EPILOGUE

"I feel weird." Marin tugged on her dress. "I've never had an expensive dress like this."

It wasn't really all that expensive. Kieran had bought it for her at a department store, and it had even been on sale, but she supposed for someone who just opened her first bank account and started saving money from her new job, it probably felt expensive.

"If you're uncomfortable, you don't have to wear it. You can wear whatever you want."

"It's a wedding, though. I need to dress up."

"Yeah, but you don't have to wear a dress, specifically," Kieran offered.

"It's not the dress part; I like wearing dresses. Mine just usually came from a thrift store and were at least a few decades old. This one is fancy and brand-new. What if I stain it or something?"

"Then, you'll get it dry-cleaned."

"I've never done that before," Marin shared. "I always thought dry-cleaning was a rich person thing."

"Well, we'll get our stuff cleaned together, then. I'll show you how to do it."

"Okay," Marin replied. "But you won't be mad if I, like, stretch it out? I've put a little weight on, so I don't–"

"You've put good weight on. When I first met you, you weighed at least twenty pounds less than you should. You look really good, Marin."

"Will there be any single guys at this thing, or will it be all lesbians?"

Kieran laughed and said, "I don't know. I haven't seen the guest list. But I told you to invite Frank."

"Why would I do that?" Marin turned away from the full-length mirror in the bedroom and pretended like she had no idea why Kieran would bring Frank up in this context.

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe because you two hang out all the time now. Didn't you have coffee just yesterday?"

"I work at the lawyer diner. He was just there, and I was there. That was all."

"Really? He sits at the bar whenever you're working behind it and always finds a booth when you're working the tables."

"Don't say, ‘Working the tables.' That makes it sound dirty or shady or something," Marin said. "And these shoes are fancy, too."

"They are not." Kieran laughed. "He likes you, Marin. I can tell."

"Just because you walk in sometimes with your soon-to-be-district-attorney girlfriend and see us talking, doesn't mean we like each other. He's a decent guy. That's all. Hey, why is this wedding thing today, anyway? Didn't you say it was supposed to have happened already?" Marin asked, trying to change the subject.

"It was, yeah. Hollis and Raleigh moved the date back when they decided to have another kid. I guess, initially, they wanted to wait until after they were married to adopt, but they still started the process, thinking it would take years, and they found their little girl after only a few months. They brought her home and didn't want to have to deal with a wedding and a honeymoon right away when Eden just got a little sister. So, they postponed, and now, they'll both be flower girls today, so it worked out." Kieran paused and decided to change the subject back. "So, if there are a few single guys there tonight, want me to introduce you, and you might end up taking one home or seeing if they want to go get a drink or something?"

"I'm not looking to hook up," Marin said. "But, like, maybe."

"Maybe you want to hook up?"

"Maybe it's been a while, yeah, Kieran. If you must know, it's been a long time, so I wouldn't mind having sex with someone tonight."

"Call Frank. He'll come to the wedding and–"

Marin threw a pillow from the bed at her and asked, "God, why do you have so many pillows?"

"Carina's thing. I put up with it. I think I should see if there's a patch or something to help her get over this pillow obsession. We were supposed to limit it to three, but she's got at least six on here. The best or, maybe, the worst part is that I don't ever know where she gets them. I just come home, and there's a new pillow. Where does she find them? When does she even have the time to buy them?"

"And you love it, don't you?" Marin asked with a smile. "This newfound domestic bliss."

Kieran smiled back and said, "Yeah, it's great. It's crazy sometimes that it's already been a year and a half with her, and I've lived here for six months, but it's great. I love it. I love her."

"I can tell," Marin replied. "And thanks for getting me this stuff, really."

"You don't have to thank me."

"Yeah, I do. I owe you so much money, Kieran. I promise, I'll pay you back. I just need to find a second job since I only get about twenty hours a week at the diner."

"Hey, you don't have to pay me back. And if you need a second job, get one, but not because of me, okay?"

