Epilogue

I sit back,looking at everyone around the dining table. Aunt Lizzie wanted a family meal, and now we are finally free of our dads, for the first time in our lives, we are living without anyone trying to hurt us or tell us what to do..

My mom isn’t fully back to normal, but one thing is for sure: she’s getting there. She doesn’t fight with me about what happened in the past; I had to tell her what had happened to me because she would scream and cry, telling me to let her know. No matter how much I told her, it wasn’t something she needed to know. Michael told me that letting her know some of it won’t hurt her, and it might help her move forward from all of this.

I didn’t know what to talk to her about, and I said I wouldn’t tell her the everything either. I wanted to show her what he did, but I wasn’t going to answer any questions, because even now, I hate talking about how weak I was against him to enable him to do that to me.

My mom stared at my chest and back for about forty-five minutes before she finally cupped my face and said sorry. I didn’t know what to say, but it wasn’t her fault.

I can see it in her eyes when she looks at me; she wasn’t there to protect me, but I smile to let her know I’m the man I am today because of it.

My mom and Aunt Lizzie are free, Bea is free, and so are the three of us.

“Brownies, for you.” Aunt Lizzie puts a box on the table for me, and I smile. Now, this has to last you at least two weeks.” She kisses me on the cheek.

“A week, maybe a few days.” She laughs and sits next to my mom. “Mom, are you excited to work in the bakery tomorrow?” She has been baking things at home, and Aunt Lizzie told her she can’t always be in the house and needs to get her life back on track. Aunt Lizzie wanted to make her a partner, but mom said no until she could buy half of it from her.

I gave Aunt Lizzie the money the following day. I’m not letting my mom spend a penny on anything. The paperwork was written up to put my mom’s name into their business. Aunt Lizzie will get her to sign the paper today, which is the reason for the dinner.

Michael has been here with her. Even though she is better now, he still comes over to see how she is doing. It makes her happy when he’s around. He was the only one who helped her when she needed it. I’m thankful for the doctor who knew something wasn’t right with my mother’s medication. I”m happy she’s smiling every day now.

I look at Logan, walking away from the table to answer the phone. It better be the call we’re waiting for; they have taken ages to get back to us on this.

“I can’t wait. I’ve been playing around with a chocolate cake recipe.” Mom points to the kitchen where she has made it. “I thought my chocolate-loving boy could be the tester.” She leans closer to me. “I’m going to give you everything I should have.”

“And I can’t wait to taste all the chocolate.” I give her a quick kiss on the cheek and turn to Logan.

“We got it,” Logan shouts, then gives me a high five. “We can start working on the building when we get the keys tomorrow.” He high-fives Blake and sits back down next to Meadow.

“What did you get?” Aunt Lizzie asks. We didn’t tell anyone what we had planned in case it got refused. It is something we would have gotten sorted, but we wanted to make sure we got it before we told everyone.

“You know about the hotel, and the three of us wanted to build our own business there. We sent all the paperwork over and waited for the go-ahead,” I tell Aunt Lizzie and Mom, smiling like two very proud parents.

“And what is the business?” Mom asks, and I look over at Blake and Logan.

“We have the fight club, and now we are proud car garage owners,” Blakes replies. We are going to have the best time designing this place. We’ve wanted this for a while now, and it’s happening.

Life is fucking great.

“Mom, there is something else-”

“You’re getting married?” Mom screams.

Bea and I both burst out laughing. “No.” We both speak at the same time. I love her, and she will never leave me. I will put a ring on her finger one day, but we both have college to finish; after that, who knows?

I still think Blake and August will be the first to get married; I have yet to learn who it would be between Logan and me.

“Grand-babies?” Mom pleads.

“No, mom.” She shakes her head in disappointment. “You know most parents would kick their kid’s ass if they had a baby before finishing college, but here is my mom wanting Bea to be knocked up,” I tell everyone, and they all start laughing. Aunt Lizzie shakes her head, pointing at Logan, who tells her we have a business to set up first.

“Fine, what do you have to tell me?” Mom enters the kitchen to get the chocolate cake, and August brings the plates.

“Aunt Lizzie has some paperwork for you to sign, and before you argue over this, it’s happening, Mom.” I put a pen on top of the paperwork, which Aunt Lizzie put on the table. “You are going to live your life now. You will have something, and I will make it happen.”

Mom reads the paperwork, shaking her head, “Travis…I can’t-” She stops flicking the page to the next page. “You paid for my half?”

“I did, and I brought you a house to move in when you are ready. And before you say anything, it’s only a few doors down from Aunt Lizzie, so you can still gossip about things.” I place the keys on the table for her, and she still hasn’t looked up at me as she softly places her hand on the keys. “You don’t have to move in today or this month; just know the house is there when you are ready.”

She finally looks at me with a smile, her hand softly on my cheek. “How did you turn into this amazing man?”

“Because you had an amazing daughter who told me not to be an asshole, and I’m amazing.” Mom pulls me closer and hugs me tight, too. “You’re not going to fight me on this? I had a whole speech in my head, too,” I joke, making her laugh.

“No, no fight. Save the speech for another day.” Mom kisses my cheek, takes the pen, and signs on the dotted line.

I turn to Bea, who keeps canceling her calls, meaning they are from one person and one person only. He hasn’t called her since I told him to never contact Bea again when we were in the car park the first day Bea returned to the water. I thought he was dead.

