Epilogue
17 years later...
The sound of shoes squeaking on the hard wood floor echoes through out the stadium. I watch a light brown haired boy in particular as he sprints up and down the court sporting the number 24 on his back. "Run it! Run it!" Blake shouts to him from the sidelines, holding a clipboard in hand. Achilles, who plays for the Oklahoma Sooners, is competing in the NCAA finals. Blake is now a head coach to the Sooners. We've come so far, it wasn't easy, but we're here. Three years after Achilles was born we birthed one more baby, a little girl who we named, Aminah Rose. She's also an avid basketball player, thanks to her dad for starting her out early. She's actually into quite a few sports. When it's not basketball it's Volleyball that's her go to sport. "Mom." Blaine, my beautiful curly haired daughter, who also attends OU, brings me back to reality. She also has a knack for sports, but she's our bookworm. Her main goal is to get a Masters Degree. "Yeah?" I ask. "Are you okay?" She asks.
"Yes, why? What?"
"Nothing. You were just zoning out. They're at the other end of the court. Stop looking at dad like that in front of us, blech."
"I can admire my husband whenever I want. Don't tell me what to do. I'm the parent."
"For once, I totally agree with Blaine mom. Stop." Aminah chimes in.
"You hush. One day, you'll know what it is to stare at your life partner of 20+ years, but for now, shut up. And let me have my moment."
"I'm telling dad you told me to shut up." Aminah threatens.
"Tell him." I give her an overly emphasized evil laugh. She rolls her eyes in annoyance.
The Sooners win the championship. We celebrate with a fancy dinner after the game. Today it's just really hitting me that we're here right now. Our kids are growing up and soon they're not going to need us anymore. It's just weighing heavy on my mind. My son won a college championship, my daughter is already a sophomore in college, our youngest is a freshman in high school. I observe the strong bond that my kids have, something I never had. They call each other names and joke around. They talk to each other, giving one another advice. The closest I ever had to this was with Nicki and Desi. I can only imagine how it is to have that.
Later that night after arriving home from the dinner I sit at the edge of the bed and kick off my shoes. "What's wrong?" Blake asks as he stands in the doorway of the closet, taking his tie off. "Nothing." I lie. "Aaliyah... After all these years you think I don't know when you're lying. Tell me what's on your mind. You've been quiet all night." He says. "It's just, we're getting up there. Blaine, Achilles, they're both out of the house. What are we going to do when Aminah leaves?" My voice starts to break. Blake walks over and sits beside me on the bed. "It'll be okay. We have each other." He wraps his arm around me and squeezes. "What if we're bored of each other? What if we don't have anything to talk about anymore?" I'm now full on crying. "I could never be bored of your craziness. Everything is going to be okay. I promise. We'll figure something out. But that's a long ways from now, let's just stay in the present and deal with that later." He gives me a kiss on the forehead. "And it's not like our kids are going to stay away for good. I know Aminah isn't. She's our baby baby. Stop freaking out." He chuckles. "No, you're right. I don't just seeing Achilles accomplish this big mile stone really hit me. Made me think of how far we came as a couple. There were so many times where we should have given up but we stayed strong. Together." I smile at the thought. "And we're going to continue to be strong together, like always. We're in this together. Always. Forever ever."
