Epilogue

5 YEARS LATER...

CAMERAS FLASHED AS PAPARAZZI TOOK PICTURES of Toryn and Brandon coming out of a basketball game. Since his brand had grown over the years, Brandon was now considered a B list celebrity with a net worth of $199 million dollars. Melt products were now very well known. They were mentioned in movies, music videos and he had several commercials worldwide. They were sold everywhere.

Brandon opened the back door to the limo and helped Toryn get in carefully. She was nine months pregnant with their daughter who they had yet to name. Her first child five years ago didn't work out. Due to too much stress she had lost the baby. That had devastated her and she never wanted to have kids again. It took a long time but finally after five years, she was ready to give Brandon another child. This time she was due within a couple more weeks the latest.

"Brandon how do you feel seeing one of your wife's clients at the game?"

"Brandon is it true your going to be in a movie next Summer?"

"What's the gender of the baby?"

Brandon kept his mouth shut as he walked around the stretch limo and got in on the other side. He tapped the back of the driver seat, making the driver pull off. Nowadays they had to be very careful because paparazzi filmed everything they did. Once Brandon's label started to grow, people started to do their research and jealous people came out of the woodworks—ultimately exposing that Toryn use to be a prostitute.

It happened three years ago and also why it shied Toryn away from having another kid. She knew she would end up having another miscarriage because of more stress. Of course there were all kinds of opinions in the media. Some mean, some nice and some straight up making her want to commit suicide, but with the help of Brandon and surprisingly his mother, Toryn got through it.

They were the only family she had. Brandon's mother had actually become more nicer. She still has her little attitude problems with her little snide comments sometimes, but they weren't actually really harsh or mean spirited. She was like Toryn's mother now.

"Where are we going now?" Toryn asked, pulling her Giovani shades off her face.

"I still have an interview at two in the afternoon today, then I have to stop by my office and see how things are running over there. Then we still have those dinner reservations tonight. We have to be there by eight o' clock for that one."

"Okay." Toryn said rubbing her stomach. Immediately after Brandon's cellphone rang. He picked it up without hesitation as he began having a conversation about investing with a business associate.

Toryn just watched him quietly, getting a little moist. Everything about Brandon turned her on. She didn't know what her life was like before this but she didn't care. She wanted to be with Brandon forever. He was the most attentive and caring man. He didn't even care that she had full blown dementia. Toryn was so forgetful they had to buy her a notebook, a bunch of index and sticky notes to walk around with and she had a caretaker for the day when Brandon wasn't there.

Toryn knew it must've been so annoying being with a girl so young who could barely remember her own last name half the time. But so far he's been sticking around. In fact, he put a ring on her finger. They were married. Toryn quickly looked away from the window when she felt something touch her stomach. She looked down and saw Brandon kiss it. She smiled and he smiled back at her.

"You still don't have a name for my baby miss Hartford." His deep baritone voiced low in her ear.

"Neither do you, what are you thinking?"

Brandon shrugged, he really had no clue. Back then he had some names but he was older now and didn't feel the same way about the names he had five years ago. Toryn also didn't know either, but she knew they would figure something out. The two began to whisper and kiss on each other in the back seat, causing Brandon to make the partition that separated them from the driver go up for privacy.

Soon after they pulled up at the house and Brandon helped Toryn get out, she clutched her shades in her hand as she waddled up to the front of her building with Brandon's arm looped through her's. They went inside their condo where Brandon went to the shower right away. He had places to be and things to take care of.

As he got ready to make another business deal, Toryn decided to take a nap.

******

TAKASHI UNLOCKED THE FRONT DOOR and walked inside, shutting the door with his back. He rested his briefcase down and immediately began rolling his neck around and rotating his shoulders. With another stressful day at work, he was glad to be back home. He walked in the living room, spotting Brielle who was sitting on the carpet, playing with play dough and watching TV.

