Epilogue Katerina 1

The following months had flown by, and before Alex and I knew it, we were driving to the hospital since my water had broken in the early hours of October. By 4:45 a.m., Sage Nolan was born.

"My god," Alex whispered as he looked at the newborn in my arms, who was fast asleep. "He's beautiful."

"That he is," I replied, exhausted from pushing, even though it had been a quick delivery, unlike Savannah's.

"You're a trooper, you know that?" he then asked, making me give him a tired smile before he leaned down and gave me a quick kiss. A knock on the door then gained our attention as Hayden walked in with a grumpy Savannah.

"She just woke up and was asking for you," he said. Alex walked over and took our 16-month-old into his arms, which instantly made her smile and snuggle into him. "Kat, he's so cute!" he gasped when he saw the baby in my arms. "What's his name?"

"Sage," I replied, and he grinned with watery eyes, realizing that our new baby had the name Hayden had suggested when we learned we were having a boy.

"You actually picked the name I suggested," he whispered, sniffing and wiping his eyes.

"Of course we did. No other name sounded as perfect as Sage; besides, any other name didn't sound good with Nolan," Alex said as he stood on the other side of the bed with a now sleeping Savannah. "We played with every name we thought of, but none matched other than Sage."

"He's beautiful," my little brother whispered in awe as he gently ran a finger along Sage's little nose. This made Sage furrow his brow and bob his head back and forth before settling back down, making us smile. "You look exhausted. It's almost 5 in the morning; why don't you two get some sleep? I'll wake you up if he needs a diaper change or food."

He then gently plucked the baby from my arms and laid him in the hospital crib that was near the bed. That boy has been the greatest blessing to us since he moved in with us last year. Even though he has homework, he's always there, ready to lend a hand to help with Savannah when she was born and now with Sage.

As I mentioned, my parents gave Hayden the cold shoulder for two months before finally coming to their senses and apologizing for trying to persuade him to follow a career he didn't want. Needless to say, Hayden accepted their apology but made it very clear that he would never forgive them if they ever tried something like that again, to which they agreed.

It didn't even last long because no less than two months later, Hayden brought his boyfriend to introduce him to our parents, and you can only imagine how that went. Let's just say that there were some words exchanged before Hayden told them to shove their opinions where the sun doesn't shine, which earned him a slap to the cheek from our mom. In return, she earned a nasty glare from him. I had never seen my mother snap the way she did that day, and I was completely dumbfounded by her actions. I quickly intervened, telling her and Dad to leave.

"Get out," I hissed, beyond livid that she had hit Hayden for defending his relationship with Mark, his boyfriend. "You had absolutely no right to hit him."

"Stay out of this, Katerina," Mother snapped.

"No, I'm not staying out of this. Not when you assaulted your son in front of his boyfriend. All he did was introduce you both to him and seek your support. You promised him that you would support him after your talk two months ago, and this is not supporting him," I snapped, glaring at them both. "He's not a little boy anymore who needs your approval in everything. He's 18 years old; all he wants is for you to support him and be there for him. Instead, you're here not only insulting Mark but also hitting Hayden for voicing his anger."

"How would you react if your children came home with a boyfriend or girlfriend who is three or four years older than them?" Mom asked with a raised brow.

"Not the way you're reacting, that's for sure. I would never insult their respective partners nor hit them. I would talk with them first and get insight into who they're dating," I replied. "We've all known about Mark for months before Hayden decided to introduce him to you because he knew you would react this way. He had hoped you would be more understanding and supportive."

They didn't say anything after that, but instead, they grabbed their coats and left the house, slamming the door shut behind them. This caused both Sage and Savannah to wake up screaming from their naps since they were sleeping in the playpen.