Epilogue
Violet
Two Years Later
My brother was playing college ball in his sophomore year at a state school. He would never play in the pros thanks to that accident and the ongoing issues he had with his neck, but he seemed okay with it. The attention he got from women on campus apparently made up for everything.
My father was still in town despite divorcing my mother last year.
The truth finally came out about why she and her sister had been estranged all those years.
My mother had an affair with her sister’s fiancé.
Aunt Janice found out and the only reason she didn’t tell Dad was because she didn’t want to hurt Drake and me.
Since neither of us were in the house any longer and Mom stirred up a hornet’s nest by going to see her two years ago, the cat - as they say - was out of the bag.
Mom moved to Florida, and I only spoke to her on major holidays.
She was still my mother and I loved her.
Between the cheating and the advice she passed to Ridge while she insinuated they were my own words, I lost all respect for her.
I wouldn’t invite her into our lives to disrupt things any longer.
“You’re awfully deep in thought over there.”
The last time Ridge asked about my thoughts on his birthday, it turned out I was pregnant. That was not the case today. I had something else planned for him, but the day - as per usual - drummed up all kinds of memories and lingering emotions.
“Weddy Mommy,” I heard and had to chuckle. My son was not subtle or patient. Our little angel, Serena, was in her cradle fast asleep as planned.
“What is our little terror ready for?” Ridge asked.
“Surprise!” I shout-whispered as our boy came around the corner and showed his dad the giant cupcake we made for him earlier in the day when he ran to the studio for a couple hours.
I cocked my head to the side and noticed that there was a suspicious bite missing from the cupcake and blue icing on my son’s lips.
“What is this?” Ridge asked.
“Hapwee Birfday!” our son managed to get out.
“Happy birthday, Ridge.”
My husband turned to me and smiled as he accepted the cupcake that was missing more than one bite. Ridge glanced down and laughed as he picked our boy up. “Did you help Daddy eat the cupcake?”
“It’s big,” Liam told him.
“Do you want another bite?”
“Yeah!” our boy shouted. Luckily, his sister could sleep through a natural disaster.
“Thank you,” Ridge told me as Liam took another giant bite of the cupcake.
“It was time,” I said.
“Just another regular old birthday,” my husband agreed.
“Yup, nothing special at all,” I countered with a wink and the reminder of how he phrased it on our engagement day. As we leaned toward one another and kissed, something on the TV caught my eye. “Turn that up,” I demanded.
Ridge did so and we both tuned into the drama that played out.
“A bus carrying several female inmates was routed to the local hospital after one of them was stabbed repeatedly. It turns out the inmate, Fiona Iverson, was well known for the scandal involving billionaire music producer, Ridge Westover a few years ago. She was in prison on charges of rape, two counts of attempted murder, and a few other charges as well.”
“Is she going to be okay?” the other reporter asked.
“No, she was dead on arrival at the hospital after bleeding out in the bus on the way there.”
“What a shame.”
I reached over and turned the television off. Of all the announcements that might have come on my husband’s birthday, that one certainly hadn’t been expected. Fiona was only two and a half years into a twenty-three-year sentence.
“Make a wish, Daddy,” Liam told his dad. My son was late in saying it, especially since he’d eaten the entire top of the cupcake while we watched that news broadcast.
Ridge glanced down and chuckled about the missing icing on his cupcake and then he booped our son’s nose. “I don’t have to make a wish, bud. All my wishes have come true.”
Thank you for reading