Epilogue
NOELLE
The day she met Aracely's family, she hadn't been ready for it.
It wasn't something she planned.
The S.W.A.T. team got together and surprised her at Hemisfair near the Riverwalk.
When McCrae had gotten them all up and dressed, there had been a sense of urgency unlike most mornings when they weren't working.
Usually, when they woke up on the mornings neither of them didn't have to work, McCrae would check in on their daughter.
If she was sound asleep, he'd wake Noelle up with his mouth, or his hands, or his-
"Come on, babe..."
Noelle rolled her eyes as McCrae opened up the back passenger door.
"Let's go, mi ciela."
Ciela giggled like she always did.
Most people would say 'Mi cielo' meaning My Heaven, but McCrae blended it using their daughter's name of Ciela... and Ciela? She loved it.
"Okay, Papa!"
Noelle opened her door and stepped out, only to have McCrae drag her into his embrace. Once he had a hold of both of them, he'd kiss both of their faces over and over.
It made Ciela laugh with full gut shaking laughs and it melted Noelle's heart over and over again.
The gruff man who'd literally stepped between her and a bullet was as loving a man as she'd ever seen or hoped to fall for.
"Let's go..."
The park area that they were visiting that morning was normally one that McCrae would avoid as much as possible.
He loved playing with Ciela, but he preferred more... quiet places.
He wasn't fond of places that his sister called 'peopley.'
Noelle closed her door and looked at the park. "We didn't bring Ciela's bag."
The bag meaning a repurposed diaper bag that carried everything from snacks to sunscreen, from toys to insect repellant.
"It's covered, Baby. Let's go."
It only took a few minutes of walking before Noelle realized that it was, indeed, covered.
There was a whole party set up near the Toddler Play Area that was full of fold-out tables, food, and fun.
The entire group of S.W.A.T. team members and her family were there.
Finola and Katie rushed up to meet them and Ciela was suddenly gone from McCrae's arms.
"Grammie King!"
A banner unfurled at that moment, and Ciela cheered when the words ‘Feliz Cumpleanos, Ciela’ were visible on the rainbow-colored banner.
McCrae pulled her close against his side and nuzzled a kiss against her temple. "The guys wanted to surprise her. They didn't even tell me until last night."
Noelle turned to look at him. "Why last night?"
"Well," McCrae turned and leaned her back up against one of the trees, "they thought I couldn't keep a damn secret."
He sounded put out.
Noelle reached out her hand and put it on his chest, soothing him. "Could you?"
He sighed. "Usually. But yeah, I probably would have blurted it out."
She shook her head at how disappointed he looked.
Leaning in against him, she rose up on the toes of her sandals and pressed a kiss on his chin and then his jaw before she nipped the lobe of his ear. "Just think about how much they care," she lifted up a hand and turned his face toward hers. "How much we love you, McCrae King."
He leaned in for a kiss, and she loved how he could make her melt with just a touch of his lips on hers.
"Damn it, 'Elle... I fucking love you."
"Excuse me?"
Startled, Noelle turned and saw a woman approaching her.
In size and stature, she reminded Noelle of her grandmother.
Noelle looked at McCrae and the two of them straightened and separated by a good half a foot.
"Uh... hello." She offered the woman a tentative smile.
"Are you... the woman who drew the picture of my granddaughter?"
For a moment, Noelle tried to rack her brain to remember who the older woman was talking about, but then she took a look at the woman and the likeness was unmistakable.
To her...
"You're Aracely's grandmother."
The older woman's smile was achingly beautiful and infinitely sad. "Yes. She’s, my granddaughter."
Is.
Not was.
The distinction meant everything.
"I... I didn't expect to see you. Ever."
Noelle felt her heart aching for this woman.
"But we're here at the park with some of our family," she gestured at the park, and Noelle could see another group set up in the grass, "and I saw you... You look just like in the news stories."
Noelle nodded slowly, trying to process the moment.
She felt like she should do something... Say something.
She just didn't know what to do.
Drawing what she draws? That's a quiet, solitary activity.
Talking to people.
To family.
Survivors?
The people left behind?
That was outside of her experience and maybe her ability.
Then, this woman broke through that confusion.
She stepped in and wrapped her arms around Noelle.
A hug so tight that Noelle felt she couldn't breathe.
But it didn't matter.
It felt... good.
It felt like a release of grief.
For both of them.
Noelle wrapped her arms around the smaller shoulders of the woman holding her.
This woman who had lost her granddaughter years and years ago.
