Epilogue
Haley
Lacey looked terrible in orange.
To be fair, her hair was flat and frizzed, her skin pale and eyes gaunt, but still the color washed her out almost completely.
It brought me a small measure of satisfaction to see her looking so miserable.
We hadn’t seen her face since that awful day in the Town Square, but I had made it my mission to keep tabs on her and ensure I was well informed of any and all missteps she might take.
Which was why I was so charmed by the news that she’d been arrested for possession, theft and a myriad of other wrong doings that had landed her a five-year prison sentence.
That was nearly six months ago.
“You have ten minutes.” The guard rambled while he connected Lacey’s handcuffs to the table.
I kept my face unreadable as Lacey took in my appearance. I did nothing to hide the wedding ring on my finger, and when her eyes widened taking it in, I withheld a smirk.
Liam and I tied the knot three months after he proposed, and this was on my agenda ever since.
“You arranged this meeting?” Lacey folded her hands and leaned back.
I nodded and pulled the folder I had in my lap up, and on to the table.
“Twice you’ve inserted yourself into my life, demanding to meet with me. Both times you ruined a piece of my happiness, no doubt hoping it would ruin my relationship with Liam. But it didn’t work.”
Lacey lifted her wrists, making the cuffs jingle. “You want an apology or something?”
A scoff scraped up my throat. “No. I wouldn’t dream of it.”
I continued, opening the folder.
“I came to offer you a deal.”
A line formed between her brows as her eyes narrowed on the folder in front of me.
“You’re not a lawyer, you can’t offer me shit.”
Aw, if she only knew what strings I pulled behind the scenes.
“I had them draft this, but for legal reasons, they’re waiting outside the room. Would you like yours present?”
Lacey bristled, twisting her lips to the side.
“Ah that’s right. You have a public defender, and they don’t drop whatever they’re doing just to show up when you want them to.”
She didn’t reply, but it was true. She’d have to run this offer through her lawyer eventually anyway, but for right now I wanted her all to myself.
“What’s the deal?” she asked, lifting her wrists once more.
I slid the paper towards her, giving her the opportunity to read it.
“Adoption papers?”
Her eyes grew, her brows jumping to her hairline.
“Sign them, and you’re out in six months.”
She let out a laugh, tossing her paper toward me. “Bullshit.”
“You don’t know much about me, but I have unlimited resources at my disposal, at least ten different lawyers on retainer, and three little girls who call me mommy. To say that I am motivated would be an understatement.”
Rage slithered into her features, making her lip peel back and the confinements around her wrists clank.
“You fucking bitch. Those are my kids!”
I slapped the table between us, which garnered the attention from the guard at the door.
“You had your chance…more than one. You didn’t account that they would find me.
But they have, and I love them. They’re mine now, and I protect those who are mine.
This is a good deal, Lacey. Sign them over and you’re out in six months.
If you really want to fight for them, and try your hand at being their mother again, then change.
Take these next few years and become the best version of yourself.
Prison will help you to get clean if you want to be.
If you don’t think you’re capable of this, then free them. ”
Her face fell as her eyes flicked back down to the paper in front of her. For the smallest moment, it looked as though she was considering it. I was honestly grateful for it.
I loved my girls, but if they had the chance to have their mother in their lives one day…if she became someone they could rely on, then that would be a gift to them. As painful as it would be for me to accept, I would…for them.
I’d do anything for them.
I was about to scoot back, allow her to think it over when she opened her palm.
“Pen.”
A tiny cut opened in my heart as I registered what she’d said.
Swallowing around the lump in my throat, I cleared the blockage.
“Take a few days, think it over.”
How had this boiled down to me hoping she’d choose her kids…my kids.
Her palm slapped against the table, the metal making a sound.
“Don’t need to…I’ll sign it if you can promise me, it’ll reduce my sentence.”
“I already had it cleared with the judge…but you should still—”
“Then let me sign.”
With a heavy heart, I glanced back at the guard by the door.
“Your lawyer has to be present…”
She shook her head and opened her palm again.
“Just have the guard come in and I’ll tell them you’re my lawyer.”
Fuck, this wasn’t how I thought it would go. Liam told me she would sign, not to get my hopes up that she would choose the girls. He told me she never would.
Still, this hurt on a level I wasn’t expecting.
The guard came in, and they handed the pen over to Lacey.
She signed the papers, releasing her rights for Maddy, Seraphina and Mila, once she was done, she handed the pen back to the guard.
“Nice doing business with ya.” She said happily before telling the guard she was ready to go.
I hung back in my chair and rubbed my hand over my tiny bump. We found out four months ago that I was pregnant…and at first, it was terrifying but seeing Liam’s response was something that would live inside me forever. Then the way we’d told the girls.
