Epilogue
FAMILY
ZANDER
EIGHT YEARS LATER
Sunshine beams down on my skin, warming every part it touches. People around me chat and laugh, the smell of barbecue wafting through the air.
My leg gets bumped, and then again shortly after, children running past. I feel a presence beside me, my pant leg getting tugged on.
Looking down, the violet eyes of my son stare up at me. “Daddy, can I go with ’em?”
“Where are they going, buddy?” I ask, lowering myself to a squat. “Lunch will be ready soon—Aunt Blair made her famous smash burgers.”
He sways on his little feet, still holding onto my pants. “Just to the pond to see the duckies.”
Nodding, I say, “Okay, but not out of sight, and when Aunt Blair shouts, come running back.”
He enthusiastically nods back before breaking into the quickest sprint his little legs can muster. I watch him meet his cousins and our family friends’ children by the pond. All of them sit on the edge, legs crossed, watching the mother duck lead her ducklings around the sparkling water.
A hand slips into mine, and I whip my head around. Briar laughs, and my knitted eyebrows instantly relax.
“Didn’t mean to spook you, love,” she says gently, bouncing ever so slightly as she stands next to me.
Cradled in her other arm is our daughter, who sleeps soundly.
She got that from me—the ability to sleep just about anywhere, and through just about anything.
When Thomas was a baby, he woke up at the slightest creak of a floorboard.
It’s been a relief that Aibell sleeps through the nights and naps without trouble.
“I still can’t believe Aibell betrayed us.” Blair’s voice cuts through the air, getting both mine and Briar’s attention.
She stops beside Briar, putting her finger out toward Aibell’s sleeping hand. Her little fingers stretch out at the brush of Blair’s touch, and she grabs onto her aunt’s finger. I can practically see Blair melting in real time.
Briar smiles at the two of them. “Oh, she didn’t betray us…she just wanted to look more like her daddy.”
“The fact that you even had a boy banshee is fucking crazy,” Briar exclaims in a lowered voice, not wanting to disturb Aibell.
I narrow my eyes at her. “Hey, would it kill you not to swear in front of the baby?”
Blair tilts her head, looking at me through wide eyes. “Sorry—it’s a habit. But it is crazy that happened.”
She’s right—banshees are strictly female. At least, they were until our miracle boy was born. They called so many doctors to come make sure that everything was okay.
Some were worried that he had been part of a set of twins and absorbed the other, and in turn, the banshee’s power. They ran some tests, and all came back negative.
A few others thought maybe there was a hormone issue, but all those tests came back negative too. There were a million other tests they wanted to run, but Briar and I told them no.
It didn’t—and doesn’t—matter to us if there’s something “wrong” with our child. We’re just glad he’s happy and healthy.
He definitely looks like his mom, though. The same violet eyes, the same pale-lilac skin and pointed ears. The only trait he got from me is his dark hair, which almost looks out of place on him.
Aibell looks more like me. She has my tan skin and the same green eyes, though hers are shinier. At least, I swear they are. Briar always laughs at me when I say it, but Aibell’s are prettier, as if gemstones were placed there.
Unlike her brother, she has the same pale-purple hair as her mom. Since it’s so short on her head at this age, it almost looks like a little silk cap, which is rather adorable. She has pointed ears like Briar, as well.
Our perfect little family.
“So, your parents are a no-show again?” Blair nudges me, drawing my eyes away from my precious baby in my love’s arms.
I nod. “As expected.”
They moved shortly after I proposed to Briar a few years ago. I broke no-contact to tell them the news and within days, the house was empty and realtors were selling the property.
I don’t know where they went, but I text my mom every year to let her know the date of our family get-together. She never responds, but it’s the one message I’ll send annually. Just in case.
Briar’s eyes burn into me, and when I glance at her, they’ve glossed over. I squeeze her hand, a silent reassurance.
“But I’m with my family, and I couldn’t be happier,” I state, earning a small smile from Briar and a toothy grin from Blair.
“Hell yeah, I’ll cheers to that.”
Both Briar and I turn to Blair, narrowed eyes. Blair’s grin turns sheepish as her shoulders slump. She mouths a “sorry” before slowly removing her finger from Aibell’s grasp.
She makes her way back over to the barbecue, leaving us to ourselves. Only for a few minutes, I’m sure. It’ll be food time soon enough.
“Are you sure you don’t care? That they never come?” Briar’s voice is tender as she asks, and the way her fingers tap against mine tells me she wishes she could pick at her cuticles.
I face her more directly, letting go of her hand and pulling her and Aibell against me for a hug.
“If I cared, I never would have walked out their door eight years ago, love. You, the kids, you’re my family.
Blair, your cousins, our friends, they’re my family.
If my parents don’t want to be a part of that, that’s their choice. ”
She rests her head on my chest, and I rub her shoulders with my thumbs. “Maybe one day they’ll change their minds.”
I shrug, still holding her. “Maybe, but I’m not counting on it.”
“If you told them they have grandkids, that might change things,” she suggests, and it’s not the first time she has.
“They don’t get an incentive to enter our lives, and they would know about the kids if they were at all involved.” Pulling back, my hands move to her hips, keeping her close. “My love, I have no regrets in my life except not telling you how I felt sooner.”
She tilts her head up, puckering her lips. I lean over, giving her a quick kiss. Aibell stirs, and I plant a gentle kiss on top of her soft little head.
“I’m glad you didn’t tell me sooner.” The words shock me, bringing my eyes back up to hers.
Raising a brow, I ask, “Why?”
Her cheeks deepen with color, and she lightly shrugs. “Because maybe it wouldn’t have all turned out this way had we confessed when we were younger. Things happen at the time they do for a reason.”
Nodding, I smile at her. “You are right as always, love.”
There’s a moment of peace as we stand there, the world seeming to fade to a mere hum in the background. It’s just her and me, and our little family. They are my entire life, and I wouldn’t trade them for a single thing.
“Food’s ready!” Blair roars, her voice cutting through every other sound in the universe.
She’s loud as ever, another one of the differences between her and Briar. It still makes me laugh looking back on the brief game of pretend we played. How did Briar think I could ever mix the two of them up?
There’s a tiny rumbling approaching from the pond, all the children giggling and screaming as they race toward the food. Thomas comes to us, though, wrapping his arms around Briar’s leg.
“Pick me up too, Momma,” he pleads, his gigantic eyes staring up at her.
She gives me a look, her eyebrows creased and lips curved downward. Quickly, I scoop Thomas up into my arms, tossing him onto my shoulders.
“How about a horsey ride instead, buddy?” I ask, bouncing him on my shoulders.
He squeals, his little hands gripping under my chin. “To the food, horsey!”
With that, I head toward the crowded barbecue, taking each step with a little extra pep—I’ve got to make sure he gets a good horse ride, otherwise, he won’t settle for dinner.
Briar’s laugh floats through the air behind me, and it’s just another reminder that this life is exactly as it was meant to be. Perfect and full of love.
I’ve loved her since we were teens, and I will love her until we meet again in the next life. No matter the cost in any lifetime.
Read Alora Quinn’s next Wisteria Woods story, Secluded with the Satyr, available September 25, 2026!