Epilogue

My phone dinged.

"David, honey? Was that him?" Julie grinned excitedly as she busied herself with the giant cheese tray.

"No, that was just an email." I slid the phone back into my pocket and picked up Liza. "He'll text. I told him that I may need him to pick up dinner because I've been busy with a work project."

"The little white lies have begun!" John popped a small cherry tomato into his mouth and grinned.

"You eat one more thing, and I"m kicking you out," Julie laughed as she swatted at her son.

Looking at John and Justin together was strange when you knew they were twins. They are so much alike, yet so different in almost every way. Only their faces were the same if you looked hard enough. I had come to appreciate John and enjoyed his company. He was smarter than almost anyone I knew, even if he did reek of pot from time to time. Liza also adored him. Of course, she loved anyone who would pay attention to her. She was such a slut.

"But where would I go? Would you do that to your only other child?" He gasped and grinned at his mother.

"Both of my boys are getting their masters at Denver. So glad that John will be close and Justin will be right next door." Julie looked at her handiwork and wiped her hands on the small towel.

"I love you too, Ma." John grabbed another tomato and dashed away from Julie before she made good on her promise. He went and joined our friends. Crystal wrapped her arm around him. She had already been trying to set him up on a blind date with someone she knew.

Crystal was an enigma, but she was also one of the sweetest and most caring people I had met in The Pleasant. When she welcomed you into her family, she welcomed you into her heart.

My phone chimed the special tone I had set for Justin, and everyone's heads looked up and turned in my direction. At one time, this would have made me very uncomfortable. But now, I relished in my new friends and family – my chosen family – a family that had chosen me.

"Is that the man of the hour?" Jacob asked over his martini as he sat on the couch with his legs crossed.

"It is." I typed quickly. "He should be a few minutes out. I told him that I didn't need him to stop anywhere. I made pasta."

I picked up Liza's leash, and she ran over to me with her tail wagging rapidly. Now that Justin had finished his classes, he had been going into the Pheasant's office for the last couple of weeks, and Liza always knew when he was about to come home. She could tell time better than any of us.

"Good girl! Are you ready to go see Daddy?" I hooked the leash onto her harness, and she almost fell down because her tail was wagging so hard.

"Should we hide?" Danny laughed as he looked around.

"No. When that door opens, it will be him, so make it count," I laughed as I picked Liza Minelli up and carried her outside, making sure to shut the door behind me so Justin wouldn't see. I had asked everyone to park on the next block over so things would look normal on the street.

I set Liza down, and she took a few steps before doing her business. "Good girl."

We walked a little down the block, and she looked at every car as it passed. This had become our routine, and she knew that Justin was coming. It was a beautiful day, and the sun was still bright, with the leaves dappling shadows on the ground. This block had become even more of my home since Justin appeared. It felt like a large weight had finally been lifted off me – one that I had carried for far too long.

The future felt promising, and as long as I had my happy for now, I knew that it would continue to be so.

Justin slowed down, and Liza barked happily as we watched him pull his station wagon into a parking space in front of our house.

Our house…

"How's my boy and my girl?" Justin shut his door and came to kneel in front of Liza who rolled right over for the belly scratching that she expected.

"We're great, Daddy," I teased. "I made spaghetti and meatballs, so I hope you've worked up an appetite."

"I have totally worked up an appetite, but it's not food I want," he looked at me lustfully.

How I wish I didn't have a house full of company right now because all I wanted was for Justin to throw me over his shoulder and make me beg. But… That was not how this was going to play out.

"I love coming home to you – to both of you!" He rubbed Liza and picked her up. "Let's go in. Did she do her business?"

"Right away, "cause she's a good girl." I gave Justing the leash.

"Alright, babes, let's go in." He walked up the stairs to the house and turned to me. "I love you."

I grinned stupidly. I never got tired of hearing him say this, and he had been saying it a lot recently. Safe – I felt safe and secure in us.

"I love you too."

He opened the door, and the roar of our friends and family greeted him.

"Surprise!"

"Happy graduation, Daddy."

"I thought we were gonna watch a movie? I suppose I will never watch Pretty in Pink." He grinned.

I was truly home, and so was Justin.

The End