By The Water | Stephew

Epilogue

A/N: well,  as you can probably guess from the title, this is the end of this fanfic. I had a lot of fun writing it and I hope you'll like the ending. BTW, their new child is so freaking cute!!!! Anyway, enjoy! ❤
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"Umm... I'm not so sure about this..." Said Oliver Julian Patrick as he stood in front of the big pool in their backyard, his parents standing beside him. "There's nothing to worry about sweetie, we'll always be here by your side. Nothing will happen to you as long as we're here." She knelt down to be at the same hight as her seven-year-old son. Matthew did the same. "Totally! We got your back buddy." He said with a reassuring smile and Oliver let out a sigh. "Ok... I can do this." He told himself and both Matthew and Stephanie smiled.

"That's the spirit! You guys go ahead without me, I'll go get my phone so I can have this documented." Stephanie said and went inside to take her phone that was upstairs. As she walked up the staircase, her mind recalled the events of yesterday, when Oliver told her and Matthew about what happened at the last lesson. "Every pupil had to say something they can do and show it to the class on the next lesson a-and everyone said super cool things and I didn't know what to say so I said I can swim without water wings when I actually don't! I need to show them how I do it but how will I do it?!"

Remembering the cute and slightly worried look he had on his face made her let out a giggle as she took her phone and went back to the backyard. "Now do as I did, arms first then legs." She heard Matthew say before she arrived at the back door. She looked at her little son, at how his worries started to go away when he realized he was doing well. His legs were splashing water everywhere, even at Matthew who was holding his waist in his hands and helping him stay still in the water.

Stephanie's eyes shifted to Matthew, and her smile got bigger at the sight of him. When they first met she saved him from drowning. When they got to know each other he was still afraid of the water. Sometimes she still couldn't believe she was the one he wanted to help him get over his fear. But the thing she couldn't believe even more was that she actually did manage to help him.

Flashback

Today was the day. The day Matthew has to show Mr. Peterson what he can do. Stephanie sand Matthew sat by the indoor Olympic pool, waiting for Mr. Peterson to arrive. Stephanie could hear from beside her a sigh coming out of Matthew's mouth as his leg went up and down rapidly.

"It's gonna be alright. You're gonna do what we both know you can do and he'll have no reason to transfer you!" She said with a reassuring smile and patted his back. "Hello there Matthew, Steph." Mr. Peterson said as he walked into the pool area. "Hello, Mr. Peterson. Ready to be amazed?" Matthew asked and a slight smile graced his lips. "I sure am." He said back and went to stand next to Stephanie while Matthew made his way to the side of the pool. He stood there and took deep breathes, looking at the bright blue water and then at Stephanie who gave him two thumbs up.

"Alright Matthew, you can do this. Three, two, one...go!" He yelled mentally before jumping into the water. He started to swim the fastest he could. Once he reached the end of the pool he switched his direction and swam back quickly. Stephanie noticed from right beside her that her dad's mouth was wide open in pure surprise, as he was clearly not expecting this to happen.

When Matthew reached the end of the pool, he let out a cheer of pure happiness and adrenaline. He came out of the pool, and with his body all dripping he made his way towards Mr. Peterson, who still had his mouth wide open. "...Well?" Matthew asked, and a grin of victory he couldn't quite hold back was plastered on his face. "Well, umm...you clearly got over your aquaphobia, which is great. So I suppose you get to stay here! Congratulations, I'm happy for you! Well, I gotta go to do...principal stuff." He said with a smile and gave Matthew a pat on the back before he left.

Both Matthew and Stephanie waited until he was finally out of the pool area before they started to cheer and jump around happily. "Holy poop! I can't believe I did it!" Matthew shouted with pure joy. "I knew you'd make it! Oh my gosh, I'm so happy for you!" She said before hugging him tightly. She didn't even care about how dripping wet he still was.

"Stephanie, you are amazing, without you this wouldn't have even been possible! God, I'm so happy I could kiss you right now!" Matthew's smile slightly faded at the realization of what he had just said. They both backed away a little bit, their hands still around each other and their lips only a few inches apart. "Well, maybe you should," Stephanie said and the two leaned in and connected their lips for a passionate kiss.

End of flashback

That same day Matthew asked her out and they have been together ever since. They still had their old friends, that much to their surprise has always known they'd end up together. "Mommy look! I'm swimming!" Oliver shouted and brought her back to reality. "I can see that sweetie, you're doing so good!" Stephanie replied as she walked closer to the pool and started filming on her phone.

Stephanie followed her son with the camera as he swam around, not needing his father's help anymore. "You're doing great buddy!" Matthew cheered and Oliver giggled. "Swimming is so fun, I'll never stop swimming!" Oliver exclaimed while swimming around some more. "Not even for a bowl of chocolate ice cream?" Stephanie said, and Oliver immediately stopped and swam towards the stairs. "Ice cream!!!" Matthew giggled at that and came out of the pool as well.

"C'mere big boy, I know you want some too."
"You know me too well honey." Stephanie laughed at his reply as they made their way toward the kitchen, where Oliver was already sitting at the table with a spoon in his hand, waiting eagerly. The both of them exchanged happy glances before Matthew sat next to Oliver as Stephanie prepared three bowls of chocolate ice cream.

After everyone got their bowl, Stephanie sat down and started to dig in. She looked at how her son's face got covered with chocolate ice cream and couldn't help but smile. She turned to look at Matthew, who was trying to make Oliver laugh by covering his face with ice cream too. Only one thought crossed Stephanie's mind at that moment-"Oliver is going to be the cutest dork alive, just like his father."