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Imogene
Fifteen Years Later
“Congratulations, sweetie.”
Mama, Lachlan, and Dax tipped their champagne glasses toward me. I clinked mine with theirs before we all took a sip.
“I told you not to make a big deal out of today,” I admonished them.
But I should have known they wouldn’t listen.
It didn’t matter how old I got or how many degrees I had under my belt. They’d always be my family.
As such, they’d always spoil me.
Granted, Lachlan may not have been my biological father. But since he came into our lives, that was precisely the role he filled, even before he and my mom said “I do” at the exact spot on the beach where she stepped on a jellyfish and he came to her rescue.
“It’s not every day your favorite daughter graduates with her doctorate in physical therapy,” Mama said flippantly.
“I’m your only daughter.”
“But you’re still my favorite.” She clutched my hand from beside me at our table in the upscale Atlanta restaurant.
“And you’re still mine,” I replied with a heartfelt smile, grateful for everything she had done for me. And not just through college and grad school. But since the day I was born.
All the sacrifices she made.
All the trauma she suffered.
I was just grateful that was behind us. That she survived.
That we survived.
And since that fateful day I thought I’d never see her again, there had been no more suffering. No more trauma.
Instead, the past fifteen years had been…happy.
That wasn’t to say we didn’t deal with psychological effects from what my sociopath of a sperm donor had put us through. But we got through it… Together.
Thankfully, with the passing of years, the public’s interest in our connection to the man who was labeled one of the most intriguing serial killers in history had diminished to the point where Domenic Jaskulski was barely a footnote in the history of our lives.
Where he belonged.
“So what’s next?” Lachlan asked, leaning back in his chair, smiling at several diners who recognized him.
Even though he’d retired a few years ago and now worked as a commentator for one of the networks, people in Atlanta still loved him. It was why it was so hard for him to finally throw in the towel and retire. He wanted to go out on a high note. And he certainly did.
After his fifth World Series ring, he decided it was time. Now, he and Mama split their time between Atlanta and Hawaii, where Mama opened a small bakery on the North Shore of Oahu.
This time, she had no intention of expanding. She didn’t need fame or notoriety to be happy.
She’d found her happily ever after.
Now it was time for me to find mine.
“Are you still undecided about which offer to accept?” Mama asked, slicing into her salmon. “I know you’ve received quite a few from teams here in the Southeast.”
“Including mine,” Dax reminded me with a soft smile. “And not because you’re my sister. When management made you the offer to join the team as a therapist after you completed your residency with us, I told you it’s because you’re talented. And have an incredible bedside manner. That goes a long way when dealing with injuries.”
