Epilogue
Casper
It’s been three months since Peter has come to live with us.
Thinking back to when he first arrived, I remember him being so excited and nervous all at once.
As soon as he saw Mary, he started running to her, only to stop at the last minute and pause, looking uncertain.
Mary just opened her arms, and he flew into them.
They laughed and cried together. Neither of them was understandable.
I looked on with a smile on my face, and maybe a little mist around my eyes. But I won’t tell anyone that.
When they broke apart, Mary brought him over to me. Kneeling so I didn’t tower over him, I stuck my hand out to shake his.
“Hi, Peter. We’ve been waiting a long time for you to get here. I’m glad you finally made it. I promise, Mary and I will take good care of you.”
“Julie told me about you. She said you were nice. I am a little nervous. You are a very big guy who could hurt me. But she says you would never do anything like that to me. So, I am going to trust her for now. Don’t prove her wrong,” he tells me.
“Oh, buddy, I will never prove her wrong. You are safe with me, always.”
He drops my hand and tentatively reaches out to hug me. I open my arms for him to sink into, wrapping him tight.
Looking over Peter’s shoulder, Mary has tears running down her beautiful face. Looking past her, I see that Julie does too.
Since then, he has been settling in nicely. He fits with us seamlessly. Mary was born to care for people, but most especially, the children. She’s helped him adapt to life with us among the brothers.
And let me tell you, one day he is going to give Mary a heart attack when he starts riding his own motorcycle. The kid is going to be a natural.
Peter turns ten today, and we are having a party in his honor. Seems like a million years ago that this would have sent me running the other direction. But now, with my family around, I am loving this life.
“Babe, you about ready to go?” I ask as I walk into our room.
Mary is finishing up getting ready. She doesn’t need anything to look beautiful. She just is.
“I’m just about done. Have you seen if Peter is ready to go?”
“I’ll go check on him now. You haven’t let it slip?” The party is a surprise.
“I haven’t. I’d be more worried about you,” she says. She’s onto me. I want to give him everything he never had before.
“I didn’t say anything.”
“This time?’ She asks.
“Nope. I sure didn’t.”
She’s giving me a look that says she doesn’t believe me. But to be fair, he’s my little buddy, my shadow. We do everything together. I give her my most innocent face.
Rolling her eyes, she shoos me away to finish getting ready.
Leaving the room, I knock on Peter’s door. Opening it. I find him reading quietly on his bed. Peter is so smart. Already, he is reading at a high school level and beyond.
He’s always so careful with his things. I’ve told him many times that it was okay to make a mess sometimes. That we would just clean it up. He told me that his things are nice and that to have nice things, they needed to be taken care of. So, he just wants to take care of his things.
I can appreciate this greatly, because messes cause me anxiety. But he never makes one. He will play with his things and put them away as soon as he is done.
I’d handle the messes for him, though.
“Hey bud, what are you reading?”
Sitting up, he’s excited to share with me. “It’s that new book you bought me about customizing bikes. There are so many cool things in here!”
Smiling, I sit on the bed next to him. His excitement is contagious. “Want to share some of that with me?”
“Yes!” He launches into his favorite parts of the book. I just sit there listening to him, soaking up his enthusiasm. He could probably go on for days on the subject. After showing him how motorcycles work, he’s been obsessed with learning everything about them.
A throat-clearing from the door stops the dialogue. We both look up and see Mary standing there, watching us, a soft look on her gorgeous face. One that makes me want to take her back to our room.
“Are you ready to go, babe?” I ask.
“I’m ready. Are you guys ready?”
We both get up, Peter placing his book on the bedside table to pick up again later. At the door, Peter hugs Mary before moving down the hall. I stop to place a kiss on her lips, lingering for a moment, just savoring her.
We are blindfolding Peter for the walk to the center of the complex. We’ve got a couple of surprises for him. Hopefully good ones. I mean, I think they are.
At the center of the complex, we have a playground with grills, shaded seating areas, sand pits for volleyball, and a basketball court.
