It Was Always You

Epilogue

The sun was shining brightly, and the birds started chirping as Mila slowly walks through the marked graves in the cemetery. She holds a bouquet of Lilly's in one hand and a photo frame in the other. Today was a special day for her and she was not going to cry.

As she passes the headstones and statues of angels, she finally reaches her destination. She stops in front of a marble stone and tries her best to kneel down as she held her swollen belly. She was six months pregnant, and she just found out the sex of the baby. She sighs in relief as she sat down. She looks at the marble headstone and like she always read the inscription:

Cale Arthur Johnstone

Born Jan. 13th 1941 - Died Sept. 16th 2013.

A loving husband, father, grandfather and great grandfather

"Papa" You will always be missed.

Tears well up in her eyes. "Hey papa, just thought I come by and say hi." She whispers.

She lays the flowers on top of the grave. "Happy Birthday."

She takes the framed photo and looks at it. It was the ultrasound of the gender. She laughs. "You know, I felt like you were there with me when we found out today. I knew you were. I love and miss you so much." She breathes deeply, wiping the tears away from her face.

"It's hard not having you around but I know you're watching down on us. You'll always be around; I just wish I could talk to you." She holds up the photograph. "It's a girl."

She smiles at it. "Me and Jared couldn't be more happy about it. I just wish she could have met you. I know she would have loved you as much as I do."

She places the photo down next to the picture of her and Jared at their wedding with Cale next to her, all smiling.

"Mama!" A little boy's voice calls out and she turns to watches the little four year old running towards her.

A look of pure love washes over her face. "Over here love." She calls out to him.

"Cale slow down before you trip and fall!" Jared yells as he walks up from behind the boy.

When the boy doesn't listen Jared sprints after him and grabs him up in his arms. Little Cale Squeals with glee as Jared comes over with their laughter in the air. Mila laughs at them with their antics. They both sit down next to her.

Their son looked dead on like Jared except for the eyes, they were completely hers. Jared kisses her on the temple as Cale squirms in his lap for a moment then got up and kissed the headstone. "Love ya papa." he says in his childlike voice, then sits back down in his father's lap.

They look at the pictures that were placed there. There was one of Mila at the hospital holding baby Cale when he was first born along with Jared and Cale himself, then the one that Jared's mom had taken a long time ago where the two men stood facing the sunset. Another where Cale had little Cale thrown up in the air, and another where little Cale was just two years old, and they had both fallen asleep in the chair.

Jared looks at his wife and turns her face to look at him. He leans his forehead against hers, "It's been almost a year, and I still find it hard to believe he's gone." She whispers to him.

"I know, it's hard for me too but we have each other to lean on and as long as we tell our children about him, he'll always be around." He kisses her softly and they both hear a giggle.

They look down at their son staring at them with a shy face. They both laugh. Jared picks him up and stands. "Come on munchkin, we need to get going. Still got to pick up Shasta for the fair tonight." he says as he helps her stand as well.

"How is she doing?" Mila asks him, knowing he treated Shasta like she was his own daughter.

He sighs heavily. "As expected. Kristan was never really there for her, only using her as a pawn for her own gain. She'll be alright though. She has us, her dad, and now her new stepmom who adores her like crazy. To be honest I don't think she's all that broken up that her own mother abandoned her."

Once Jared married Mila, Kristan couldn't find excuses to have the two of them spend along time together. She never stopped the insults against her and many times have tried to get Jared in compromising situations that never panned out for her. It wasn't until Cale was born that she finally got the hint that Jared was never going to choose her.

It only took nine years.

But once Evan met Isabel and fell completely in love with her did Kristan started to really act out. She tried her hardest to make their life a living hell by throwing Evan into court for custody battle to get Shasta. But Evan and Jared were filthy rich and hired the best lawyers money could buy.

Kristan didn't stand a chance.

Once Evan married Isabel, who completely loved him and his daughter, Kristan up and left without saying a word to anyone on where she was going.

All they knew was that she ran off with some rich married man. She sent signed papers to Evan's address where she had given him full custody of their daughter and that was the last anyone has heard from her.

That was four months ago.

He frowns at her. "You know, now that we know we're having a girl, you seem awfully big."

Mila socks him dead in the arm and gave him a dirty look. "Ow! What? It's true, I'm not calling you fat, you look sexy as hell with my kid in you, but you weren't as big with Cale as you are with this one."

She smiles. "They always say you show more with the second one, besides she's going to be a strong one, I can tell. Also, this time around I get to experience my pregnancy with Sel's. And we're both having girls. She and Ian are going to be the best parents." She rubs her belly.

Jared wraps his arm around her shoulders and pulls her closer to him as they walk back to their car. "Well, in any case I hope our little girl is more like you and Cale's more like me because when those teenage years come..."

Mila laughs good heartedly as she watches her husband's face go pale at the thought.

The End.