Epilogue
Pete
A year later.
“He’s proposing!” Nic jumped into the living room, startling the shit out of me and Biscuit, who’d been napping on my stomach while I read on the couch.
Nic had scared him so he’d dashed out of the room in a hurry.
I had to act puzzled over his reaction, and I felt grateful I could blame my startlement over him running away and not Nic scaring me when he… .
Wait?! Proposing?
“What?!” Mitch squealed. “How do you know?!” Mitch had watched TV while I read. I liked to leave it on with subtitles so they could watch it whenever they got bored. I’d told Jackson I liked having it on for sound, even if I turned it almost all the way down.
“Jackson is painting, like he always does, but he’s working on one with two men standing under an arch, holding hands, with the words ‘be forever mine?’ over them!”
OMG! Jackson was really gonna propose?! And now I had to act all surprised, and also wait until he was ready to ask.
It was going to be pure torture! Jackson wanted to marry me!
ME. I was glad I was already sitting down.
I forced myself to pretend I was still reading, even if it was hard not to stand up and celebrate with Mitch and Nic, who were jumping in place together.
It was heartwarming that they cared about us this much.
“He’s so romantic!” Mitch gushed. “I wonder when he’ll ask him.”
“I think it’ll take a while. He still has a lot of work left on the painting,” Nic replied.
“I can’t wait that long!” Mitch complained.
Like I could?!
I was saved by my phone ringing. It was Mike. I walked out of the room, not wanting the ghosts to overhear. “Hey, big bro,” I greeted.
“Hey,” he greeted, sounding awfully tired.
“Something wrong?” I asked, immediately alarmed.
“Not wrong, exactly… I, um… I got my ability.”
Fuck…. “And you’re still in Africa?” I had no idea if anyone was close enough to help him out. It was so draining gaining the ability later on in life. Ida was proof of that.
“I am, and that’s not all.”
“Are you hurt?” Sometimes old ghosts could feel the mediums’ powers and were attracted to them, like we were some kind of beacon for them. That was why Mom kept bringing ghosts back home. And why she instilled the only ten ghosts rule, even if she was still on eleven.
“Cursed object,” he replied. “The ghost escaped, but is now latched onto me, instead.”
“You can’t take that kind of drain! You need to come home, now, Mike!” Not much was known about previously cursed ghosts, but the longer they were cursed, the higher the drain.
If this ghost that had decided to follow Mike around was angry, or perhaps high spirited, he could truly harm Mike, even without wanting to. The power drain alone could make Mike faint.
“I already booked my ticket. I alerted Mom too, and that Rino guy. I need to go through training now, even if I don’t want to work as a medium.” I knew as much. It was the only way we could learn how to live normally with our abilities.
“You can stay with us at the mansion,” I offered, quickly. I doubted he’d want to move back in with Mom.
“I already made plans to live with Dylan while I’m training. He was the first one I called.”
“Oh.” They were getting even closer. “When did you talk to him?”
“Two days ago. I tried to wait and see if I could hold out until my work here was done. But I can’t.”
Two days… And Dylan never told me? We had a sort of bestie agreement, or so I’d thought. He’d kept it secret from me, but why? Had Mike asked him to?
“I can pick you up at the airport. When is your plane scheduled to land?”
“No need. Dylan will pick me up. I just wanted to tell you I was coming home.”
“Oh, um. Okay. Let me know if I can help you with anything.”
“I will. I can’t wait to see you and Jackson again.” His voice was warmer now, and I knew he was battling with his fatigue. I wouldn’t take anything personal, whatever he needed. If Dylan was the one he wanted, then I would stand aside.
“Me neither. I’ll tell him you’re coming.”
“Thank you.”
We hung up and I hurried to Jackson’s studio. He’d moved on from sketching, to painting. And it was a mess. Making a room just for him to paint in had been vital, and we displayed his finished art pieces on the walls around the mansion.
I knew I couldn’t tell him what was happening with Mike, not the truth anyway.
His fear of ghosts wasn’t something I noticed anymore.
He seemed to feel truly safe and at home here, no nightmares either.
I haven’t asked him if it was still something that bothered him.
I figured it wouldn’t help to ask, so unless he showed signs of unease, I’d let him be regarding ghost talk.
He had a therapist he could call if he ever needed someone to talk to, so that helped too.
I hurried inside the room. “Mike is coming home!” I said, excitedly. Then stopped dead.
I’d forgotten…
I’d completely forgotten…
In the middle of the room stood Jackson with the biggest painting to date, two men, one blond and tall, one shorter with brown hair. And the words. ‘Be mine forever’ was painted in gold above them, arching over the flower arch the men stood under.
“Baby,” he said, sounding nervous. I felt my eyes begin to water and I silently hated myself for ruining this for him.
For us.
“I’m sorry,” I said, backing out of the room.
“Pete!” He grabbed my hand before I could escape. I couldn’t bear looking at him. I’d messed everything up. “Look at me, baby.” I did, reluctantly. “Will you do me the honor of marrying me?” He was smiling softly at me, his eyes gleaming with love and nerves.
My tears were overflowing when I nodded. “Yes, I’ll marry you. Of course, I will! Like was that even really a question?” I ignored how my eyes kept leaking tears.
He laughed and pulled me into a hug. “My fiancé,” he whispered into my ear, before claiming my lips, showing me who I belonged to.
“NOOOO!” Nic wailed. “WE MISSED IT!!!”
Jackson
Pete and I were lazing in bed after celebrating our engagement.
I couldn’t wait to tell everyone. It was the first weekend in the month, which meant Kyle and Rino would be here soon.
They stayed for a whole weekend each month and we often played with them while they were here.
