“He’s done.” I fight bursting into tears.
Linus wraps his arm around me. “I know. You’re gonna be okay, my love.”
“We’re here, baby.” Avonna grasps my hand. Her grip is firm, grounding. “We’re always here.”
I squeeze back. “Yeah, I know.”
Inside, LTZ shakes the building on its comeback show. The sound rolls through the walls and into my bones. Fireworks prime somewhere overhead at the Space Needle. The timing of the countdown echoes faintly from the floor seats.
Voices rise together and then a new year is upon us.
The three of us stand at the side of the stage and seal a brand new year with a kiss. A promise of the future.
Fireball doesn’t end here.
It changes shape.
For the first time, I don’t chase the noise to drown the pain. I let it move through me instead. Every note from the stage behind us carries history, loss, love, stubborn hope.
I let the music say goodbye in a way words never could.
Epilogue
Liam - Eight Months Later
Thecontractionhitsbeforeshe finishes sitting.
Avonna freezes halfway down, one hand gripping the back cushion, the other braced beneath her belly. I see the shift in her eyes before she makes a sound.
Focus pulls inward. Breath narrows.
“Oh,” she says softly.
Then again, louder, “Oh.”
I look up from the kitchen table where Sloane and I are coloring a thank-you card for the neighbor. Linus sits on the floor with Quinn, folding the last of the baby clothes into neat piles.
My chair scrapes back. “Another contraction?”
“Yeah.” Avonna nods, breathing through it. “Not practice.”
Linus rises immediately. “You sure?”
“I’ve been timing them since morning.” She manages a smile through the wave. “This one had teeth.”
Sloane and Quinn spring up together, identical reactions from shared instincts.
“Is he coming?” Sloane asks.
“Sure seems like it, my loves,” Avonna answers calmly. “Are you excited?”
Quinn spins once. “Yay! We’re having a brother.”
“Today.” Sloane claps before wrapping her arms around Avonna’s waist, reaching as far as she can. “Can I help pack?”
I gently guide her back. “Everything’s ready. Remember?”
“Oh right.” She bounces up and down. “I forgot for a second.”
