Genderfluid (A Cinderella Story)

Epilogue

Ten years had passed.

They had gathered for a reunion at the gravesite, heavy hearts and heavy minds. It was white marble, delecate, silver letters etched into the stone. The letter's color had faded a bit, much like the sunlight above them. Gray clouds had settled over the graveyard, lightning lighting the sky a few miles off. Thunder rumbled in the distance, but the rain wasn't there yet.

Darian had married a different girl, since he and Tina had broken up after graduation. They had one child. She had bright blonde and chestnut hair that fell to her waist in waves. Her eyes and skin were that of her blue eyed, pale skinned mother. Darian held her in his arms as he stared silently down at the grave.

Leelah and Brian had gotten married, her transition beautifully finished. She couldn't be happier, more in love with her husband and her life now, but here, in the graveyard, sadness weighed in her heart. They were in the middle of the adoption process, just as Adrianna and Maya were with their third child.

The two had agreed to adopt rather than try for children themselves. They had two boys, both of them strawberry blonde haired and black eyed. They had pale skin, like Maya did, and quiet demeanors like her as well. They were getting a girl next, a brown haired one with blue eyes. The girls held hands tightly, looking at Silver as he stood in front of the grave.

He held hands with a small child, no older than two, as the boy next to him knelt at the grave with tears streaming down his face.

"Dad," Eli said, "I'm sorry you didn't make it to see him," He said, turning back to Silver and his child. "This is Ricky, our baby boy..." He wiped his tears and beckoned the child over. Ricky smiled at his gender fluid parent with lips of ruby red. One of his eyes were green, the other blue. He had olive toned skin like his father, his hair a mix of dark brown and silver-blonde streaks.

"I love you, daddy," Eli whispered, hugging his child in his arms as he stood. "And I love you guys too... All of you."

And with that, each of the couples placed a rose of different colors on the grave of Eli's father, each of them tied with a ribbon for heart cancer awareness. The stone read:

In Loving Memory of Charles Turmeck, 1967-2015

Father

<- Husband

Best friend

The arrow next to the word husband pointed to Eli's mother's grave, for in his will, he wished to be buried next to the love of his life. When he died, Gertrude had picked up her children and left, seemingly vanishing off the face of the earth. Eli never was able to keep in touch with his youngest step sister, even though he searched for a way to get in contact again.

And in the end, Eli was married to the love of his life, surrounded by the friends he loved and all of the new "nieces" and "nephews" he now had. Life couldn't be better, and he couldn't be happier that Silver saved him back in high school.

Life really was worth living afterall.