Page 113 of The Compass Series

EPILOGUE

CONNOR

ONE YEAR LATER

S he was nervous, and I couldn’t blame her. It was a big day for her, and her anxiety was warranted. Hell, I was an emotional wreck. I couldn’t imagine how Aaliyah was feeling.

We sat inside of the conference room at Roe Real Estate, waiting for the group to arrive.

“Do you think this is stupid?” Aaliyah asked, holding a huge teddy bear in her arms. “Oh gosh, this is so stupid.”

“It’s perfect,” I told her for the fifty millionth time.

She rubbed her sweaty palms against my pants, and I didn’t mind it one bit.

“Hey, they’re here,” Damian said as he popped his head into the room. After he announced the arrival, a group of around thirteen people walked into the room. One wife, six adults, and six grandchildren.

For the longest time, Aaliyah went back and forth about meeting the donor’s family.

She was terrified that they’d resent her, and be angry that she was able to live, while they loss their loved one, but after going through the lengthy process of writing one another through the donor program, which protected individual’s privacy, Aaliyah and the donor’s family decided they’d like to meet in person.

The donor’s name was William Brick, and he was loved.

The moment his family entered the room, there was nothing but an outpouring of appreciation.

William’s wife, Addie, cried instantly, pulling Aaliyah into a hug, which made her cry, too. And hell, I started to tear up from the interaction. It didn’t take long for us all to be an emotional mess.

“Oh, my goodness, you’re so young,” Addie said, placing her hands against Aaliyah’s cheeks. “This is good. This is so good.”

Aaliyah smiled and laughed nervously. “I was scared to meet you all.”

“I understand, but we are just thankful that you did. The fact that we get to see someone surviving and thriving because of our loved one, well, if that isn’t magic, then I don’t know what is.”

“Please, everyone, take a seat,” I said, gesturing to the chairs surrounding the table. We all sat and laughed as our nerves skyrocketed through the room. Aaliyah began telling her story about how she came into needing a heart transplant, and then Addie and her family shared stories of William.

Aaliyah and I wanted to know them all, too. They told us about his service in the military. They told us about his bad taste in music and movies. About his goofy impersonations.

“He could do a perfect Jim Carrey impersonation like no other,” his daughter, Becca, said, holding her son in her lap. She chuckled at the memory. “I remember being a kid, and whenever I’d get pissed at him, he’d do the Ace Ventura impression and force me to laugh.”

“That was our Grant, though.” Addie nodded. “He was the light in every room.”

“I’m sorry, what did you just say?” Aaliyah asked, sitting up a bit in her chair. “Did you say Grant?”

“Oh, yeah. It was William’s middle name. Most people called him Will, but the family called him Grant. I’d been calling him that since the day we’d met.”

Aaliyah looked toward me, with stars in her eyes, and I felt it, too. The overwhelming love that our Grant was sending our way. I squeezed her hand under the table, and she squeezed mine back.

“Well, I don’t want to keep you all for too long, but I have this gift for you. Well, we have thirteen of them, to be exact, in the other room. But here it is,” Aaliyah said, standing from the table and walking over to Addie with the teddy bear in her hands.

She handed it over, and Addie looked a bit confused. “Well, thank you, sweetheart,” she said still a bit stumped.

“Squeeze it,” Aaliyah said, nodding in her direction.

Addie did as she was told, and within seconds, tears began flowing from her eyes as the sound of William’s heartbeats began to be heard from the teddy bear.

“Is it…?” Addie asked, her voice cracking.

“Yes. I figured you all deserved to have him with you in some way, shape, or form,” Aaliyah explained.

Dammit, who was cutting the onions?

By the end of the visit, everyone was in tears, but they were tears of love, of gratitude, of peace. After the family left, I stood in the office, pleased with how everything went during the conversation with the family.

Aaliyah walked over to me and fell into my arms. “His name was Grant,” she beamed.

“Because of course it was.” I laughed. I glanced down at my watch and stood up straight. “Oh shit, we gotta get going. It’s already noon, and we can’t be late. It is, after all, our wedding day.”

