I Do Again

Epilogue
 

Return to the present

The door to the house swung open with a bang. Reid looked up from the manuscript he was reading to find Luke and Katie following Ethan and Jacob into the house.

“How was the first day back on a skateboard?” Reid was pleased to see the kid was still wearing his wrist guard, as he’d instructed earlier in the day, even after removing all the rest of the protective gear.

“It was amazing! This new board is so cool. Thank you for giving me one of my Christmas presents ahead of time. It would have been perfect, but every time I looked over at Luke I thought he was going to faint. It kinda freaked me out a little. He was more nervous about me skateboarding again than you!”

“That’s what being a parent is all about, kiddo.”

“Yeah, I know. But he’s my brother, he should be cooler.”

Chuckling, Luke tousled Ethan’s helmet-matted hair. “I may be your brother, but I’m also your guardian -- so you’ll just have to deal with the fact that I love you like a son too.”

“Okay, okay. I get it.” He dumped his skateboard, helmet, and padded gear off to the side in a special bin by the entryway. “Besides, Dad worries enough. I know he used reading your new manuscript as an excuse not to come and watch today. He could have read it later.”

Smiling, Reid looked at the kid. He had the same big brown eyes as his older brother. “Is that what you think?”

“It’s what I guessed -- and I’m pretty good at educated guesses.”

“Except in math,” Jacob chimed in.

“Shut up, squirt.” Ethan tugged at Jacob’s shirt. “Come on, I’ve got to show you this site that has cool moves we can try out next time we go to the park.”

“Great!”

Before the two left the room, Ethan walked over to Reid and gave him a quick hug. “It’s good to know you worry about me. I kinda like knowing you have something in common with the other dads. They worry too.”

“Do they?” Reid raised a brow.

“Only the good ones.” Ethan smiled. The two boys raced up the stairs toward the bedrooms.

Katie sat on one side of Reid and Luke on the other. It was nice sharing the sofa with the two most important adults in his life and for a moment Reid enjoyed the silent calm.

His best friend broke the silence first. “What do you think of Luke’s new story? I think it would make a great made-for-TV film. We’d add more background and a bit more about the news surrounding the horrific event at the end, but I think we’ve got a ratings winner.”

“I see.”

Luke stared at Reid. “You don’t like it?”

“Are you sure you want to reveal so much to the world?”

“I’m a Snyder, and this is the way I can finally acknowledge it to the world and in some crazy way, feel like I’m telling my parents directly.”

“You’ve always been a Snyder.”

“I know, but I think you’re more than aware of just how much it means for me to know I was Holden’s all along.”

Nodding, Reid picked up the manuscript. “I think it’ll be incredible. Every woman and gay man in America will need a tissue when they watch.”

“Does that include you?” Luke started to run his fingers through the ends of Reid’s hair.

“I don’t need to cry at the end of the film, I was there when it all happened. I can also find relief in knowing I’ve got you now, and I’m not planning on letting go any time soon.”

“Good to know.”

“I assume you’ve shown it to the boy-wonder director.”

“Yeah, Noah’s planning on directing and helping with the script writing. Katie and Kim will produce it.”

“And Mark, Bob, Chris, and I can be the supportive spouses in the background.”

Luke kissed Reid’s cheek. “You are never in the background, and neither are they.”

“Good to know.” Reid smiled.

Luke chuckled. “Besides, none of this would have played out as it did without you in my life. Hell, I don’t think I’d have a happy life without you in it.”

“You don’t have to butter me up. I’ll support the project.”

Luke cupped Reid’s chin, Katie disappearing from view as the two gazed at one another. “I’m not buttering you up. I always mean it when I tell you how much I love you, Reid.”

“I love you just as much, Luke. Don’t ever forget it.” Thinking about the bumpy past that started their life together, Reid lifted Luke’s hand to his lips and kissed the fingers of the hand where he wore the band marking their permanent commitment and the legal marriage they shared when they were in Massachusetts.

The film would definitely be a tearjerker, but at least it would have a happy ending both on and off the screen.
 

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