Away // Snowbarry

XXIII

Caitlin had been begging for a pet so much so that I finally caved in. Her pleas were going from cute to heartbreaking. The puppy dog eyes were starting to burn into my mind so much so that I couldn't close my eyes without seeing them.

"Barry, Bubbles died," Caitlin Informed me as I walked downstairs. It had been two days of having this fish.

I peered into the bowl to see a fish floating upside down. "This is why we didn't get a dog," I sighed and shook my head.

My heart was breaking. Iris had a pain on her face that I had never seen before. This plan was never intended to be revealed to anyone for this reason. She couldn't even speak for the first twenty minutes. To fill the room, Nova told us the story of her day at daycare. Iris' eyes were empty and unresponsive to the fact that Nova was speaking.

When Nova finished her dinner, I ushered her upstairs to play with her collection of Hot Wheels. This was going to be a grown-up talk for sure.

There was no talking going on as I made my way downstairs. When I entered the room, the girls were sat the same way they had been for almost a half hour. The only difference was the tears streaming down iris's cheeks.

"How," Iris's voice cracked and she paused, "you died."

"You weren't supposed to find out," I said softly.

Caitlin chimed in, "Barry and I needed to start over, without the Flash. We were worried that if everyone knew we might be sucked back into a life we were ready to escape."

Iris wiped her tears away and stood up. I really thought she was going to leave, but she did the opposite, she gave me a hug. I hugged her back, looking at Caitlin with wide eyes over Iris's shoulder.

"You have a daughter," Iris then turned to Caitlin, "and Barry is the guy you married."

It was like all the pieces were falling into place for her and it surely didn't take long for her to connect me to the events five years ago. She wanted to catch up so badly with our lives and so that's what we did. The three of us talked on the couch for a couple hours, only being interrupted by Nova a couple of times.

Being with iris again and having conversations with her and my wife was a dream come true. Even though Central City had been replaced as my home, my family could never be replaced. My family was becoming more whole as we traded stories and laughed together.

"Wait, so why did you come all the way out here," Caitlin asked as Iris began to head out.

"To apologize for being such a jerk to you on your last visit," Iris confessed.

Five years was a long time after all those events, and I was glad to know that she got to a place of forgiveness. Although she may not have been expecting what she got from tonight, it was a healing moment for the three of us.

We said our goodbyes. Now that Iris was brought up to speed, all Caitlin and I had to do was exchange one look and we both knew a visit to Central City together was needed. 

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