Captive (Sequel to Infatuation)

Epilogue (2)

(hey wow, long time no see. how ya been? so this is kind of a surprise, I guess. hopefully a good one. but yeah, long story short, this little idea came into my head and y'all wanted more, so here's a second epilogue... epilogue part two? and it's kind of long. oh whale. enjoy <3)

EPILOGUE (part two)

-TEN YEARS AFTER GRACE & HARRY'S MARRIAGE-

☯ THIRD PERSON ☯

"I KNEW THIS would happen."

"Grace, it's not that big of a deal..."

She rounded on him, a hand on her hip and the other waving aimlessly in the air as she spoke. "Really? He got in his first fight and he's in fourth grade, Harry."

He ran a hand down his face, trying to stick up for his kid but also seeing his wife's point. "This is Ethan we're talking about. Sweet, shy little Ethan. Maybe he's just taking the fall for it. You know he doesn't like confrontations."

Grace sighed, grabbing her car keys but not yet heading for the door. Harry could see the thoughts racing through her mind as if they were displayed visibly on her forehead. She spoke in a quiet voice. "He looks up to you, Harry."

He knew that was an indirect jab to his UFC career. In his defense--and Grace knew this--he had tried to get out of it a number of times before. First he'd gotten an office job, even got quite high in ranks, but the urge to be physically involved was too overpowering, and he'd dropped it. Then he managed to get certified to be a personal trainer, however, in such a department the client controlled the schedule for the day, and not being in control drove him insane. So he went back to fighting, and to this day he'd still only lost three his whole career.

Grace was supporting, and that was all he could ask for. Her only worries were that Ethan would follow in his footsteps, and she didn't want her son to be involved in such a thing. She didn't like violence as it was, but she couldn't keep her husband under her thumb like she could her child. Only when he was an "adult" could he make the individual decision, but Grace very much hoped he took a different path.

After a long while, Grace added, "Is Meg going to start hitting kids in her class because they took a toy from her?"

Harry gave her a look. "That's not fair, Grace."

Grace huffed. "Maybe it isn't but... Ethan is at the age where he thinks what you do is this incredible thing, and maybe it is in it's own perspective, but you know I don't want him to take that route. And Megan is six now and I can't protect her forever and then..." Her hands fell to her stomach where their third child was developing. They'd only ever planned on two, but neither complained when the pregnancy test came back positive.

Harry stepped closer to her, placing a hand behind her neck and the other on top of hers that clutched her gradually growing belly. "You're an amazing mother," he told her, pressing his lips to her forehead. "Everything will be fine, yeah? I'll even go pick Ethan up to talk to him. Did he get suspended?"

Grace let her forehead rest on his. "No. His clean record saved him there, at least."

"I'll pick Ethan up, and I'll talk to him while we wait for Meg to get out. Go check in on the peanut and calm down," he said. "And make sure you get the pictures from the ultrasound." He got a smile out of her at last.

God, he'd never get tired of seeing that smile.

They both exited the house, which Grace locked behind them, and they shared a sweet kiss before departing in separate vehicles. Hers turned left, his went right, but the comforting thing was they'd meet around the circle soon.