⇾𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐀𝐖𝐁𝐄𝐑𝐑𝐘 𝐅𝐈𝐄𝐋𝐃𝐒 𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑 | 𝐉𝐨𝐡𝐧 𝐋𝐞𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐧 𝐈𝐈𝐈

Epilogue: A Happily Ever After, Dare I Say It?

August 28, 1968

"Joseph! Get back here." I looked up and saw Joseph toddle his way into the living room, followed closely by John who was chasing after him with his clothes. "I need to get you dressed, you silly boy."

Julia was on my hip, watching as I spread some sprinkles across the top of her and her brother's birthday cake. Her short, brown hair was a mess, but I already knew that I was going to fix it up all nice for her birthday party. I finished with the cake and carefully sat Julia onto the counter so that I could place the desert into the fridge. When John had successfully dressed Joseph, he came over to take Julia with a smile. "Your turn," he sang and the little girl giggled, burying her head in John's shirt. "Everyone should be getting here soon!"

"Joseph?" I asked when John had left to get Julia's clothes. The little boy poked his head up from the other side of the coffee table and I cocked my head to the side and placed my hands on my hips with a smile. "What do you think you're doing?" He laughed hysterically.

"Hidin'," he said briskly. He was certainly a smart little one. He was learning to talk and walk much quicker than most babies I'd ever seen, including his sister.

"Well, come over here. Let me fix your hair." I extended my arms to get him to come towards me.

He frowned extensively, but did as I said. He precariously made his way over to me as I sat down on the couch and then I reached down to pull him up onto the couch beside me. I reached for the comb on the coffee table and carefully combed back his thin, brown hair into a presentable fashion. He looked so much like John it was almost funny. In fact, I failed to see really any resemblance to me at all. Both Julia and Joseph had John's eyes, his nose, and his lips. That didn't really leave much up for me, but it didn't matter to me. They were still my babies.

"Ta-da!" I turned and saw John gesturing to Julia, whose dress matched Joseph's outfit perfectly. Julia giggled and cuddled up against John more in embarrassment. She was a daddy's girl for sure. She adored John more than anything and John was undoubtedly happy about it.

I finished with Joseph's hair and he carefully climbed down from the couch, returning to his toys. John came and sat down next to me, balancing Julia on his left knee so that I could fix her hair. I gently combed through it and separated it into two sections, holding each one in place for a moment while I reached for the hair ties I had chosen to hold them in place.

When I fixed it, John pulled her to her feet so he could smile at her. "What a beautiful girl," he said and she grinned.

"Now, I need to fix my hair," I said with a laugh, leaning over to place a kiss on the little girl's head. "Don't let them get into any trouble," I told John.

"I would never," John said.

When I'd gone into the bathroom and fixed my hair, I returned to see John on the floor playing with Joseph, and Julia sitting on the couch watching cartoons on the TV. When John saw me, he sat down the toy he had in his hand and stood to come stand next to me.

"Can you believe it's been a year?" he asked me, leaning against the counter.

I looked at the two children and shook my head. "No, I can't," I replied. "It all seems so recent."

He nodded in agreement. "It's insane, isn't it? How time flies?"

I nodded, then grinned at him. "I'd wish they'd stop growing up," I admitted.

"Hey, give it maybe two more years and they'll be able to do a lot of things for themselves!" John said.

I laughed. "Maybe so."

John went over and turned the TV down and scooped Joseph up off of the floor and sat him on the opposite end of the couch from his sister, then reached for an acoustic guitar he kept in the corner. "How about I play a song?" he asked with a smile.

Both of the kids knew what it meant when John pulled out his guitar. He sat down in between them and relaxed against the back of the couch. "We've just been working on this one," he said with a smile before he began to pick out a pattern on the acoustic.

"Dear Prudence, won't you come out to play? / Dear Prudence, greet the brand new day," he sang as I came and sat on the arm of the couch next to Julia. "The sun is up, the sky is blue / It's beautiful and so are you." He turned to Julia and she grinned. "Dear Prudence, won't you come out to play?"

He smiled over at me. He looked happier than anyone I'd ever seen in my life. He was so proud of Julia and Joseph and he loved them so much. He'd cross every ocean and climb every mountain just to please them, and you didn't have to look any deeper than his eyes to tell it.

He concluded his song and I heard a knock on the door. John nodded for me to go get it and I obliged, standing up and going to open the door.

"Good afternoon, Paul," I greeted when I saw him standing on the porch.

"A little birdie told me that Julia and Joseph are turning one today!" he said optimistically. Paul absolutely loved the twins. He was like their second father. He was always the one that offered to watch them when John and I needed a night out and he was always coming over with something new to give them. He'd even written a song for them that was being released next week. It was endearing, really.

"Oh, and there they are!" I turned and saw John coming towards us, a baby in each arm. Simultaneously, the twins both reached out there arms when they saw Paul, begging for him to take them.

John allowed Paul to take them, and in turn, he took the two gift bags that were in Paul's hands from him. Paul had recently struck up a relationship with an American photographer he'd met at the Sgt. Pepper release party last year, and last I heard she was planning to move out here in a few months. He finally seemed like he was happy, and John and I were both happy for him.

I thought about Brian often, especially during the past few days. It wasn't only a year since I'd had the twins. It had been a year since I'd lost him. Fate really threw a curveball there. I spent nearly the entire night after I'd put the twins to bed crying in John's arms the night before. I missed him so much it still hurt like it had only been yesterday.

After he'd died, everything just sped up a thousand miles. I'd gone into labor and had barely had any time to think about him at that moment, and then I became a mom and the only time I had to myself was the rare occasions that the kids were asleep. I'd shed so many tears in the past year than I was sure I had my whole life, but for every bout of sadness, there were a thousand smiles, and for that I was thankful.

When Paul took the twins into the living room, John turned to me with a smile. "I looove you," he said dopily.

I grinned. "I looove you too," I replied. "Why do I feel like you did something bad?" I asked him jokingly.

He shrugged. "I didn't do anything wrong."

"Then, why are you giving me that look?" I asked.

He leaned in close. "I think I want another," he whispered. When he pulled back, I was sure I looked properly surprised.

"That's a lot to ask of little, old me," I told him. "But I'm sure we could maybe come to an agreement."

He grinned. "I love our life," he told me. "It can only go up from here."

I smiled. He wasn't really wrong. Not at all. As long as it was us, after all, what could ever get worse?

The end :)