"I'll at least buy your drinks tonight. Carina's, too."

"It's an open bar, Marin."

"Yeah, I know." Her sister winked at her.

"So, Frank?"

"Okay. I like him, yeah," Marin said.

"Good, because I asked Hollis and Raleigh if you could have a plus one, and they said yes, so I invited Frank."

"You did what?"

"I know. I'm sorry." Carina rushed into the bedroom. "I'm here. How late am I? The luncheon ran over. My makeup is already done, though, and my hair is fine, I think. Is it okay?"

"Hi, babe," Kieran said and kissed her. "Your hair is fine."

"Okay. Then, I just need fifteen minutes."

"No problem. We're ready. We were just talking about how Frank is going to be there tonight."

"You told her?" Carina asked as she moved into their closet to grab her dress.

"Yeah, she did. And what am I supposed to do about it?"

"Well, you just said you need sex," Kieran replied.

"You need sex?" Carina asked.

"I think that was your girlfriend who said that," Marin joked.

Carina walked out with her dress in hand and asked, " You need sex?" She almost looked hopeful.

"No, babe," Kieran said, laughing.

"Oh." Carina looked disappointed.

"I mean, later, if you want, yeah."

"I'm so confused and running so late… I'll be right back." Carina disappeared again, this time into their bathroom.

"Frank is the guy you settle down with. He's not the guy you have a one-night stand with," Marin said.

"No one said it had to be once," Kieran offered. "You like him. Ask him to dance or something."

"He was my attorney, Kieran. It's weird. He's seen me in prison orange."

"And yet, he still shows up to have coffee with you at least twice a week."

"Are we still talking about Frank?" Carina yelled from inside the half-open bathroom door.

"No, Kieran just told me she wants you to use the extra big strap-on tonight. The biggest one you have, with that super strong vibrator inside it," Marin yelled back.

"You what?" Carina opened the door with her dress half-zipped on the side and stumbling out with one short work heel on and one off already.

"I'm going to kill you," Kieran said to her sister. "You," she added, pointing at Carina. "Back in the bathroom. I'll come in and help you zip up."

"Is that code for something? I'm leaving," Marin announced and walked out of the room as Kieran followed Carina into the bathroom.

"So, you don't want sex, and you definitely don't want to use the big strap-on?"

"Better to just let it go. She's teasing me," Kieran said before she zipped Carina's dress and kissed her bare shoulder. "And you look very pretty."

"I look exhausted."

"No, you don't." Kieran looked at her in the mirror. "You're always beautiful."

"Now that I've won the election and just need to be sworn in, I realize I need to take about a year off to recover from the campaigning. I think that's frowned upon, though."

"Hey, you're going to be an amazing district attorney." Kieran rested her chin on Carina's shoulder. "And tonight, we're going to have fun at a wedding."

"And after the wedding?"

Kieran lifted an eyebrow.

"Yeah?" Carina checked.

"Yes," Kieran replied. "You can play district attorney with me all you want."

"Does Marin know we actually have a big one like that?"

"No, I don't talk to my sister about our sex life."

"You just did in there," Carina noted.

"No, I didn't. I was trying to get her to admit that she likes Frank, and she was trying to get me to change the subject. She just used you to do it."

"Okay. And she's not staying here tonight, right? If she drinks, I'll get her an Uber, but I want to be alone with you later. We couldn't celebrate last night because she was here. Well, we celebrated with her, but you know what I mean." Carina wrapped her arms around Kieran's waist.

"It's just a name change. It's no big deal."

"You wanted your old name back, and you took it back. That is a big deal."

"And you promise me that if we ever decide to tie the knot, you're not going to request that I change it again, right? Because it was such a pain in the ass both times."

"I promise. Whatever you want your name to be, that's your name, Miss Walsh." Carina kissed Kieran's nose. "And you look pretty, too. I like this dress on you. Did you mean to match, though?" Carina pulled back a little to look down at Kieran's dress.

"Match?"

"You and Marin."

