As It Was (COMPLETED) (wattys2023)

Epilogue

10 Years Later

I had just walked in through the front door of my house after a long, exhausting day at the gallery when I caught a blown up, pixelated mug shot of my older brother on my flat screen across the room.

As usual, I'd been in a hurry this morning to get the kids off to spend the day with my mother-in-law I hadn't even bothered to try and clean up the mess they'd left behind. It hadn't been until I leaned down to pick up my son's toy train that I saw Clark, or more importantly the headline beneath it.

Death Row inmate Clark Rodgers found dead in cell hour before execution

A guttural sob broke free and I had to grasp the arm of the couch to keep myself from collapsing to the ground completely. I couldn't figure out if it was out of shock, relief, or horror. Ten years I'd been forced to live with the knowledge that my warped brother was sitting in that cell, alive, while my ex-boyfriend, friends, and dozens of others had become fertilizer.

"Mommy!" A chorus of squeals tore through the agonizing silence, and I didn't have a chance to process what I'd just heard and seen before my two and three year old were sending me toppling over on to the couch.

"Genny." I said, kissing my daughter's forehead, then looked to my son. "Jace."

They squeezed the life out of me as Felicity made her way to us from the door. The second her eyes fell on the TV screen, she looked to seventeen-year-old AJ over her shoulder. He was so busy texting he didn't see her right away but must have felt her eyes burning into him because he sighed, tucked his phone in his pocket and said, "Come on, you little nuggets."

Neither of my kids had to be told twice, they zoomed after their uncle down the hallway to their room. Felicity waited until the door had shut to reach for the remote on our coffee table and shut the TV off. She swiped her dark hair off her forehead, blue eyes narrowed at me. "There's no need for you to be watching this right now, Everly."

I leaned forward on the couch, elbow digging into my thighs. "Ten years of trauma, flashbacks, horrific memories, and he's just. . . gone. And I hate that there's. . . there's this part of me that's hurting over it. I should be relieved."

"He was your brother before he was a monster, honey." Felicity responded immediately, sitting on the couch beside me. "And I don't think a lot of people understand that. Including you."

"All I want is a change, for it to stop. I've tried non-stop for ten years to put an end to it. To have control, better security, get the AR's off the streets." I whispered. "But every time I get my babies dressed and ready for daycare, I think to myself if it'll be the last time I see them. And I know that this will be something in the back of my head until they're out of school. Because nothing has changed!"

My mother-in-law reached out and grasped my shoulder. "It has, Everly. Gradually, but progress has been made. And because of all you've done, we can start to see an end in sight."

I rose, wanting to argue more, but Jace raced back into the room, his mess of dark blonde hair falling into his eyes once he was able to skid to a stop in front of me. Seeing my expression and tears in my eyes, my three-year-old hugged my legs and asked, "You ok, Mommy?"

I fell into a crouch and buried my hand in his hair, before nodding and forcing a smile. "Yeah, Jacey. I'm okay."

Maybe if I continued to tell myself that enough I'd believe it.

He looked skeptical of my words, but leaned forward and hugged me anyway. I clutched him to my chest, squeezing him until he and Genesis were all that was on my mind.