Epilogue

Ella

“So, what are we not going to do when we get inside?”

I looked down at Edmond where he stood beside me in the elevator and tousled his hair. It was getting long, the curls starting to show more around the base of his neck. I knew that there were people who were pushing me to cut it, but I was still refusing. I was going to enjoy the way he looked with it long, just for a little while longer.

“I’m not going to run around,” he said, the words drawn out as though he was just exhausted with having to repeat himself again for what was likely the hundredth time since we left Molly’s house.

“Good boy,” I said.

I had been going over that concept with him as much as I could in the last few days. It had been a year since the night that he had zoomed through the apartment and nearly ended everything before it could even start. I didn’t know how much of it he remembered, and I didn’t want to risk having history repeat itself. I was already nervous enough and I didn’t want this to get off on a bad foot. Though in my heart I knew that there was nothing that would make Mason react that way again. Especially toward Edmond. Over the last year the two of them had gotten incredibly close. Though Mason was cautious around him at first, unsure of how he was supposed to interact with a child since he had never spent time with any, and Edmond had been almost fearful, worried that at any moment Mason was going to explode on him again, the space between them had gradually closed. They learned about each other and found ways to connect.

It had been adorable watching them venture into each other’s worlds, introducing the other to what mattered to them in life as though they were absolute and total equals. Mason brought Edmond to work with him to show him the office, planned elaborate adventures for him, and got him into an exclusive school that I had dreamed of him attending but never thought that I would be able to manage. For his part, Edmond introduced Mason to his favorite toys, shared with him his relatively limited but enthusiastic knowledge about dinosaurs, and spent hours coloring with him. The two of them brought something out in each other that was hard to explain, but everything that I hoped that I would one day see.

Mason and I had been careful not to bring Edmond back to the apartment over the last few months, preferring to spend time together outside of our homes. It was important to both of us that he understand our relationship and that as things grew between us that he felt comfortable and safe. Now that I saw my son bouncing on his toes eagerly, excited to see Mason, I knew that there was nothing for us to worry about. This was exactly as it was supposed to be.

The elevator door opened, and we walked toward the apartment door where Mason was already standing, the grin so wide across his face that it created wrinkles around his eyes. I stepped up to him and he kissed me, his hand pressing both possessively and suggestively into the small of my back. Edmond walked carefully into the apartment and stopped in the foyer, his hands clasped in front of him.

“What’s this all about?” Mason asked, looking at my little boy’s uncharacteristically calm and contained behavior.

“Mama doesn’t want me to run around in here,” Edmond said matter-of-factly.

“Oh, she doesn’t?” Mason asked. “Why’s that?”

“She’s worried that I’m going to hurt something if I do that. Namely myself.”

I had to laugh. I didn’t realize that he was listening to me close enough to absorb that particular turn of phrase, but there it was. I leaned down and kissed him on the top of the head.

“I just wanted him to control himself and behave like he’s supposed to inside.”

“Well, that doesn’t sound like too much fun,” Mason said.

Edmond looked at him, his little head tilted as if he didn’t understand what Mason was saying. I mirrored his tilt, looking at Mason quizzically. I knew that lilt in his voice.

“What are you up to?” I asked.

“I just think that he’s not supposed to run around because he doesn’t have a place to run around.”

Mason’s eyes were sparkling, and I could see that he was trying to stop himself from smiling.

“What did you do?” I asked.

Mason shrugged and started out of the foyer and down the hallway. Edmond giggled and started after him, his gait becoming an awkward shuffle as he tried to both keep himself from running and keep up with Mason. We approached the door to one of the guest rooms and I noticed that there was a large wooden ‘E’ hanging on it.

“Go ahead,” Mason said.

Edmond grabbed the doorknob and pushed the door open, letting out a squeal of pure joy as he rushed inside. I stepped into the room, immediately noticing that it was far larger than it had been. Mason had obviously had workers in to remove walls between this room and the next, creating a huge open space. In that space he had created an incredible indoor playground. Edmond didn’t know where to go first. He rushed to a trampoline and jumped on it for several seconds before leaping off and running to swings, then to a rock wall, then to a sandbox sitting on a large section of linoleum. A large artificial tree in the middle of the room spread its branches over the ceiling and nestled cushions in its roots. Bookshelves nearby overflowed with books and another corner contained every art supply that Edmond could have ever imagined.

I turned toward Mason.

“This is wonderful,” I said. “Thank you so much.”

“Nothing is too good for my family.”

I smiled at the word. Soon it would be official, but even though we weren’t married yet, I knew that it was true. It was exactly what we were. I wrapped my arms around Mason and gave him a hug before we left Edmond to his playing and returned to the foyer to start carrying in the boxes that the moving men were bringing up from the van downstairs. I knew that it would take time to mesh my world with Mason’s and to get accustomed to living here in The Avalon with him, but I was eager to do it. Maybe one day we would sell the apartment and find a home together. Maybe we would have a baby of our own to grow our little family even more. I let out a sigh and looked toward him. He smiled at me as he headed down the hallway toward our bedroom, leading the way for the men carrying the boxes.

When he disappeared from view my eyes came to settle on the table sitting in the foyer. It was more crowded now, holding three frames in its center. In the middle was a large wooden frame containing a picture of Mason, Edmond, and me that was taken on our first vacation together several months before. Edmond was grinning broadly as he held a large cone of pink cotton candy in one hand and stared up at fireworks bursting overhead against an inky sky, his view perfect from his vantage point sitting on Mason’s shoulder. I stood beside him, my arm around Mason’s waist and the other hand on Edmond’s leg, looking not at the fireworks display, but the beautiful, lifechanging image of the two boys in front of me.

On one side of that picture was a frame containing a picture of Branden from when we were much younger. On the other was the silver frame, the picture of Danielle back in its rightful place. The positioning of the pictures and the angle of each subject when the pictures were taken made it look like the two of them were gazing at Mason, Edmond, and me, their smiles those of love and approval, comforted and reassured by us coming together. I loved the way that the three pictures looked together there on the table. The two of them would always be a part of our lives, just as Mason had said, but there was space for us as well. We had found that space in our hearts for the gift of another chance to love and to be loved, and now we were ready to move forward into whatever surprises were ahead.

THE END