"We don't match. Her dress is red. Mine's blue."

"Babe, it's the same dress. You didn't notice when you tried them on?"

"It's not the same dress. I bought mine first. She asked me to take her shopping after, and I–" Kieran looked in the mirror. "Oh, my God. I'm wearing the same damn dress as my twin sister."

Carina just laughed and said, "Well, you never did that matching thing when you were little, so maybe you're due now."

"I have to change."

"No, it's cute. You look cute."

"Yeah, so does my sister, though."

"I want to take that off you when we get back tonight. Leave it on," Carina requested. "Please."

"Okay, Miss Whitlock. But I don't want anything we can find in a drawer tonight, then. Just you, okay?"

"Okay. Now, let me finish getting ready. I'll meet you downstairs."

"Five more minutes," Kieran told her, holding up her hand with her fingers spread out.

"If you're trying to turn me on by showing those off, it's working."

"Oh, my God." Kieran laughed and left her in the bathroom.

◆◆◆

"Carina said you found your birth mom?" Ripley asked.

Kieran glared across the table at Kenna.

"Hey, what did I do?"

"She's not asking this question on your behalf?"

"No, she's her own person," Kenna said. "I'm off the proverbial clock tonight."

"You're a reporter. That's not possible," Ada said.

"It is when it's moms' night out because our kids are staying with my sister. We have tonight and tomorrow night, and I got us a very nice room that I plan to enjoy my whole weekend in with my wife. I'm not working tonight."

"So, everything I say here tonight is off-the-record?"

Kenna nodded, and Kieran looked over at the dance floor, where Marin was standing awkwardly next to Frank as if she wanted to dance with him but didn't know how to ask him, and he didn't know that she wanted to dance with him. Kieran couldn't wait for them to get married one day and be this awkward together all the time.

"We found her, yes," she shared. "The DNAdiscovery kit connected me with a third cousin who didn't know much about that part of the family, but I got to his mom who had more information. Not much, but enough to connect me with our uncle. He said that his sister was our mother. She got pregnant at fourteen."

"Fourteen?" Ripley said. "Jesus."

"Yeah, I know. It gets worse."

"Worse than being pregnant at fourteen?" Ada asked.

"I figured out why we were dropped in an alley," she replied as Carina placed her hand on the back of her neck and started to massage it gently. "Our father was actually the church deacon. Our mom had us early and didn't know what to do. She tried to take us to the church, but there was choir practice, and a bunch of people were leaving, so she put us in the alley and ran off."

"Wait. The deacon? Did he–"

"Technically, yes. She was only fourteen, but she was in love with him, according to the diary our uncle had. It was that kind of puppy love. The deacon was only twenty-two himself. I guess he thought they'd planned on keeping us, but when he saw one baby outside the church because the homeless woman had taken Marin already, he didn't put it together that I was his daughter. He turned me in without knowing. He didn't find out until my birth mother told him what happened."

"Where are they now?" Dylan asked.

"Our birth mother is around. She lives in Georgia now and has a new family. We have three half-siblings."

"And the deacon?" Ada asked.

"He's dead now. He passed away from cancer a few years ago after my dad, but yeah, he's gone. My uncle on my mom's side was cleaning out the old family home and found the diary she had around that time and gave it to me. Marin and I read through it. She wanted to keep us. She just didn't know how. She thought that he could raise us better without her. I get it. I mean, it hurts still, but I understand."

"Did she try to find you after she learned what happened?" Kenna asked.

"I don't know. We haven't talked to her yet."

"You haven't–" Ada was interrupted.

"We've talked about it, but we're just not there yet. She knows we're here, though, and she hasn't reached out, either. It's complicated. She has a husband and three kids. My guess is that none of them know we exist. I'm not mad, but Marin's still pretty pissed. I have a mom who loves me, and she's already adopted Marin as her other daughter, even if it's not a legal thing, so I–" Kieran stopped and smiled.

"What?" Carina asked.

"I just had an idea," she replied.

"What?"

