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Epilogue Two
Diana
Two summers later…
One of my favorite things about being a bird—aside from the flying?
The food.
Turns out I’m really into mice, which is a good thing considering the cat my brother and Willow adopted two Christmases ago is the biggest scaredy feline in the world. Sunshine is a sweetheart and super cute, with her fluffy orange coat and bright green eyes, but I swear she wets herself if a fly gets into the apartment, let alone a mouse.
And hey, it’s New York City. Sometimes we have mice, especially on the roof where all the open trash cans are.
Thank. Goodness.
I swoop, diving from my perch atop the slide to destroy a rodent who’s dared to creep from beneath the bin at the edge of the playground. I turn back to Willow as I shake it in my beak, keeping an eye on her as I gulp down my treat in one bite, honoring my promise to my brother not to drop my guard while he slips downstairs for a business call.
These days, our enemies are few and far between, and Maxim is only days from being elected ruler of the allied packs of Human Side, but where the safety of his wife and child are concerned, he’s still a fanatic.
And really, who can blame him?
Willow is the best, and my nephew is so stinking adorable I can hardly stand it. I just want to bite his chubby little cheeks off.
Sometimes I…actually want to do that. Literally. But I don’t. And I never would. I trust myself completely, but I can’t deny the animal part of me is growing every day.
I can sense that makes Willow sad sometimes, but I don’t feel sad anymore. I don’t feel many human emotions, in fact, except love.
Love remains.
It not only remains, it flourishes. My love for my family and my people has grown stronger than I imagined possible. I’m just so proud of them and all the good work they’re doing in the world. I’m such a sap, Willow and I had to work out “love” in owl sign language the very first week I was transformed.
I land beside her on the park bench now, and flash a love sign her way, hooting as she flashes it back.
“Love you, too, cutie,” she says as James Alexander Thorn the Second—named for his grandad—gums on a teething biscuit in her lap. He’s a year old today and his gummy smile has been replaced by several cute little baby teeth. James is so precious even his teeth are adorable, and that’s a fact. “But maybe a little less mousing while I’m around, if you can help it. I almost threw up in my mouth.”
I hoot again and flash her the “wimp” sign.
She laughs. “Yes. I am a wimp. A wimp with a weak stomach. So have mercy on me, will you?”
I narrow my eyes, suspicion blooming inside me. But before I can remember if we have a sign for “pregnant” not just “baby,” Willow’s mom emerges from the elevator and races down the pathway toward the playground, laugh-crying in the way only she can.
“A baby!” she shouts. “Another baby! I knew it! I just knew it!”
“Did Maxim tell you?” Willow huffs and rolls her eyes, but I can tell she’s not really mad. “He promised we’d wait until James’s birthday dinner tonight.”
“I caught him buying you a present downstairs, and put two and two together,” her mother says, plopping down beside Willow on the bench and throwing her arms around both her daughter and grandson. “I’m so excited!” She beams past Willow to include me. “Hey there, Diana. Did you know?”
I shake my head and make the “yay” sign.
Wendy laughs. “Yay for sure. All the yay. And it’s going to be a girl this time, isn’t it? I can just feel it.”
“No,” Willow says, startling as her eyes begin to glow and she continues in a slightly dazed voice. “Oh wow, that hasn’t happened in a while. But…no, it’s… He’s going to be another boy.” Her eyes widen and jerk excitedly to mine. “And Diana’s going to be the first person to hold him. With her human arms. You’re going to be human again, Dee! By the time baby two is born!”
I cock my head and then lift my wings into the air, hoping I’m doing a decent job of pretending to be excited about Willow’s revelation.
But the truth is I’m not sure I want to be human again.
Not without Jacob. I don’t feel sad when I think about him anymore, but I sense I will be if I slip back into my human skin. Jacob might be dead, or simply trapped in the Parallel, but from where I sit, it doesn’t really matter. I can’t make contact with him either way, can’t confess my sins or beg for forgiveness or promise that I’ll always love him.
