Epilogue
IVY
Five Years Later
DiLustro-Brennan Estate, Ireland
“ H ello, everyone!” Aisling’s and Frank’s voices reached us before we spotted them. My brothers were right behind them, strolling in like the trouble they were. “Where is the birthday boy?”
They stepped out onto the patio behind our Irish castle where we spent most of the year. Our son, Maddox Jagger DiLustro, wiggled off my lap and ran over to his uncles and grandparents. Cobra, who became my son’s constant shadow, followed behind, her tongue dangling and her tail wagging happily.
My brother lifted his little three-year-old body up and flipped him upside down. He giggled and laughed, thrilled to be dangling by his ankles while Cobra barked at my brother, waiting for a command. If I thought she was protective of me, she was downright vicious in her guarding of Maddox.
“Easy, Cobra,” I yelled to calm her down. “They’re just playing.”
She instantly sat down, her eyes attentive on Maddox and I took the opportunity to snap a photo. I finally got to use my Yale degree in photography when snapping photos of our family.
“Grandma, Grandma,” Maddox squealed. “Save me.”
“Bren, put my grandson down or I’ll have to put you in timeout,” Aisling demanded in a stern voice, but the sparkle in her eyes and the curve to her lips gave her away. She was such a softy these days.
“Do it, Grandma,” Maddox encouraged, giggling the whole time as Bren flipped him over again and landed him on his feet. “Put Uncle Bren in timeout or Cobra will bite him.”
I hid my smile. He was a troublemaker, our son, and the spitting image of his papà.
As Aisling and Bren negotiated his timeout, Maddox ran to his daddy and jumped on him. Christian caught him, his chubby arms wrapped around his neck, and my heart turned over as he squealed.
“You always catch me, Daddy.” He wasn’t wrong. Christian was a wonderful father and had an abundance of patience for our energetic son who was full of mischief, just like a boy should be. “When can I open my presents?”
“Not yet, buddy, but very soon.”
Holding hands, my two favorites made their way to me. Their blond hair glimmered under the afternoon sun, and every time I saw them together, it made me the happiest version of myself.
I loved them so much, and some days I had to pinch myself to believe this was my life. Our life.
We spent more time at our Ireland property than in Philadelphia, and I loved every minute of it. It felt like living in a fairy tale.
Green pastures. The cliffs. The ocean waves hit the shoreline, the most beautiful and soothing sounds mixing with the chattering of people who stood by a long table with colorful decorations that had been set up for Maddox’s birthday.
The moment he spotted the cake, he let go of Christian’s hand and ran over to it, bumping into the table.
I sighed.
“Maddox, you have to calm down,” I scolded him softly. “It won’t be much of a birthday if you hurt yourself.”
“Or the cake,” Christian added, his eyes shining with pride.
Maddox didn’t like hearing that at all. He was strong-willed and stubborn, much like me, although I refused to admit it. Forevermore, I claimed all our son’s good traits as mine, the annoying ones belonged to his daddy.
“But I want cake and presents.”
“You have to wait,” I told our son. He kicked a patch of dirt, his face twisting with emotions, and I flicked a look at my husband and said exasperatedly, “Make sure your son behaves.”
Christian took Maddox’s hand again and kneeled to his eye level, then spoke softly but sternly to him. Only a few words were exchanged and instantly our son calmed down.
“When will I have my presents?”
“After the cake,” he assured him. “But it’s not about gifts, Maddox. It’s about seeing all the people who love you.”
Maddox’s shoulders slumped. “Are Uncle Dante and Aunt Juliette coming too?”
“Of course. They wouldn’t miss this for the world, don’t worry.”
Christian came over and kissed me softly, his palm gently rubbing my belly. “You look beautiful, angel.”
I couldn’t stop my beaming smile if I wanted to, and I didn’t. We took a pregnancy test yesterday and learned we were expecting. But we weren’t ready to share it—it was too early, and this was our son’s day.
“You’re biase,d so you don’t count,” I murmured.
“I’m hurt.” He shot me a feigned look as if offended, but his eyes, sparkling like the entire universe was built for me, betrayed him. “I thought my opinion was the only one that mattered.”
I rolled my eyes.
“You know it is, and?—”
“There they are!” Maddox’s loud exclamation pulled our attention just in time to see him tear past the table, cake and presents, sprinting as fast as his legs would carry him toward my brother-in-law and sister-in-law.
I smiled to see Dante grab Maddox and toss him in the air. “How is it possible it’s your birthday? I was just here yesterday yet here you are, getting older and bigger.”
Romeo, Maddox’s cousin—the only son of Dante and Juliette—had surrounded his father and demanded he pick him up too, and now my brother-in-law was juggling both boys.
Juliette cupped Maddox’s face in her hand, kissing him on both cheeks, and then whispered something to him that made him grin ear-to-ear. She probably promised him some adventure. Romeo and Maddox had a tendency to convince Juliette to do the most flabbergasting things—like water tubing. I feared she was turning them into adrenaline junkies.
But all of this was so much better than the alternative of not having my best friend in my life. It also made me happy to see Christian’s relationship blossoming with his own mother. It was far from perfect, but then life rarely was. Although this was pretty damn close.
“Are you okay?” Christian asked, his thumb brushing across my cheekbone and wiping my tears.
I nodded because my voice was lost in the chaos of emotions. Over the years, Juliette and I had come to repair our relationship. It wasn’t an easy road, but we’d come to appreciate honesty more than anything.
“You’re looking well,” was Juliette’s greeting as she found her way to me. “But Maddox is looking the best.”
Christian went to join Dante and our son, and I was grateful for some alone time with my best friend. She looked good—happy—and the haunting ghosts that plagued her after learning of her birth parents’ death had disappeared completely.
“He’s a disaster on two legs,” I said, smiling. “Every time I turn around, he’s getting into something.”
She kissed my cheeks and hugged me. “That’s a kid’s job.”
Just when I released her, my nephew appeared, and I pressed a kiss on the top of his head.
“And how is our Romeo doing?”
“Good, Aunt Ivy. Can Maddox and I go see the cake?” Romeo was slightly older than Maddox, but it didn’t stop them from being best friends.
“Of course.” They were just about to bolt when my voice stopped him. “But first, you forgot something.”
His big dark eyes that were so much like his father’s found me with a frown when they finally flickered with realization. I lowered to my knees and he pecked me with a kiss, then bolted to a waiting Maddox.
I chuckled. “I feel cheated. That could barely be called a kiss.”
“Soon they’ll avoid us like the plague,” Juliette remarked dryly. “Probably move halfway across the world to avoid us.”
“True. Although, with you guys in Chicago and us in Europe, they are left with a lot more playground.”
“Asia,” she muttered. “Hopefully they stay away from the Yakuza.”
I winced. “We better not even introduce that into their vocabulary.”
Our gazes traveled over the backyard, our family laughing and hugging. Grandpa Frank was even singing some old Italian song and I couldn’t help but feel grateful for the way things turned out. For all of us.
I didn’t care about the heartaches we’d had to endure to get to this point.
Maybe it was just a lesson we had to learn.
All that mattered to me was that we got here, surrounded by a loving family and amazing husbands who supported us through our dreams. Family, friends, slightly dysfunctional dynamics—it all reminded me what it was like to be alive and loved.
This was what truly mattered in life. The only thing that mattered.