Epilogue
Vanessa
“Just breathe, Vanessa. Everything is going to go flawlessly. And if it doesn’t, who cares? They’re four and they’re cute, it’s going to be great no matter what,” Mary told me.
“I know. I’m just nervous for them.”
This year’s preschool showcase was the most important one yet, because this year, my son was standing on this stage.
It still overwhelmed me with emotions every time I thought about it.
“Emma and I have this. Go get your seat,” Mary said.
“It just feels too weird. I think I’ll stay back here where I belong.”
“You belong out there with the other parents. You and Cam deserve that. Now go,” she ordered.
Begrudgingly, I obeyed.
A few people stopped to speak with me along the way, but eventually I made my way to my seat in the front row right at middle stage.
The lights dimmed and I looked around the room before turning my full focus on the stage.
Mary opened this year with a few announcements. That was normally my job.
Commotion beside me caught my attention as Isaac slid into the seat next to me.
He leaned over and kissed my cheek.
“Sorry we’re late.”
“Did we make it, Mom?” Mason asked.
“Yes, it’s starting now. Shh!”
The boys took their seats just as the curtain started to rise.
All the kids looked so cute standing up there.
Cam looked around and then finally spotted us. There were no tears or permanent trauma that I had once feared. Instead, there stood a proud little man waving excitedly at his family.
Isaac beamed with pride as he waved back.
“Dad, stop. You’re embarrassing us,” Noah complained.
It had been a month since the adoption had finalized. Noah, Mason, and Cameron were officially our sons now.
A month before that, Kelsey and Kyle had kept the boys for a weekend, and Isaac and I had sealed our bond properly. I felt a little guilty knowing it was the greatest weekend of my life.
We’d gotten a bit more than we bargained for, too. I was now two months pregnant with our fourth child.
Life had a funny way of changing in an instant.
In a matter of months I’d gone from accepting my place as a spinster destined to care for other people’s children, to having three of my own and another on the way.
And Isaac was no longer alone in this world.
He was still gruff and sometimes a stubborn pain in my ass, but he was my ass.
His big gesture had pulled him back into the world he’d once abandoned.
He was seen now, no longer a ghost. I still worked at my school while he continued working from home.
For the most part we kept a low profile life, working our farm and raising our family.
But when the big moments that matter arose, here he was right by my side.
My life was pretty perfect, well, maybe not perfect, just perfect for me, and unless he was feeling particularly ornery, my mate would say the same.
As Cam stepped up to say his lines, Isaac muttered them with him. They’d worked so hard to memorize them. And when he nailed it, Isaac let out a loud, “Yes! That’s my boy.”
Those around us chuckled.
I didn’t think my nerves subsided until all the kids lined up across the stage, held hands, and took a bow.
As Mary gave the closing remarks, she recognized Emma and I too. I didn’t need any credit for this, but I stood and humbly bowed when she called my name.
“I may be biased, but I think that was the best preschool showcase we’ve ever had,” Shelby gushed.
A short rather round man with thick glasses walked up to us. I was certain I’d never seen him before.
“Isaac?”
My mate whipped around and then grinned.
“Archie? What are you doing here?”
“We meet at last.”
The two of them shook hands and then started sharing stories as if they were old friends.
“I thought you didn’t know anyone,” I said to Isaac.
He chuckled. “Archie and I have worked together for years. We’ve just never met in person. Archie, this is my mate.”
“Vanessa Relic,” he said and then prepared to spout off information about me.
“Take it down a notch, Archie. Most people don’t like realizing you’re a walking computer of personal knowledge,” Ben said.
“Ben, the triplets did great tonight,” I told him.
“And Archie, it is nice to meet you. I love meeting friends of Isaac. You’re a rare breed.”
He snorted and pushed his glasses back up to the bridge of his nose. “You don’t have to tell me about that. I’m not even sure how you managed to convince him to come out of hiding. Must be some sort of voodoo magic. Are you a witch?”
“Nope, just his one true mate.”
Isaac pulled me into his arms and kissed me. “Damn right you are.”
“I’ll never understand your infatuation with finding a true mate. I swear it’s a wolf thing,” he grumbled.
“Uh, foxes here,” Susan reminded him.
“What are you guys doing here?”
“Our favorite triplets, plus little Vada. Are you kidding, the entire Bravo team called it an early day to ensure we all got here in time to cheer them on. You did a great job. Can’t wait to see our kids up on that stage in a few years,” Tarron explained.
“Thank you so much for coming.”
As the kids were dismissed and able to come and find their families, cheers and applause rang out through the room once more.
“I did it!” Cam said proudly as he jumped in the air to high five Isaac and then each of his brothers.
