Page 65 of Echoes of Danger

“It’s about damn time. But, next time, warn me so I can take my sister and go next door. You’ve ruined our ears for life.”

The heat of the moment slightly cools as I laugh at a disgusted Eli and an embarrassed Freckles.

“You got it, son,” I call out. “Here’s your warning now. Take your sister to your room and crank up the cartoons.”

“Gross,” he groans, and I hear him open Jessica’s door. “Come on, Butterfly. She’s wide awake, by the way. We need thicker walls.”

Laughing, I finally pull myself out of my woman and fall beside her.

“I’m mortified,” she whispers, her face blood red.

“You look sexy as fuck in my cut,” I say. “I’m gonna fuck you in the ass one day while you wear it. Or maybe one that says property of Reynolds. Yeah. Fuck yeah.”

“You’re an animal,” she laughs, but her face is no longer red.

“Love you, baby.”

“I know,” she smiles. “And I love you. By the way, I came to a realization earlier today.”

“What’s that?” I ask.

Instead of answering, she simply holds out her right hand and wiggles her ring finger. It takes several moments before it hits me.

“You have got to be fucking kidding me,” I groan.

“You probably could have found us within hours,” she smiles. “Had you just remembered the ring you got me.”

“I can’t believe I forgot about that,” I say. “I can’t believe we all forgot about it.”

“In our defense, I just got before everything went down,” she says. “So, it’s really no big surprise that we all forgot.”

“I could have gotten to you days faster.”

“Maybe so,” she smiles, cuddling against my chest. “But, I believe everything happens for a reason. If I hadn’t spent those days with Steel, he and I wouldn’t be best friends. And that simply wouldn’t do.”

“I guess so,” I say, but I’ll never forgive myself for not remembering that damn ring. On the plus side, I get to watch her torture Steel for the rest of our lives with herbest frienddates. A memory of walking in on them both with facials on makes me chuckle. In the end, our life now is what’s important. So, I’ll come to bed each night and hold her tightly, just as I am now.

As I lay here, watching the pieces of our lives fall into place, I know one thing for sure: the echoes of danger will never fully fade. They’ll always be there, lingering in the background, reminding us of everything we’ve fought for. But what I’ve learned through it all is that love, loyalty, and the will to protect those we care about are stronger than any threat. The danger may have passed, but the lessons will stay with me, and as long as I have this woman by my side, those echoes will only remind me of how far we’ve come and how much we’ve survived. They will simply be… Echoes.

The End