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Three years later…
The week had gone by way, way too fast. Standing at the departure’s gate at the airport, I found myself tearing up like crazy as Kat and Trevor prepared to leave, their bags at their sides.
“Can you stay another week?” I asked. “I feel like we just got started on catching up.”
“I know!” Kat said, her eyes flashing. “Not to mention the news…” She placed her hand on her belly, still flat even though she was two months pregnant.
“We’re going to have to Zoom right away when you get back. I have so much pregnancy stuff to help you with, and—”
Right then, I nearly said something that I most definitely shouldn’t have.
“And what?” Kat asked.
“Nothing!” I said, grinning in a quite conspicuous way.
“Bye!”
Christopher, our eighteen-month-old boy, said the word in his cute-as-hell little toddler voice, beaming broadly from his father’s arms. It was so surreal every time Connor held our boy, how Christopher, with his dark red hair and ice blue eyes, looked more and more like his father with each passing day.
“That’s right, kiddo!” I said, reaching over and giving his chubby little cheek a pinch.
I pursed my lips, sadness taking hold as I opened my arms for a hug. Kat stepped close and we embraced.
“I’ll miss you like crazy,” I said.
“You too, girlie.”
Connor and Trevor, Kat’s now-husband and newly-minted Amazon engineer, gave each other a hearty handshake.
“Till next time,” Connor said.
“A real pleasure,” Trevor replied. “You’ve got a lovely family.”
With that, we said our goodbyes and parted, loading Christopher into his car seat in the back of our Land Rover and taking off. The day was bright and sunny, the spring showers of the last week or so finally abating and allowing some decent weather.
Connor chuckled as we drove, heading from the airport to our home in the Brookline neighborhood.
“What’s so funny?” I asked with a grin.
“Nothing. Just all this pregnancy talk got me thinking about how cute you looked when you were about to have Christopher, with that huge belly and you waddling around everywhere.”
I laughed. “Hey, when you have to waddle, you have to waddle.”
As we drove, I watched the city from the highway, Kat’s visit causing me to reflect on how much our lives had changed over the last few years.
Connor had given up the criminal life completely, parleying his skills into opening a private security company for the rich and famous. He operated a small crew and had wasted no time becoming one of the most respected names in the business.
I’d quit my job at Benson & Silver, my officemate Ana and I opening up our own private practice that provided criminal defense to those who needed it and couldn’t otherwise afford such services. Business had been booming, and I was eager as heck for Kat to pass the bar so she could open up her own branch of our offices in Seattle.
Kellan was doing well as head of the syndicate, though he kept the details from us. Connor never let a chance go by to pester Kellan about leaving that life behind like he had, and the more time that went on, the more it looked like he was about to go straight. If only he had a good woman to love to entice him out of it, like Connor had.
Ma O’Leary was sharp as ever, diving right into her new life as a grandmother, doting on little Christopher in the way a grandma should. She was a fixture in our lives now, the same as my parents, who I’d finally convinced to move out of Southie and closer to us.
We soon pulled up to our house, a gorgeous, three-story Tudor-style home situated on a massive stretch of emerald-green lawn. I carried Christopher inside, our son dozing on my shoulder, ready to be put down for his late morning nap.
“Couldn’t help but notice something,” Connor said as we entered the big, spacious entry hall.
“What’s that?”