We didn’t start our day like most couples on their wedding day, and we were all right with that because we weren’t like most couples. We were our own story, our own adventure, our own happily ever after.

We headed from my office to the place where all of the magic began—Oscar’s Bar. A few years ago, I was a superhero, and she was a lady dressed in red. She was looking for an escape, and I was looking for her without even knowing it.

Oscar’s was decked out with decorations, thanks to my mother and my small-town village, who all came up to New York to celebrate Aaliyah and me.

The moment we walked inside, Jax and Damian grabbed me to take me to the men’s room to get ready, and Mom and Kennedy pulled Aaliyah over to the ladies’ room.

“You’re late,” Jax said, handing me my outfit that was hanging on one of the bathroom stalls. “You shouldn’t have been late today.”

“It’s not like the show could go on without me,” I said, unbuckling my pants and sliding out of them to toss on my wedding outfit. “But before we get things going, how about a joke?”

Jax and Damian groaned in unison.

Look at me, getting two grumpy best friends. I wouldn’t have it any other way.

“A superhero walks into a bar and marries a woman dressed in red. And they lived happily ever after,” I said.

Jax narrowed his eyes. “Are you being extremely corny right now?”

“I’m being extremely corny right now. I love her, Jax.”

“Shit. I’d hope so, seeing as how I paid an arm and a leg to fly up here for this wedding. Do you know how expensive direct flights are? This shit is wild.”

I laughed. “Yes, well, I would say I’d pay you back for the flight, but I’m not going to.”

“Why doesn’t that surprise me.” He arched an eyebrow. “Are you really wearing that?”

“He’s really wearing that,” Damian said dryly, looking at me as I slipped into my outfit.

My Captain America costume.

Still fit like a glove.

A very, very tight glove, but a glove nonetheless.

“What? I think it looks good? And what else would I wear to a wedding on Halloween night?”

“I can see the complete outline of your balls,” he said, unamused.

“Wouldn’t be the first time you’ve seen them, am I right?” I joked, nudging him in the arm.

Jax shot a look at Damian. “I’ve never seen this dude’s balls before.”

“I know. Connor’s just weird as fuck.”

“But for some reason, you two still love me.” I smirked.

“We feel sorry for you and your mental illness. We’d be bad people if we abandoned you,” Jax said, patting me on the back.

I took a deep breath, feeling the nerves of the whole situation hitting me. I was really about to do this. I was about to marry my best friend.

“Any words of advice for a nervous groom?” I asked Jax. “I mean, you’ve been with Kennedy for years now. What wise words do you have for me and my marriage?”

“You’re wrong,” he said without thought. “Whatever the situation, even if you’re right—you’re wrong.”

Before I could reply, Kennedy popped her head into the bathroom. “Jax, I need the diapers, and they weren’t where you said they’d be.”

“Did you check behind the bar like I mentioned?” he asked.

She sighed. “You didn’t say behind the bar.”

“I did say…” Jax paused. He looked at me, and then he turned to his wife and gave a big, fake smile. “You’re right. I didn’t say that. I’m wrong.”

She nodded. “Of course, I’m right. I’m always right. Now come help me. Trevor’s diaper exploded all over the place.”

Jax smirked at me and shrugged. “See, kid? You’re wrong. Just remember that, and you’ll be fine. I’ll be back.”

He walked out of the bathroom, leaving me with Damian, who seemed even quieter than his norm. He was holding a piece of paper in his hands as his brows stayed lowered.

“What’s going on, buddy? You okay?” I asked, walking over to him.

He grimaced, folded the piece of paper, and slid it back into his pocket. “It’s nothing.”

“You can’t lie to your brother on his wedding day,” I warned.

“I’m not trying to bring down the mood.”

“The mood can be brought down for a moment, then we’ll turn it back up. What’s going on?”

