Total pages in book: 47
Estimated words: 46846 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 234(@200wpm)___ 187(@250wpm)___ 156(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 46846 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 234(@200wpm)___ 187(@250wpm)___ 156(@300wpm)
“A baby,” Logan says, kissing my cheek and then squeezing me in a hug.
He puts Rusty down and wraps both arms around me.
Rusty jumps onto the bed, sitting and watching, a big grin on his face.
“We’re going to be a family,” I whisper, voice cracking.
“I love you, Lucy.”
EXTENDED EPILOGUE
ONE YEAR LATER
Logan
As I walk with him, Adam clings to my hands, holding the baby carrier. He likes to cling onto me when we’re out and about like this.
He’s not little, coming in at ten pounds. He was over the weight requirement for a baby carrier the day we took him home from the hospital, but I still waited.
Now, it’s my favorite way to walk with him, strapped to my chest. He likes it too. It stops his roaring cry.
“He’s the god of thunder,” I said the other night, laughing as Lucy and I awoke.
She turned, my gorgeous wife, the moonlight slanting through the window onto her face. “He takes after his dad. Loud and boisterous.”
I chuckled. “I think you mean strong and silent…But I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
“Neither would I, any of it. I should go.”
Sitting up, I shook my head. “It’s okay. I’ll do it.”
“Are you sure?”
“I’m sure.”
I ended up walking him in the carrier that night, too, just for a little while, then removing him as gently as possible and laying him down again.
People stop to coo over Adam as I walk by.
I’m in the Never Alone counseling offices, the walls lined with photos of the victims, taken during the brightest moments in their lives… graduations, weddings, and celebrations, remembering them warmly.
“Hey, Logan.”
I turn to find Jane walking up with William, holding hands. They’re dressed in fashionable clothes, leather, straps, and buckles, looking like painters crossed with heavy metal fans.
They look happy, and that’s normal too. They always do when they’re together.
“And hey, little godson.”
I nod a hello to William.
“How’s it going, Logan?”
“Not too bad. This one’s finally stopped crying.”
“I’m sure I can help with that,” Jane jokes but keeps her voice low. She smiles down at Adam for a moment. “He really is the cutest little bundle of cuteness I’ve ever seen.”
I laugh, nodding. “I’d have to agree with that. Are you here for rehearsals? You didn’t have to do that.”
“I want to give it my all.”
William has finally agreed to put his name to the charity. He thought it would come across as attention-seeking. He’s going to help us with some promos, and shoot a video to spread awareness. It’s a hard-hitting script. Jane wrote it.
“Maybe certain people will think that,” Lucy said, sitting at the table with her jacket and pencil skirt, looking professional and sexy and so freaking capable as a counseling intern.
She insisted that she go through the intern process, which included shadowing several different members of the organization. “I don’t want a handout. Just…a helping hand up.”
“What about college?”
“I want to help now. The way you helped me.”
“Well, maybe not exactly the way.”
I return to the present, smiling at how easily thoughts of my wife can distract me.
“I’m sorry,” I say when I realize I’ve missed the last bit of the conversation. “What did you say?”
“Just that I’m excited about the shoot. And it’s fine.” William grins. “New baby. I’m not sure I’d be able to handle it.”
“Maybe you’ll find out,” Jane quips, then covers her mouth. “That was some grade-A word vomit right there.”
William wraps his arm around her. “I don’t know, Jane. Maybe that isn’t completely insane.”
“No?” she asks coyly.
“Maybe just a little.”
Jane laughs, slapping him playfully.
“Anyway,” she goes on. “We won’t keep you. I’ll come say hi to Lucy in a little while.”
“Okay. See you later.”
William nods. “Logan.”
“Thanks again, Will.”
“Anytime. See you later, little man.”
I turn to find Lucy standing at the end of the hallway, at the door. She’s wearing her pressed trousers and a shirt, with short heels, her brown hair tied up in a sophisticated bun.
She looks so devastatingly beautiful.
Walking over, she leans forward, kissing me and then Adam on the top of the head. “I missed you both so much.”
“We missed you too,” I whisper.
“Is that crazy? It’s only been a few hours.”
“It feels like years.”
“I’m not even…apologetic about it.”
I laugh gently, so I don’t wake Adam. “Neither am I.”
EXTENDED EPILOGUE
TEN YEARS LATER
Lucy
I walk from the Never Alone offices, across the parking lot to our big Mom-mobile. I love the sight of that car, just like I love this feeling, this glow inside me when I hear another success story.
Of course, it’s always tempered with the sadness, the pain of what they’re going through.
But today, a girl named Wendy told me she’d finally found a job and was sticking to a regular schedule.
“That’s huge,” I said, brimming with pride. “Seriously, you should be so proud.”
She’s in her early twenties, and she blushed, making me think of myself at her age. All that blushing with Logan… and he still makes me blush sometimes.