28. Epilogue
Two Years Later
Istare at the wedding ring on my wife’s hand as she sets the brownies down on the table. She’s something else, with her long, chocolate brown hair falling in waves to her waistline. Sara’s been glowing ever since the night I shot Will, and I have to admit that I have been, too. There’s something about what happened that night that has healed both of us, and I don’t think it was just the sex—though maybe it was.
I don’t know. I don’t pick it apart.
“Can we have dessert first?” Eliza asks, eyeing the brownies. “I could go for a brownie right now.”
“No,” Sara chides her. “You have to set a good example for your sisters.”
“I can have a brownie, too,” Lilly chimes in. “I mean, it is almost my birthday.”
“Your birthday is in two months,” Sara’s mom teases, reaching out and poking her adopted daughter’s arm.
I smile at the exchange, unable to hold back from what I see. Sara’s mom has changed a lot. She sold the store and restaurant, and we got her into a decent rehab that helped her work through what she had experienced. Is she perfect? No. But is she trying? Yes.
“Have you spoken with Carlos today?” Sara turns to me. “Is he coming?”
“He’s got a meeting,” I answer her with a smile. “He said to save him leftovers.”
I’m not entirely out of my illegal business ventures, but I’m working on it and letting Carlos take the lead. I still make money, and Sara is okay with that. It keeps the girls in an esteemed private school, it pays for the counseling for her mother, and Sara gets to donate however much she wants to charity.
I think that’s how she justifies it for now.
Eventually, maybe, we’ll get out of it. However, I have no qualms about staying on the outer edge. I no longer play the cartel God, and Sara no longer has to worry about what kind of backlash we might face.
“You know, you guys have to have a kid soon,” Lilly speaks up. “I’m tired of you not having a baby. You’ve been married forever.”
“Lilly,” Sara’s mom scolds. “You can’t just decide when a baby is going to happen. That’s not how it works.”
“I know how it works,” Lilly smirks. “I think we all know how it works now.”
“Doesn’t mean we need to discuss it at the dinner table,” Eliza snaps. “That’s disgusting. I don’t even want to know, honestly. I mean, I do know, but spare me the details.”
“You have a boyfriend, so I don’t want to hear it,” Lilly teases, sticking her tongue out at her teenage sister.
I cringe at the thought, though from what I can tell Eliza’s boyfriend is a good kid. He comes from a decent family, although they might be a little too straight-edged for my taste. Along with Sara”s mum, I’m the girls’ guardian—as is Sara. And I’m sure there are rumors about us in the community and how we made the wealth we have, but I think no one really cares. They all believe Sara”s mom became wealthy after Will passed away from a stroke.
Sara smiles as she takes her seat. “Alright, everyone, dig in—but not into the brownies.” She shoots me a wink that makes my heart flutter, and I reach out, squeezing her hand. If it were possible for a man like me to win the lottery, I’d say that I’d done it.
“You’ll have to tell me how you like this chicken parm,” Martha says to Sara.
“It’s a new recipe I’ve been working on. If I got it right, maybe I’ll write it down.”
“You should make a cookbook,” her mother says, taking a bite. “Because I swear, everything you make is so freaking good. It’s better than a restaurant. You have your father’s touch, which is why he opened the shop up in the first place.”
Sara smiles, though I see a flash of sadness in her eyes. I know she still struggles with missing her father, and it’s only been in the last year that they’ve started to talk about him. For some reason, he was a memory none of us wanted to discuss, but now, he’s starting to feel like a part of all three of us…
Because, well, he is.
***
“Okay, you have to promise me that you won’t get mad,” I say carefully, guiding Aiden out into the driveway of the house. It’s his birthday, and he asks every year that we not celebrate, but this year, I had to. He deserves something amazing, and somehow my mom and I were able to pull it off for him.
“Can you take this damned blindfold off me?” he groans, his shoulders slumping as I line him up with the gift.
“Hang on just a second.” I dig into my pocket for my phone. “I need to make sure I capture this on camera. It’s so exciting.”