There is a large ‘Happy Birthday’ banner hanging up with balloons and streamers all around. Everyone is here waiting for us. They are quiet as we approach, ensuring he doesn’t hear anyone.
I count down on my fingers while Mary is taking off the blindfold.
As it comes off, everyone yells, “Happy Birthday Peter!!!”
His little lip quivers as he stares at everyone. “No way,” he whispers.
Mary hugs him tightly, soothing him in only the way she can.
“This is for me?”
“It’s all for you, buddy. We love you and want you to have the best birthday.”
Gemini comes running. “Peter! Happy Birthday, little brother.” She swoops in, picks him up somehow, and twirls him around. Peter may be only ten today, but he is getting big. He’ll be huge when he’s grown.
Hydra comes rushing after her. “Babe! You can’t be doing that.” Why do you ask? She’s pregnant, and we are going to be grandparents. Hydra is losing his mind.
Everyone comes over to wish him a happy birthday. Max and Ava tug him to come play. He looks at us, seeking approval before running off to the playground.
Firing up the grills, we get the food started as the kids run around and play. The women make themselves comfortable in the shade, close enough to the kids.
“Any news on Hadley?”
Brain has been scouring the city looking for her. “Not yet. I’ll be ready when I find something,” he tells us.
Hydra says, “We will all be ready when you find something, Brain. You are not doing it all on your own, brother. We’ve got your back.”
“Thanks, man. It feels like the more I pull on one string, the more another comes loose. Just trying to put it all together. I can’t fucking stand it that she is out there on her own.”
“Anything you need, man. We know she is homeless. Do you want us to start taking turns checking around town where they have some camps and hangouts?” I ask.
“It might come to that. I’ve got a couple of calls out to some of our informants to see what they can find. I’ll keep you all updated. Until then, let’s just have a kick-ass birthday party for our special kid.”
“Sounds like a fuckin’ plan,” I say.
The celebration continues into the evening.
Everyone having a great time, but most especially Peter.
He is on cloud nine. He’s opened so many gifts, he’s beside himself.
The brothers and I went together to buy him a quad since I knew Mary would have a heart attack if I bought a bike.
But Peter is over the moon about it. Says he can give the kids rides around the common area.
Mary just rolled her eyes at me when we brought it out. Shaking her head, she laughed at his enthusiasm for it.
Walking over to Mary, I pick her up before sitting in her seat, holding her in my lap. She snuggles in like she was always supposed to be there. That’s because she is. I fucking love this woman and will do anything to keep her happy.
“Are you okay, honey?” She asks.
“Perfect, babe. I’m perfect now that you are right where you are supposed to be. Time for the last present?”
“Yeah, let’s do that before he wants to go home and pass out.”
“Peter!” I call.
He comes running over.
“Yes?”
Mary says, “We have one more gift for you.”
His eyes get big. “You do? But I already received so much.” He gives us worried looks.
“Don’t worry, bud. It’s just a little piece of paper.”
Handing him a blank envelope, we let him open it without saying anything else.
He pulls the paper out and unfolds it carefully.
Starting at the top, he reads every line before going back to the top and reading it again.
But this time, he has tears in his eyes.
Once he finishes it a second time, he looks at Mary, then at me, then back to Mary.
We just wait for him to decide.
With a croaked ‘yes,’ he falls into our lap, sobbing.
“Do you really mean it? You really want to adopt me?”
Mary hugs him tight. “Yes, sweet boy. I’ve wanted to do that since I first met you. You are perfect just the way you are. And we love you so much.”
“We do, buddy. We want you to have the best life with lots of family and friends. We would love to be your parents. If that is what you want.”
“Yes!!! I want it! Thank you! Thank you so much! I love you both so much.” Standing up, he takes the paper and waves it around. “Do you hear that, guys? You’re all going to be my family now! Isn’t that the best?”
Kaylynn and Gemini hug him while all the brothers cheer him on.
Life doesn’t get any better than this. Holding Mary tight, we watch Peter run around, showing everyone the paperwork for our adoption application. He’s the best son anyone could ask for.
The End