broken // branded sequel // heathers au

epilogue

Elody's POV

I sat at my computer, finally putting together the pieces of my story when Ezra came in. "Someone demanded to see you." He informed me, sitting down next to me with Kenzie in his arms.

"I'm almost done." I told them. Kenzie pouted at me, folding her chubby toddler arms across her chest.

"Mama done." She said, wiggling out of her father's arms to shut my laptop.

"I guess I'm done for today." I chuckled at Kenzie's persistence to have me finish my book.

Everything felt right as Ezra and I got up to play with Kenzie.

I know a lot of people might ask why I took him back. Why did I do what my mother did?

I'm here to tell you that I didn't. I learned from my mother's life and her relationship with my father. I knew that if Ezra and I put in the work, we could be healthy like them.

It hasn't been immediate, like it seemed to be for my parents. But the changes happen slowly, like the ways leaves fall in autumn. Trees don't drop the leaves all at once, they let them go one by one.

Every day, Ezra gets better.

Every day, I get better.

Every day, we walk together to a brighter future.

We walk towards my parents, who give us the hope for a full recovery.

We walk towards my sister and Portia, who haven't spent a moment apart since the night I had Kenzie.

We walk towards Kenzie, the light of our life with her brown curls and those big brown eyes. She becomes a cheerleader like her Auntie Auden and Aunt Portia. They're her biggest inspirations.

We walk towards a wedding and three more children, handsome twin boys and another beautiful little girl.

Our boys remind me of Auden and I as kids. They're the spitting image of Ezra, which now makes me happy as opposed to scared. They like to play baseball and go fishing, something neither Ezra or I prepared for.

And despite what Ezra says, only our youngest looks like me with her halo of blonde waves and blue eyes. She's a dancer, lighting up a stage in a way that only seemed possible in dreams.

Everything that's become of my life seems like a dream. But when I wake up in the morning, expecting to be a kid in my own bed, I turn over to see Ezra. I hear the sound of our children running into our room to wake us up because it's Christmas.

And every year, I get the same thing for Christmas. I get what I've always wanted - a happy ending.

Author's Note: It's FINALLY done. I know that many out there were not expecting a happy ending for any of these characters, especially JD and Veronica. But I like to believe that happy endings are possible.

And hey, it's not like I could exactly give those two more misery. I've become so attached the the Veronica I've written in these stories and after all she's been through, she deserved a happy ending.

Auden and Elody deserved happy endings.

I'll even go as far to say that JD did, because he got better. I don't think people should spend the rest of their life tortured for mistakes they've made. Especially when they grow to be a good person.

I'm also sorry for posting the last few chapters in one go. When I finish a story, I don't like to make people wait.

Xo - Kaitie