We went to a make-your-own pizza place in downtown Portland, then let each girl make their own pizzas. When we grabbed a small to-go box, we had it where when they opened the lid they found the ultrasound image inside. The comment bubble above the baby’s head said, “Hi big sisters.”
They are already discussing whose room the baby will live in. I smiled at the memory but came back to the moment.
I could never imagine in a thousand lifetimes what sort of person could just walk away from their kids, but I also understood there was a different world that Lacey had grown up in. A different world she existed in and that might make a difference in my perspective.
Perhaps.
But maybe she was just a selfish bitch, and it was as simple as that.
Regardless, we’d never have to worry about her trying to take us to court again. At least not with any levity. All legal recourse she had to her kids were now void.
I drove home, trying to shed the strange sensation clouding my heart over Lacey’s decision.
I wasn’t really paying attention as I pulled into the garage.
I grabbed the folder and headed inside mostly in a fog but as soon as I cleared the laundry room, a group of people jumped out from the kitchen, screaming, “Surprise!”
A gasp caught in my throat as I finally registered all the glitter.
Oh my gosh.
“Mommy! Look what we did for you, we gave you a glitter party.” Mila yelled, tossing a handful of glitter in the air.
This was never going to come up. Did Liam realize this? Where was my husband?
I hoisted Mila into my arms as I scanned the faces around the room.
Rae and Davis were there, she was pregnant just like Nora.
All of my brothers were present, but Colson was the one who pulled me in and hugged me close.
Millie and Tammy were there…Jeffery and his new girlfriend, Stacey.
Rex from the gym and a few others were hovering near the back patio, which led out to the yard.
Everywhere I looked there were people who smiled and waved at me.
Gunther stood stoic and tall by the barbeque being manned by Millie’s husband, Roger.
He pulled me into a tight side hug as my eyes watered, registering that all the people in my life were here, celebrating me.
I still couldn’t seem to find Liam or my other two girls.
Finally, I made my way upstairs, away from the party, still holding Mila in my arms as I went. There in the master bedroom, all three of my missing family members were hovering over a gift, murmuring as they tried various ways to wrap it.
“What are you doing?” I asked, slowly making my way up behind them.
Liam quickly turned, pushing the gift behind him.
Seraph and Maddy had cute little smirks on their faces as Mila slid her tiny hands over my eyes.
“You can’t see yet, Mommy!”
I laughed, tugging on them when finally, I felt Liam take Mila.
It was quiet in the room, save for the rustling sound on the bed as Seraph moved to stand, her long hair flowing down.
She was in a phase now where she was letting it grow.
She was also getting taller now, making her look so much older.
Maddy was in middle school now, completely stealing my heart every single day as she started puberty and developed crushes.
Liam held my hips as he came up behind me and laid his chin on my shoulder.
“We were trying to wrap it for you—”
“But it’s too big!” Seraph interjected, lifting a piece of wrapping paper.
Finally, they all parted, allowing me to see my gift. I walked until my thighs hit the mattress and stared with my mouth parted and a few tears lining my lashes.
“Are these?” I couldn’t finish as my eyes scoured the massive photo, that took up a huge portion of the bed, the barnwood edges, the glass…and underneath.
I breathed with a shuddery gasp, “Our lists…”
“All of ours, from the past year—all the happy in our lives that led up to this moment,” Liam whispered, solemnly.
I traced my finger over the glass, seeing the notes I had written when I had started dating him, and all the ones after.
The ones I had created while he was away those nine weeks, the ones the girls started… the ones he created.
Liam’s lips pressed into the side of my forehead as he whispered, “I love you.”
I still couldn’t believe he’d done this.
“We’re going to hang it on the big wall, so we will always be able to see it,” Mila yelled excitedly while the other two laughed.
“I can’t believe you did this.” I turned into Liam’s chest, letting happy tears fall free. The realization of what my life had become, of who I had become…it was so massive, so perfect.
Liam’s lips pressed against my head then his mouth was at my ear.
“I had a lot to make up for, but I hope this proves that every birthday from here on out will be celebrated properly.”
The girls’ arms came around me then, as they all said.
“Happy Birthday, Mommy.”
Mentally I went back to being thirteen, to the rejection I had felt, the utter sadness that had overwhelmed me and stayed with me for so many years.
I took that memory and held it next to this one––and I smiled because I know this happiness was what my future was made of.
Somehow in saving this single dad, he rescued me from all the loneliness that took up residence in my heart.
He filled me with more happiness and love than I ever imagined possible, and now I’d always have this.
Forever.