13. The End

Chapter 13

The End

Lilyanna

As we walk hand in hand up our cobblestone walkway, I glance up at Romeo, who's already looking down at me with love and happiness in his eyes. I smile at him and give a little nod before taking a deep breath as we climb the four stairs of our wrap-around porch.

"Wait." Lacey says, bringing us to a halt. Lillian stomps and folds her arms over her chest.

"Come on Lace, I'm tired and hungry." She pouts as Liam bends down to pick her up, tickling her sides.

"You guys are the Quinn's? Like ‘Quinn's Funeral Parlour'?" She asks and I nod.

"Yes, it's just down the road." I reply and she laughs.

"Thank God. I don't think I could go to sleep knowing there are dead bodies in the same house." She whispers, and I chuckle.

"Nope, none of that in here. Come on. It's late and I want to get you ladies settled." I say and she smiles brightly. Liam enters the code and opens the front door to our home. Apples and cinnamon hit my senses and everything I felt through the night drifts away. I'm home. I'm safe. Liam places Lillian on her feet when Margaree comes into the foyer.

"Mr. and Mrs. Quinn, you both look like you have had an eventful evening. Who are these lovely little ones?" She asks, her voice so soft and warm. Before I can answer, the girls chime right in.

"I'm Lillian, I'm six and I love hot Cheetos. Lily said you have pizza. Can I have some pizza?" She asks and her sister elbows her and I laugh. Looking at Liam, he nods for the basement door with the duffel in hand as the girls introduce themselves.

"I'm going to go put this away, get cleaned up, and check my emails to make sure I don't have any new patient intakes at the children's hospital." He whispers against my neck. He licks the side of my ear causing my body to shudder, "What are we going to do about the bodies? Should I bring them to the parlor and cremate them? I'm exhausted, babe. I can't wait to crawl into bed and hold you." He admits and I lean up, brushing my lips against his.

"Go get a shower and check those emails. Come find me when you're done. Don't stress." I assure him and he kisses me once more, then skips off to the stairs.

Turning back to the girls, I see Margaree has them settled in the kitchen.

"Can you make sure they have everything they need? I'm going to go make a quick phone call." I say and Margs nods her head. Hearing the girls giggling makes my heart warm and full. We did the right thing. After a shit night, we ended it on a positive note and saved two little girls.

Walking down the hall into our office, I sit in the chair behind my desk and pick up my cell. Scrolling to the contact I need, I hit send. It rings three times before his raspy voice hits my ears.

"Lily, everything okay?" He asks, sleep riddling his voice.

"Sorry to wake you, but I have a rush order that needs to be handled immediately. Fresh meat, six and eleven."

"Shit. Where did you find them?" he asks and I take a deep breath and tell him the story as much as I can in code just in case the line is bugged.

"Holy shit Lily, is Liam okay?" he asks and I laugh.

"Of course he is. Anyways, have the next contact call me. I want them to be Quinns in the next twenty-fours hours. Make it look like they've been mine this whole time." I order and he laughs.

"Yes, ma'am. You're lucky I want to keep my eyeballs because no one else but my wife can order me around like that." He states with a laugh.

"See you tomorrow." I say and we bid our farewells. Getting up from the desk, I leave the office and head upstairs. Opening the door to the first room, I step beside the bed. Bending down, I kiss Lachlan on the forehead, "Sleep tight, my love," I whisper, but he stirs.

"Mama is that you?" He whispers.

"Yes, baby. Go back to sleep. I just wanted to give you a goodnight kiss." I whisper back and he rolls over grabbing his Spiderman stuffy. I leave his room and head for another.

Creeping the door open, I walk over to the crib and look at Lilith sleeping soundly. I love my babies so fucking much, tears spring in my eyes as I glance around before sitting in the rocking chair in the far corner and think about all I have, all I'm grateful for.

And now we will be adding two more kids to our life and I truly couldn't be happier. Alistair and Louis are dead. The girls' parents and those boys, dead.

Do I really get my happily ever after?