“Oh God, please tell me it’s not another dog,” he grunts as Maggie, our new Boxer puppy bounces around his feet. The girls and I came home with her weeks ago, and while Aiden wasn’t the biggest fan at first, now I think he loves her more than he lets on.
“It’s not another dog,” I laugh, poking his shoulder as the girls and my mom quietly come out of the garage. Everyone is waiting to see his reaction, and I can’t lie, I’m dying to see it as well. “Okay.” I steady my phone and hit record. “You can take it off now.”
Aiden rips the blindfold off, and I laugh as his eyes grow wide, his jaw dropping. “What the…” He gapes at the boat parked in the driveway. “Why the hell did you buy a boat?”
I reach out and grab his hand. “So we can take you fishing, and…” My voice trails off as I reach into my pocket, pulling out the ultrasound photo. “And you can take our baby fishing.”
Aiden’s eyes drop to the picture, and he grabs it. “You did this without telling me?”
My heart sinks. “I’m so sorry…I wanted to surprise you…”
He shakes his head, and I catch a glimpse of a tear in his eyes before he quickly wipes it away. “It’s the best fucking surprise ever.” Aiden rushes to me, pulling me into his arms and squeezing me tighter than ever before. “You always know what I need, Sara. Always.”
“And you always know the same for me,” I whisper back as we hold each other. I can hear the girls cheering for the two of us, but I ignore it, letting myself get lost in the moment with Aiden. We were supposed to end up this way, though sometimes I wonder what our journey would’ve looked like if life had gone differently.
Maybe it would’ve been less traumatic had my father not passed away. Maybe Aiden wouldn”t have been deprived of love throughout his entire childhood. Maybe my mother never would’ve fallen into substance abuse. Maybe Aiden would’ve never gotten into an illegal business.
But then maybe I would’ve never given in to the feelings for my foster brother. Maybe he would’ve always just been Aiden, my brother. Maybe Aiden wouldn”t have emerged as the strong person he is today. And then we never would’ve had what we have now.
I try not to think about it as tears wet my cheeks. “I can’t wait to meet our little Aiden.”
“Or little Sara,” he whispers back, kissing the spot on my cheek. “I can’t fucking believe it, Sara. This is the best thing that’s ever happened to me—other than you, of course.”
I laugh, squeezing his neck and leaning back. He takes my mouth in a hot and heady kiss, something that he still does every chance he gets. Maybe some couples’ romance slows down—and maybe ours eventually will—but it feels like we’re always going to be making up for lost time, no matter how many years pass.
“So does this mean I’m going to be an aunt?” Lilly comes bounding up to us. She taps me on the shoulder. “I mean, I am, right?”
“Yes,” I tell her, wrapping my arm around her shoulders and pulling her into a hug. “You’re going to be an aunt, and Mom is going to be a grandma.”
She nods, giddy with excitement. “Ah, yes! I’ve been waiting my whole life for this!” Lilly bounds toward the boat and climbs the back ladder. It had taken a lot of sneaking around to buy it without Aiden finding out. As I watch him following Lilly, his demeanor childlike, I know every bit of it was worth it.
Aiden’s been healing the loss of his childhood for years, and while he always says that he’s fine—and he is—I try to make up for it however I can. I place my hand on my stomach as my mother walks up to me, draping her arm around my shoulders.
“You’re going to be the best mother, Sahara,” she says quietly, dabbing her eyes. “I knew you were a great mom from the moment I began to fail. You never did. For the longest time, you were more of a mother to those girls than I was. I’m proud of you.”
I turn to her, giving her a soft smile. “I’m proud of you, too, Mom. You’ve come a long way, and I can’t imagine a life without you in it.”
“Me either.” She squeezes me tightly as I watch Aiden laughing and goofing off with the girls. He’s finally happy. I know he is.
And I am, too.
Perhaps, after all, damaged people don’t always need to be fixed.
They just need to be accepted for who they have become.
THE END.
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