Broken Descent (Bruno Mars)

Epilogue

"Wh-what?" Charlotte stuttered.

Bruno began scrolling and tapping through his phone. He left her room for a second to go find Kim. When he found her in the kitchen, she had a look of concern.

"Is Charlotte okay?"

"Listen," Bruno said. "I need to do something for her. I know I've been difficult lately, but it's really important."

Bruno discussed his plans with Kim, and she took them easier than expected, especially since it was a last minute decision. Giving her a kiss, he went into their bedroom to pack a bag for himself. Charlotte stood in the middle of her room, hesitating before opening her dresser drawers. A half hour passed and Charlotte returned to the kitchen with her suitcase and a look of pure confusion.

"Got everything?" Bruno asked, with his own suitcase at his feet.

"Dad what are we doing? I have school tomorrow...my project is due in a few days."

"This is part of your project. This is more important."

At the airport, Bruno stood in line with Charlotte, waiting to get the tickets.

"Where are we going?" Charlotte asked. "Can I know that, at least?"

As soon as Bruno was about to answer, it was time for them to step up and check their bags.

"Alright," the woman behind the desk said, weighing the bags and finishing the transaction. "Two tickets to Charlotte. Enjoy your flight."

"Charlotte?" She asked.

"That's your name. Don't wear it out," Bruno joked.

Looking at her confused face, Bruno sighed.

"Be patient."

It was a long flight, but luckily they both fell asleep for the majority of it since it was a Red-Eye. They checked into the hotel just to settle in and unpack a bit. Bruno grabbed his keys with Charlotte walking beside him. They walked a few blocks, admiring the tall buildings and sunshine.

"Dad we can do this at home...I don't...understand..."

"I'm showing you where you were born."

Charlotte looked ahead and down the street. She looked left and right and then left again and then right again.

"Where's the hospital?" she asked, three times as they continued to walk.

Bruno finally stopped. His hype died down a bit when he turned to face her.

"Charlotte you weren't..." Bruno said, taking a breath. "Honey you weren't born in a hospital."

"So you..." Charlotte whimpered. "So you lied to me?"

"Sweetheart I didn't want to lie...but you started asking questions when you were really little...and the story wasn't...isn't a pretty one...it's not a fairy-tale...but I had to make it more of a fairy-tale because I didn't want to hurt you."

Bruno noticed that the news upset and quieted her down.

"I'm going to tell you the real story now. You're old enough...and you deserve the truth, okay?"

"Okay," she smiled weakly. Okay."

"Some things I said were true, though. Me and Phil were at a club down the street...and we took a break outside...out here. It was snowing like crazy and we couldn't leave the city because no planes were leaving the airport. It was such a...a...a special night...it doesn't snow like that here too often. It was so cold out."

Bruno looked up at the tall buildings, remembering how cold and annoyed he felt that night to be trapped.

"We walked over here," Bruno said pointing to the sidewalk across the street...and we heard something...we heard something moving...near the garbage cans. I moved toward the sounds of the noises...and your crying."

Charlotte gasped.

"I picked you up and held you...and you were so cold that you were shaking. I went with Phil to the hospital. We moved fast and ran into the emergency room. I've never run so fast in my life. Phil went back to the hotel that night...but I couldn't...I had to stay with you. I mean...you were all alone...and so little."

"Like a peanut..." Charlotte smiled.

"Like a peanut...smaller than your brothers were, like I've told you. You were small because you were really, really hungry...and you were sick because you were outside for a long time right after you were born."

"So...it's not that my real parents couldn't take care of me...they just didn't want to?"

Bruno sighed, thinking for a little while. "Well...Charlotte I don't know if we'll ever know about that. I hate what they did to you, right after they brought you into this world, but I love that I'm your dad...I love being your dad more than anything. The doctors told me, and one even encouraged me, to just let the state put you into the foster system and with a foster family...but I wanted more for you...I wanted you to have everything you needed. I wanted to make sure you were safe and I wanted to make sure that you were loved...because I loved you and I wanted to take care of you...so, so bad."

"I guess that's all that matters," Charlotte shrugged, with a smirk.

Charlotte looked at Bruno as he nodded and then lunged into his chest.

"You really are a superhero," she said, her voice muffled into him.

Bruno kissed the side of her head. He rocked her back and forth, feeling her head nod. He turned his head to the side a bit to look and think about the alley where he met his once, four-pound, four-day-old, scared, cold, and hungry little peanut. Bruno pulled her away for a second to refresh his images to the present, to see his smart little girl so grown up that she almost surpassed his height. Soon enough, she'd deal with boyfriends and think about her own aspirations. When this thought crossed his mind, he gently rubbed her arms and smiled.

"So listen..." Bruno said. "I had a meeting...and I'm going to go back into the studio to record my own music."

"Really?" Charlotte gasped.

"Yep...and then I'm going to go on tour...and I want to take you and Madison, and Kim, and your brothers with me. What do you think of that?"

"That sounds amazing!" Charlotte exclaimed, jumping up and down.

Bruno laughed a bit. "I'm gonna be working really hard to push out a new album as fast as I can, and then if I can do that then we'll start the tour in about a year and a half."

Charlotte nodded and squealed. They stood there for a moment.

"You're still gonna have little moments when you might be curious about certain things...or when people ask you questions. It's all part of the journey and the adventure. We just gotta push forward and take things step-by-step. I'm gonna help you and you're gonna help me in case I lose my mind."

Charlotte giggled a bit, grabbing his hand so they could walk further down the street to explore more of the city.

"You might be older now and almost taller than me, but-" Bruno began to speak.

"I am taller than you," Charlotte interrupted, laughing even more. "It's not fair that you have like five inches of afro...hey can we get pizza somewhere?"

"Certain are never gonna change..." Bruno finished, grinning and kissing her head once more. "You are one-thousand percent...my daughter."

A/N: You made it! I made it! We all made it to the end of Broken Descent, but have no fear because there is a sequel! Thank you so, so much for reading, voting, and/or commenting...seriously thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!

Bruno and Charlotte's journey will continue in the sequel called... 

Onward Journey