Good Boy, Bad Girl

Epilogue

Oh my god, the final chapter! Thank you all so much for reading this story! I'm so grateful to everyone who's read. I hope you enjoy the epilogue!

15 Years Later

"Happy birthday Hope!"

My seven year old daughter grins widely and blows out her seven candles with one blow. Her eyes - just as green as her mother's - close as she makes her wish, and I can see her whispering her dreams in her mind as she does so.

As soon as her eyes open everyone cheers and claps, and her best friend, Nate Stone, runs up to her and pulls her off her chair. "Come on, Hope, let's play with your new toys!"

Hope nods, beaming, and she and Nate run off together towards the pile of presents in the corner of the garden.

"Nate is so much like Mel, it's funny to watch," Angel says, laughing, as we watch our daughter hand Nate a figurine. I nod, smiling, and look towards Mel and Taylor. They're sitting with their daughter, Cassia, as she eats a cupcake. (I still need to thank Lilia for baking all of them, actually.)

"That's true. Cassia's a lot like Taylor, though." I muse, and Angel nods.

"That's also true. Not exactly like you'd expect, considering Cassia was the one named after Mel's side."

When Taylor and Mel had Nate, they came to an agreement - he'd be named Nate, after Taylor's father, and his middle name would be Mel's father's name. A few years later they had a baby girl, and agreed that she'd be named for Mel's mother and her middle name would be the name of Taylor's mother, Theresa.

Hope's middle name is Lilia, in case you were wondering. Hope Lilia Jameson.

"Hope's a lot like her namesake, too." Angel says quietly, a small smile on her face. "She looks like you, but she's just like my sister."

"I don't know about her looking at me. How does literally every Harry Potter character put it again? Ah, yes; you have your mother's eyes."

Angel elbows me in the ribs gently. "Maybe, but our daughter doesn't have a scar on her forehead yet and I'm hoping it stays that way."

I snort. "Hey, she may act like Hope but she's got your adventurous streak. If we don't keep a close eye on her she'll get scars everywhere."

"Well, I'm not controlling her fully. She needs to see the world for herself. But I'm still not letting her get a scar on her forehead."

"Fair enough." I grin, and Angel grins back. Our gazes turn towards Hope and Nate, who've left the presents alone and are playing tag. We're interrupted by a voice. "Mind if I sit here?" We look and see a fifty five or so year old man (I can never remember) standing by a chair next to Angel.

"Dad!" Angel smiles brightly. "Of course!"

Angel's father sits next to her, and smiles contentedly. "She's growing so fast."

"I know," Angel sighs wistfully. "Before long she'll discover the internet. We'll have to trick her into even leaving her room."

Angel's dad and I laugh together, and she smiles more at that than anything else. After about a year or so of getting help for his depression Angel's dad finally realised that he had a family outside of Hope (the original) and upon finding out what his wife had done to his remaining daughter he felt so guilty for not helping he asked immediately to see Angel so he could apologise.

She forgave him pretty quickly, even though there was a lot of awkwardness, and their relationship was fixed in almost no time. For the first and only time, though, Mel, Taylor and I were much less inclined to forgive than Angel, and I only really accepted how sorry he was for letting Angel go through that after baby Hope was born, mainly because I didn't want her to grow up in a family with no grandparents. It's not like my parents are eager to see us, and the day I let Angel's mother get near her is the day hell freezes over.