Epilogue
Juliet (One year later...)
“I’m never calling him Daddy.”
The words floated into the quiet air above me as I stared at the ceiling.
“Nope. Not happening. He better keep rolling with Echo and Choo-Choo.”
The familiar silence smiled, making a smile tug at my lips as well.
“So naturally, because Echo is my biological father, that makes Axel and Olivia my grandparents and Zion and Mylo my uncles. You get it. I get it. We get it.” I rolled my eyes.
“But honestly? I’m glad everybody agreed to leave the titles alone.
Yeah, it’s weird when I introduce Echo as my father and then Axel as my father, making my mama look like a total jump-off, but that’s their karma that spilled over from all the lies they let cook. ”
My fingers toyed with the locket around my neck.
Echo gave it to me with a picture of my Simone inside.
She was beautiful.
And it pained me to know that I was older now than she would ever be. Life stopped—correction, life was taken from her—in that moment.
Forever sixteen.
“Besides,” I continued my rant, “can you imagine me calling Zion and Mylo, Uncle anything? They still act like kids. Mylo found out he was my uncle and immediately decided his authority increased.”
Shaking my head, I rolled my eyes.
“Talking about I gotta listen to him now.”
A laugh escaped me.
“Now, he knows better than that.”
The breeze shifted around me and I hugged myself tighter, embracing the comfort.
“They took all this shit pretty well though.”
My smile softened.
“I mean, they sorta kinda already knew. They just didn't know Echo was my dad.”
The words sat heavy between us and my smile disappeared.
A year later and it still hurt.
Not just Echo's hidden identity and damn sure not what Sloane did to me. My mind still hadn't gotten to the stage where it fully acknowledged that happened, let alone developed post-traumatic stress disorder about it.
“How could he keep that from me?”
The tears arrived before I could stop them, and the silence returned. So did the warmth in the air. The question wasn’t new. I’d asked it hundreds, maybe thousands of times already.
“I know he thought he was protecting me, but look what happened anyway.”
My eyes squeezed shut and tears slid into my ears.
“I know it’s wrong to feel this way, but sometimes I’m mad at him because he kept my mother away from me for so long.”
Quickly, I wiped my face. I didn’t want her to see me cry. Bad enough, she sat through these visits letting me pour my heart out while sometimes saying absolutely nothing back.
“I mean, he didn’t do anything nearly as bad as Sloane, but he still robbed me.”
My throat tightened.
“I deserved to know my mother.”
The words came out stronger this time.
“I deserved to know what my mother looked like, her favorite foods, her favorite songs. What made her laugh.”
Another tear rolled down my cheek.
“I deserved to know how much Choo-Choo loved my mother because maybe then I would've understood sooner why he loves me so hard. To no extent. To no limits. Just... hard.”
For several moments, neither of us spoke.
After a while, the cool air returned and I hugged myself once more.
Comforting.
Then I laughed.
A real, hearty laugh through my pain.
A memory surfaced immediately, and it was one I had to tell her.
“I remember when I fell and skinned my knee running in my dress shoes. It was crazy because Mylo had literally just told me to stop running and go change. Go figure.”
A smile stretched across my face.
“Echo heard me crying and came running like somebody had been shot.”
I wiped another tear.
“When he asked what happened, I lied and told him Justin from next door pushed me and ran off.”
My laugh burst into the air.
“He didn’t even question how Justin managed to push me and make it all the way back home. Our houses are so far apart, technically we don’t even have next-door neighbors.”
“Nope. Not Choo-Choo. He cleaned my knee, gave me a Popsicle, and asked if I was the predator or the prey so I’d stop crying.”
I laughed harder.
“And within an hour, Justin’s mother had him standing on our porch apologizing to me with balloons and a brand-new doll.”
The memory made me laugh so hard I almost had to pee.
“That poor boy was so confused.”
Shaking my head, I smiled.
“Later that day, I managed to sneak over to Justin’s house and tell him the truth. I never told Echo though.”
Pointing to the side, I narrowed my eyes.
“And don’t you tell him either.”
The cool breeze returned and I chose to take that as a secret covered in our confidentiality agreement.
Above it all, Echo Everette was the best secret dad a girl could ask for.
“Oh, and when you talk to him next, can you ask him to stop making Psalm confirm every new person he finds on his family tree? It’s embarrassing.
The Mitchel’s have no connection to any of the remaining Roberts, and they already feel horrible enough.
Mrs. Mitchel buys me a gift at least once a week. ”
A mischievous smile crossed my face.
“Okay, maybe don’t mention that last part. It’s the least she can do because of how her son harassed me before...”
Heat rushed to my cheeks.
“...before becoming the love of my life.”
My watch vibrated. Glancing down at the screen, I smiled.
“That’s our time, huh?”
Slowly sitting up, I opened the gold locket resting against my chest and kissed the photo of the most beautiful girl in the world.
Then I rose from the blanket spread beneath me and carried the bouquet of bright-colored flowers toward the granite vase resting at the base of the headstone.
Echo had this private mausoleum built for the Everette lineage.
Carefully arranging the flowers, I stepped back and admired my work.
The setting sun painted everything in gold and orange. For a moment, the world felt quiet enough for me to imagine she was leaving with me.
Lifting my hands, I signed.
“Same time next week, Mommy.”
The End