Cherry Blossom | TRACOB

Epilogue

"...happy birthday to yooou!"

Everyone standing around the room clapped and laughed joyfully, watching as the 16 candles atop the cake were blown out. Troye, who was standing with Jacob's arm wrapped around his shoulder, wiped a couple tears out of his eyes. "Happy birthday baby girl," he said with a sniffle, his hand over his heart.

"Daaad," Riley whined, her cheeks turning red as her dad made a scene. "Quit. I'm turning 16, not dying."

Troye giggled, moving away from Jacob and stepping towards her, brushing her long chocolatey hair away from her face and fussily adjusting the tiara atop her head. Sure, he was being a little dramatic. But still! When Joel had turned 16 it was different. He had no desire to be all dressed up in pretty pink dresses with tiaras and makeup.

Speaking of Joel, he was sitting in between Riley and his new owner, Chrystal. Chrystal was a very sweet woman, and Joel had taken a liking to her very quickly. Even if she wanted to get away from him, there was no hope of that. Once he had gotten attached, it was permanent. He had only moved out of Jacob and Troye's about a month prior, and he was loving his new life.

Riley on the other hand, was a happy 16 year old girl who loved living with her dads, even if they were embarrassing. Ever since she was young enough to have an opinion on what clothes she got, the neko was sure to get pink, frilly and pretty. Troye first thought that Riley was going to be like him: a boy who liked traditionally feminine things. But it was not long before they found out that was not the case with Riley.

Troye had gotten the daughter he had always wanted.

"Are we just going to stand here or are we actually going to cut the cake?" Hari asked. She laughed as Riley muttered a 'yeah dad' before waving Jacob over. Sure, she had been raised more as a human than a neko, but still. She did not quite trust her math skills or her cake cutting skills.

Troye absentmindedly ran his fingers through her glossy hair as he made small talk with Ryan. Yes, Ryan had gotten over being upset at Troye and his new owner had flown him out to California so they could all celebrate together.

Overall, the day was perfect.

Their family and friends were all brought together, everyone was smiling, Riley looked absolutely gorgeous. Troye cuddled back up against Jacob after everyone was served, looking around and taking everything in. Dan and Phil were sitting on the couch, their son on the floor before them. Dillon was actually Mikey's son, but Mikey had passed away just after he was born. He lived long enough to hold onto him and spend a few moments with Pete though. He was finally able to have his own baby who he did not need to worry about losing.

Being a single dad was too much for Pete,  so Phil stepped up. The adoption process for a neko was quite obviously much more simple than it was for humans. Within a couple months, Dan and Phil had an adorable, happy family.

Gee was also there. They had helped Riley when she was figuring out her gender. Even though she was raised as a girl since she first said something, but she still had some worries, such as dysphoria. And of course Dr. Iero, casually known as Frank, was there to help.  Even though hormone therapy was not his specialty, he was quick to help. Since Riley was obviously not going to college, Troye and Jacob were able to put those funds towards any reconstructive surgeries she may need in the future.

Another thing Gee was good at was hair. They had experimented with many styles and colours over the years. Therefore, as a birthday present to Riley, they were going to dye her hair. She had chosen red, and Gee was going to do the same to their own hair. They had tried to convince Troye to join in, but he declined politely. He was too old to be running around with fire truck red hair, in his opinion.