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They continued arguing about that while I went across the hall to the nursery. I picked Baby Anthony up and checked his diaper. It was wet. I moved him to the changing table and set to work.
“Did you know you were named after my dad?” I said softly.
Anthony wriggled his legs and frowned up at me.
“His name was Anthony. Anthony Allessandro Ricci. He was such a kind, loving man. He was friendly to everyone who ever walked into his restaurant. Including your mom! Your biological mom, I mean. That was before Derek adopted you. And now here you are!”
Deep down, I knew that coincidences happened in life. Not everything had to be asign. Maybe that’s all Anthony was. A series of weird coincidences in a small town outside of Fresno. Crazier things had happened in this world.
But regardless of how our lives had crossed, I was so happy that Anthony had come into my life. Because as long as I had him, I felt like I had a deeperpurposeto everything. A reason for getting up in the morning beyond knowing that I would be working at the family restaurant.
And my three fireman boyfriends, I thought while taping down the new diaper and lifting the baby into my arms.I have them to look forward to each day.
Whether it was all a coincidence, or an actual supernatural sign, I didn’t really care. All that mattered was that my life had changed for the better.
Epilogue
Taylor
One Year Later
“Trick or treat!” the kids on the porch squealed.
I grinned at them. I loved kids. Always had. That was one of the cool things about being a firefighter: kids looked up to you. Working at the Riverville fire station, and then the one in Fresno, we had entertained countless field trips and school assemblies. Dressing up in our gear and explaining the importance of fire safety. Stop, drop, and roll. Driving kids around in the fire engine and honking the horn. They ate that shit up.
So, yeah. I had always loved kids. But I especially loved them now that we were taking care of Anthony. It gave me a new appreciation for the entireideaof a child, you know?
“Look at all these costumes!” I said with an enthusiasm I didn’t have to exaggerate. “Let’s see. We have a spider, a spooky ghost, and Spiderman.” I gave the Spiderman, who was actually a girl with long blonde hair, a fist-bump. “You’re one of my teammates, you know that?”
She looked up at me in awe. “I am?”
I flexed my own costume and held out my paper mache hammer. “I’m Thor! Specifically, the short-haired Thor fromRagnarok. Thor and Spiderman are on the Avengers together.”
“Thor?” she asked.
“Oh man. You need to watch all the Marvel movies,” I said. “But you have to watch them in chronological order, not the release order. It’s better that way.” I paused. “Wait. How old are you?”
The little girl Spiderman held up eight fingers, four on each hand.
“Okay. Maybe you’re too young to watch those movies. But in, like, six more years? You’ll love them. Trust me. Okay, who wants some candy?”
Riverville wasn’t a huge city, but it still had its fair share of trick-or-treaters on Halloween. And even though Derek’s house was a few blocks off the beaten path, we had gotten a steady stream of knocks on our door.
It probably helped that we spread the word that we were handing out king-sized candy bars. That drew the kids to us like moths to a flame.
After handing out the candy, I waved goodbye and closed the door. Derek was standing just inside, giving me an impatient look.
“What?”
“An eight-year-old doesn’t need to be watching Marvel movies,” he said.
“Hey. She’s the one dressed as Spiderman. I was just making conversation.” I gestured. “Besides, you’re one to talk,Captain.”
Derek was adorned in the blue spandex and circular shield of Captain America. He had never seen any of the movies, and in fact turned his nose up at all superhero movies, but since the rest of us were dressed in the theme he eventually relented.
Clara appeared at his side. She was wearing the tight black outfit of Black Widow. An outfit which clung to her curvy frame so wonderfully that I continuously had to look away from her. Here’s a secret: it’s impossible to hide an erection when you’re wearing spandex shorts.
“Leave Captain America alone,” she said, threading her arm through Derek’s. “He’s eighty years old. Respect your elders.”
