The Broken Girl and The Golden Boy

Epilogue: Making a Life

"So when did Andy say he would be here?" I murmured, hurriedly trying to apply my lipstick even as I spoke, "I have to be at the cafe in half an hour, but he said it was important?"

"Well, he said he'd be here ten minutes ago, but you know how he's been with keeping track of time ever since Andi was born," Justin answered from the doorway to our bedroom, bouncing our young son in his arms, his hair disheveled and a splotch of paint on his cheek - though whether it was from my work or one of Reed's 'murals' was anyone's guess, "If he's making you cut it too close, I'd say don't worry about it. I still have some time before I have to head to the school, so I can wait for him."

"But what if it's about..." I hesitated, not wanting to speak my hopes aloud for fear of them crashing back down around me, "What if he found something about Sadie?"

"Auntie Saytee!" Reed cooed, suddenly paying attention to our conversation at the mention of my sister's name, "Uncle Andy finded her, Mama? I can meet her?"

"Ah, maybe," I managed a watery smile, trying not to cry at his sweet, enthusiastic question, "Not yet, but soon."

He frowned seriously for a few seconds as he seemed to consider this before grinning brightly, "Okay, but I wanna meet her before Mari!"

"I think you and you little sister can meet your aunt at the same time, Reed," Justin chuckled, tickling him slightly, "You need to learn to share or Marin's going to think she has a bully for a big brother. That's not what you want, now is it?"

Reed squealed and squirmed in his father's arms, making me laugh softly despite the worries still weighing on me, "You're so good with him."

"Yeah, well, I had a lot of practice with-" he cut off with a slight grimace, making my heart pang in sympathy, before continuing, "And Reed is a pretty easy kid - aside from his newfound jealousy of Marin."

"You love her more," Reed huffed, crossing his little arms with a pout, "I seen it. You don' play with me anymore. Mari's boring and stinky and cries all the time, but you play with her and not me." He shot a dirty look at where his little sister was still dozing in her crib.

"Sweet pea," I sighed, lifting him from Justin's arms and kissing his forehead, "We don't love her more. We love you both equally, but she needs a lot more attention because she can't take care of herself. You're still my strong, independent little man, right?"

He held up his sulky expression for another few moments before breaking out in another huge grin, looking so much like Justin I could die from how cute he was, "Yup!"

"Good," I nuzzled him affectionately before handing him back off to his dad as I went to put my shoes on for work, "We'll play together when I pick you up from preschool, okay?"

"Okay!" he beamed, looking to Justin with the same puppy-dog eyes he'd used on me for years, "You'll play with us, too, right, Daddy?"

"Er, well, of course I will, buddy," he rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand, smiling awkwardly, unable to deny him anything, as per usual. The two of us were so weak to our children, but Justin was definitely the softer touch, "As soon as I'm done with work, we can take a trip to the park as a family."

"Mari, too?" Reed scrunched his nose.

"Yes, Mari, too," I shook my head, smiling fondly, "You may not like her now, but in a few years, you'll really miss her when she's away." 

I swiped at my eye quickly, dabbing away a tear before it could fall and shaking myself out of my melancholy thoughts as best I could. I headed for the front door, calling back to Justin, "Anyway, I should get going before I'm late, tell Andy I'm sorry I missed him and-" I froze as I heard a knock at the door just as I was about to reach for the handle.