The phone goes off again, and I grab it off the table this time. “Hello.”

“Hello, this is Doctor Day from the cancer medical hospital. I was hoping to talk to Bea,” the woman asks.

“This is her husband speaking. Anything you have to say now goes through me, not her. You know the situation between them, and I will not let you or him upset her,” I tell the doctor, and I feel everyone’s eyes on me.

“If you could inform Bea that her father passed away this morning, and if she could come-”

“No, she will not be coming. I will come and sign the paperwork on her behalf. She will write a letter saying I’m in control. Everything will now go through me. I will see you tomorrow.” Before she can say anything about it, I end the call and look over at Bea.

“Is he dead?” she asks.

“This morning.” That is the only thing I can say. She hated her dad and wanted the man dead, but it’s still going to feel weird for her. “You want-”

“No, you cannot do it. I want nothing to do with it. I have more important things to worry about.” She smiles and eats her chocolate cake, which my mom puts in front of her. Not taking my eyes off her momentarily, she takes a deep breath.

“Bea-”

“God, I hate the man. I don’t care if he’s dead. My family is sitting at this table. You all heard Travis say he’s my husband, right.” She turns her head to me slightly and gives me a wink.

“Are you ready for tomorrow?” I ask her to change the subject. “Mom, this is amazing.”

Bea takes another spoonful of chocolate cake.

“I’m ready to get back on the team.” Bea leans back in her chair, and I wrap my arm over the back of her chair, making little circles with my finger on her shoulder.

Tomorrow will be her first day swimming to get back on the team. The coach needs to know she can still win. My girl has been training like crazy, getting up at stupid times in the morning, and I’ve been there with her every day, too. I’m her number-one supporter.

We’re winning; it’s time to make our future now.

BEA

Travis cups my face, helping me come down from an anxiety attack. For the first time, I will be racing; the place is full, and I’m not sure if I can do it.

“Breathe, Firecracker, this is what the training has been for. You’ve got this.” He kisses my lips, and all I can do is nod.

My heart is pumping, and I can feel my body shaking. Is it nerves, or is it an adrenaline high? I have no idea, but I am going to kill it today; I know I can.

“One second quicker,” I tell him. Fifty-four has been my record. I know I can swim that, but this time, I want fifty-three. I’ve worked hard for fifty-three.

“I love you.”

“I love you,” I reply, because I never thought I would love someone so much, but Travis is everything to me.

Travis wraps his hand tight around my neck and pulls me closer. “Now go out there and show them what my girl can do.” He slams his lips into mine and kisses me so hard I moan against his lips. Pulling away from me, we both walk out. The smell of water hits me, and I take a deep breath. Travis kisses me once more and tells me he’s sitting with the guys. Front row: I didn’t think he would be sitting anywhere else.

I walk over to Quinn, who wraps his arms around me and tells me to get ready. Grabbing my box, I walk to my stand and see Britney to my right. You’d think, after everything, she would be a little nicer, but no. I still get the bitchy version of her.

Stripping out of my tracksuit, I put everything into the box, and Quinn takes it away. I looked up at the roof to get myself together, then turned to Travis, who was smiling at me.

“Let’s go, Bea!” Meadow and August shout, and I smile. Poppy’s poster says I’m the fastest.

The first whistle goes off, and I walk onto the platform, taking in one more deep breath. I put on my goggles and get into position, ready for the horn. I have the seconds in my head. I know how long I need everything to be, but I also know that once I hit the water, I’ll forget.

Breathe, breathe, I’ve got this.

The horn goes off, and I’m in the water. I’m kicking my legs like crazy for a few seconds and then I’m moving. I start counting the numbers, then pop my head out of the water and swim with everything I have. The first fifty, almost done, is getting underwater, rolling, and pushing off the wall with everything my legs can give me. Once I pop my head out of the water, I quickly see if Britney is close to me, but I don’t see her. My arms move over my body, pushing myself through the water. Come on, Bea, almost there, I shout to myself.

My hand slams against the wall, and I quickly turn around to check the time, glancing over at Travis, who’s standing up and facing the clock, too. I’ve not looked at who else is finishing around me; I’m looking for one thing: the time.

Come on, what are they waiting for? All the names appear on the screen, with mine on top. I can’t stop smiling when the times come up. Quickly getting out of the water, before I can make my way to Travis, he’s already there, wrapping his arms around my waist and spinning me around.

“One second, Firecracker.” Travis kisses me.

Leaning my forehead on his. “We did it.” Travis finally puts me down, and I look up at him when he wraps his hand around my neck softly.

“You did it.” He kisses me.

Before we pull away from each other, August and Meadow hug me from behind, which makes me laugh. “You killed it!” August shouts, and Meadow joins in.

“You were on fire, Bea.” Logan kisses my cheek.

“Knew you could do it,” Blake adds. It might be the most honest thing he’s said to me, and I will take it.

“I want a picture,” Travis’ mom shouts, telling the six of us together, but before I do, Quinn throws me my tracksuit as I’m starting to shiver.

I look over at Travis’s mom as she takes the best picture of one of the best moments of my life.

I look at the five people around me, not able to hide the smile on my lips. This is my family now; they will protect and be there for me whenever I need them. Turning to Travis, the man I wanted to take down, the man I hated, is now the man I love with every ounce of blood inside me, the man I love.

I look over at Travis’s mom as she takes the best picture of one of the best moments of my life.

THE END