He sighed and handed me the letter. “It’s from my father. Well, it was sent on his behalf. He’s been in California all this time. He’s known where I’ve been my whole life. I guess he recently croaked. But, before he died, he wrote me that note. The funeral is next week.”

“Holy shit.” I read the letter, stunned. His father’s name was Kevin Michaels, and he’d invited Damian to California to find the answers that Damian had been searching for his whole life, the missing pieces to his story.

“Are you going out there?” I asked.

“I feel like I need to, but I don’t know how long I’d be out there. I don’t know how long it will take me to get the answers I want. The answers I fucking deserve.”

“Yeah. I get that.”

“I don’t even know what I’d do for work. I can’t go out there wasting time and money looking for pieces of my fucked-up story.”

“Unless you had a West Coast real estate company to run, that is.”

He turned my way and cocked an eyebrow. “What?”

“Our West Coast property had been down since the situation with Jason and Walter. I’d been holding off reopening until we had the right person to run it. It makes me feel stupid that I’ve taken this long to realize that the right person has always been you.”

Damian’s brows knitted together, and he frowned. “You don’t have to do me any favors, Connor.”

“Yes, I do. That’s what family does. We look out for each other. Go out there and find your answers, Damian. You deserve to know your history.”

He sniffled a bit, and that was the closest I’d ever seen Damian get to crying. “Knock, knock,” he said.

I smirked. “Who’s there?”

“You.” He shrugged. “You’re there. You’ve been there for me since you showed up, and I don’t think you know how much that means to me. You’re the brother I always wanted.” I felt myself on the brink of tears, and he rolled his eyes. “Don’t make it weird, Connor.”

“No, I mean, I’m not gonna cry.”

“You’re already crying.”

“Well, you can’t just say shit like that, Damian, and expect me not to cry, dammit! Can I hug you?”

“No.”

“Can I say I love you without making you uncomfortable?”

“Probably not.”

“All right then, I hate you.”

He smirked. “I hate you, too.”

I scratched at my beard. “But we do need to get together sometime and work on your punchlines. That was a very odd joke.”

“I’ll leave the joking to you, seeing how you’re such a joke yourself.”

I chuckled and nudged him. “See? That’s a funny joke.”

“I wasn’t kidding. I think you’re a joke.”

I smiled and patted him on the back. “I love you, too.”

He stood up taller, shaking off his emotions. “Enough about me. Let’s get you married off, old man.”

I pointed a stern finger at him. “Don’t call me old man! Jax is an old man, not me!”

“Yeah. Whatever you say, old man.”

The rooftop of Oscar’s Bar was set up with chairs for our guests. There were sunflowers throughout the space—her favorite. There were bags of Cheetos resting in everyone’s goodie bags—my favorite.

I stood at the altar with my best friends standing beside me. The sun had begun to set behind me, and that was her cue.

That was her sign to enter the space, in her beautiful red dress that made me fall in love with her all those years before.

She stood tall with a bouquet of sunflowers and walked down an aisle sprinkled with quarters.

Her skin shone as the light hit her, highlighting every beautiful inch of her being.

As she reached me, she passed her bouquet off to my mother, and then Aaliyah turned to face me.

I took her hands into mine because the idea of not touching her was too much for me.

“Hi,” she whispered.

“Hi,” I replied.

“Ready?”

“Ready.”

She smiled at me, and I smiled back, feeling the warmth of her love radiating off her entire being.

My beginning, my middle, my end.

She took my last name that evening, and we danced the night away with our loved ones. We celebrated life. We celebrated the beginning of something magical. Something that would last forever.

After the evening came to an end, Aaliyah and I stayed on the rooftop for hours, waiting to witness the sunrise together.

This time when the sun warmed our skin, I didn’t let her go.

This time, I was wise enough to hold onto her tighter.

This time, I’d stay as long as possible.

I didn’t care if it were for hours, months, or years.

I was completely invested in her, in our story, in every single adventure we had yet to deserve.

Every inch of me belonged to my Little Red Riding Hood, and every piece of her was mine.

For as long as we both shall live.

The end.