Epilogue

I looked around Sherry's backyard, as Chris put the finishing touches on the birthday party decorations.Their yard had been transformed into to a pink and purple unicorn fantasy land, as requested.I couldn't believe that my sweet goddaughter was turning two years old today. She loved all things pink and purple, and "oonacorns" were her favorite thing in the world.

Madelyn Rose had come into the world kicking and screaming, and she'd been hell on wheels ever since. Sherry was expecting baby number two any day now. She had hoped to wait until Maddie was three before having another one, but she and Chris had gone to Maui for their anniversary nine months ago.

They'd stayed in my condo, and I had watched Maddie for them while they were gone.Sherry had once again come back from vacation with a little extra special souvenir, and when the pregnancy test came up positive a month later, she'd declared that she and Chris weren't ever taking a vacation again.Chris, on the other hand, had been thrilled at the news, and hadn't stopped smiling and strutting around like a peacock for months.

"Aunt Wiwa!" I heard Maddie squeal as she came barreling out the back door.I knelt down and she ran into my arms as she always did.I scooped her up and swung her around as she giggled and clung to me like a spider monkey.

"Where's Unca Wee-am?" she asked. I loved that she still couldn't pronounce the letter 'L' yet.

I gave her a final squeeze and set her down on her feet as I answered her. "He's on his way. He promised he'll be here before the party starts this afternoon."

Liam's surprise visit after Scott and Vanessa were sentenced to prison had resulted in us getting drunk together, then deciding to have a bonfire with the photos of Vanessa and David that I had taken from the condo she'd lived in.

We toasted each other as we watched the flames destroy all traces of their images, and then spent the rest of the night fucking as if our lives depended on it. We couldn't get enough of each other.After waking up wrapped around each other the next morning, we decided to take our casual friends-with-benefits arrangement to the next level.

We continued the long-distance thing for a few more months, until Uncle Pat determined that Liam wasn't needed in Ireland any longer.He had moved back to Chicago, and I had decided to remain in Indianapolis to be close to Sherry, Chris and Maddie.Indy was my home, and we didn't need to live together to be together.It was only a three-hour drive between the two cities, or about a fifty minute flight, and we each made the trip several times a month.

We didn't have a traditional relationship, and probably never would have, but it worked for us.We had no plans to get married, but we did consider ourselves to be committed monogamous partners.

We cared deeply for each other, we respected each other, and we made each other happy. We had a strict agreement that should either of us want to pursue other people, we would end our relationship first.Because of the level of respect between us, we were both confident that we could trust the other.We were content to be independent people who enjoyed spending time together whenever we could.

I had introduced Liam to Chris and Sherry after he moved back from Ireland.We had told them both that Liam worked in the security industry - not a complete lie, since he did serve as Uncle Pat's head of security - and that we had met on one of my trips to finalize my mother's estate.

We didn't mention the Flanagan connection to either of them, although I suspect that Chris had put it together when he learned that Liam lived in Chicago.His Irish accent, fading to a faint brogue again since he'd been back in the States, was pretty much a giveaway as well.

Chris seemed to have no qualms about welcoming a possible Mob-connected man into his life, and the two got along very well. Liam adored Maddie, and treated me like the Princess he always said I was, which automatically meant that Chris and Sherry gave him their seal of approval.

While the past two years had been very good to me, the same couldn't be said for Scott and Vanessa.Chris checked up on them periodically through one of his contacts in the prison system.

Scott, who had quickly regained his usual cocky attitude, had gotten caught with illegal contraband twice, and had been in numerous fights behind bars.He had received an additional three years tacked on to his sentence for those offences, before being shanked in the prison laundry a few months ago during a fight over cigarettes. He had bled out before the guards could even move him off of the laundry room floor.

Vanessa hadn't had an easy time adjusting to life on the inside either. After she'd been led from the courtroom on the day of sentencing, she reportedly didn't speak a single word for almost a month.According to the prison reports, which Chris's friend obligingly shared with him, she complied with the guards' demands, but otherwise did not make eye contact with or respond to anyone.

When she wasn't working as part of the prison's kitchen staff, she was lying down in her cell, staring at the wall.She barely slept and barely ate, and the first month took it's toll on her.When she received a new cellmate - who complained to Vanessa that she needed to stop being "weird as fuck" - Vanessa decided it was time to speak.She yelled. She screamed.She scratched gouges into her arms.She didn't stop until the guards tased her after she refused to comply with their demands to calm down.