"I need to call my mom."

"Right now ?" Carina asked.

"Yeah, right now. Excuse me," she said and got up from the table.

"Oh, I know what she's doing."

Kieran heard Carina say that as she dialed her mother's number.

"Hey, honey. I thought you were at a wedding tonight."

"We are. But I wanted to ask you something."

"Everything okay?"

"Do you remember how you said if you would have known there were twins, you would've adopted both of us?"

"Yes."

"Well, there's this thing called adult adoption. I think it would be amazing if you considered it for Marin."

"You want me to adopt a woman who's almost thirty-seven years old?"

"She's never had a mother, Mom," Kieran replied as she continued her walk away from the table.

"Oh, I see," her mom said and paused for a moment. "Well, I already consider her my other child and love her, so why not make it official?"

"Really?"

"Of course. If she wants it, I'd be happy to be her mother."

"Do you want a son-in-law?"

"I had one of those. It didn't work out. I thought I'd be getting a daughter-in-law soon, Kieran."

"I meant Frank. They're here talking to each other. It's really kind of cute and funny. She's finally admitted that she likes him."

"Oh, Frank. Yes, she talks about him all the time. As if we didn't know she likes him." Her mom laughed. "Well, that's good news. But what about Carina?"

"I'm going to ask her, Mom."

"Yes, I know. But when , Kieran?"

"It's only been a year and a half."

"Of you telling me over and over again that she's the love of your life and that you weren't sure about marriage after Diego, but with her, you know you want that again."

"Yes, I do," she said. "I'm working on it, okay?"

"Well, work faster. And we'll talk about Marin later, but this is a good idea for your sister, honey."

Kieran smiled and said, "I hope so."

They'd talked about calling their birth mother many times since they'd found her, but Marin was still so angry, and understandably so. Kieran herself wasn't sure that she wanted to meet the woman yet. She had a mother who had chosen her over and over for her entire life and a father who had done the same. They were her family. Now, she also had Marin and Carina, and her life was full. Maybe someday, they'd decide to call her, but if not, at least they knew where they came from. The thing they loved the most about their origin story was finally finding out which one of them was the oldest. In their mother's diary, she'd said that the first baby had had a light birthmark on her shoulder. Kieran's birthmark had grown darker over the years, but it was still funny to her how she'd turned into the older sibling without even knowing that she was one. It turned out, she'd been born eight minutes before Marin, and she held that over her sister now all the time.

"You're just eight minutes closer to death," Marin would toss back.

"You asked her, didn't you?" Carina asked, finding her on her way back to the table.

"I did. She said yes," Kieran replied. "I'll have to talk to Marin about it."

"That was a good idea, babe," Carina said, taking her hand. "Want to dance with your girlfriend now that I've digested all my cake and feel like I can move again?"

"Yes. And then, we can go home. We've already said congrats to Hollis and Raleigh. I suspect Marin and Frank might be leaving together soon after."

"Do you think Frank is the kind of guy to put out on the first date?"

Kieran laughed and said, "No, he's a gentleman. He'll kiss her goodnight at the door, at most. She'll be frustrated as hell. It'll be hilarious." She went to pull on Carina's hand to get them to the dance floor but stopped. " I won't be frustrated tonight, will I? You still have enough energy for–"

"Oh, yeah. No problems there. I've got reserves in the tank all for you."

"That sounds weird," Kieran said and pulled on her hand. "And not at all romantic."

"You want romance, do you?" Carina pulled Kieran into her once they found a spot on the dance floor. "I love you, Kieran Walsh , and I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with you."

Kieran swallowed. Carina winked at her.

"Was that a–"

"Nope," Carina replied. "Not at all. But if you want to make use of that little box I found when I was cleaning out the closet last week, you might want to ask me ."

"Well, fuck," Kieran said.

"Now, that's romantic," Carina teased, wrapping her arms around her. "If it helps with the nerves, I'm going to say yes."

Kieran pulled her in and smiled against Carina's neck.