Tougher Than The Rest

Epilogue

SIX MONTHS LATER

Kim set the last of the napkins off to the side. Surely the hundreds she had strategically placed throughout the house would be enough, wouldn't it? Nope, knowing her boys it wouldn't be enough, which is why she had ordered the biggest box that was offered.

She sat the stack of plates beside the punch bowl, and messed about with the placement of the various bowls of party snacks. She wanted everything to be perfect for the boys, though that wasn't the reason she was so nervous. Not by a long shot, the boys were Ruzek's through and through and had yet to meet a party they didn't like.

They hadn't seen Kassidy's parents since their brief encounter at the cemetery, she had tried to see them numerous times since only to have something come up at last minute.

Kim was more than a little surprised when they rsvp'd that they'd be attending the twins birthday party.

She felt someone's presence behind her, she didn't have to turn around to know it was Adam, "Hey..baby and my baby boy."

Maverick was smiling from ear to ear, his chewie in the corner of his mouth drool trickling down his chin. He was in the throes teething, "Hi Mommy!" Adam altered his voice as he waved Mav's free hand.

She happily took her 'chunky monkey' from Adam, "Did you get a hold of Trudy? Are the kids behaving? How's Jason?" Her rapid fire questions left little room for Adam to respond.

"Darlin', take a breath. I did talk to Trudy. The kids are fine. Jason is fine. Please stop worrying, everyone is good."He kissed her forehead, "I've got to go on a beer run, you need me to pick anything up?"

Kim ran through the checklist in her head, "Oh, Yes! Will you pick up the cake and cupcakes?"

"Done. You want me to take him?" He tickled Maverick behind his ear, Maverick squirming in Kim's arms as he giggled. The giggle came from the very bottom of his belly and it was infectious.

"You sure?" She still needed to shower, Maverick going with Adam would make showering easier.

Adam grabbed him, " Absolutely."

Joy Bakersfield stood in front of the mirror, the last six months had aged her at least a decade. Kassidy's death had nearly destroyed her and her husband Donald. Joy knew if it hadn't been for their six year old daughter Katie she wouldn't have been able to get up each morning.

Don stood in the doorway, "We don't have to go, you know. One phone call is all it will take. They'd understand, sweetheart." Life for them had been tumultuous at best, burying your child was unnatural. They were flying blind on how to recover from such a devastating loss, he once joked that they should've been given a manual on how to deal with it.

He was only half joking.

She locked eyes with him in the mirror, "No, I want to do this. I want to see those sweet little boys and Harlow. Our baby girl loved them so much, all of them. Kim was always so good to her. Plus we haven't met the new baby." She had heard through the grapevine that it was a boy but beyond that she was clueless.

"Okay then. We will go." He wore a smile, "Katie will love it. I know she misses Harlow." He pulled Joy into his arms, "Just say the word and we will leave."