“No, she wouldn’t,” I agreed and went on to show her just how good I’ll always take care of her.
Epilogue
Kenzlee – Five years later~
Isat at the kitchen table, head in my hands, wondering what the hell was I going to do.
I’ve only been teaching for a year, but I hadn’t realized what a true calling it had been until the first time I had little Katie Matthews run up to me, wrap her little arms around my legs, looked up and grinned at me with her checkered smiled, and lisp out, “I did it, Mrs. Draven! I spelled the word!”
The second I decided to go into teaching, I knew I wanted to teach the little minds. I wanted to experience the satisfaction of watching little ones learn the basics. There was so much joy in their innocent youth. I’d rather teach honest, innocent 6-year-olds than know-it-all teenagers.
And, while Talon and I chose to stay in Lakeside, Edie and taken her college degree and moved to Baltimore to attend John Hopkins. That girl was going to change the world, and Talon couldn’t be more proud of her if he tried.
Edie had attended Harvard, where Talon and I had both gotten good enough grades to attend Stanford. And, must to Talon’s dismay, I made him wait until our sophomore year in college before getting married. I had wanted at least one year of college under our belts so we knew what to expect out of college life and the demands it would place on us. We did live together off campus during that time, though.
Talon had kept fighting all through school because that was the only way he could afford school. Edie and I hadn’t liked it, but we knew we couldn’t stop him. He had also kept true to his word. Talon hadn’t said a word when I paid off my Uncle’s house, his mom’s house, and bought my little Nissan Maxima. He hadn’t uttered a word as I wrote checks out to Harvard and Stanford.
The only time he showed any displeasure, was when we got married and set up the trust for our future children and our will should something happen to me. He wasn’t happy with me leaving him any of the money, but the attorney explained that if I didn’t, my mother had action at the funds. Knowing how I felt about my mother, that’s all it took for Talon to agree.
Over the past five years, my mother had only contacted me a handful of times, and each time had been to get money out of me. I finally block her indefinitely when she accused me of tarnishing Kaden’s memory by taking care of everyone but her. She was sure Kaden would want me to make sure she was okay. That had been the final straw, and I had cut ties with her completely after that.
One of the good things to come out of Talon’s illegal fighting career was that he ended up with a career in social services. Wanting to make sure kids had better options, he delved into community social services and he headed up many social programs for kids. His favorite, however, was the self-defense classes he taught.
I heard the front door open and you could hear the clonk of my head hitting the kitchen table echo throughout the house. I heard a soft chuckle behind me and felt a kiss on the back of my head. “Rough day today?” Talon teased. “Did someone color outside the lines and start a brawl?”
I raised my head and narrowed my eyes at him. “Depends on howyoufeel about coloring outside the lines,” I retorted.
“I’m not coloring much these days,” he said, cocking his head at me, surely wondering where this conversation was going.
“Oh, you’re coloring lines these days, Talon,” I snorted. “Trust me.”
He leaned back against the counter and crossed his arms over his chest. “I’m pretty sure I haven’t touched a coloring book in ages, White.”
“Yeah, well,” I threw the pregnancy stick at him, which he caught expertly, “that right there says you’ve managed to color two perfectly clear pink lines, Talon Draven.”
Talon stared down at the stick in his hand and he was quiet for way too long. He finally looked up at me and I’ll remember this moment for the rest of my life. “I hope she’s no bigger than a pixie, has black hair with light brown eyes. I hope her laugh sounds like music, and I hope she always looks at me with all the love in the world shining in those eyes of hers.”
“Talon…” I sobbed, tears already streaming down my face.
“And I hope to God her momma gives me three more just like her,” he grinned.
I jumped up from the chair and ran into his embrace. His arms wrapped around me and held me like they always do. Talon always holds me like he’s afraid to let me go. “We’re pregnant, Talon,” I laughed in his chest.
I felt his chin on the top of my head as he nodded. “What we are, is perfect, White,” he whispered.
The End.
