mercy ; peter ballard

epilogue. i know the end

may 27, 1988
almost a year after the end.

peter next to bea, watching as she fed their baby her bottle. they both sat with their backs against the headboard of the bed. peter looked at her with admiration as she whispered to her daughter.

"mom! we need help with this stupid recipe!" a voice shouted from downstairs.

bea chuckled at will's words, looking up at her husband. "a mother's work is never done."

she places the bottle on the nightstand and swings her legs off the bed.

peter holds out his hands towards his daughter. "here. you go help them. i'll check on sawyer then we'll meet you downstairs in a bit."

bea carefully places elodie in his arms. once, she saw she was comfortable, she removed her grasp. she places a kiss on elodie's head then she looked to her loving husband. she couldn't believe how lucky she was to have him. she kissed peter's cheek.

"i love you, peter."

"i love you, too, bea," he said, cheeks turning pink. even after all this time, she could still make him blush.

"hurry, mom! eddie's fucking shit up!" will shouts, panicked.

"shut up the fuck up, will!" eddie shouts back.

suddenly, a crash sounds from the kitchen. bea runs out of the room. "nobody touch anything until i get down there!"

peter chuckles looking down at elodie. she was the perfect mix of her parents. she had the same dark green eyes and the smallest tuff of brunette hair sawyer had when he was newly born. she looked up to her father, studying his face.

peter brought his hand into view and her tiny, chubby hands grabbed at his bigger fingers. he looked at her in awe as she played with his hand. he remembered when sawyer was this age. he was always looking around with his big green eyes. now he waddled around, causing havoc with his brothers when he wasn't napping or chilling with his parents.

"let's go check on your brother, huh?" he whispered to the gleeful child.

he carefully opened the door to sawyer's room, carrying the smallest child in his left arm. sawyer popped up from his bed, rubbing his eyes, having napped for two hours.

"come on, sawyer," peter encourages him. "will and eddie are making your favorite cake!" he looks down at his daughter, whispering to her, jokingly, "at least trying to."

"cake!" sawyer shouts, reaching for his father from the crib. peter carefully bends down, picking him up and carrying him on his right hip.

peter groans. "someone's growing!"

peter makes his way downstairs with sawyer messing with his hair. at the bottom of the stairs, peter places sawyer on the floor and allows him to run free. he follows the sound of his wife's voice to the kitchen.

"alright, you guys are all set now. i think next time i'll help you. i mean how do you mix up limes with lemons? it is literally in the name of the cake. it's lemon cak- oh, hello, dear!" she says, noticing her husband and daughter. "is sawyer up?"