EPILOGUE
VIOLET
Four Years Later
As I walk across the stage, I look out at the crowd cheering for me. My row is full of friends and family. Screaming the loudest is my sexy husband and our little girl, Madison. His parents are also here, along with my parents.
Liz and Sandy are both here too. We’ve become very close since they were my bodyguards. When I first started school, the paparazzi wouldn’t leave me alone and they took turns going to class with me until the paps left me alone.
The only one missing today is Zoe. She’s not in jail or prison, but family gatherings are hard for her. She’s in therapy and I’ve done a few sessions with her. Kane has too. We want her back as part of her family. She’s not a bad person and I refuse to give up on her. She’s still my best friend.
“How’s my college graduate?” Kane asks after the ceremony.
“Tired and hungry,” I answer as I rub my belly. We didn’t plan to have another baby until Madison was older, but life finds a way. I’m seven months pregnant with a little boy and so glad that I finished school before becoming a mom of two.
“Momma!” Madison screams as her grandparents carry her over. She leaps from Kane’s dad’s arms into mine.
“Careful, sweets,” I say as I kiss her nose. “Remember baby brother.”
“Sorry, momma.” A tight hug makes it all better.
I get hugs from everyone, and a few brave family members of other students ask if I’ll take a photo with them. I take photos until Madison is ready to leave. I apologize to anyone else who asks, but being a mom comes before being a celebrity for me.
“You know it’s going to get crazy for a while because of the new movie,” Kane says as he buckles me into the passenger seat of our SUV.
“I know. I’m just glad it didn’t come out until school was done.”
I shudder thinking about the movie that I was in that was released in my second year of school. It was a nightmare. Everyone was talking about the movie, letting me know what they liked, and what they hated. Clips were being shown all the time in class. I’ve never had that kind of public interaction with something I’ve done and it’s not for the faint of heart. I don’t think I could do it again.
“Should we go home or get ice cream?” Kane asks us.
“Ice cream!” We both yell.
“If that’s what my gorgeous girls want then that’s what they’ll get.” He smiles at me as he lifts my hand to his lips and kisses my knuckles.
The last four years have been a series of ups and downs, but through it all one thing remained the same— the love that we feel for each other. As long as we remember that we belong together, Kane and I can make it through anything.
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