Hearing her dad walk in, Brielle turned around and got up with a smile when she saw Takashi. She got more and more beautiful everyday, looking just like her mother. At eight, she was also in the third grade and getting bigger and older. Her tone had darkened from when she was a baby, making her a caramelized brown just like him.

"What's up baby girl you good?" Takashi asked picking her up.

"Yeah." Brielle said, kissing his cheek. "I missed you daddy, it was a super boring today."

"Yeah?"

"Uh huh, grandpa came over too. But he left because he said he had to go do some work at his house. I know he's lying, he just left because he knew you were coming home soon. Daddy, grandpa still doesn't like you?" Brielle asked. She was very smart and knew there was some sort of issue between them, but just didn't know what.

Takashi smirked. "Who grandpa Henry and I? Nah we're cool, that's my pops right there."

"I heard him say that you're really rude and he doesn't like you with mommy." Brielle said spilling the beans on a conversation she overheard when her grandparents were babysitting her one time.

"He loves me, he just doesn't like that him and I are Braelyn's daddies. He thinks she should have one daddy. He's not willing to share, but it sucks for him because that's never gonna change."

Brielle raised her eyebrows in shock. "You're mommy's daddy?"

"Yup."

"But how? Does that mean mommy and me are sisters?!" She said slapping her hands against her cheeks in surprise.

"No."

"Then how? I don't understand." She said.

"It's not meant for you to understand pipsqueak. Mind your business." Takashi said kissing her cheek before resting her on the ground and ruffling her braided hair with red and clear bubbles and berets on the ends. He glanced in the living room at the television. "What are you watching?"

"Dora The Explorer."

"Dora?" Takashi said with a screwed up face, "change the channel, I don't like Dora, that's not for kids."

Brielle frowned and looked at the TV like she had to make sure they were seeing the same thing before she turned back to her dad. "Yes it is daddy, it's for seven year olds and up! I'm eight."

"Nah Dora too fast for me, she always running around the forest with them lil' shorts on. Stay looking for some drama, what type of little girl always outside all hours of the night without parent supervision talking bout' Swiper no swiping? She gon' know one day when Swiper fuck around and swipe that pus—"

Brielle gasped, "Ooh, daddy you about to say something nasty."

Takashi cleared his throat, "No I'm not and stop snitching. Where's your mother?"

Brielle pointed at the entrance of the kitchen and as soon as she did, Braelyn entered the living room, holding their one year old son Yuuto at the side of her hip. She was just about to start cooking but realized that they had no groceries. Brielle's school was closed for a week which also meant her Sunday school wouldn't be open as well and for that duration home, she and the kids wouldn't have anything in the house. Both her and Takashi had both been so busy with work and because Brielle and Yuuto spent the night at her parents a lot, they hadn't noticed the decrease in food.

"Good evening honey, how was work?" Braelyn said, approaching him with a plump kiss on the lips. She had to tiptoe to meet him.

Takashi smoothly placed his index finger under her chin, making the kiss longer. He couldn't wait for nightfall because he was going to be in her guts until he had work the next morning.

In the end Braelyn ended up not finalizing the divorce. It took a lot of convincing and a lot of showing that he had changed to get him back in her good graces. They renewed their vows and Braelyn moved back in the house. Of course her father was pissed, he hated Takashi with a passion and just so badly wanted Braelyn to move on. Her mother was more understanding, especially since she was also a woman who lived the exact life as Braelyn with only ever being in love with one man. It was almost impossible to let that person go.

Although Takashi's temper showed itself sometimes, it never did with her anymore. The first thing Braelyn made sure he knew was if he wanted her as his wife, he was never to open his mouth and call her out her name, he was never to lose his cool and break and smash stuff or get disrespectful with her. Furthermore she let him know if he ever in his life put his hands on her again, she would call her father, uncles, and cousins on him, he would go to prison and she would divorce him. Takashi understood this and for the last five years, he was the same man she had first met. Their marriage was once again pure and filled with love.

