Epilogue
FIVE YEARS LATER
Chicago stretches endlessly beneath a sky painted burnt orange and deep violet, the last warmth of sunset spilling across the rooftop deck of our home while laughter and conversation drift through the early-summer air.
I don’t know what warms my heart more tonight. Watching my gorgeous wife walk across the stage this afternoon to receive her PhD, or sitting here now, surrounded by all the people I love most in this world.
Probably both.
Definitely both.
The long patio table stretching across the rooftop is crowded, with half-empty wine glasses, beer bottles, candlelight, and the kind of comfortable chaos that only exists between people who know each other well enough to stop pretending to be polished.
Music hums softly through hidden speakers while the city glitters in blurred streaks of light.
Reese is laughing at something Hawk muttered beside her.
Jagger is attempting—and failing—to keep baby Noah from grabbing handfuls of mashed sweet potatoes directly off Blake’s plate while Theo and Amaya argue loudly over which movie they’re watching downstairs later.
Mattis sits quietly near the fire table beside Abby, one arm draped over the back of her chair, while Gunnar demolishes what has to be his fourth burger of the evening.
Looking at them still does something strange to my chest. Because six of us sitting around this table—me, Hawk, Jagger, Gunnar, Abby, and Mattis—are tied together by one of the darkest moments of my life. The ones that leave scars buried too deep to ever fully remove.
There was a time when survival felt like the only thing any of us were capable of.
But now…
Hawk has the love of his life in his arms. Jagger has a not-wife-on-paper and three beautiful children, who he still looks at some days like he can’t believe they’re real. Abby laughs again, and Mattis smiles without forcing it. Even Gunnar has people waiting for him at home.
Somehow, all of us have managed to build lives from the wreckage, beautiful and rich ones. Not because they’re perfect, but because they’re full.
These people are my family. Not by blood, but by choice, survival, and love.
Over the years, their families have become mine, too.
The realization still hits me unexpectedly: that as a man who spent decades running and thought he was only built for war, I somehow ended up here instead.
At a rooftop dinner party—of all fucking places—with children running through my house and my wife laughing softly while candlelight catches in her dark eyes.
My still chest tightens every time I look at her.
Mackenzi sits beside me, one leg crossed underneath herself, wearing a cream-colored dress that’s currently wrinkled from Noah falling asleep against her earlier.
Her graduation hood still hangs over the back of her chair because Blake insisted we leave directly from the ceremony to celebrate “Doctor Bradenburg-Wolfe.”
The thought makes me grin slightly into my whiskey.
Doctor.
I still remember the first time she fell asleep across my chest, surrounded by research articles and highlighted textbooks, while insisting she wasn’t tired.
Now, she’s officially earned the title she’s been seeking, and I swear I’ve never been prouder of another human being in my life.
Except my son. Even now, hours after the ceremony ended, I keep replaying the moment she walked across that stage with confidence, a brilliant smile blooming across her face when she found me in the crowd.
Suddenly, Gunnar pushes back from the table with a grunt. “Need another beer.”
“Need to start making those old man noises a little quieter,” Hawk teases.
Gunnar flips him off casually while heading to the stairs as Reese snorts into her wine glass.
The conversation continues easily around the table, Theo telling Blake about a fight he got into at soccer camp, while Amaya dramatically corrects every third detail. Noah finally settles against Jagger, who has sweet potato fingerprints across his shirt.
The rooftop door suddenly slides open again. “Look who I found,” Gunnar announces. Gabriel stands beside Gunnar, his arm slung loosely around his shoulders, while Kylie follows behind them, smiling warmly, little Cooper in her arms.
“There he is,” Jagger calls.
Gabriel grins. “Sorry, we’re late. Someone refused to nap.”
Cooper immediately spots me. “Pop-Pop!” Laughter breaks across the rooftop instantly as the little boy sprints directly toward me with both arms already outstretched. There are very few things in this world better than hearing that kid call me Pop-Pop.
I catch him and haul him straight into my lap while he giggles wildly. “How’s my favorite little man?”
“Zoo!” he announces.
“Oh yeah?”
“The elephants were this big.” He throws both arms outward dramatically enough that I almost lose my drink, avoiding getting smacked in the face.
For the next several minutes, Cooper proceeds to explain their zoo trip in extreme detail—every animal, snack, and single thing the elephants did.
By the third—or maybe it’s the fourth—retelling about one elephant spraying water onto another elephant, I stop trying to follow the story coherently.
Instead, I just sit there, holding my grandson while the sounds of everyone I love fill the rooftop around me.
And all I can think about is how grateful I am that Gabriel let me back into his life because he didn’t owe me that.
Not after everything. Not after the years between us and falling for Mackenzie.
But somehow—slowly, awkwardly, and downright painfully at times—we found our way back anyway.
I lean back slightly in my chair, talking with my family, while Mackenzi’s hand rests absentmindedly against my thigh under the table. And for maybe the thousandth time since she walked into my life, gratitude hits me hard enough to almost hurt, because I almost missed this. All of it.
If I had made one different choice…
If she hadn’t challenged me…
If Gabriel hadn’t given me another chance…
I would’ve spent the rest of my life believing this kind of happiness belonged to other people, not men like me.
For years, my life was movement—mission after mission, country after country, always leaving—always running toward the next threat before it could reach the people I cared about.
Being still felt dangerous back then. If I stopped moving long enough, everything from my past would catch up to me. But somewhere along the way, Mackenzi changed that. She took this restless, damaged thing inside me and gave it somewhere safe to land.
Over the next hour, the rooftop slowly empties until eventually only Mackenzi and I remain outside.
The city hums softly around us while candle flames flicker gently in the warm summer breeze.
Mackenzi stands near the railing, staring out across Chicago with her graduation stole still draped loosely over her shoulders.
God, she’s beautiful.
I walk toward her slowly before sliding my arms around her waist. She melts against my chest immediately. “Hi, Daddy.”
“Hi, Doctor.”
She groans softly. “You’re never letting that go, are you?”
“Not a chance.”
Her laughter vibrates warmly through her body against mine. I press a kiss against her temple before resting my chin lightly on her shoulder.
For a long moment, neither of us speaks.
We just stand there, watching the city lights together.
Then quietly, honestly, I tell her the truth that’s been sitting heavy in my chest all night. “I am so very proud of you for what you’ve accomplished, trouble. You can do anything you want with your life, and you chose to do it with me.”
Her fingers lace gently through mine, where my hands rest against her stomach. “I love our life,” she confesses softly. “Every bit of it.”
The words hit me straight in the chest, and I tighten my hold around her slightly.
“So do I.”
And Christ, I really do.
For a man who spent most of his life running, always prepared to disappear at a moment’s notice, it’s almost unreal to realize I no longer want to.
Not anymore. This terrifying, beautiful act of letting people love you has the power to mend all your broken pieces.
And standing here with Mackenzi in my arms, I realize I no longer feel like a man waiting for the next reason to run.
For the first time in my life, I feel like someone who can finally stand still.
There’s another Delta Daddy coming!
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Gunnar’s story is coming August 2026!