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I keep expecting to wake up back at the gas station. It turns out I didn’t take out Randall and his criminal goon. I didn’t save my woman. Instead, I’m bleeding. My soul’s trying to keep me going by feeding me my perfect life, but it’s real. Ryan’s smile is real.
“It’s the truth,” he says. “I never thought I’d say it, but it is…”
He trails off, looking over my shoulder. I see my fiancée standing with an object in her hand, shaking all over, tears in her eyes. I rush to her, thinking about war and violence. Then I get closer and see the big smile on her gorgeous lips. A happy flush spreads across her face, her eyes sparkling, joy beaming from every inch of her.
“Tell me,” I say, taking her hand, the one not holding the test.
“It’s positive,” she says, voice cracking. “We’re going to be parents. Ryan, Ryan, you’re going to be an uncle.”
Ryan rushes over, then stops, looking at me as if I’ll resent him being part of this moment. I wrap my arm around him and pull him into a hug. The three of us embrace. Kay’s crying softly, my eyes stinging as I think about our son or daughter. The start to the life I wanted the first time I saw her on that dusty road, framed by sunlight.
EPILOGUE
SIX YEARS LATER
Baby Fletcher
“I’m not a baby anymore, Uncle Ryan.”
I wrap my arms around Uncle Ryan’s big, strong body. He’s so big and sturdy and carries me around pretty good. We’re going to the best place ever, the garage. My little sister is sleeping, not myfirstlittle sister, Jasmin. She’s the new one, the crying one, baby Lola.
Lola is very cute and cries and eats a lot. Mommy and Daddy say I was like Lola, but I tried to get in her crib once, and it didn’t work very good.
“Okay, big man Fletcher, then. How does that sound?”
I laugh at Uncle Ryan’s funny voice. We’re walking past the park, and lots of people stop to say hello and tell me I’m cute. They also say hello to Uncle Ryan and talk about motorbikes and stuff like that. I like the sunshine and the clouds, so I look at them, but not right at the sun. That’s a baby move, and I’m big man Fletcher now.
“Uncle Ryan, do you like me or Lola or… orJasminmore?”
My sister’s name was really hard to say once, but it isn’t so bad now.
Uncle Ryan laughs. It’s so cool to get him to laugh like that. “Still trying to get me on this question, eh, kid?”
“Big man Fletcher!” I remind him.
“Sorry, sorry. Big man Fletcher.”
“Is it ’cause Lola is the smallest and cutest and cries a lot?”
“All of you are miracles, Fletch. That’s the thing. I look at you, and I see my dad’s eyes. I see Kai in you, too. I see my little sister. It’s the same with all of you, little pieces of our family.”
“But why m-m-m…”
“Miracles?”
“Yeah!”
“When you’re older, you’ll learn about how your mom and dad met. You’ll learn things that make you wonder how they ended up together. You’ll see why I think it’s a miracle. They had every reason to fail, but look at them now, Fletch.”
We walk around the corner. The garage is just right there! Uncle Ryan is still talking, but I’m mostly looking at the cool, shiny bikes and how big the wheels are. There are all these cool big men with their beards and arms all inky with the needle that Daddy used on his arm ink, too.
Uncle Ryan says, “Little sis is earning money as a poet. Do you have any idea how hard that is? And ever since he proposed, Kai’s been a fiend for the business side of the club. He’s franchised our brand to garages all over the state, let alone the county. He’s making us all rich without… ah, the other stuff.”
My smile is getting bigger and bigger and bigger and, yep, bigger when we walk into the main garage, the stinky area with the oil and the metal. It’s like I’m inside a big, giant metal monster machine.
“All while raising a family,” Uncle Ryan says, putting me down. He ruffles my hair and grins. “You didn’t hear a word I said, did you?”
I put a big,bigsmile on my face. “Yeah, Uncle Ryan, I did.”