"Work was great..." He mumbled, pulling away from her lips as he rested his forehead against her's. "Guess what?"

"What?"

He had just closed a deal by selling a house in the upper east side of New York and would make a pretty penny with the commission he was going to receive. "I just closed a deal on a three million dollar house."

"That's amazing, oh my gosh.

"I know and for that, we're going out to dinner tonight. To one of the most expensive places in the city."

Braelyn smiled and placed a hand near her chest. "No honey we shouldn't, we don't have to. We can celebrate home, plus we don't have any groceries."

"You're home, you can do that first thing tomorrow morning. We're going out, so go ahead and get dressed. You and Bri, I'll take care of this one." He said taking Yuuto out her hands.

*******

"MAY I INTEREST YOU IN SOME Catena Zapata?" A waiter asked, appearing near the couple with a bottle of wine.

"Yes you may." Brandon smiled, extending his glass. The man smiled and poured Brandon's drink and turned toward Toryn.

"And what would you like ma'am?"

Toryn twisted her lips to the side, knowing she couldn't have alcohol. "Blueberry daiquiri, the virgin of course."

"Alright and do you need some more time to look at the menu or are you guys ready now?"

They glanced at each other and knew they were both ready. Brandon let Toryn order first. She got a lobster tail with baked potato at the side, Brandon kept his dish more local getting smoked salmon and greens. Their menus were collected as they engaged in more small talk.

"You look gorgeous." Brandon said, he forgot to tell her on the car ride over because he was so busy talking on the phone.

Toryn had on a Dolce & Gabbana piece. It was long and elegant dress, fitting her figure nicely which hugged the big stomach she had. Her hair was cut short in a bob, almost touching her shoulders. Her makeup was light and she had gold earrings in her ear, matching the heart shaped pendant that sat on her chest, rising with every beat her heart made.

"Thank you, you look quiet sharp yourself." She smiled.

Small talk was made about plans for when the baby came and future vacations they wanted to take until their food arrived. A lot of times, being celebrities they never really had to wait long for food. Toryn didn't know if it was because they went to such expensive places that the customer service was up to par or if it was just because they were famous.

"I can't believe we're having a little girl...I hope she's quiet." Brandon sighed.

Toryn giggled, "Just imagine when the boyfriend stage comes along."

Just as Toryn was taking apart her lobster, she felt something tap her. She looked down to see a tiny baby boy with a pacifier in his mouth. He looked really neat. He had on a black custom made suit. It was clear his parents dressed him for the occasion. He had the biggest brown eyes ever as he just stared up at Toryn. Toryn looked around the restaurant but everyone seemed to be in their own business. No one seemed as if they were looking for a child.

"Where'd he come from?" Brandon asked, also beginning to look around. He even tapped the shoulder of a guy at the closest table and asked about the kid but the man claimed the child wasn't his.

The baby tapped Toryn's leg again and extended his hands, motioning he wanted to be picked up. Toryn's heart melted and she gave in, making Brandon furrow his eyebrows and immediately get paranoid. He cleared his throat and pulled at his suit tie, "Toryn don't pick him up, you don't even know who's kid it is."

As soon as the baby was in the woman's hands, the first thing Yuuto did was reach over and pick up a breadstick up from the table. He turned around and tried to feed it to Toryn. Toryn was instantly in love, playing with the baby while Brandon was raising his hand to call over a waiter. He wasn't too keen on just sitting here with someone else's kid. People were ignorant these days. It was clear someone in here lost their kid, but the irony was that same person would mostly likely walk up to them and want to fight when they were the ones not paying attention in the first place.

"Toryn put the damn baby down," Brandon huffed, he swore sometimes she didn't listen. He hated any kind of public drama.

"Brandon calm down, it's just a baby."

"Oh my gosh miss, I'm so sorry," The voice of a man said, resting his hand on Toryn's shoulder. "I turned my back for one second and he ran off. He belongs to me."

