EPILOGUE

….


**ONE YEAR LATER.

**Isabelle’s P O V

Alpha Alexander De Luca threw his one year old son in the air, his squeal was loud and so was his father’s laughter

“Say it again darling.”

“Al-faa.” Nico Arsenio De Luca enthusiastically repeated, clapping his chubby hands together in excitement. He was celebrating his victory.

I laughed from my spot on the picnic carpet, taking in the scene starring my husband and son. “Somebody wants a birthday party real bad.” I teased.

Alexander lowered his giggling son to the carpet, mussing his dark hair affectionately before placing a tender kiss to the top of my head.

“He surely does, else he wouldn’t have complied with your demand with immediate effect.” My husband replied popping a piece of grape into his mouth and placing one over his son’s open mouth.

I sighed at the duo, turned my head to the side and caught Athena staring at me with a questioning look in her eyes.

It’s time.

I nodded curtly at her and looked away, in the modern world it wasn’t every day that a man proposes marriage and in our world, Athena was willing and ready to prove that she could be one of those who had the courage to ask and not wait to be asked.

I admire her courage.

We were all out for a picnic at Cedar Hill, Central Park and the view was epic, so was the atmosphere.

I laid on my back letting my mind wander off to everything that happened from Nico’s birth to date. Arabella and Lucas got married ten months after we did and she found out she was pregnant 2 months before the wedding.

Today not only a proposal was on its way but also a gender reveal, on their red and white checkered carpet she laughed at something Lucas said and pointed at the clouds, I watched them with a smile and turned to my gurgling son.

Nico is one of those babies who love and cherish food more than they do anything else. He’s quite on the chubby side of the scale but that’s all baby fat. He’s got my eyes and his father’s hair, and everything else.

Alexander always gloats about it and grins in triumph whenever anyone mentions the obvious. Last week we found a streak of fiery red hair on his head, I thought it was the sun’s reflection or something but it turned out to be as real as our very own existence. Alexander dotes on that streak. It’s a sign that shows how he has the opium pack blood running through his veins like I do and Alexander’s late grandmother, Adrianna does.

Nico’s growth rate according to Old Bea is a little more faster than other kids, he began saying our names early, crawled early, walked early, knew how to play peek-a-boo very much earlier than Sam’s baby did. Sam is one of the garden’s caretakers. She’s a professional who has taught me all I need to know about flowers and she has a son about Nico’s age, Ethan, he doesn’t get the peek-a-boo memo or any other game’s.

Needless to say much about Ethan, I joked to Nico about not celebrating his first birthday in a big way if he doesn’t refer to his father by his title and he shocked my world by saying “Al-fa” just a few seconds later.

Now I know better than to dare that little guy again.

Francis and Athena rose from their carpet catching our attentions, I turned to my husband to give him a hint of what was about to happen and caught him staring back at me. I moved closer to him and we jinxed.

“He’s about to propose.”

“She’s gonna propose.”

Then,

“Wait, what?”

Talk about jinxing a proposal (not the bad omen jinx, the simultaneous action jinx). Our eyes were latched unto them as a song began to play, I didn’t know whose tactic that was but Francis went down on his knee before she did. Her hands flew to her mouth in surprise as her favourite band began to play her favourite song in the flesh.

I heard a squeal, must be from me or Arabella who was watching with the same intensity as I was.

Then Athena’s own plan played out because the balloon she forced him into holding got pricked with a nail by herself and a ring fell out of the pieces.

We all laughed at how well it played out. Apparently the men knew about his decision while we knew about hers and the shocking part is how we successfully hid it away from the other party until it was time. Everyone knows how terrible it is to tell a secret to someone who has a partner. It almost always gets shared and why not?

After their proposal scene was over and the couple had a ring on their fingers and were making out passionately in the presence of Baby Nico I turned to Arabella and knew it was time for her own surprise too.

We spent hours trying to come up with gender reveal ideas and settled on the balloon pop. She decided on that because of Athena’s plan to propose with a balloon herself. The two are “twinning” and so she clinked her glass cup with a spoon calling for everyone’s attention.

Arabella took out the large black balloon that had the words “Boy or girl” written boldly on it. It was going to be a surprise for everyone including myself and Athena because she decided to hide it from not only Lucas but the whole family.

The idea gave me jitters and I couldn’t wait for the balloon to be popped.

Lucas got the privilege of popping it and when he did pink and blue confetti shot up on their carpet.

We froze.

Boy

Or girl?

Which was it?

Oh my God!

Oh my God!

Arabella was having twins. A boy and a girl.

When realisation dawned on Lucas he took her up into the air and they began their own make out session.

Before the day ended we made cheers to a hundred and more years of friendship, love, peace and harmony to come because there’s nothing more amazing than having all of those at a time.

…..

Old Beatriz’s P O V

Nico’s first birthday was celebrated at Staten Island amidst family and friends, he got his wish and had a great time, he dozed off before bath time.

Arabella’s babies came a couple of months later and Baby Aella Maria came out first, then Conall Stephano second, Aella got her father’s looks while Conall got his mother’s hair and features. He’s blond to her brunette.

Francis and Athena got married the following summer and Damon found his mate not too long after but his is a story that cannot be summarised.

I saw it in his eyes the day he found her, he was silent about it as usual and when weeks passed by without him mentioning a word about it I confronted him.

His response to my words were, “She ran away before I had the chance to make a move.”

I knew there was going to be a little drama in his case. Who am I kidding? It’s going to be a hell lot of drama because Damon’s mate is a direct descendant of the family of hunters who annihilated the Opium Pack members and Adrianna, Alexander’s grandmother and Stephano’s wife.

Just when everyone thought peace had reign, war is over, a fresh one has begun to brew and there was no being on earth that could stop it.

There was only one way out.

To fight? Or to not?

My eyes shut close as I thought wistfully of the events that were bound to happen if the vision I had was to come true, this will be the time for my revenge for Adrianna as well as for the whole De Luca Pack but at what cost will we see to our revenge? At the cost of Damon losing the only person bound to be his saviour?

“This will be a decision for the mates to make.” I whispered wistfully into the air embracing the change I felt in it while people from the ballroom below laughed at a thing or two some other person said, joyfully celebrating the Alpha and Luna’s anniversary.

A sacrifice can be the only way out to maintain the peace and stability in our worlds. I mused, smiling wistfully to myself.

But before it’s time for a decision to be made, we’re relishing in the moment.

And the moment is the most perfect one we've had in many years.