Book 1: You Could Be Mine (Izzy Stradlin FanFic)

Epilogue

He was sitting on the back porch, his dark eyes fixed on the setting sun. His jet black hair was being blown back slightly by the wind, exposing his thin face to me even more. He seemed to be lost in thought. Perhaps he was recounting his glory days as the rhythm guitarist of Guns N Roses, or maybe he was recalling the struggles of battling addiction. Maybe he was thinking how lucky he was to have had so many chances in life to start over. Chances to get clean, to return to his band, to make his own band, and to snag the girl of his dreams.

After years of marriage, I still yearned to know what was hidden behind that mysterious gaze.

I heaved myself up from the door frame and sauntered up to him, placing a hand on his shoulder. He seemed startled at first, being ripped from his thoughts so suddenly, but when he saw it was me he grinned.

"Hey, Abs," he said.

"Hey, Izz," I leaned down and pecked him on the cheek.

"What do you need?"

"Well-"

"Daddy! Daddy! Daddy!"

Our eight year old daughter, Isabel, came tearing out of the house, a smile on her face that reminded me of a jack-o-lantern because of her missing teeth.

"Izzy!" He shouted, pulling her up onto his lap with a grunt.

"Daddy," she gave him puppy dog eyes. "Mommy said I have to go to sleep right now."

Izzy gave me a wink and turned back to Isabel. "Oh, did she?"

"But I wanna' stay up with you!"

The two of them looked up at me, both with pouty lips. I laughed at the striking resemblance between the two. Both had long brown hair, dark eyes, and thin faces. Both were beautiful.

"Ugh, fine!" I raised my arms in mock surrender. "But only for one more hour."

"I knew it'd work," Isabel whispered with a giggle to Izzy. He chuckled, giving her a high five before they rubbed noses in a little eskimo kiss.

Isabel hopped off of his lap and scurried away back into the house. I heaved a sigh and folded my arms over my chest.

"You spoil her," I accused. He patted his leg and I took the invitation, setting myself onto his leg gently so as not to hurt him.

"What can I say?" He shrugged. "I spoil my girls."

He kissed my neck and I shivered under his touch, just like I'd done so many times before.

"You know that from experience, little girl," his voice growled into my ear and he tickled me lightly, kissing my neck. I laughed and wriggled away from him.

"You're a dork," I said.

"But I'm your dork," he reminded me.

I kissed his nose lightly and nodded.

"Uncle Duff is visiting tomorrow with his daughters," I said, staring into the sunset.

"That's right. I totally forgot."

There was a long silence and I remembered something I'd said so many years ago, when I'd first met Izzy.

"One time I told Duff that I wished I'd fallen in love with him instead of you," I admitted.

I felt Izzy tense up below me. There was a long pause before he responded. "Do you still feel that way?"

"No," I said almost immediately. "Espresso con panna is great and all, but I think I prefer coffee."

I turned to face him and saw that he was grinning. "Any cream or sugar?"

"Black is fine," I said, kissing his cheek.

I did a complete turn around so that I was facing him. I gave him a wink.

"Do you remember this?"

He chuckled lightly and kissed my neck. In between kisses he said, "Look at you. You're straddlin' Stradlin."

I giggled. "Just shut up and kiss m-"

A/N: If this book has got you feeling like you've been dancin' with Mr. Brownstone, don't worry.
Indulge in your GNR fix with Book 2: Nothing Seems to Please Me here:
http://my.w.tt/UiNb/bHXAoGUULu