Page 225 of Lawless God

“Um…thank you,” I choke past the tightness in my chest. “All of you. I… I don’t know how I could ever repay you.”

“Nothing to repay,” Xi says casually. “NSC and the Kings are one now. We’re here for each other.”

It means everything coming from him. The man who thought he’d leave it all behind and still came to help rescue me.

“So, you’re back in?” I ask.

He’s about to answer, when his girlfriend cuts in with a stern tone I didn’t think she was capable of. “Only for emergencies.”

Xi wraps a hand around the back of her neck. “Only for emergencies,” he repeats, looking at Nate this time. I feel him nodding next to me, agreeing to that statement.

“We’re family, Kay,” Elliot adds. “Always.”

I nod, wiping the last tear falling from my eyes with the back of my hand.

“Don’t cry, Mommy!” Lia exclaims. “Don’t cry!”

“They’re happy tears, honey,” I tell her. “Mommy’s okay.”

I grab the can of cherry soda in front of me. The fridge was full of them. Nate kept adding to them, even though I wasn’t here to take them out.

I raise it in front of my completely improbable and dysfunctional family.

“To Emma Scott,” I say. “May she rest in peace.”

Everyone else raises their drinks, repeating the name of the woman who fell to the hands of our biggest enemies.

“So, what now?” Caden asks.

They all look at Nate and me, expectant. What now, that we spent our entire lives hating each other, running our broken town? What now, that we all own it as a unified family? What now, that the world outside keeps spinning while we recover from the loss we suffered and while I heal from the fear of never seeing any of them again?

What now?

My husband and I stand tall at the head of the table. Our hands fall side by side, and he grabs mine tightly as we hold our daughters.

“Now, we keep on living.”

THE END

EPILOGUE

NATHAN

Teeth - 5 Seconds of Summer

Six months later…

My phone rings, and I huff to myself when I see the number. This is going to be painful.

“Mrs. Caldon.” I fake a polite voice when I pick up because one of the twins’ parents has to.

“Mr. White, your wife has threatened another parent when she came to pick up Olivia and Celia today.”

I pinch my lips, trying not to burst into laughter. The head of the Stoneview preschool always has a bone to pick with my North Shore wife. Even when she doesn’t threaten anyone.

“Please.” She sighs desperately. “You’re a reasonable man. I am begging you, speak to Mrs. White.”

Mrs. White. I will never get tired of hearing it. Technically, Kayla is Mrs. White-King now. But no one ever thinks of the second last name. She still hasn’t changed the girls’ name, but I’ll get there.

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