Epilogue
A Better Life For All
“Aralia-Rose, Uncle Clay and Aunt Symphony are here,” I call out to the small, dark-haired beauty with soft blue eyes bearing a purple hue.
“Yay!” she squeals while running through the field of grass and flowers, her ringlets dancing under the glistening glow of the sun.
“There she is,” Clay exclaims while sweeping her into the air and swirling her in a circle.
“What did you bring me?” she rudely asks.
“Aralia!” I lightly scold.
Clay chuckles and Hale joins him in his laughter while shaking his head. Clay kisses the crown of her head when he sets her back down. Hale joins me in the lush green comfort I’m casually lying in, and his arms wrap around my waist before his lips find mine.
“I actually did bring you a surprise,” Clay continues, and Aralia squeals out her delight.
He hands her a small package decadently wrapped in a crisp purple paper with a black bow she doesn’t even appreciate before shredding it to reveal the treasure within. She gasps when she pulls out a glass globe holding a rose suspended inside.
“How did you do that?” she gushes.
“Magic,” he teases.
Her wide eyes and gaping mouth continue to admire the beauty in her hand, and Clay smiles as he curls into the grass beside his wife, his hands sliding around her protruding belly as he kisses her cheek. Symphony smiles while glowing the shine of a mother-in-waiting.
Aralia takes off sprinting to the other side of the field the second she sees her other aunt and uncle strolling across hand-in-hand.
“Auntie Angel! Uncle Grayson!” she screeches in excitement, her sundress curling up as she swishes away.
Grayson grabs her up when he flashes in front of Angelica to scoop Aralia-Rose away from her grasp. I laugh at the joking rivalry for my daughter’s affections, but in truth, she loves everyone in our circle. Our family has blossomed, and with Clay’s child on the way, it’s also growing.
“Where’s Uncle Brazen?” she pouts when they make it back over to us.
Hale laughs at her puckered lips while shaking his head.
“So much like her mother. I swear I’ll keep the full bloods away when she hits puberty if it kills me.”
I playfully slap his chest, and he grabs my hand while pulling me into his lips.
“Did someone say my name?” a long missed voice smoothly rattles out from across the field.
She squeals again before charging headfirst into the arms stretched out and waiting on her. I turn to smile as Brazen carries her toward us, his beautiful smile intact and as perfect as ever.
He leans down to kiss the top of my head before taking a seat on the luxurious ground beside me.
“It’s really amazing out here,” he says while looking at the sea of green decorated by the pops of color growing naturally.
“I know,” Hale says proudly. “With some of Araya’s unlocked gifts, we’ve almost rid the world of the toxins we never thought possible to filter out. Now that the sky’s tinter can be used to simply block out the harmful rays, the earth is steadily returning to its once magnificent glory. Even the human life spans are growing by the hour.”
“I never thought I’d see it like this outside of old magazines,” Clay sighs while lying back.
“Any word on the forgotten still not adopted?” I ask softly.
“Most all of them have a home now. Some of the teenagers have gone to live with Gabe and his clan. They needed some youth in that place,” Clay chuckles.
“Hey, Mom?” Rex asks while running up.
“Yeah,” I answer with a smile. “So, there’s a group of guys going out to watch some old movies tomorrow, can I go?”