She was taken to the infirmary for observation, and the prison psychiatrist put her on anti-depressants and sleeping pills, which I found hilariously ironic.

Three months later, Vanessa was discovered by one of the guards, sitting on the floor of her cell, rocking back and forth with her eyes squeezed shut, singing Amazing Grace over and over to herself. She had raw bald spots on her scalp, and clumps of hair were scattered all around her, with a few strands clenched tightly in her fists.

According to the inmates in the surrounding cells, she had been doing it for hours at a time for the last couple of weeks. They had thought it was an act, so they didn't bother alerting the guards.She spent the next week in a complete catatonic state, and the psychiatrist determined that she'd had a complete psychotic break.

Vanessa is now housed in a separate mental health wing of the prison where she will remain until she either recovers or completes her sentence. At last report, she was still not responding favorably to treatment.A better person might have felt badly for her.I, however, was clearly not a better person.

I heard a commotion as Maddie realized that Liam had arrived.She squealed his name, or as close as she could come to it, and ran to him with her arms outstretched. She leaped at him and he caught her mid-air, swinging her around above his head while she tweeted like a bird and flapped her arms.That was their new game, and it always made me smile to see them do it.

After a flight around the back yard, Liam brought her in for a landing next to me.She ran off the second her put her down, and he leaned over to drop a kiss on my lips.

"Hello Princess. Miss me?" he asked, arching a brow playfully.

"I might have.You'll just have to find out for yourself when we get home," I told him smugly.He smiled and wrapped his arm around my waist, then dropped his hand to my ass and gave me a little squeeze.He started to say something else, when we heard Sherry cry out.

We both whipped around to find her doubled over, clutching her stomach, with Chris charging across the yard toward her. I darted over as well, and vaguely registered that Liam had scooped Maddie up and whisked her inside before she realized that her mommy was crying.

"No, no, no," I heard Sherry moaning to herself as I got closer. Chris was bent over her, trying to help her to the nearby patio chair, and when he saw me approach, he asked me to run inside to get Sherry's purse and the bag she had packed for the hospital.

"No!" Sherry said adamantly, swiping a tear from her cheek. "Not yet.We can't spoil Maddie's birthday."She rubbed her huge belly soothingly."Come on, sweet pea.I told you I just need you to hang out in there a little while longer until after your big sister's party," she said to her baby bump.

Chris and I looked at each other, then eyed her suspiciously. "How long have you been in labor, Sher?" Chris asked with exaggerated calm.

"Um, well..." Sherry trailed off, clearly knowing that her husband wasn't going to like her answer."My back was really hurting when I went to bed last night, and the actual contractions started while I was making breakfast."

Chris's eyes boggled and he turned to me with a dumbfounded look on his face. "Sherry, my love, what in the ever-lovin' hell were you thinking?Your back labor started last night, contractions started six hours ago, and you didn't think to mention it to anyone?"His voice raised, in volume and pitch, until he was almost screeching at her.

Sherry looked up at me as if she expected me to jump in to defend her, but I just shook my head."Come on, Sher. Let's get your bag and get you to the hospital before that kid comes out in the middle of your backyard."

Chris helped her up, and I hurried inside to alert Liam. He agreed to stay with Maddie, and would bring her to the hospital once the baby was born.Chris left him the keys to his car since Maddie's car seat was installed in it, and I drove us to the hospital in mine.

A little over two hours later, Sean Christopher Decker made his appearance in the world.Liam and Maddie arrived an hour later, with Maddie insisting on bringing one of the unicorn horn party hats for the baby to wear. She was so excited about her new baby brother that she didn't seem to mind at all that her party would have to be held on another day.

Later that evening, with Maddie sound asleep in my guest room, Liam and I snuggled up on the couch with a glass of wine.He pulled me closer to him and draped my legs over his, rubbing absently on my calf as we talked about the events of the day.

"You looked so beautiful this evening, holding Sean with Maddie snuggled up to your other side.Still sure you don't want to adopt?" he asked quietly.

We had discussed it a few times over the last two years, and Liam had always been of the same mindset. He didn't see kids in his future, although he loved being around other people's children.

I tilted my head back to look at him. "Yes, I'm sure. Why...have you changed your mind?"I asked, dreading his answer.

He smiled and dropped a kiss on my forehead."No, I haven't either. I just wanted to make sure you didn't feel like you were missing out on anything."

I shook my head. "No, I'm content just being a kick-ass aunt to the two cutest rugrats in the world."

"Good, because I have everything I need right here in my arms, Princess."

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