —a realistic toy puppet. This one, however, wears little wooden circle spectacles—empty space instead of glass—and a small apron. With his white pompadour-style hair, he almost looks like…
“Is that…?”
“ Ciao! Mi chiamo Geppetto junior!” Lampwick uses a funny voice while bobbing the marionette’s head along.
I gasp. “Wow!” He moves the doll’s arms with the strings to a dramatic pose and we both laugh.
“Obviously, no one could ever replace Papa Geppetto.” My husband rubs my shoulder with his free hand. “But I thought it would be a nice tribute. We could even make it the official mascot of Geppetto & Sons.”
“It looks just like him,” I say wistfully. In all these years working with wood and later grieving over Papa’s death, I never thought to make a toy of him. I suppose enough time has passed, and my husband realizes that too.
“Do you like it?” he asks shyly. It’s wondrous how, even after decades, he still wants to impress me.
“I adore it, amore .” I lean in and kiss him. He’s a sweet familiar scent I could recall with my eyes closed. He’s my partner, my spouse, my soul mate after all.
A pair of meowing noises below breaks our lips apart. We laugh when we spot Treble and Bass Clef glaring at us with annoyance.
“Aw, looks like these two beasts want to be rubbed before bed.” I bend over and pick them up.
“Are you sure they don’t want to play with my newest creation?” Lampwick dances the toy near them, but the cats stare at it apprehensively. “I’m Geppetto junior!” he says in that funny accent.
I laugh—no one has ever charmed me like him.
After cleaning up and petting the cats for a few minutes, the two of us bathe and then get ready for bed. I yawn when I walk in from the outside wearing only my sleeping pants. Treble and Bass Clef have designated pillows in the living room, and they curl up near the couch, eager to sleep. Lampwick has placed his new toy down so it sits on the furniture. It makes me smile knowing his carpentry skills are honed enough to pay tribute to my dad.
I get to our shared room, now wider with the wall taken out years ago. It was Papa’s idea to expand our bedroom, and we always had our privacy with the locked door, but nowadays we sleep with the door wide open. I’m in bed curled around a shirtless Lampwick, both of us already yawning.
“I saw Giovanna at the market.” His voice is groggy, but I never get tired of chatting about our days.
“Really?” I ask.
“Yeah. Her kids are cute,” Lampwick says.
“Aw, piccoli bambini .”
“Do you ever want one of your own?”
Slumber is quickly overtaking me, and I can barely hear myself. “Yes. With you in my life, I sure would like to have a little one…” I yawn and rapidly lose consciousness. The last thing I remember is Lampwick kissing my cheek before I’m engulfed in dreams.
I’m awoken to the cats meowing in our bed. Lampwick and I stir, and I notice the sun has barely risen.
“What’s going on?” Lampwick asks.
“The beasts want food, I suppose,” I say with a groggy voice.
With that, the two cats hiss, and my instinct tells me something is off. When I look over at our wall, I notice the door is mostly closed. That’s not right.
“Lampwick, did you close the door in the middle of the night?” I pick up Bass Clef and Treble hops on my husband’s lap.
“What? No,” he says through a yawn.
“Then what happened?” I ask. The cats hiss again, as if to warn me. Lampwick realizes it too, and in a moment, we’re both wide awake.
We jump out of bed holding the cats. Lampwick picks up an umbrella, holding it out in defense. I nod at him and slowly open the door, ready to face any intruder. We know everyone in Collodi, but maybe one of the schoolchildren is playing some prank?
When Lampwick barges out of our room and announces, “ Basta !” I trail after him. What we see has us frozen in place.
The puppet from last night…is alive.
“Ah!” he yelps and trembles in fear, his hands above him. Lampwick and I step forward, and I can’t even breathe. My mind is buzzing as I try to interpret the oddity before me. Is this some kind of weird dream? The two cats jump to the floor and hiss.
“Ah, please don’t hurt me,” he says. It’s a little boy’s voice, and I’m guessing he’s about ten years old. The white hair-do and spectacles make him look like a child version of Papa.
“Who…who are you?” Lampwick is still raising up the umbrella, but the two of us are less panicked, more perplexed.
“I…I’m not sure.” The puppet looks down at his wooden hands, string draped behind his back. When he looks up, he seems just as terrified as us. “An hour ago, I woke up. And then the cats ran off…”
As if hearing him, Treble and Bass Clef hiss. This makes puppet boy shudder.
