How To Play The Game.

epilogue - part three

TWO YEARS LATER

Michael rang the doorbell of his own house, nervously rocking back and forth on his feet. Luke answered the door after a moment, giving him a big smile.

"Hey, you made it!" He yelled, pulling Michael inside. Luke quickly looked Michael up and down. "Wow, you look so nice, I feel underdressed."

"I came straight from my business trip, I'm gonna go upstairs and change right now." Michael said, he handed the gifts in his hands to Luke, hoping that he would take them to wherever Jack's other birthday presents had been stacked up.

"You're going upstairs?" Luke questioned.

"Yeah." Michael nodded, biting down on his bottom lip.

"Lily's in the kitchen with Sam, they're frosting the cake." Luke said, glancing around with a panicked look on his face. "I'll just distract her."

"Okay, thanks." Michael nodded and ran up the stairs, hoping that he could get changed quickly enough.

He walked down the hallway and into the bedroom, ignoring the fact that Lily had throw her clothes all over the floor and left the whole room a total mess. Michael quickly changed into a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, kicking his gross work clothes to the side and adding to the pile Lily had already made.

Michael fixed up his hair once more before leaving the room. As he was walking down the hall again he heard a noise from one of the other rooms and walked into it instead of just going downstairs.

"Daddy!" His daughter screamed as he walked into the room, probably loud enough for everyone downstairs to hear.

Michael rushed over to the crib and picked up the one year old, kissing all over her face. He missed his baby, it felt like it'd been so long since he'd gotten to see her.

"Hi, Libby." Michael smiled, kissing the tip of her nose. "Hi. Hi, baby."

Libby was a nickname for Elizabeth, even though they hadn't called her that since the day she was born. It started when Jack couldn't pronounce her name when he was visiting his little sister in the hospital and the nickname caught on from there.

"Hi." Libby smiled, tugging on the ends of Michael's hair.

"Were you just taking a nap?" Michael asked, even though he knew Libby probably wouldn't answer him. She wasn't nearly as talkative as Jack was at this age. "Did you sleep okay?"

Libby nodded, just as Michael expected. He carried his daughter out of her bedroom and back downstairs, knowing that the party would soon be starting.

"Did you miss me while I was gone, Pumpkin?" Michael asked, poking one of Libby's chubby cheeks. "I bet you did."

He walked into the kitchen, where Lily and Sam were busy getting things together for Jackson's birthday party. Luke was in the kitchen too, dancing around the room with his four year old daughter Allison, who he and Sam had adopted about two years before.

"Oh, hey!" Lily looked up at Michael when he walked in the room, and he couldn't tell if she was excited or annoyed that he was there. They'd gotten in a fight over the phone the night before and Michael was afraid that things were still going to be tense between them.