And now that they'd found her remains, she'd lost her again.
"You found her," the older woman gasped in a breath that sounded raw, "you brought her home."
Home.
Something people took for granted.
Every day.
But Aracely hadn't gone home.
She'd been hurt.
She'd been killed.
And she'd been lost out in the world for years.
"You brought her home."
Tears rolled down Noelle's cheeks as she hugged her back, the two holding onto each other like a lifeline.
* * *
DUVAL
He didn't know what to do.
How to react.
He could only stand there beside Noelle and watch as her emotions rolled over her, through her.
He knew that she struggled at times to understand what she believed everyone else did.
She thought that her profession and her art meant that she wasn't the same as other people.
He smiled a little as he saw the older woman patting her on the back.
He didn't see that she needed to be like 'other people.'
Noelle was amazing the way she was.
And, if there was one thing he'd learned over the years working in law enforcement. There really wasn't a 'normal.'
There was kind and good and nasty and evil and a whole lot in between.
Noelle was exactly who she should be.
And he loved her just like she was.
Crazy enough, she loved him back.
Aracely's grandmother pulled Noelle in closer and whispered something to her before stepping back and putting some space between them.
As she walked away, Noelle stepped closer to him, and he wrapped an arm around her shoulders.
"You, okay?"
It took a beat and then she looked up at him. A small smile touched her lips and then it looked like the sun came out from behind the clouds.
She was beaming.
"I'm more than okay." She turned and wrapped her arms around him.
She hugged him, pressing her face into his shoulder and then she turned, putting her cheek on his chest.
"I'm more than okay," she repeated. "I feel... good. Happy."
Duval rubbed his hands against her back, trying to get closer to her.
"What... what did she say to you?"
He felt Noelle still under his hands and he frowned, wondering if he'd stirred up a bad memory or something like that.
"Babe, you don't have to tell me if you-"
"She thanked me for making her family complete again."
He heard a softness in Noelle's words, her tone a gentle near whisper. "Yeah," he nodded. "You did that, Babe. You."
"It's strange..." her words faded off and he watched her face as her emotions bubbled up inside. "I put work into my art to make it feel... to feel lifelike. But I guess I didn't understand what kind of effect it has on others."
He wrapped his arms around her tighter and touched a kiss on her forehead.
"If feels good." She tried to shake her head, but she had her cheek still against his chest. "Better than good, McCrae. I feel like I made a difference."
"You make a difference all the time, 'Elle."
She looked up at him, a little confused frown wrinkling the skin on her bridge of her nose.
"Having you in my life... having Cici in my life... it makes everything better. Every day feels like I'm living a life I couldn't even dream of living before."
He felt her breathe.
Felt the expanse of her chest with each breath.
"I'm so damn glad you're here with me."
He felt her tighten her embrace around him and squeeze him tight.
"I'm so glad you're with us," she blinked and tears gathered on her lashes. "You're part of our family," she smiled and maybe it was just a trick of the light, but her whole face seemed to light up. "Our growing family."
Growing...
He frowned.
"What... what are you... What do you mean?"
Noelle bit into her lip and her cheeks warmed to a rosy red.
"This morning, when you were trying to get us out of the house to come here?"
He nodded, slowly. "Yeah?"
"I was in the bathroom-"
He grinned at that. "I missed showering with you this morning. You took a while."
She lifted a brow. "I wasn't showering that long. I was taking a test."
A test.
What kind of test?
He looked down at her and saw her step back a little, her hand settling on her belly.
"'Elle?"
She smiled.
"I know we haven't talked about babies, but-"
He pulled her in and kissed her like she was his last breath, or rather because he needed air.
Just the thought of Noelle carrying his baby had his whole head spinning and his lungs gasping for air.
She held his shoulders and leaned into the kiss, holding him tight.
Then, he broke away and half-stepped back. "Oh shit... Am I hurting you?"
Noelle laughed and he shook his head.
Was she joking with him?
Making fun of him?
"I'm not made of glass, McCrae."
She put her hand on his chest, petting him like he was a cat.
He hated to admit it, but it soothed him.
"I've been pregnant before. I'm okay."
Duval nodded, but he hated that he felt a little lost in the exchange. "I need to get a book."
"A book?" Her smile lit him up.
"On baby stuff." He shook his head. "Pregnancy stuff." Then he felt one side of his upper lip curl up. "Both."
She sighed at his words, but she looked at him with a smile and that was all he needed.
He took her hand and walked her toward the party that was already in full swing.