Fractured [SHAWN MENDES]

~Epilogue~

Shawn reached over and placed one hand on Taryn's knee while keeping the other on the steering wheel of their new Audi Q8. They needed something bigger, and this model had all the bells and whistles for him, yet it was not too pretentious, which was important to her. They'd just left Pickering after celebrating Micah's sixth birthday party with the entire Mendes family. Aaliyah and Jordan had moved back to Ontario after she finished school, and a year later, she gave birth to twin girls.

"Will you be mad if I close my eyes for a minute?" Taryn asked drowsily.

"Tired, hon?"

"The girls wore me out." She yawned loudly. "I had no idea babies could crawl so fast!"

He chuckled. "Why didn't you ask for help?"

"I wanted 'Liyah and Jordan to have a break. Everyone else was focused on Micah, which he needs since his little sisters get all the attention these days."

"You're gonna be a great mom," he told her, and when she didn't respond, he glanced over and saw she was sound asleep. He sighed in disappointment, because they were planning on discussing names on the ride home. They'd put it off for weeks and it was time to make a decision.

After he pulled into the driveway of their large house in the Bridle Path neighborhood of Toronto, he woke her up as gently as he could by planting a kiss on her flushed cheek. "Okay, sleepyhead. We're home."

She opened her eyes. "For a split second there, I forgot we'd moved. I expected to see the condo parking garage."

"It's only been two months, so that's not surprising."

The home was an older one, built in the 1940's, though the kitchen and bathrooms had been modernized by the previous owners. It wasn't huge, but it sat on a remarkably large lot for the city. The backyard had a stone patio, lots of grass, and was beautifully landscaped with trees and flowerbeds. It was the first house they'd looked at and they both knew it was the one, so within thirty days they'd moved in.

When they walked in the kitchen through the side door, Shawn took both of their jackets and hung them up on the hooks in the mudroom. "It's early. Want to watch a movie?"

"Yes, but only because I want to snuggle on the couch. Let me check in with Mina to make sure everything is cool at Ford's."

Mina had been promoted to manager, which allowed Taryn to work only five days a week. Shawn would drop her off at the brewpub and then he'd swing back an hour before closing to pick her up. If the mood struck him, he'd play a couple songs for the remaining customers. This became common knowledge around town, and his performances coupled with the award-winning beer they produced made Ford's one of the hottest places in the entire greater-Toronto area, and in the next year, they'd be expanding to two other locations.

Once she was assured that everything was going well at her brewpub, Taryn curled up on the couch next to her husband. "What do you want to watch?"

"Maybe a comedy...but before we start, we were going to have the name talk, remember?"

She groaned. "But it's so hard to pick one! Shouldn't we wait and see if inspiration strikes in the moment?"

"What? No! I need a name! It's killing me!"

"Fine. What is at the top of your list?"

"I was thinking Morrison, but Aaliyah told me today that all M names belong to her. I don't see how she can take an entire letter of the alphabet, but my mum said to let her have it."

"Is she really thinking of having another? Micah, Meredith, and Melinda aren't enough?"

"I guess she wants her options open," he said sourly.

"We still have twenty-five other letters to choose from. How about Hank. You liked that the last time we talked about this."

"It's okay."

Clearly it wasn't okay, or he would have showed some enthusiasm. "Theo?" That was one of her personal favorites.

He shrugged. "Cute."

"But you don't love it?"

"If you do, then I'm happy with it."

She gave it some more thought. He'd liked Morrison because of the singer, so there had to be something else along that same line. "Oh! What if we name him Hendrix?"

He sat upright and bounced on the sofa cushions like a little boy. "That's perfect! I love it! Do you? Because you need to love it, too."

Taryn couldn't help but giggle at his excitement. "It's a fine name, and it's not too weird or trendy."

Shawn sat back and pulled her into his arms again. "Then it's decided. When we pick up our puppy next week, we'll call him Hendrix."