Moonlit Awakening

Epilogue

Three years later...

Liam

"Dad!" Alexander exclaims, "Where's mom?"

"She's coming," Liam answers, "she's a bit slow."

"Liam!" Alice yells, "I'm pregnant, not slow! You try walking around with two watermelons in your stomach!" She comes waddling out of the house, seemingly out of breath.

"Are you okay, my love?" He reaches out to try and comfort her.

"Don't touch me!"

Margaret comes out of the house with Ryker in her arms. "Alice, Ryker's been asking for you."

"I...I..." Alice goes back inside again, too overwhelmed to say anything.

Liam sighs. "I'll go talk to her," Margaret says softly. She heads back inside.

"Dad?" Alexander asks, "Is mom okay? Why'd she go back inside?"

"She's okay, buddy," he answers, "she's just a bit overwhelmed right now."

"I'll go check on her!" He runs into the house before Liam can stop him.

Alice

"Alice," Margaret asks, "what's wrong?"

She sniffles, too upset to say anything at first. "I...I...d...don't know how to..." she whispers, while hiccuping, "How am I supposed to Alexander what happened to me?"

"Dear, why are you worrying about that right now?"

She sniffles again, wiping her tears away. "A...Alexander, he's b...been asking about...about his...his..."

"Father?" She nods her head. "My dear, you don't need to tell him what happened to you."

"I...can't keep who his father is from him! He wants to meet him! I can't tell him that he's in prison!"

Margaret pales. "Alice..."

"If I tell him that, he'll want to know what he did and I can't tell him! I can't tell him that...that his father raped me!"

"Alice!"

"What?" Margaret points at something behind her. Alice turns around, the color in her face drains when she sees Alexander standing behind her.

"M...mom?" he whispers, "My dad...he...he..."

Alice freezes, unable to move or comfort her son. "Alexander, come here," Margaret states. She holds her hands out to him. "Alexander, your mom loves you so much. She doesn't blame you for what your father did."

"How could she love me?" he whimpers, "he hurt her."

"Yes, he did and he's paying for what he did to her right now." He looks troubled. "Alexander, what's on your mind?"

"Mom...does she...does she love Ryker more than me?"

Alice's eyes bulge out of her head in surprise. "A...Alexander..." she whispers, "I...I...I don't...I mean...I..." Her eyebrows furrow in confusion.

"Alexander," Margaret says, "your mom loves you just as much as Ryker and just as much as the babies she's pregnant with now, okay? Don't you ever doubt that. Sit down, Alexander. I'm going to tell you about your mom's childhood."

Alice pales even more before leaving the room in a hurry. Alexander begins to cry. "She...she left!"

"Shh, don't cry, dear. Her childhood is very difficult for her to talk about. That's why she left, not because of you or because of what happened to her before you were born."