A Finished Puzzle (Sequel to 'My Missing Piece')

Epilogue

It's been great. No, scratch that. It's been amazing. A couple of years ago Gavin and I got invited to Miles Luna's wedding and he sure as hell knows how to party. He married this one woman he, and no I'm not kidding, actually ran into at an RTX convention. I think her name was Alora or something like that. But anyways. Back to the present. Gavin and I have been married for twenty years now and those have been the best years of our lives. Lindsay was graduating high school. She was getting ready now. I was starting to tear up. Gavin's sitting next to me leaning on my shoulder, "Our little girl is growing up." I smiled at him and nodded, "I always though I wouldn't cry but look at me now." We watched the stage as the ceremony began. Gavin took his phone out ready to film when Lindsay was called. "Lindsay Jones," called the man on the stage. Gavin filmed it while I stood up and cheered. Lindsay was graduating while being the valedictorian of her class. She wanted to be a marine biologist. It was odd, but Gavin and I supported her. She began her speech.

"Not only are we graduating and leaving this school but we are moving on with our lives. This class of 2034 will go on to rule. Good luck to my fellow graduates and may you own your world!" Lindsay finished. Everyone cheered for her. As the ceremony was coming to an end, the hats were thrown into the air and the now graduated seniors were cheering themselves on. Gavin and I met Lindsay in the back and took a couple pictures of her and her friends. Hilariously enough, she stayed friends with Julia all these years. In fact, Lindsay told me they started dating. Apparently gayness runs in the families. "Hey dad, pops. I'm gonna go to the grad bash with my friends now. Is that okay?" Lindsay side barred us. I looked over at Gavin, who nodded. "Yeah, just-" I started to speak but she interrupted me. "Just be home before one, no alcohol, and don't have unprotected sex. I know guys," she giggled. I ruffled her hair, "You be good." "I love you guys," she said before pulling us both into a hug and going to catch up with her friends.

Gavin wrapped his arm around my shoulder as we sat on the couch watching some random show and waiting for Lindsay to get home. She arrived right at midnight and came in the door all sad . "Hey sweetie," Gavin greeted. "I was going to walk in and tell you guys to sit down, but you're already sitting so that's great ," Lindsay trudged over to the living room and sat down on the love seat. "What's up?" I inquired. "I got a call from Texas A&M today. They told me that I...," she frowned. I immediately looked at Gavin and back at her, "Oh honey I'm so sorry." "You're a genius. There's other schools out there," Gavin said. "I got in! I have a scholarship. I got you guys!" Lindsay cheered and jumped to her feet. "Oh you fucking trickster!" I lightly punched her arm. She bent down and pulled us into a hug. "I'm so proud of you," Gavin smiled at her and ruffled her hair. "Go get changed and we'll take you to McDonald's," I nodded at her. "Hell yeah!" She chuckled and rushed off to her room. I looked over and saw Gavin wiping his eyes, "Aw baby don't cry." Gavin smiled at me, "She's growing up Micoo. Our little girl is going to college." I hugged him tighter, "We always knew she would."

"Can I invite Julia?" Lindsay asked as she came into the living room. "Of course! As long as her parents are okay with it," Gavin smiled and stood up. "Oh you know how nice they are," Lindsay giggled. I smiled, "Tell her to meet us there." She nodded and whipped out her phone. I stood up as well and followed Gavin to the door. Lindsay jumped into the backseat of the car, I got in the driver's, and Gavin got in the passenger's. "You better call your grandma tomorrow and tell her the news," I peeked at Lindsay through the rear view mirror. "I will dad. I will," she smiled at me. "Good. She misses you," I smiled back. When we arrived at McDonald's, Julia was already waiting at the table. She hugged Lindsay first, kissing her cheek as well, then hugged Gavin and I. Julia really thought of Gavin and I as second parents. "Okay. You guys will never guess what mail I got when I got home," Julia was almost bouncing in her seat as she looked at all of us. "I got into Texas A&M!" She cheered. Gavin nudged me and I smiled at him. Lindsay jumped onto Julia in a hug while Gavin and I went to order the ice cream.

While Gavin and I were walking to the table, we saw Julia asleep on Lindsay's shoulder. I slid them their ice creams and Lindsay woke up Julia. They started to eat them and chat with us about hoe excited they were. They were asking us questions about college and everything else. Gavin broke out one of his childhood stories about working at that store with Dan, which brought me up to talk about what Tony and I used to do as kids. "Hey wait. Linds was telling me you guys were in an accident before you adopted her. I never asked before 'cause it seemed too personal," Julia exclaimed, "You two sounded like total badasses." Gavin smirked and looked at me. "Well. We were on our honeymoon and our plane crashed. Michael here had a piece of metal lodged into his thigh," Gavin paused as the girls scrunched up their noses. I continued for him, "I so graciously pulled it out and patched up my leg. I patched up Gavin's arm too." I paused so Gavin could show them the scar, "Then we found this other guy and I pulled something out of his stomach." "Aw gross dad!" Lindsay giggled. "He was my hero," Gavin pressed his lips against mine for a short second. "Gross," Julia joked.

We eventually got both girls home and let Lindsay go to sleep. It was late but Gavin wanted to show me something. He sat me down on the bed and told me to close my eyes. I did as he said and complained about being impatient. I felt a box get placed in my hands as Gavin told me I could open my eyes now. I stared at the box. It was wooden and had a little lock on it. Gavin opened it for me and sat back. There were pictures of us on dates, pictures of us with Lindsay, pictures of my family, pictures of me as a kid. I saw ticket stubs from movies we went to and even a concert he dragged me to. There were hospital bands from when I was admitted and the tickets from the plane that crashed. I started to tear up. The last thing I saw was the ring I gave to Gavin when I proposed. That did it in for me. I started to cry and Gavin wrapped his arms around my shoulder, "There's one more thing." I pulled out two puzzle pieces connected with our names on them. I smiled. Gavin kissed my cheek, "It's because you're my missing piece."