Epilogue #2
Cal’s fork paused halfway to his mouth. For a moment Io thought he might deflect, but then he set it down and met his mother’s gaze. “It’ll be a year in January.”
A ghost of sadness flickered across Pam’s face. “I wish I’d been at the wedding. I bet it was beautiful. You in your dress uniform, Iona in her gown, her father walking her down the aisle.”
Io wasn’t sure which one of them went tense first, her or Cal, but they both reached for each other’s hands at the same time, fingers threading together under the table.
“Io and I eloped.” Cal glanced at her, and she gave him the go-ahead signal. “To Las Vegas. My leave was ending, I had to return to Germany, and we decided we didn’t want to wait for a formal ceremony.”
Shane appeared delighted. “Please tell me you were married by an Elvis impersonator.”
Why did everyone associate a Las Vegas wedding with Elvis? “No, we were not,” Io said firmly, though her lips twitched.
“So it was just the two of you?” Pam’s brows lifted, surprise flickering across her face.
“Yes. Trust me, Ma, you didn’t miss out,” Cal said. “Io’s twin wasn’t there either.”
“She was furious with me,” Io added, backing Cal up. She was pretty sure Pam was thinking about all the things she’d missed in her middle son’s life. The wedding only underscored how much had happened in the past twelve years without her.
Shane shook his head. “You should have gone with Elvis. That would have made the wedding unforgettable.”
Cal looked at Io, lips curving, and staring into her eyes, he said, “When you find the right woman, you don’t need Elvis to make the ceremony memorable.”
Warmth spread through Io’s chest, soft and steady.
The rest of the dinner passed easily. Shane was the ham, Ben the responsible one, Mark quiet and content to let the chaos roll over him.
And then there was Pam—warm, welcoming, everything Io wished her own mother had been.
It was clear her husband and boys adored her.
One scolding and they snapped into line without hesitation.
And suddenly it made perfect sense why Cal had built their marriage into the center of his life. He’d grown up watching that kind of devotion, that kind of partnership. He’d grown up knowing what it looked like to choose your person every single day.
Io’s chest tightened. This was what she’d never had—a mother’s love, a family’s easy rhythm—and what Cal had been denied for twelve years.
His shoulders were loose now, his smiles easier, his laughter freer.
He wasn’t waiting for the other shoe to drop.
He trusted that his family really did love him. Would always love him.
Every time Io sat back to watch, Cal made sure to include her. And if he didn’t act fast enough, Pam did it for him. By the time the men cleared the dishes, Io realized she was part of this family, too. Not just because her husband ensured it, but because Pam had claimed her as one of her own.
She heard the water running in the kitchen, the indistinct murmur of male voices, Cal’s laugh threading through, and started to stand. “I better help with the dishes.”
Pam waved her back to her seat. “The boys do the dishes. Mark is putting the food away, and we get to relax.”
“But I didn’t do anything,” Io protested.
Pam’s smile trembled, her eyes shining. “You did the most out of anyone. You brought Cal home again.”
Io stilled. Pam’s words weren’t casual, they were weighted with emotion, with years of fear and relief braided together.
Folding her napkin with deliberate care, Pam met Io’s gaze steadily. “For years, I feared I’d lost a son as well as my daughter. I didn’t think I’d ever see Cal again. But he came home today, and I know it’s because of you.”
Io’s chest ached as empathy swelled inside her. She reached across the table, covering Pam’s hand with her own. “I didn’t do much. Cal is the one—”
“I know my son.” Pam’s voice sharpened with fierce certainty, her grip tightening.
“He spent nearly twelve years locked in the deep freeze. You’re the one who brought him back to life.
And less than a year after thawing out enough to marry you, he came home again.
Yes, his presence here today is because of you. ”
Io’s throat burned. She wanted to argue, to insist Cal had done the hard work himself. But Pam’s conviction left no room for denial.
She was wrong, though. Cal’s presence wasn’t because of anything Io had done.
It was because he loved her enough to forgive himself for not being omniscient, for not stopping his sister from sneaking out of the house.
It was because he realized they had no future as long as his past haunted him. And he refused to lose what they had.
From the kitchen came the clatter of dishes, Shane’s booming laugh, Ben’s quieter reply, Cal’s voice threading through with easy commentary. But here at the table, Io felt the weight of Pam’s words settle deep, binding her to this family in a way vows alone never could.
And for the first time, she truly believed she belonged.
Cal closed the door to the hotel room and locked it as Io shrugged out of her jacket, hanging it in the closet. The ping of the elevator arriving on their floor, the muffled sound of a conversation down the hall, distant reminders of the outside world. But in here, it was just the two of them.
He took off his own jacket and hung it next to Io’s as she walked deeper into the room. When she turned and caught him watching her, her lips curved. “Are you okay?” she asked.
“I’m fine, Thing. I should be asking if you’re okay. My family is a lot.”
“Your family is great. It’s everything I wish mine was.”