“You did great,” Isaac gushed. “Just like we practiced.”
“It was pretty cool,” Noah admitted.
Cam beamed up at his brother.
I grabbed him and hugged him. “I am so proud of you.”
“Mom, you’re choking me,” he complained, squirmed out of my grasp, and ran off to play with his friends.
I still teared up a little every time one of the boys called me mom. Or maybe it was just the baby hormones.
Vada’s parents came over to thank me as did others as the room thinned.
I was so distracted with helping to straighten things up that I didn’t even notice Isaac go still until I felt a wave of emotions through our bond.
“Isaac?” a woman asked hesitantly.
He just stood there, wide-eyed and staring back at her.
She started to cry. “Isaac!”
The man next to her tried to stop her, but he was too late. She ran to my mate and hugged him.
“I can’t believe it’s really you,” she said, checking him over like I would one of my boys.
“Who is that?” Mason asked.
“I’m not sure,” I told him.
As I got closer it was clear that this woman was Pack. I could smell it on her. But Westin Pack was the largest wolf shifter Pack in the world. Even I didn’t know everyone.
I could feel a sort of distress mixed with something else coming off my mate.
“June, please. I told you we shouldn’t have come. You’re making the boy uncomfortable,” the man said.
Sensing my mate’s discomfort, I tried to intervene.
“Hi, I’m Vanessa. How do you know Isaac?”
“We’re his parents,” the woman said.
I looked confused and turned to Isaac for answers.
“His foster parents,” the man explained. “It was a long time ago.”
“We thought you were dead, or left the area. Why didn’t you come home?” the woman asked.
“How did you find me?” he asked, finally finding his voice.
“Word travels quickly through the Pack. The second we heard you were alive, we wanted to reach out, but didn’t know how. I tried to stop her from coming tonight. I’m sorry. We didn’t mean to intrude,” the man said.
He was trying to drag the distraught woman away.
“Dad? We have grandparents?” Mason asked.
“Dad?” June asked.
Isaac sighed.
“This is Jack and June Wyman.”
I gasped.
“Freddy’s parents?”
Isaac nodded and the woman swiped tears from her eyes.
“Sorry. It’s been a long time since we heard our son’s name spoken so freely.”
“I’m sorry,” I said.
“Please don’t be. It’s nice.”
“Freddy was our son, but we loved Isaac equally. Shortly after Freddy died, Isaac disappeared. In just a few weeks we lost both our boys.”
This time I could clearly feel his pain.
I went to stand beside him and offer him comfort.
“Wyman?” Noah asked.
“Hey, that’s our name,” Cam announced.
Jack looked confused. “What?”
Isaac shrugged. “It’s a long story. But I had to pick a name to reenter society, and I couldn’t think of a more fitting one. When we adopted the boys, they all took my surname.”
“Wyman?” Jack asked for clarification.
We all nodded.
“I’m Mason Baylor Wyman,” he told them proudly. “This is Noah Baylor Wyman and Cam Baylor Wyman. See, we’re Wyman’s too.”
“It was just supposed to be for paperwork, but the boys are pretty proud of it. We kept their birth surname as each of their middle names. They had the option to use Baylor or Wyman, but it was a pretty unanimous decision,” I explained. “I really hope you don’t mind.”
It had been important to Isaac and since he was returning to society he needed an identity. Instead of completely brushing off the past, he wanted to honor Freddy and his family, saying they were the only true family he really knew.
I didn’t think June was quite ready to hear all that.
“We’ve always thought of you as our second son, and we mourned you just the same when you disappeared,” she explained.
“We were more than a little shocked to hear the rumors of you resurfacing. But overjoyed to hear you were alive with a mate and children. You have a beautiful family. And we understand if you don’t want anything to do with us.
It’s been a long time, but if you’re interested, we’d really love to be a part of your lives. ”
June sniffed. “I always wanted grandkids.”
This time, I was the one fighting back tears.
“We have another one on the way. Mom’s pregnant,” Mason blurted out.
June wept and hugged me. I cried too.
“Maybe we could do dinner one night soon,” Isaac surprised us all by saying.
“Do you mean it?” June asked.
“Is that okay with you?” he asked me.
“Of course it is. Whatever you want.”
“I’ll make the bread,” Noah volunteered.
“Can we call you grandma?” Mason asked.
“If it’s okay with your parents, I would love that.”
Isaac had opened up to me and shared all of his past: the good, the bad, and the ugly. It hadn’t been easy for him. And he still had a lot of personal healing to do, but something told me, we were on the right path.
Life wasn’t always going to be easy, but together we could face anything it threw our way.