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epilogue
ABOUT FIVE YEARS LATER
“Sit still, Flint,”Griffin grumbled to his son as they sat in the bleachers of his first baseball game. It was too loud. Too smelly. And dirty. If it was up to him, they’d be home doing normal four-year-old things. They wouldn’t be here at all. But he promised Lilo that their kid would receive a normal, American upbringing. And apparently that included baseball games, despite him feeling contrary to it.
Plus, Flint’s cousin Amari wanted to come. And Daisy, who’d fast become as obsessed with the sport as Liza and Joe, had also wanted to come.
“Hotdog, hotdog!” Flint cried, making grabby hands at Daisy and Axel walking their way up the steps to their seats.
As he watched his eldest sister approach, he had to remark on how different she looked to when she’d first come to live with them. Her long, silver hair was as eye-catching as her violet eyes. She’d taken a shine to Wyatt’s cooking and had convinced the man to start back in Heaven a few days a week. Misha was expecting their second child, so he hadn’t wanted to commit to full time.
Axel and his sister Elena cooked a lot, too. Daisy had a plump glow to her body and he couldn’t entirely blame her physique on giving up the crime-fighting life. He could neither blame her taking over full time babysitting duties for the second generation of the Lazarus brood. She kept herself fit in the gym, just like the rest of them… just not fighting fit.
As she preferred it.
She arrived at their seats, she leaned across Griffin’s front to hand Flint and Amari their hotdogs. On their other side, blocking them in from escaping into the crowd sat Wyatt with his arms folded, scanning their surroundings warily from beneath the peak of his baseball cap.
Since the Mayor had pardoned the Seven, and officially included them in the city’s law enforcement roster, they were minor celebrities. Okay, minor was a regrettable understatement.
Elena now worked at Parker’s company with Alice while Parker turned his genius mind to more philanthropic pursuits. He and Alice had occasionally disappeared on secret missions helping the Sinners, but that was a story for another time. Elena now spearheaded Lazarus Tech public relations department. She’d taken over official branding opportunities for the Seven, and had even worked with Evan to custom make a selection of bio-indicated tattoos that responded to emotional changes, like mood rings but in tattoo form. She was making a bucket load of cash. Daisy even sported one of her tattoos on her left forearm.
Elena was a bright kid.
But Griffin couldn’t say he was happy with how she’d turned her homemade Deadly Seven collector cards into something flashy and professional. Lilo loved them, of course. She’d pinned Griffin’s “Greed” character card proudly on her partition wall at work. She’d even pinned it to her chest once or twice and had pointed at it while in the office break room, chatting with her friends.
“My husband,” she would blurt proudly to anyone nearby.
He couldn’t turn up at the bakery without someone asking him for a selfie. They always touched him when getting close for the camera. He shuddered at the unpleasant thought.
When Daisy leaned back into her seat, she ruffled Griffin’s hair, messing it up.
“That’s from Liza,” she said with a smirk, then took a bite of her corn-stick.
Griffin scowled at her. “How many times do I have to tell you, I’m too old for that, Daisy.”
“I have decades of annoying my younger brothers to catch up on.” She shrugged. “And with Liza and Joe getting busy making their own family, I have to make up for her not being here. So deal.”
His brows lifted. “I don’t think she would appreciate you announcing to the public her bedroom activities.”
“Yes, she would.”
He wanted to roll his eyes. Liza probably would. “So I’ll be fifty and you’ll still be ruffling my hair?”
“Probably.”
He caught Axel’s chuckle from Daisy’s other side as he settled into his seat. This was a rare day off for Axel. He was on a fast track to becoming the next Captain at the Cardinal City Fire Department. It was nice to see him here.
Wyatt hid his smile too. Griffin’s scowl deepened as he realized he was the butt of the joke. As usual. He straightened his hair and spectacles before wiping mustard from Flint’s chin with a napkin. It must feel terrible. He pocketed the napkin then asked Daisy quietly, “What did you get Amari for her birthday?”
It wasn’t for another week, yet he needed to be organized. Lilo wasn’t that good at thinking ahead for these things.
“Well,” Daisy smirked. “Since she’s been exhibiting signs of her daddy’s gifts, I’ve been working with Parker to refit the training room. He spent a fortune on some new experimental jungle gym equipment.”
“He has?” His brow lifted. He supposed his kids’ abacus, and math books would be boring in comparison.
Thinking on Daisy’s words, he had to admit this was a cause of concern for himself and Lilo. Flint was almost four, and Amari had accidentally crushed things she shouldn’t have a few weeks ago. Her skin was becoming impenetrable. They’d all figured that their children could receive the same gifts as their parents, but hoped it would be without any of the unpleasant sin-sensing side effects. So far so good. He still woke up in night sweats thinking about Flint moving metal around with his mind.
Daisy nodded. “In fact, we’ll go and check it out after the game. Tony put in some cash for it too, but since he and Bailey are still on location in Hawaii, they won’t be here to give it. They’ll make a video call though… oh, shh. Amari’s listening.”
