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Jo beamed at us over the top of her coffee cup, as though hardly able to take in the enormity of what was happening here. On that still, quiet morning, everything had changed for us, and we all knew it. I could never have imagined when I saw her standing there at that bar again after all those years, that things would have led here – but now we were here, now we were sharing this, I wouldn’t have had it any other way.
Our path to each other might not always have been clear. But when I looked at Jo now, I felt the acceptance I had searched for my whole life – an acceptance that would let me come to terms with my feelings for Sasha, too.
And, in that moment, nothing else mattered in the world to me more than that.
Epilogue – Jo
"I’ll catch you tomorrow, Freddie!” I called through to the bar, and Freddie waved me off. I grinned as I headed out of the Flood, my bag draped over one arm, pulling my jacket on with the other.
When I had first started working at the Flood, there had hardly been a shift I had come off where I hadn’t been completely and utterly exhausted in the aftermath - all I would want to do was get home, take care of Kyra, and crawl into bed. But, now I had way more support than I ever could have imagined, I actually found myself looking forward to my evenings, knowing I wouldn’t have to take on everything myself.
I had just been in today to help Freddie get set up for some big function they were handling tonight; I had asked for the evening off, so I could spend some quality time with my family.
My family - I still got a little buzz in my chest from even thinking those words. I had never imagined, never let myself imagine, that my family would be anything other than Kyra and I,
But, in these last few months, it had turned into something more perfect than I could have ever imagined. I stepped out of the Flood, and waved to Sasha, who was waiting for me in the car outside. He pushed open the door for me and pulled me in for a kiss.
"What was that for?" I giggled, as I slipped into the seat next to him.
"Because I wanted to," he replied, cocking an eyebrow at me. "Problem?"
"Oh, I’m not complaining," I promised him, as I clipped my seatbelt on. We pulled away from the Flood, and took to the streets to head to our place across town.
Oh, yeah, our place – the place that I shared with Avda and Sasha. Since the three of us had gotten together, there had hardly been room for all of us in the old apartment I lived in. So Sasha and Avda had pooled their resources to buy this gorgeous home for us, across town – in a fancy neighborhood, not far from Kyra’s school. It was huge, way bigger than my last place, but had a coziness to it that I loved. With the four of us there, it always felt full of life, just the way I liked it.
And the guys had helped me with more than just getting a house, too. No, they had stepped up to help with Kyra as well – though we had decided not to reveal to her the truth about Avda’s parenthood just yet, she had accepted her two new father figures into her life with ease, reveling in being the center of attention. It made me so happy to see how well she got on with them, how much she thrived with so much more attention – and, at her age, how easily she adapted to their presence, accepting them into her life as her new family without a second thought.
We arrived at the house, where Avda and Kyra were playing basketball in the front yard – Avda had surprised Kyra for her birthday with a mini-court to play on, and they were always out there together, practicing for her tournaments. Avda caught his breath as he saw the car turning into the driveway, and came over to greet me with a hug as Kyra continued to play.
"How was your day?" he asked me, planting a kiss on my cheek and giving Sasha’s hand a squeeze. Though we generally tried to keep most displays of affection out of the public eye, there were times we just couldn’t hold it back, and those small touches and signs of our sweetness were what I lived for.
"Pretty good," I replied, nodding. "How’s Kyra?"
"She’s buzzing for her tournament on Saturday," Avda replied, laughing as he looked over his shoulder. "It’s going to be tough getting her in for dinner tonight..."
"Oh, that reminds me, I need to pick up some groceries," Sasha remarked, snapping his fingers as though it had just clicked for him. He dropped a kiss on my cheek.
"I’ll be back soon," he promised, flashing a grin to Avda.
"Love you!” I called after him, and he turned to blow a kiss to me, mouthing the words back at me. I couldn’t even remember who had been first to say them out loud, but it hardly seemed to matter – not when our care for each other was as obvious as it had become.
Avda led me over to Kyra, who grinned and waved at me, the ball tucked under her arm.
"You want to play, Mommy?" she asked, and I glanced over at Avda.
"I don’t know if I can keep up," I warned her, but she laughed and threw the ball at me.
"Of course you can!" she replied. She was getting so big these days, sometimes it caught me off-guard – and her social skills had developed so much since the guys had come into our lives.
"I don’t think you’re going to get much of a choice," Avda warned me, as I fumbled the ball and busted out laughing.
"I really need to practice more," I remarked, as I tried to line up a shot – but the ball bounced off the net, crashing onto the grass beside us. I groaned, shaking my head.
"Hey, plenty of time for that," Avda promised me, as he grabbed the ball and tossed it to Kyra so she could take a shot herself. And, as I watched the two of them together, knowing Sasha was just around the corner to bring us back something to eat for dinner, I couldn’t keep the smile off of my face.
This might not have been the family I expected to have when I had first gotten pregnant with Kyra, not even knowing her father’s name. But it was the one I had always needed.
And the one I knew I would treasure for the rest of my life.
