Epilogue 2 Joel

epilogue 2: joel

Ten Years Later

“C’mon, caro , we’re gonna be late!” I called out to Cameron, jiggling my keys in my hand.

“Coming! Just need a few more minutes!” I rolled my eyes fondly and leaned against the wall. It was going to be a while.

Ten years later, and while so many things had changed, Cam taking forever to get ready hadn’t. Especially for something as major as Ro’s wedding.

Gods, it was hard to believe that our oldest grandson was getting married! We weren’t old enough for that, were we?

The bedroom door opened, but it was Luke, of course, not Cam. He smiled sweetly at me and eyed me up and down. It wasn’t often I wore a suit, so I knew he was enjoying the view.

“Looking good, baby,” he said as he came over and kissed my cheek.

“You clean up well yourself.” I whistled as he held his arms out to the sides so I could check him out.

This was far from the first wedding we’d attended together, including those of all three of Luke’s kids, plus Cameron’s sister, but this was the first one where we’d be the grandparents of the groom, and both of us were feeling some sort of way about it. Cameron had given me a lap dance while sucking Luke off only yesterday as a reminder that he still thought we were sexy and hadn’t lost our touch. It had helped a little, but I wouldn’t mind another one.

“Is he almost done? Lake’ll kill us if we’re late.” I was honestly more worried about Evander. He hadn’t been this intense about his own wedding, but something about Ro’s had pulled out a type A personality I’d had no idea was buried inside of him.

I understood though. With everything Ro had gone through, seeing him overcome it and grow up was huge. I hadn’t even been around when he’d first been adopted, and I was so fucking proud of him.

Just when I was about to go in the bedroom to move Cameron along, he came running out, buttoning his jacket. The past ten years had been very kind to Cam. Even in his forties, he still could pass as being in his early to mid-thirties, and he was thriving on that. His career was thriving too. After several successful stints as a lead makeup artist, Cameron had gotten contracted to be for a long running TV series. He no longer needed to supplement his income at the bar or worry about long gaps between gigs.

“Ready!” We both kissed Cam and complimented him before quickly ushering him to move. We really did need to get going.

We were just about to leave when there was a knock on the door. I looked at my partners, frowning. I had no idea who that could possibly be. Basically everyone we knew would be at the wedding.

I opened the door to see a kid about 18 or 19 standing there. He was rocking back and forth and looking away, but his gaze swung to me a moment later.

Time froze. The boy was tall and lanky, like he still hadn’t quite grown into his height yet. His brown hair was the same color as mine, or what mine used to be before the gray had taken over, and fell into his eyes in a messy shag. He had hazel eyes with specks of green that looked just like Jessica’s.

I might not have seen the boy in person since he’d been four and had barely seen a picture of him since he’d been eight, but I knew deep in my bones who it was immediately. He looked so much like Jessica had at that age, it was startling.

“Collin?”

His eyes widened, like he hadn’t expected me to know who he was. Of course he hadn’t. I was sure my daughter hadn’t spoken kindly about me over the years, and I doubted he had any memories of me from his childhood. He’d just been too young.

“Y-you know who I am?”

I just nodded, unsure of what to say or do. A large hand fell on my shoulder and squeezed. Luke. “I’ll call Lake and tell him we’re going to be late.”

Fuck, Ro’s wedding. Collin’s eyes flicked to Luke and then to Cam. He looked a little shocked, but not exactly surprised to see me with two men. He didn’t seem to have the same judgement his mom had always had either.

“I’m sorry. Am I interrupting something? I should’ve have called. I wasn’t even thinking. As soon as I finally found you, I couldn’t wait any longer. Plus, Mom’s a snoop. She’s away on a business trip right now, so it was my only chance. But I’ll, um, come back!”

He started to step off the porch, but there was no way I was letting him walk away.

“Collin!” I called out, stopping him in his tracks.

He turned around to look at me, a sweet, hopeful smile on his face, and I nearly melted. My grandson had come and found me, and it didn’t seem like he hated my guts. It sparked a hope in me that I'd thought had long since died out. I’d thought I’d never get to see this moment.

“Wanna come to a wedding?”

Collin tilted his head, clearly thinking I’d lost my mind, but then he flashed a huge, goofy grin. “I’d like that . . . Grandpa.” It was awkward and forced, and it would probably be a long time before he felt comfortable saying it, but that word eased any last worries I had that he’d found me to just let me know he shared his mother’s opinions of me.

I looked back at Luke, who had just walked by. “I hope they won’t be too mad I’m bringing an extra guest?”

Luke looked at the kid before turning to me. Next to him, Cameron was practically radiating with energy, he was so thrilled. “I have a feeling they won’t mind. Cam and I will take my car and meet you there?”

I couldn’t say how much it meant to me that he was giving us a chance to talk. “Thank you, amato .”

“I love you, Joel.” He took Cam’s hand. “Let’s go, sweetheart. We’ll see you in a bit.” They left then, greeting Collin quickly.

I looked at my grandson. “Well, let’s get going. We have ten years to catch up on.”

Collin beamed. “Yeah, okay!

As we left, I couldn’t help but be thrilled I’d finally met the grandson I’d never had the chance to know.

The End