AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“We’ll be there,” Hans answers first.
When his eyes move to meet mine, I can see it all in his face. The affection. The peace.
My fingers reach up to touch the spot on my arm, next to my tracker, where the other implant used to be.
And I can’t wait any longer.
I have to tell him.
Tears fill my eyes as I mouth, “I’m pregnant.”
Hans opens his mouth, then slams it closed.
His throat works, and his eyes lower to my wedding-dress-covered stomach.
Then his eyes move back up to meet mine, and he mouths, “That’s one.”
Epilogue 2 - Hans
FIVE MONTHS LATER
“I’msorry I didn’t do this sooner,” I tell the three graves in front of me as emotion chokes my voice.
I close my eyes as the Arizona sun beats down on me.
“A part of me will always be buried here with you.” A tear tracks down my cheek. For them. For me. For everything I’ve done. “I’m not the same man you knew.”
I’m not the same.
But I became who I had to be.
“It’s still hard for me to believe it’s over. That this battle is done. But it is.” I bow my head. “It is.”
A gentle gust of wind passes over me. And it feels like the world is taking a breath with me.
Lifting my head, I look over at Cassandra standing near our car, stomach round with twins, a boy and a girl. And I picture the smile my mother would give her. I picture the way she’d hug my children and shower them with love. I think of Freya as an aunt. How she would spoil the kids. How she would love to tell embarrassing stories about me to Cassandra.
A little more lightness fills my chest.
“I think you’d like my wife,” I tell my family. “She’s… She’s my second chance. My new beginning.”
I step forward to Freya’s headstone and press the Post-it to the top.
This one is in my handwriting.
This isn’t goodbye.
