Epilogue
Remi
The past once clung like death to me;
At night it gnawed my bones to dust.
The Norns remade me slowly, softly,
But love is what restored my trust.
7 Years Later
“He’s out!” I exclaimed.
Oli’s grip on my arm disappeared. With a huff, he dropped into his seat and slumped his shoulders. “He’s going to be devastated.”
“Oh, he’ll be alright. It’s a learning experience.”
“Yeah, sure.”
I looked at his somber expression, then took his hand. “I know you want to protect him, but that means teaching him how to fail too.”
“I know.”
After squeezing his fingers, I released him and leaned back in the bleachers. Amir tousled Dominic’s hair when he returned to the rest of the team, but the kid still looked like he’d been kicked. He’d only been with Oli and Dean for a year, so my best friend was in his fix-it-or-die-trying stage.
Their other two, Morgan and Logan, were bickering down by the fence. Twin shit, I guess. They reminded me a lot of me and Oli when we were younger. Since they joined the family as infants six years ago, they were far more adjusted than Dominic, but I knew Oli would figure it all out. He always did.
“Amir was born for coaching,” he said.
I smiled as I watched him give what looked like a pep talk to his team of seven-year-olds. “Yeah, he was. I’m glad he decided to do it.”
“If he hadn’t, I don’t think Dom would’ve joined the team. I’ll have to thank him again.”
“He doesn’t need you to. You’re family, man. Besides, can’t you tell he loves it?”
He chuckled. “It’s like he’s young again. Speaking of . . .” He turned to me. “You’re thirty-six, my guy. When are you two popping one out?”
I snorted. “We’ve got Mal.”
“And in two years, she’ll be an adult. It doesn’t count.”
“Of course it counts. She’s my kid.”
“That’s not what I mean. You could foster.”
Looking around, I spotted a mom rocking an infant and a dad bouncing around with a toddler on his shoulders. “I don’t know. As much as I love the idea, I’ve seen how hard it was when you couldn’t keep some of those kids. I don’t have the calling for it like you do.”
“Then adopt. Or get a surrogate like Kai and Sen did with their two.”
“Spread my genes? That sounds like a terrible idea.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. Your shit behavior was nurture, not nature.”
“You don’t know that.”
“Is that what you’re scared of?”
Meeting his green eyes, I pushed my lips out. “Not really. But what if I screw them up?”
“That’s not it either.”
“What if I die, then?”
“You can’t always think like that. I could die too. So could Dean. And if we did, you’d take over for me. That’s what it means to have a village. Neither of us had that.”
“You’re right, but I’m sort of old now.”
“What else do you have planned for the rest of your life?”
“Well, that’s not a great argument for having kids.”
With a laugh, he hooked his arm through mine. “I bet if you asked him, he’d say yes immediately.”
“What’s the bet?”
“Five hundred.”
I scoffed. “I’m not made of money like you, Dr. Kennedy.”
He shoved me forward, nearly making me tumble down the bleachers. I flipped him off, which made the twins gasp dramatically. My damn kid had taught them the whole swear jar thing, which was worse with them because they each got one. Double whammy.
I jogged over to the fence, then put my fingers through the holes and shook it to get Amir’s attention. He broke into a grin immediately and gripped my fingers.
“Hey there,” he said.
“I’ve got a question.”
“Shoot.”
Biting my lip, I looked back at Oli. Shit, now that I was here, I didn’t know if it was a good idea. Out of the blue like this? He’d just put the idea in my head, for fuck’s sake.
Except I had thought about it a lot over the past seven years. How could I not? Before him, I’d never considered it much, only because I didn’t think it would ever be a real option. Sure, Mal was nearly an adult and we’d be starting over, but who really cared?
“Have you ever thought about another kid?” I asked cautiously.
His brows shot up. “Uh . . .” He glanced at the field, then back to me. “Is this the right time?”
“Never mind. I don’t know why I brought it up.”
When I tried to pull back, he held onto my fingers through the fence. “Have you thought about it?”
I shrugged. “I figured you were happy with what we have.”
“I am. Always.”
I nodded and looked past him to watch a kid swing sloppily.
“But,” he went on slowly, “a little Remi would be pretty adorable.”
“Really?”
“A handful, without a doubt.”
“Would it be weird if we asked Avery?”
He let out a surprised laugh. “Maybe, but then Mal would have another half-sibling.”
“With Avery carrying around Jeffrey’s spawn right now, I doubt she’d be open to it considering how much she complains.”
“We can talk about it.”
“I’m not saying I’m on board,” I added quickly. “Mal did bring it up a while back, and now Oli is harassing me about it.”
“Harassing you, huh? I think he’s dying for a nephew.”
“He has issues. If Dean would agree, he’d have ten kids running around.”
“I hate this!” Dom shouted, throwing his glove on the ground when he failed to catch a ball.
“Ah, I should take care of that,” Amir said.
“Thanks for looking out for him. Oli’s worried.”
“I figured he’d be less of a helicopter parent after so many years dealing with you.”
“That’s probably why he’s a helicopter parent.”
After squeezing my fingers, he turned and gestured for Dom to leave the field. He crouched to get down to his level and put a hand on his arm while he talked to him.
I’d been around Amir from the time Mal was nine years old, but this was different. Maybe it had just been so long. Now that she was a teenager, she was more independent and didn’t need us as much.
As I returned to the bleachers, I noticed a bird off to the side, a good twenty feet from the crowd.
Veering in that direction, I pulled out my trusty bag of sunflower seeds and tossed some into my mouth.
I stopped far enough away not to freak it out.
I had no clue what it was doing somewhere like this, but I decided not to question it as I crouched and spread out a small circle of seeds.
After I put more distance between us, the raven hopped over to the pile and immediately picked through the offering.
“I take it you approve of this new path,” I said. When a second raven joined it, I smiled.
I didn’t know what the rest of our future would look like. All I knew was that it’d be magical. The universe had decreed it. Who was I to question the will of such a thing?