Epilogue

Six Years Later

Liliana's PoV

"And that's the end of the story, babies," I said to my six and four year old as we all sat in one bed. My newborn made a noise in my arms. "That's how mommy and daddy met and fell in love with each other."

I was right when I said that I could not wait to start the rest of our life together because this scene in front of me looked perfect to me.

Our whole life is interesting so I decided that I might as well tell the kids, leaving out all of the bits that aren't very child friendly.

Sebastian stood, leaned against the doorframe with his arms crossed over his chest, covering my name. "Come on," I ushered him over. "Take her." He held his arms out as I slowly gave him the baby.

"So you got married then ran away and then came back and got married?," my six year old son, Luca, spoke.

We named him Luca as a tribute to his brother that was killed.

"Yeah," Sebastian and I both shrugged at the same time.

Almost every night I tell them this story and they always have more questions to ask. Sebastian turned around with the baby in his arms giving me a clear view of his back, the same back that he didn't get tatted all those years ago. What was once empty was now almost filled.

Luca's name sat at the top, almost at the nape of his neck, in cursive with his date of birth underneath. My 4 year old, Armani, got out of the bed and followed Sebastian. His name was under Luca's with the date of birth too. All that's left for us now is to find a name perfect for our daughter. He'll get that tatted too.

"Go to sleep," I told Luca. "Go to bed."

Letting out a groan, he got out of the bed and left. Sebastian had gone to put the baby in the nursery and to tuck Armani into bed.

Honestly, if you told me all those years ago that this is where I would end up, I would've laughed in your face. Mostly because I thought I would've been dead by now.

"All done," Sebastian said to himself, feeling accomplished. I gave him a soft smile.

"I think we should name her Elena," he spoke as he laid next to me on the bed. I turned onto my side, facing him as he stared up at the ceiling.

"Really?"

He nodded his head. "It's a beautiful name plus, you went by that name for years."

A beaming smile grew on my lips. Why didn't I think of that name before? "I guess we're calling her Elena."

"I'm gonna have to add to my collection."

~

16 Years Later

"Elena Di Salvo!," I practically screamed at my teenage daughter. Life was much simpler when she was a baby.

"Mother," she spoke, mocking me as she slammed the door shut behind her.

"Don't give me that tone," I snapped. "Where the hell have you been?"

"Out," she shrugged.

"Out? Do you not have a phone or something? I called."

"I know. You called again and again and again but I was out." She crossed her arms over her chest.

It was like looking into the mirror and seeing a younger version of myself. "I don't give a shit if you were out!," I yelled. Sebastian let out a groan as he walked down the stairs.

"Oh look, you woke grandpa," she said sarcastically as she rolled her eyes.

"You've really been pissing me off with these comments," Sebastian spoke, jabbing a finger at her.

For a 50 year old man, he definitely doesn't move or act like one.

"Who's the guy?," I asked, as I glanced outside of the window trying to see over the huge gate. She furrowed her eyebrows in confusion as she looked out of the window. "Boyfriend?"

She shrugged her shoulders, moving away from the window. "That depends."

"On?"

"I don't know," she shrugged. "I just said it 'cause I wanted to."

"Honestly, I prefer it when you hang out with Sophia," I spoke, referring to Valentina's daughter. She's 27, maybe 28 years old now. They have a really good relationship with each other. I'm guessing it's because Elena doesn't haven't any sisters of her own and neither does Sophia.

After her and her brother, Vin and Valentina didn't have any more kids. Dom and Amara did have another child after their son. Jordan is married and currently adopts and fosters kids.

"Why? Is it because you don't-," she paused, thinking of what she was about to say.

"Next time, I just want you to let me know where you're going," I told her with a sigh. It's past midnight and I am exhausted.

"I was with uncle Jordan," she sighed out. I narrowed my eyes at her.

"I'll call him right now." I pulled my phone out of my pocket, knowing that there's no way she would've been with him at this time. He values his sleep way too much.

"What?," he snapped as he answered the phone.

"Were you sleeping?"

"No shit, I was flying in space. What the fuck do you think I was doing?"

"I'm sorry for disturbing you," I squeaked out before I cut the call.

"I guess I get to have the dad talk," Sebastian spoke with a smirk as he cracked his knuckles and rolled his neck.

He's pretty excited.

~

Many, many years later

Sebastian's PoV

"That's how we ended up where we are today," I spoke, retelling our story to Liliana. She gave me a soft smile, letting me know she finally remembers. I hugged her and held her to me tightly, knowing this version of her won't last for long. I pulled away and kissed her forehead. I stood up and held my hand out to her.

"Let's go and say hi," I spoke. She looked between me and our three kids in confusion.

"I-I'm sorry," she spoke, furrowing her eyebrows in confusion. "I can't seem to remember you. I'm so sorry."

I nodded my head and turned to go towards our children after promising her I'll return. "She okay?," Luca asked. I shrugged my shoulders.

"You're not alone, dad," Elena spoke as she wrapped her arms around me.

"I love you both," Armani spoke. I nodded my head.

"We love you all," I spoke, speaking for the both of us before I returned back to her, not wanting to leave her own for too long.

We're now in our seventies and almost on our way to our death. Liliana is the most beautiful old lady I've ever laid eyes on even though she doesn't remember me. She loves me, I know she does. She just doesn't remember.

Telling her our story every day reminds me of everything we had to overcome to get here. It reminds me of how strong and resilient we are and were.

I am lucky to have her with me every day. I was lucky to fall in love with her. I was lucky to have her as my best friend and my lover.

I'm glad we got to spend the rest of our lives together. We get to spend the rest of our time left with each other. Neither of us have much long left yet we're trying to fight our way through it.

Since she was diagnosed with dementia, I've been reading our story to her. When our children were kids, she used to tell them our story so much she decided to actually write a book about it for just us to read.

I reopened the book to the first page where a picture of us glaring at each other at our first wedding was sat. I let out a slight raspy chuckle as I glanced at it, struggling to breath. I never mentioned my breathing problem to anyone. "Lili," I spoke softly. She didn't reply.

I turned towards her face only to see her eyes closed. "Lili?" She didn't respond. Her skin had turned a sickly pale colour.

It was then that I had realised what had happened. My heart sunk in my chest.

I didn't say a word as I closed my eyes and laid next to her on her bed, wishing death would take me next. I took my oxygen tube out of my nose and left it on the floor hoping I would just die from lack of oxygen since I struggle to breath regularly.

When I had finally gotten comfortable, all I could feel was this sharp stabbing pain in my chest. I began breathing heavily as I clutched my heaving chest.

Heart attack.

As I took my last breath, our story book fell to the ground, sealing the ending of the story and our life with one another.

But I have to say that I can't imagine living this same life with another person. She's my all and without her, I have no reason to live.

Our story is finally complete as all the pages are now stained with ink. There's no going back.

It's finally complete.

~

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