Who?

Epilogue:What Are You Thankful For?

I smiled at her, too happy to do much but hug her. What else are you supposed to do when you find out you get a third child from the only girl you have loved your whole entire life?

We had made it to Alaska! We had been married for seven years and here for nine. Now we lived in a small town on the Kenai Peninsula called Nikiski. We had two kids. We were in touch with my family and her brothers. We had left a note for them to find about us eloping, but we were still kind of scared they would force us to come back. So, we waited until we were both nineteen to call them up and tell them where we were and that we were getting married. Sam and Jake were pissed at first but then happy. My parents were prepared to come up and kick my ass. Well, until I told them we were getting married. Then my mom was too happy to be mad and my dad couldn’t even get a word in the rest of the phone call.

They all came up for the wedding which turned out to be a perfect disaster. Our new friends got along pretty well with our old ones and Ethan even started dating Ally’s friend, Sasha. They were married now with a set of twins on the way.

Now, I kissed my beautiful wife. I still haven’t found any batter feeling than the one of her body pressed against mine, even fully clothed.

We broke apart when something crashed to the floor, shattering. I was first one there to see Paul, named after Ally’s dad, standing over broken glass that was once a vase full of flowers. I picked him up, getting him away from the glass.

I stood him in a corner and then went back to the kitchen. Ally was already practically done sweeping it up. She made an almost inaudible squeak when she picked up the flowers. She put them in a new vase before looking at her finger. I went and stood behind her, seeing she was bleeding. It was probably from one of the thorns on the roses. She rinsed her hand under cold water.

I said, “I told you we should have taken the thorns off.”

She shook her head, “No, they remind me of myself.”

I asked, “How?”

She said, “I smell nice and look nice, but I have a sharp point that if you can’t stand you walk away, picking a different flower.”

I smiled, “You think of yourself as a rose. It amazes me that even to this day there are still things I don’t know about you.” She chuckled and I kissed her finger where the thorn had pricked her.

She smiled, “I know exactly what you mean.” There was a knock on the door as she finished her sentence.

I begged, “Can I tell them, please?”

She chuckled, “At dinner. You can wait until then, can’t you?”

I pouted, “I guess.” She pecked my lips then went to get the door. I smacked her ass on the way making her look back at me with a raised brow. I held my hands up in a way that was supposed to symbolize, ‘what are you going to do?’ making her chuckle. She continued to go get the door, getting Paul out of the corner on the way so he could help greet them. She opened the door as they knocked again. It was Jake, Ethan, Sasha and Jake’s wife, (her name was Kasey) as well as their kids.

Paul jumped right into Sasha’s arms, “Auntie Sasha!” He loved her because she played with him a lot.

The kids all ran in and Ally called, “Stay out of the kitchen.” Jake and Ethan hugged her at the same time making her laugh. She said, “Come on in, it is freezing outside.” They all nodded in agreement, rushing in. It was about ten degrees Fahrenheit today. It was pretty normal for November though. Sasha and Kasey went with Ally passed me to the kitchen to help cook. You have to love Thanksgiving.

Us boys gathered around our TV to watch the Lions get killed by the Green Bay Packers. Packers were my team, and Lions suck. Just accept it. Craig came from downstairs and sat on my lap. He was my youngest son at 4 years old. He enjoyed watching the game though and that is all that mattered. I kissed the side of his head.

Allison came in a few minutes later. She passed beers around and I realized more people had shown up. Now Sam was here along with Beau and Jordyn. Their wives were probably in the kitchen. Well, except for Jordyn. He always had thanksgiving with us since he didn’t have anyone else to celebrate it with. She handed me one last and I smiled in thanks.

She said, “Enjoying the game, Craig?” He looked up at her, noticing she was there and then nodded. He was pretty quiet and always had been. It worried Ally. We had figured out it was because he was slightly autistic about a month ago. He couldn’t hang out with kids his own age unless it was Paul. And even then it was hardly ever. So we had been doing things with him more often. She asked, “Do you want to keep watching it or come in and help me cook dinner?” He held his arms up waiting for her to pick him up. She did smiling, “Awesome. I didn’t know if we could do it without you.” She walked back into the kitchen again.

Sam asked me, “How’s it going?”

I shrugged, “As good as ever.”

He asked, “I was talking about with Craig.” I realized that none of them knew yet so I briefly explained what the doctor said.

Jake said, “That’s tough.” I nodded. Jordyn stood up and disappeared into the kitchen. I remembered that he worked with autistic kids at the hospital. Maybe he could help him out.

Allison Billson:

Everyone was done eating. The kids had run off playing and the rest of us adults had joined in the living room. Craig was sitting on Jayden’s shoulders watching everyone move about. Everyone else was talking loudly.

Sasha said, “Let’s do our thankful lists!” We all nodded in agreement and she started, “I’m thankful for Jayden and Ally, for hooking me up with my fiancé, and -.” She only made it that far as everyone realized what she said.

I hit Ethan’s shoulder who was sitting next to me, “You didn’t tell me!”

He laughed, pulling Sasha down on his lap, “She wanted to be the one to tell everyone.” He nuzzled her neck making her giggle. We continued in a circle. We finally reached Jayden.

Jayden raised a wine glass to me, “I’m thankful for my beautiful wife and two sons. I’m thankful for everyone here and even the ones not.” He looked up towards the ceiling indicating he meant the ones in heaven. He continued, “I’m thankful that our time hasn’t run out yet and we are all on this earth. I’m especially thankful for the baby girl that is in her belly right now.” Everyone looked excitedly at me.

Violet asked, “You’re pregnant again?” She was grinning. I nodded and everyone congratulated us. In the midst of all this I only heard one voice.

Craig said, “I’m thankful for my family.” He was looking at his pet tiger which he had named Monkey. I couldn’t help but smile at him. Although I was worried about him since I had grown up and am still living with a disorder, I knew everything would work out.

I’m thankful for my family. 

The Final End! Such a sweet ending!