You Can Only Love Someone So Far//Avenged Sevenfold •M.Shadows•

Epilogue: The Sanders

It's been 3 months since Matt and I's wedding. We had a great honeymoon and we were all doing okay.

Everyone was currently at our house. And when I mean everyone, I mean everyone. It was Me, Matt, Brian, Jimmy, Johnny, Zack, Gena, Lacey, Michelle, Val, Jimmy's beloved 'duck', and a few of our other friends and Matt's parents.

It was a get together. It was now August. My plan that started at the wedding to get Brian and Michelle back together was working perfectly. They would go on dates every so often and acted like a couple. They were taking things slow.

Along with that though, I made really good friends with she and Val. They even joined Lacey, Gena, Leana, and I on a few girls nights. I wasn't worried about Val being Matt's exe. She was quite the opposite from the crazy bitch Anglea.

Speaking of, none of us have heard or seen from her, not since I ran into her at that gas station. Good, let's just try and keep it that way.

I was standing with Matt. We were talking to Zacky, Johnny, Lacey, Gena, Brian, Jimmy, Val, Leana, and Michelle. "So, have you thought about names?" Lacey asked us.

I shook my head. "You should name the kid Jimmy." Jimmy said. I laughed. "I don't think people are fond of girls being named Jimmy." I told him.

"Lacey's right though, we should start thinking about names." Matt said. I shrugged. I only had  5 months to go. Over the last 3 months I really got to know Matt's parents.

They were really great. His mom even took it upon herself to throw me a baby shower. As I stood next to Matt, I surveyed the backyard.

Surrounded by people I've only known for about 6 months. This was my family. My weird little family that cared and loved me, and I them.

Things were great. I was happy. I hoped that William James Ross and Carol Sue Ross could see that I was happy. And I hoped they were proud of me and all my successes, and the family I finally found after not having one for so long. They were my parents after all.

As I was thinking about my parents, an idea popped into my head. "I think I have an idea." I told Matt and the group of people that was around us, which now includes Matt's parents.

"What is it Delilah?" Matt and his mom asked me at the same time. I smiled. "I think I figured out a name for her." I said as I put a hand over my stomach. Matt, his parents, and everyone else around us smiled.

"What is it?" Val asked. My smile grew. Rosalyn...Rose or Ross for short." "Your maiden name." Matt smiled, understanding. I nodded. "Yes." I told him. "I think it's a nice a name. Rosalyn May Sanders." Matt added, making a middle name. I smiled.

"I think that's great." I told him. He kissed me cheek. "I can't wait to meet Rosalyn May." Jimmy said. I smiled. "Me neither."

***

And that was true. Fast forward 4 months later and Matt and I had our little girl. Rosalyn May Sanders. She was born a month early. She had a rough start in the beginning of her life but she pulled through miraculously.

She was the perfect mixture of both Matt and I. She had my nose, his hair color.

She was really something.

***

Now it was 2010, a few years later. Last year...wasn't easy for any of us. In December, 2009 we lost The Rev. We lost Jimmy.

I was torn. Everyone was. He was our friend, a part of our family. We never stopped talking about him. Never.

You can only love someone so far and forever...

Despite the sadness and the lost of Jimmy last year, I had gone to the doctors a few months ago. Guess who was having baby number 2.

Rosalyn was already 2. Man how time flies.

When I told Matt, he was through the roof. When we found out it was a boy, we named him William James Sanders. After my dad, but also Jimmy.

You just don't forget a person when they leave.

There was more good news, Michelle and Brian were getting married. Yay.

Life was good, and we thought about Jimmy everyday.

***

Around 2012-13, everyone in the band was now married. Not to each other because that would be weird.

But Brian had Michelle, Zacky had Gena, Johnny had Lacey, and I had Matt.

The band also welcomed their new drummer, Arin. He was nice and fit the band nicely. They were working on their next album. Hail to The King.

Kids grow up fast and I hated it. Rosalyn was now 5 and William was now 3. Matt and I also weren't gunna be the only ones with anklebiters anymore.

Gena and Zacky were set to have a kid, along with Johnny and Lacey, and Michelle and Brian.

Funny how things work out.

***

About 10 years later and the band had just released their 9th album. Life is but a Dream. After Hail to the King was released and they did their tour, Arin had to leave for personal reasons which was understandable, so Brooks Wackerman joined the band and has been in the band since.

The time flew. Rose was now 15. She asked us to stop calling her Rosalyn so we did. She looked at lot like me, but had Matt's smile, especially his dimples, and she had his eye color and his hair color.

Will on the other hand was 13. And let me tell you, I am so glad they weren't like me when I was a fucking teenager, that's for sure. He looked like Matt.

Around 2015 we had two more kids. Twins. I found it funny. We were friends with Michelle and Val and now we had twins.

A boy and a girl. Lily and Austin. They were 8 and were both a perfect mixture of Matt and I, Brian was teaching Lily and Will how to play guitar.

I was 34 and Matt was 42.

I still did my photography, and Syn, Zacky, Johnny and I had opened a place to teach kids how to play guitar and bass.

Despite the losses and the shit we've been through over the years, we made it. I made it. I persevered, survived all the bad shit and along the way I found my family.

I was happy. For the past 14 years I was happy and I new I would be in the future. This was my home and I loved my family.

We are the Sanders. And I honestly couldn't be fucking happier.

You can only love someone so far, always and forever.

The End

((There's an authors note after this :))