It was normal for us to be with them now, and we kept experimenting with new stuff, like toys, blindfolds, and rope.
Kyle was more experimental than Pete was, but Pete had found a few things that he loved during our time with the others.
Pete and I had realized early on that we couldn’t keep the mansion open every single day.
We needed time to deep clean and for our staff to have some time off.
So, each month we had one week off. It was the last week of the month, making it possible for us to see family and friends without our members being here.
Ida was doing great at her new job and continued to live with Linda. She still didn’t have a perfect relationship with her mom, but I still had hope it would get better.
And Mike…
Mike!
“You said Mike was coming home?! What happened? Did he get fired?” Pete blinked a few times. It probably wasn’t the best time to talk about his brother, but I was worried now.
“Not fired… He got sick and had to leave his assignment earlier than planned. He’s moving in with Dylan,” he informed me.
I raised one brow. “Moving in together, huh?”
He just rolled his eyes. “They’re friends, Jackson. You lived with Mike too, remember?” I shivered for effect. I did not like to think about Mike like that. He was like a brother to me. It made Pete laugh.
“Let’s talk about something else then,” I began. “Like our wedding.”
He beamed at me. “We should have it here!”
“We definitely have the room for it. The dining room can be where we have the reception.”
“And we can have the ceremony outside, like your painting. I want a flower arch, too.”
“Hmm, we can definitely do that. So, a summer wedding?”
“Maybe in September?”
“This September?” I questioned. It was only two months away. Could we even plan it in time?
“Next year. I want to enjoy being your fiancé first. Besides, I want to make sure everyone can attend, and it isn’t very kind of us not giving them more time to plan.
I also want us to have time to go on our honeymoon, and since the club is still so new, it seems wrong to shut it down for two weeks. ”
“I think next year will be perfect,” I sighed, happily. “Biscuit can hold the rings, or just be there and look cute.”
He laughed softly. “I would love to see you try to make him do anything other than nap.”
“I can definitely try,” I agreed, laughing. “I want Mike to be my best man. I figure you want Dylan as yours?”
“If I picked anyone else, he’d lose his shit,” he grinned. “But I wouldn’t want anyone else anyway.”
Dylan and Pete had taken up gaming together again, and were playing week nights while chatting via headset.
It had helped make them close again, and while they had fun together, I’d paint or do my own thing.
I liked that we each had our hobbies to do at night.
Working together meant we were always at each other’s side, but with our own time to do whatever we wanted, it helped us maintain our own interests.
“So, a September wedding in the garden. Dancing inside into the early morning hours, and then, what about the cake?”
Pete’s eyes were gleaming again, and so, we began planning for our dream wedding. All while naked in bed together. I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.
Pete
49 years later.
“Got everything?” Ida asked, shutting the car door and locking Jackson inside the passenger seat.
“Yeah, I think so.”
I sighed as I looked at the mansion. This was a hard decision, but the right one. Jackson, my poor, sweet Jackson, was starting to forget like his father had. It was starting out slowly, but I had no idea how long it would take before his body couldn’t hold on anymore.
Finding a one-story home for us to live out the rest of our lives in, was easier than I’d thought. Ida had helped me find the perfect home, and the one ghost who lived there was all too pleased to get some help to move on, leaving the property ghost free.
It might be selfish of me to want Jackson and myself to spend the afterlife together too. I had no idea if he wanted to stay after dying, but I wanted more time with him. Even the fifty years we’d been together hadn’t been enough time with my dream man.
I told Jackson we were moving into a retirement home, mostly because he kept forgetting how much money we had. It was easier for us to live in a small house without any stairs he could fall down, which would have happened twice if Nic and Mitch hadn’t been there to catch him.
I had hired help who would come by the house each day to clean, cook, and help me with Jackson.
I was still able to help him shower and such, but with his memory slipping away, I sometimes needed them to give him some medication so he could sleep.
They assured me he wouldn’t forget about me, since we’d known each other for so long, so at least I wouldn’t have to worry about becoming a stranger to him.
And I knew when he died, he’d have all his memories back with him.
When the dreadful day came where he’d take his last breath, I would be there beside him and tell him to stay with me, to wait until I died myself. Then we would spend the afterlife together too, like Nic and Mitch, watching over the new owners of the house and just existing together.
Until we were both ready to leave this world. Together.
“Then let’s go,” Ida said, sitting behind the wheel.
She’d been amazing all these years, moving up to take over Rino’s position in the Mediums. And to my horror and delight, she’d started dating Daisy and had married her thirty years ago.
They’d both helped me with mom’s funeral, and even though mom had told us she would stay around, she hadn’t wanted to when she actually died.
She’d died in her home like she’d wanted to, but she’d felt lonely in death.
Even with Poppy and the others, she felt like she didn’t belong there.
Mike, Ida and I had been there to help her pass and unsurprisingly, the other ghosts in the house had joined her, passing through to the light without us having to guide them.
Ida eyed me from the front seat, doing a head tilt toward Jackson. Now was the time. We were thirty minutes away from our final home.
“Sweetheart?” I asked softly, waiting for Jackson to turn around to look at me. I sat behind Ida so we could still see each other if he turned his head around.
“Yes, baby? Are you all right?”
I smiled at that. My handsome husband was always so worried about my well-being. “I am. I simply have a surprise for you, and I need to tell you before we get there.”
His eyes crinkled as a smile started to form. “A surprise, huh?”
I grinned. “Yep. Want me to tell you about it?”
“Of course.”
And so, I did.
Our tiny house would be filled with our last years. Our last kisses alive. Our last memories before becoming ghosts.
Jackson might not have known then, but I knew. We had forever together, and I couldn’t wait to spend each second with my Jackson next to me.
The End.