The Threat Of Fear

Epilogue

        "Mama!" I exclaimed. "mama, look!"

I pointed to our new next-door neighbor's house.

"What is it, hon?" she asked.

"That house has the same address as my pen pawls!" I answered.

"Indeed it does." Mama nodded.

My dad brushed past us with an angry face.

"Just hurry up and get inside," he ordered.

"Do you think it's them?" I gasped.

"It could be." she hummed. "We can figure it out later, let's just go inside for now. We don't want to make your father too angry, now do we?"

I shook my head. "No, mamma."

"Come on, William," Mama called. "It's time to go inside."

"I don't want to," my big brother pouted. "I wanna go back home."

Mama picked me up and placed me on her hip.

"This is our new home now, hon." she sighed. "Now come on."

"Fine." he groaned.

        "Onyx, honey." I sighed. "Please put the phone away while we're eating."

"But mama," she groaned. "My friend needs my help."

"Help with what, exactly?" I asked.

"They want to ask their crush out," she responded. "But they don't know how to."

"Just," I sighed. "Just tell them not to do what I did."

"What did you do?" Axl asked.

"Well," I drew out with a smug smirk. "First, I kept my feelings hidden for well over ten years. Then, after turning about twenty-three, we all went on a trip and I ended up getting pregnant with triplets by him..."

"Eww! mama!" Axl gagged. "That's gross!"

"You wanted to know." I shrugged.

"So, when and how did you and dad meet?" Shadow asked.

"When we first met in person we were only seven. We were penpals for our schools before that," I answered. "The only reason we met in person is that my father got a new job and we had to move. As fate would have it, my family ended up moving right next door to your father and your uncle."

        "Hey, mama?" Shadow hummed nervously.

"Yes?" I replied looking up at her.

"I've been thinking..." she mumbled. "Why is it that we've never visited your father? Or papas parents for that matter?"

"Well," I breathed in, thinking carefully about what to say. "My father was not the best man, both your father and I decided that he would be a bad influence on you three."

"And his parents?" Shadow asked.

"They had thrown out Nick, and your father decided to come with him because he didn't agree with why his parents threw Nick out," I responded.

She stayed quiet for a bit, just staring at the ground.

"Why did they kick uncle Nick out?" she wondered.

"They hated his life choices," I said.

She looked at me in question.

"They hated the fact that he's gay." I breathed out. "They didn't want a gay son, so when he told him that he fell in love with another man, they kicked him out and disowned him. Instead of losing one son, they lost two and will probably never meet you or your siblings due to their selfish actions."

        "And you wrote this?" I gasped, marveling over the piece of paper that my youngest child handed to me. "Wow."

"Yeah." Shadow nodded. "I wrote it."

"This is absolutely amazing!" I smiled. "You'll have to show it to your father when he gets home."

"Thank you, mama." Shadow grinned. "I was thinking about becoming an author."

"If it makes you happy, and you enjoy doing it," I said. "Go for it."

"You're really okay with me doing that?" she asked.

"Yeah, why wouldn't I?" I shrugged. "Who am I to tell you what you can and can't do?"

"You're my mama," Shadow giggled.

"That doesn't mean that I can tell you what kind of profession you can and can't go into." I sighed with a small smile on my lips. "It wouldn't be right."

"Hello, loves." Shade said, coming into the room.

He hugged Shadow and kissed my forehead.

"What's going on?" he asked.

"Shadow was just showing me something that she wrote," I answered. "It's absolutely amazing."

"Yeah, uh," Shadow laughed nervously. "I've been having the desire to write lately. So I did."