Grace

Epilogue

The summer air was as decadent as ever in The Bronx; summer had just hit, and along with it cascades of people flooded the streets. Teens hung around brick laden walls talking so loudly it was as though they were in conversation with the hordes of tourists trying to get a slice of the urban life that had manifested in the rough streets that surrounded the River. Grace opened the oaken door of her apartment complex, looking back at the glass pane lodged into it's centre and adjusting her hair to point. She set off at a brisk pace, seeming both familiar and alien to the environment at the same time. She was, no doubt, in love with the grimy streets she has now spent close to a decade in, yet she seemed to scorn it all the same. She gave off the aura of a sponge that couldn't soak anything up anymore.

Few minutes past, and soon Grace was seated at the bench at her local park, acrylic paint peeling into curls, reminding her vividly of an octopus she saw on an old cartoon re-run. She enjoyed her spot; a prime location directly in front of the playground, which in fact was bursting full of children. She rarely paid attention to the girls and boys scampering around the mediocre monkey bars, until she saw it.

Or should I rather say, him.

Holding the hand of a petite brunette stood Harry, smiling at the flock of kids, that is of course, until he picked one up. His up.

"Daddy!" she shrieked delightfully. The little girl clasped her pudgy arms around his neck as he brought her into a tight embrace. "Well, look how much you've grown!" he mused, opening his eyes wide in that false manner. "Has Mommy been busy with you, Louisa?" He chimed again, swinging her high.

"Mommy has most definitely been, Daddy." she said sternly, before breaking into playful laughter. "I think, it's time we got home Lulu, don't you?" The girls eyes lightened up, or was it just the sun?

"Yes! And can we get churros and ice cream, please? Pretty please!"

"Yes!" He laughed. "Anything you want Louisa."

"Let's go then, hurry up Mommy!" the little girl yelled, pulling on her mother's sleeve.

"Alright! I'm just packing your teddy, we know how often you lose him." She countered, cocking a single eyebrow.

"All set?" Harry said, placing her on his back.

"Yes Daddy!" She giggled.

"BLAST OFF!" he yelled, darting off into the distance with his daughter shrieking with laughter, the woman hurrying after them with a subtle smile to her face.

Grace stared blankly into the monkey bars, tears flowing freely down her pretty face. Until:

"Why are you crying Mummy?" inquired a tiny voice.

She looked down to see a small boy, probably no more than four years old, looking up into her reddened eyes. Quickly wiping the tears from her pearly cheeks, she laughs and grasps the boy's hand gently.

"I'm not, Harry sweetheart." Grace chokes.

"Oh." he looks at the ground.

"Is it those eel-erh-jic ree-ack-shuns Mummy?"

"Yes!" she breathes, chuckling gently. Harry begins to laugh, which in turn makes his mother laugh more.

"Harry?" she asks.

"Yes Mummy?" he replies, standing on his tiptoes.

"Do you want to go get ice cream?"

"Yes please Mummy!"

She grins and looks to the ground, before standing up abruptly.

"Come on then! The van'll go if we don't hurry up!" she shouted, widening her eyes in that false way that parents do. Picking Harry up in one fell swoop, Grace looked deep into his eyes, the little pools of brown he inherited from his father.

"I love you, Mummy." he whispered.

"I love you too, Harry." she murmurs back.

And as the sun set on the Bronx, and as the teenagers left the walls, and as the playground emptied, Grace looked out of her apartment window.

Life was good.

++++++++