Disclaimer: So I still don't own WaT nor the characters, but the plot is all my own!
Thanks for all the reviews while the story was in-process!!
Special thanks to Tey who reads everything and keeps my tenses straight!!
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EPILOGUE
About 10 years later.
It was a lovely sunny Sunday morning. Martin was still sweaty from his run in the crisp early October air, but was enjoying the quiet of the paper, his cup of coffee and being surrounded by his family. Samantha was working on the crossword puzzle and their eight-year-old, Brandon, was looking though the colorful weekend ads.
"Hey Mom! I know what I want to be for Halloween!" Brandon held up the ad and pointed, "I want to be a magician! Abby can be my bunny, Daddy can be the MC and you can be my assistant!"
Samantha looked up at the ad and paled. The assistant's costume was pink-sequined. She swallowed, "I think I'll check on Abby. She's been too quiet." Getting up from the table, she shot Martin a look, 'Take care of this, please!'
Martin gave her an encouraging smile and turned to his son, "Let's look at that." He pulled Brandon onto his lap and looked at the ad—pink sequins all right. He scratched his chin, wondering how to explain this to an eight-year-old. "Hey, Brandon, remember what Mom and I do for work?"
He nodded, "Yep! You and Mom work for the FBI. You catch guys who write bad checks and Mommy finds lost people."
A little simplified, especially about his job in White Collar Crimes, but hey, it worked from Brandon's perspective. "That's right. And do you remember how your mom and I met?"
Brandon giggled, "Of course, you and Mommy both found lost people."
"Right. And sometimes, our jobs get a little scary, remember?" Martin was leading up to Sands incident slowly.
Brandon nodded, "Yeah, like last summer you couldn't go swimming for a long time."
Martin smiled, "Broken arms suck, don't they!" He took a sip of coffee to stall for time, "So, one time, there was a bad guy that I made mad. Really mad."
"Like the time I broke your watch?" Brandon asked.
"No, I think I actually made him madder," Martin answered.
"Wow! He must have been really mad, Dad."
Martin nodded, "Yep. And to show me how mad he was, he took your mom from her house and made her dress up in a costume a lot like this one," he tapped the ad for emphasis. "So, I don't think that Mom's too wild about being a magician's assistant for Halloween, buddy."
Samantha had been standing in the hallway listening to Martin explain what had happened and thought he did a really good job, too. Hearing him come to the end of the tale, she thought now would be a good time for suggestions. So she rounded the corner, "I agree with Dad, no magicians this year. Besides," indicating to the toddler on her hip who had found Sam's make-up drawer, "I think Abby has a much better idea, don't you?" she tickled the little girl and was rewarded with giggles and a kiss that left a huge lipstick mark on her cheek.
Martin looked at Sam, their daughter and then down at his son, "Well, what do you say, Brandon, shall we be clowns this year?"