Toryn turned around and was met with a lean but slim man. He was six two and had the warmest smile. His hair was neatly cut and he had a neatly trimmed mustache. He had to be in his late twenties or early thirties if she had to take a guess. Somewhere in her age group that was for sure. He was super handsome. Toryn narrowed her eyes at him and got this feeling, to the point she started to feel sick. She could feel it in her chest.

Takashi's smile slowly dropped as he looked into the eyes of a woman he hadn't seen in five years. A woman he thought he would never see again. "Toryn?"

Toryn's eyebrows furrowed as she gripped her chest, trying to control the nauseousness she felt. She analyzed the man, wondering how he knew her. "Excuse me? Have we met?"

*********

TAKASHI, BRAELYN, BRIELLE AND YUUTO sat in the middle of the restaurant, skimming through the menus. Brielle and Yuuto sat on the inside with Yuuto sitting on Brielle's lap while Braelyn and Takashi sat on the outside chairs, more toward the traffic of the restaurant.

Yuuto grabbed one of the utensils off the table wrapped in tissue and began banging it on the table. Brielle tried to take it away but he moved it out of her way. He continued to bang it and coo loudly, causing a few looks from others.

"Brielle take it away from him." Takashi said, already getting annoyed.

"I'm trying, he won't let me!" She whined.

"What do you mean he won't let you? He's one, take it out his hand."

Brielle tried to but Yuuto kept trying to fight her every time she did. Takashi sucked his teeth and reached across the table, snatching the utensil out of his hand. Yuuto immediately began to cry, making Takashi glance at his daughter. "Was that hard to do?"

Brielle put her hand on her cheek and looked in the other direction as she began to cry. Braelyn sighed and smiled at her daughter, "It's okay honey you don't have to cry."

"But daddy is yelling at me and I'm not even doing anything."

"I'm not yelling Bri, I'm just showing you common sense."

Braelyn looked at Takashi, "She's eight Takashi, stop."

Yuuto was still throwing a tantrum and acting crazy but thankfully there were so many people and hustle and bustle, only those really close to the table could hear him. Takashi put his hands up in surrender.

"Fine, I'm sorry. I love you I'm not yelling at you princess don't cry. Now, tell me how school is going."

Brielle who was enrolled in a private Christian elementary academy had strict rules and regulations there. Uniform was a must, the kids had to uphold a certain grade and there was absolutely no fighting. Girls ate in one part of the cafeteria and boys ate in the other. Even most school trips were to churches to learn about the origins of the Lord and how religion came about. Other then visiting historical museums for other classes sometimes.

"Gregory still keeps bothering me. He keeps writing me those do you like me notes." Brielle pouted. She never had a boy like her before and she didn't like the attention, it was weird.

"Tell Gregory the next time he write you a note, imma fuck his father up."

"Takashi!" Braelyn gasped, turning in her chair to face him.

"This is the third time with these notes. I'm tired of it, next thing you know he's gonna go from that to touching her hair and stuff or trying to kiss her cheek. The next time I have to come up to that school, I'm fucking that little boy's father up." Takashi said in all seriousness.

It was crazy because Brielle was put into a Christian academy for that same reason. They didn't want to expose their daughter to the crazy world of public school. The fighting, the sexual things that went on at a young age, the poor education system. But it seemed like they were still getting some of the same things anyway.

"Maybe we should have enrolled her into the school I went to." Braelyn said, it's been around since 1938 and I keep up with the ratings, it's still excellent after all these years and has nothing like that going on. The only thing is it's farther out."

Yuuto was still in the corner acting up. He was only one years old and was a natural bad behaved little boy with a temper. He never listened and was always trying to hit and fight someone. Being inspired by his father's originality when it came to names, Takashi followed in his dad's footsteps and gave his son a Japanese name.

"Mom Yuuto keeps scratching me." Brielle complained, she was a mini Braelyn from the way she dressed to her soft spoken voice.