Maximum Ride : A Second Forever

Epilogue : Three Years Later

I knew that the day would come. I never knew how I would tell her, but then Angel pointed out the reason that I wrote these books in the first place: to remember, and to share the story. So when the day came, and Phoenix asked that fateful question, I knew exactly how to answer.

We were at the beach, and the boys were swimming. Phoenix and I were laying in the sand, tanning, when she spoke.

"Mom?"

"Yes, sweetheart?"

"What happened before?"

My heart jumped a little.

Uh.

I knew that she would ask it soon, but I was still surprised.

"What do you mean, 'before?'"

She sounded annoyed. "You know, before. You always talk with dad about before. What was it like?"

I sighed. "Okay, Phoenix," I said, standing up. "I have to show you something."

My head began to throb. It's time, said the Voice. She needs to know.

Nice hearing you, Voice. Long time, no headache.

It's time, Max.

"Fang!" He looked up, slightly concerned. "I'll be back, I have to show Phoenix something." Angel whipped around and thought to me. It's time? I nodded, and she smiled.

"Let's go." And we took off.

We landed back at the village, and I proceeded to ransack my room. Come on. Where is it?

"Uh, mom? Are you finally going crazy, like Iggy always said you would?"

"No, I just can't..." I looked under my bed. "Found it," I said. Pulling the crate out, I opened it and saw every volume, from The Angel Experiment all the way through Forever. I pushed the box at Phoenix and smiled.

"You ready to learn some her-story?"