Here I Come | ✔

Epilogue

Epilogue - Hide And Seek

Sunday, 17th December 2028

KRYSTALLIA

I sat on the swinging chair in the backyard as I read a book while watching Zach play with our three-year-old toddler.

So this is what a calm life feels like.

For the remainder of my college years, I didn't join in on the gang to focus on finishing school and getting my degree. Afterward, I didn't retire from the Crystal Undead but stepped back and let Kris run it completely without me. I would supervise from time to time, but mostly would let him and Mark make all the decisions without me.

I saved all the money I inherited from dad for emergencies and our child's funds if needed. Zach and I went with our plan and opened up a small company that...wasn't really small any more. We branched out across the country, earning a little too much for three people.

He proposed to me on the opening day of our company, a few weeks after my graduation. Our marriage happened a year later and we spent our honeymoon in Maldives.

We decided to hyphenate our last names, reason being we still wanted our own last names. I mean, come on, his name is Kingston and mine is Estrada. They both sound cool.

So now we're Zachary and Krystallia Kingston-Estrada.

We found out I was pregnant when I almost puked on him because that idiot of a husband didn't want to let me go in the morning. I knew almost immediately I was pregnant because I didn't really eat anything bad the night before and because...

I just knew. Mother's instinct, I guess.

We moved out after getting engaged into a house I wanted as a kid. A house surrounded by forests with a big field. I think our little one really likes it.

Now, with a husband and a child, I felt...content.

Zach is now thirty but didn't look a day past twenty-seven with his clean-shaven face. I didn't look any different from eight years ago other than my hair. I never dyed it again after the incident and kept it a little longer than shoulder length.

The scars always reminded me of who I was before but I wouldn't let my past come back and hurt my little one.

Of course, we had weapons, but they were sealed and locked away in safes and the weapons room in our room.

You know, just in case.

I may tell my kid about the past I left behind, but not now. In years' time.

I heard the doorbell ring and smiled as I got up from the chair, "Zach, Trey, they're here!"

"Alright," Zach answered and held our son's little hand, walking to me together.

"Mommy!" Trey ran to me and I crouched down, hugging him, "Hi, Trey."

"Mommy, daddy says we can go to Angel Land," he said and I smiled, looking at Zach, "Did he now?"

The same amusement park where everything went down was renovated and the business is booming. Even though the discovery of a body there had decreased the number of people going, it bounced back a few years later.

The mall though, they had demolished it after finding it completely trashed from the incident and now, a small street called Luna Lane had taken its place.

Trey nodded enthusiastically and I grinned, "Then let's go there with the others tomorrow, okay?"

He nodded again and I got up, taking his hand, "Come on, they're waiting."

Zach took his other hand and we walked inside the house together.

We saw Kris, KT, KT's wife Holly, and their children, Charles and Harriot.

KT and Holly met when I was in my last year and they got married soon after I graduated. Kris though, he said he doesn't want a relationship because he doesn't want to bother anyone with his DID, but I've seen the way he looked at the coffee shop owner down Luna Lane.

Zach and I have a bet going on that they'll be married before Trey turns five.

Trey immediately ran to his cousins while I hugged Holly and Zach hugged the twins.

We started talking about how life's been and Kris suddenly asked me a question, "How about a nostalgia trip?"

"What do you mean?"

"Lava Predator's in town. Tyson can look over the kids," I punched his arm lightly.

"You know I don't do that anymore," I said, "But sure. Just one night though."

He nodded, "Of course. Only one night to bust out the weapons rusting away on your wall."

I rolled my eyes just as Trey came, "Daddy, come play hide and seek."

Zach looked at me and I just smiled. He kissed me briefly before kneeling down to his height, "Alright then. Go hide with your cousins and I'll come find you."

"Okay," Trey ran off with his cousins and Zach looked at me as he mentally counted down twenty seconds.

When the time was up, he kissed me again before walking away.

"Are you ready? Ready or not, here I come!"

END