EXTENDED EPILOGUE
Phoenix - Five Years Later
I lean against the deck railing, beer in hand, watching my family spread across our back yard. The late afternoon sun sparkles over the pool I had built four years ago. The kids splash and shriek with laughter.
Brigit, now fourteen, is growing too fast for my liking. She leads the charge in some elaborate water game she's invented, her dark hair slicked back and her smile, my smile, everyone says, flashing as she directs her cousins.
The scents of charred meat and woodsmoke fill the air as Flint tends the massive grill we installed the same summer the pool went in. He's arguing good-naturedly with Blaise about the proper way to cook a steak while flipping burgers for the kids.
Lucy passes behind them with a platter of corn, swatting Blaise's hand away when he tries to steal a piece. "Five minutes.”
These monthly gatherings have become our tradition, all three of my brothers and their families crowded into our back yard, kids running wild, food and drink flowing freely.
Four-year-old Aiden zooms by, chasing after his older sister Brigit with determined little legs, and I scoop him up before he can get too close to the pool without his floaties.
"Where you going, little man?" I ask, settling him on my hip.
He squirms in my arms. “I’ve got to catch Brigit.”
“Put your wings on, Aiden.” Brigit brings them to him. “We can swim.”
Jenna appears, round with child, setting out a bowl of potato chips.
Keira emerges from the house balancing a pitcher of lemonade and our youngest, one-year-old Dylan, on her hip. The sight of them still stops my heart sometimes.
"Dad! Look what I can do!" Aiden interrupts my thoughts with a shout from the shallow end. I turn to see him preparing for what appears to be an underwater handstand, no easy feat with water wings on.
"I'm watching, buddy," I call back, giving him my full attention as he attempts to submerge.
“I’ve got a few more things to grab.” Keira hands over Dylan to me. He's the spitting image of Keira, same blond hair, same stubborn set to his jaw when he's focused.
My eyes drift back to Brigit to make sure she has eyes on Aiden. Yesterday, she asked if she could go to the mall with friends next weekend, without adults. The request shouldn't have knocked me sideways, but it did. Moments like this, I regret missing so much of her life, but Keira is right. I can’t think about the pain of the past when there’s so much good in the now.
I make my way over to Flint. “You need help? Looks like your wife could use your assistance.”
He glances toward Lucy scrambling after two two-year-olds. He hands me the spatula. “Twins are more than two kids. It’s like having a dozen.” He goes to help corral his two youngest children, Liam and Kayleigh, both at that terrible twos stage.
"Uncle Phoenix!" Flynn, Flint and Lucy’s oldest at five years old, joins me at the grill. "Can I help? My dad says I have the Ifrinn fire touch."
"That's not exactly what I said," Flint mutters, scooping up Liam. "I meant your temper, not grilling.”
Lucy laughs, attempting to wipe something sticky off Kayleigh’s face. "Like father, like son."
“Hey, I have a great temperament.” He waggles his brows suggestively.
“TMI, bro.” I shake my head.
Blaise and Jenna’s four-year-old daughter hurries toward them. “I found a frog! Can I bring it home?”
"Absolutely not," Jenna says firmly. "Last time you did that, you managed to flood the bathroom."
"That was an accident," Nora insists with an angelic expression that doesn't fool any of us. "I wanted to give it its natural habitat."
"In my bathtub," Jenna reminds her, but she's fighting a smile.
Flynn takes this opportunity to sneak behind his father and dump a cup of ice water down Flint's back. My brother lets out a surprised shout that has all the kids erupting in laughter.
"You're dead meat, kid!" Flint growls playfully, chasing after Flynn who's already sprinting toward the pool.