“How…how is this possible?” I ask. Lampwick smirks at me, and the irony hits me in the soul.
“I didn’t want the cats to hurt me, and I saw you two sleeping, so…” The puppet shrugs. “I closed the door. Now I’m here…” He pulls at his strings. “And I’m all tangled up.”
Lampwick and I share a frown. Magical miracles aside, the kid sounds so distraught.
“Come here.” Lampwick puts down the umbrella and takes out the shears.
“Ooh…” The puppet trembles and flinches.
“I’m not gonna hurt you, kid.” He gently snips off the cords. Now the puppet is free, and he shakes off any excess string. Realizing what’s happened, he spins his whole body around while keeping his head facing forward, and I laugh. I think I remember doing that when I was made of wood.
“Thanks, Papa!”
“You’re welcome…wait, Papa?!” Lampwick shoots me another confused look.
“Well, yeah.” The puppet does another spin. “I remember now! The Fairy said my papa would free me from the strings. Because he wished for his own family.” The boy strolls up to me. “And I have you too, Father. A Father and a Papa!”
After two moments of frozen silence, it all hits me. I glance at my husband, and joyous laughter bubbles from my chest. “I…I can’t believe it! It happened again!”
“I know!” Lampwick holds me close and laughs while the puppet looks at us.
“So, it’s true? You two are my dads?”
Looking at my husband, I nod as my eyes sting. What a shocking, beautiful surprise this is. “I guess so,” I reply. I recall being that scared little wooden kid, but it didn’t take long for Papa to accept me. So now, it’s my turn to be thrust into the world of fatherhood overnight.
“That depends.” Lampwick crouches down with a smile. “We want you to become a real boy, one day.”
The puppet spins his wooden feet around, then looks up with an alarmed look. “How do I do that?”
I crouch down and tap his head. “Will you be loyal, brave, and true?”
The puppet nods, his wooden head clicking away. “Yes. Anything for you, Father.” He turns to Lampwick and smiles. “And you, Papa.”
Lampwick shares one more meaningful glance with me. Then, he nods, and we hug the living marionette. Warmth blossoms in my chest at the thought of my small family getting bigger. With this little one, we’re dads now.
We pull back and I sniff and wipe my eyes. “So, what’s your name?”
“I don’t know,” he says with a frown. He plays with his fingers, suddenly bashful.
“Well, we gave him a name last night,” Lampwick remarks. I turn to my husband and my brow furrows. “Since our store is called Geppetto & Sons…why don’t we name him Geppetto?”
I nod. “That sounds perfect.” We both stand up straight. The boy looks adorably confused, a supernaturally sentient doll living his first day on Earth. “What do you say, Piccolo? Want to be known as Geppetto?”
He looks down and ponders it for a moment, then smiles back up at us. “My name is…Geppetto!”
“ Va bene ,” I reply, and Lampwick pulls me in.
“Meow!” Treble and Bass Clef mewl and step closer.
“Treble, Bass Clef, meet your new brother,” Lampwick says, gesturing the cats to move closer. After a moment, the two beasts pounce on him. The boy laughs as our two cats walk on top of him in a circle. My eyes are watery at the precious sight. I didn’t realize I had more love in my heart to give.
It’s all thanks to the man saddled up next to me. He lays his head on my shoulder and wraps his arms around my waist. We laugh as we watch Geppetto play with our pets.
“I can’t believe this,” I murmur.
“Dreams come true,” Lampwick whispers.
“I guess we need to teach him right from wrong. Take him to school. Be good…” I gulp. “Being parents is a huge task.”
“I’m willing to if you’re willing to, Pinocchio.”
I spin around so I’m facing him. The adoration in his eyes, even after decades of being together, is undeniable. “With you, I’ll take on any adventure, Lampwick.”
I caress his cheek, and he gives me a chaste kiss. “I love you, Sticks.”
“I love you, Lampo.”
“Um, Father? Papa?” We look down to see Geppetto pointing to the back door. “The cats went outside. Can I go play with them?”
I snicker. “Come, we’ll go together.”
The boy takes off, his wooden feet making clicking noises on our floor. With my right hand wrapped around my husband’s waist, we follow him together. We’re parents now, the most challenging adventure we’ve yet to face. But with my best friend by my side, I can do anything.
Lampwick made life worth living. He’s my home. He makes me strong, and every day is a chapter in our never-ending love story.
The End