Estella

Epilogue

"Hi dad!" Valerie tells me as she walks through the door.

"Hey Val." I greet my daughter.

Her hair is dark, she is short and thin, just like her mother, her eyes are dark and she is rather pale, as seven of her eight great-grandparents are white.

She is almost done with high school already, she is growing up so quickly.

I still remember the day she was born, I wasn't at the hospital, but I was getting all the updates from Eli.

Estella and I have both hit the age of thirty six, and getting old is not fun for your back.

After college we got married, then after we had two more children.

Although Valerie isn't biologically my daughter, we all still act like a family, her siblings are never referred to as half, we all live together, especially because I have been raising Valerie since before she was even born.

Selena is thirteen now, and Hayden is ten, all our kids have outgrown single digits.

I look over at my wife.

I have seen her from her lowest point, being abused, pregnant by a rapist that trapped her for years, miserable and ready to die. Now she is so happy, she takes pride in our three gorgeous children, she loves her job and looks forward to waking up everyday.

I like to tell myself that I'm the reason.

It's crazy to imagine her as the broken teenager she was all those years ago, now she is so strong.

"I love you." I tell my wife, hugging her tightly.

"I love you too." She responds.

Trash, I know.

I have been working on this book for so long, I lost interest like 5 chapters ago, but I was too far to quit, so here I am.

I already started posting my next book, that one has been done for a long time actually, I really like that one. It's about racism and I want to marry one of the main characters because I actually made him my dream boyfriend.

I'm still trying to pick what to focus on next, but I've been working on a book, so I think I'll stick with that one, but I'll see where things go.

Check out A Long Road Ahead!