Liam

After a quick shower, I turn on my computer and wait for the screen to light up. Opening my email, I see two new patient intake forms. I review them both, taking notes down on my pad. Once I'm satisfied that I have a decent understanding of my new patients, I switch the computer off and head toward the kids' room so I can kiss them both goodnight.

Lachlan is sound asleep with a smile on his face, squeezing his stuffed Spiderman he won from the claw machine last week. Sure, it cost us more to win than it would have to just buy one from the shelf, but I'd pay quadruple the cost every single time just to see the look of achievement on my boy's face.

I kiss his forehead gently and pull the door closed behind me, walking down the hall toward Lilith's room. Her quiet cries reach my ears when I push her door open.

Walking to the crib, I scoop her into my arms, rocking her gently back to sleep. The moment I lay her back down, her eyes shoot open and she gives me a toothy grin before standing up and reaching her arms out to me. "Dadda pick up," she blubbers, and my heart melts.

"Hi sweet girl." I whisper, picking her up and sitting down in the rocking chair. "The sky is still asleep, Lilith, you should be too."

"Dadda uppies." She coos as she curls up, resting her head in the crook of my elbow. While I'm rocking her back to sleep, Lily opens the door, pausing for a few moments to lean against the door frame.

Once she's settled, I gently lay her back in the crib, slowly backing away with my arms raised in surrender. Lilyanna smiles, pulling the door closed behind me.

"How are Lillian and Lacey settling in?" I ask, grabbing her hand and walking back down the hallway toward the two spare rooms.

"Margs said they insisted on sharing the blue room." She says sadly, stopping outside the room.

"Hey, that's normal." I assure her. "They've been through unimaginable things together. It's natural for them to cling to each other for a while. We have to wait for them to feel safe enough to be apart, we'll only make it worse if we push the subject."

"Is that right, Mr. Child Psychologist?" She quips, smirking at me.

"It is." I nod my head toward the door, "we need to encourage independence without forcing or pushing. Doctor's orders." I wink at her as she pushes the door open. "I'll be right behind you."

Turning toward the opposite door, I pull the mattress from the frame and carry it across the hall, laying it on the floor next to the other bed.

"You don't have to sleep separately, but you have the option." I let them both know. "I'll bring the other bed frame over after we all get some rest."

"Are you abortion us?" Lillian asks, wiping her eyes. I crouch down in front of the bed, my head cocked in confusion. "Mommy said she wanted to abortion us."

"I'm so incredibly sorry that you had to hear that." Sitting on the bed beside her, she blinks her eyes at me. I wish I could rid the world of every single monster that harms children.

One day of the year, my wife and I let our monsters out to play. Three hundred and sixty four days of the year, we're hard working parents that love and care for our children, along with any others that need some love.

"The two of you get settled into bed and we'll check on you as soon as the sky wakes up." Lilyanna chimes in, pulling me from the downward spiral I was about to go on.

Tonight, I took the lives of four children, and even though it was necessary, my heart breaks for the lives they could have had. If they were just born to normal parents, maybe they would have had a fighting chance in this world. I shake my head, clearing my thoughts and follow Lily out of the room into our own bed.

The smell of something burning wakes me from my sleep and I rush downstairs. I'm greeted by laughter at the bottom of the steps. "Good morning, Romeo." Lily saunters toward me, leaning up on her toes to give me a kiss.

"Good morning, Tigerlily. What the hell is going on down here?" Looking behind her, I see Margaree and all four kids standing around the island, placing things on a cutting board when the doorbell rings.

Lacey jumps in the air, looking at me with pure excitement in her eyes. "Can I answer the door one day? I've never got to do that before, because God only knows who would be on the other side."

"Come answer it." I tell her. "You will be one hundred percent safe with anybody that comes here." She runs toward the door, with me following a little bit behind her. She plasters a huge genuine smile across her face as she swings the door open. "Hi." She says to our guest.

"Hello, beautiful little creature."

The End.

Bonus Epilogue will be published in the paperback.

Halloween Party w/ a coochie board.