This is the last installment of All the Time in the World. Thank you so much for bearing with me over the YEARS it has taken me to finish it. You've been very supportive, especially when I became completely disenchanted with the idea of continuing and finishing the story.
Epiloque
One moment I was asleep, warm and content in my husband's arms, dreaming of nothing more than a delightful family picnic. The next, all that was gone. The sleep. The warmth. The contentment. And especially my husband's arms. I was sprawled on my back in the very middle of the bed, the covers kicked down to the floor, utterly alone. I don't know if it was the shock of having just woken up, or something else, but for those first few moments the world seemed to hold its breath. Nothing moved. No sound reached my ears. I found myself holding my own breath just to see if I could hear anything beyond my own respiration.
After long minutes of straining my ears, trying to catch even the faintest of sounds, the house exploded.
The cacophony that now pressed in on my made me wonder how on earth it had been sp quiet before. A phone rang. Someone was running loudly up and down the stairs. The twins were wailing. And if I listened closely enough I could just make out Ranger's calm voice, trying to shush them.
"Phone's ringing, Daddy," came Laura's voice from out in the hall as I stumbled out of bed. I noticed there was no response to Laura's announcement – Ranger just continued to try to calm Bailey and Emmanuel – and the phone continued to ring. It struck me as odd that he would let the phone ring like that, knowing that it was probably the reason the twins were crying in the first place, or at least adding to the reason, but the thought was blinked away with the last of my sleep brain as I remembered his hearing difficulties.
It had been three months since he'd come home from that mission, and while he'd shown a considerable amount of improvement in his ability to perceive sound – he was now able to listen without staring at lips if the person was speaking in a slightly louder than normal voice – he still had trouble distinguishing between the ringing in his head and the ringing of a phone. Bobby had referred him to a specialist, suggesting that he should perhaps get a hearing aid, even if it was only temporary, to provide an ease of access. As far as I was aware, though, he had not even looked at the number on the card, let alone made an appointment with him.
Without acknowledging anything else that was happening, I jogged down the stairs and snatched up the phone... just as it stopped ringing. Sighing, I tucked it into the pocket of my dressing gown and trudged back the way I'd come.
"Morning, Mommy," Laura enthused, hugging me quickly before she resumed running up and down the stairs. I watched for a moment, wishing I could siphon some of her excess energy for myself, before continuing on to the twins' bedroom.
Ranger was in the rocking chair, a child cradled in each arm as he attempted to calm them. His head snapped up immediately as I crossed the threshold. Em reacted as well, turning his red face, puffy from crying, toward me. I took a moment to take in the scene, thankful that for once I wasn't the one stuck with all the chaos on my own. I was so glad to have Ranger back in my life and taking care of me and our beautiful little cherubs that I totally forgot about the phone
I crossed to the rocking chair and dropped a kiss on each of my loved ones there before effortlessly lifting Bailey from her father's arms. Emmanuel raised his hands to me beseechingly, but he needed to come to terms with the fact that I wasn't running away without clinging to me every second of the day. That's how Mama's Boys were created.
"I'm sorry we woke you," Ranger said solemnly, hoisting himself out of the chair. "I didn't realise how loud we were."
I smiled gently, stroking my hand down my little boy's cheek as they came within reach. "I think it was actually the phone that woke me up," I assured him.
"I'd have gotten it, but the twins were damn near inconsolable," he explained, gesturing with his free hand for me to lead the way out of the room. "Come on, we'll go get some breakfast happening." I obeyed his suggestion – mainly because my stomach agreed with the thought of food whole-heartedly, growling in appreciation of the idea – filing out into the hall to the tune of my husband's chuckles. "Babe," he said, sounding amused.
"Was it really that loud?" I asked, my hand over my outspoken stomach in alarm.
"I've missed that sound," he teased, bouncing Em on his arm as he followed me down the hall to where Laura was still bounding up and down the stairs. Em let out a giggle at the motion and his father added, "I missed that sound too."
I stopped at the top of the stairs and turned to face him, scrutinising him carefully, trying to work out what was going on. He hadn't heard the phone ringing since he'd been home. And he'd been struggling to hear anything from Em, given how softly spoken he was. "Your hearing -?" I started, trying to think of exactly how to phrase what I wanted to ask.
"I finally gave in and got the hearing aid," he confessed, turning his head to reveal the small device curved around his ear. "There's no telling how long it'll take to get my hearing back to how it's supposed to be, or even if it will get there, and I didn't want to miss out on the little things in the meantime." There was a pause, during which all that could be heard was Laura's feet pounding on the stairs. We locked eyes as I tried to channel my pride into him for making such a big decision. "I've spoken with my handler, and the agreement has been made to close my contract early under the circumstances. I'll receive a full pay out like if I actually completed the contract and I've decided that the money is going straight to the kid's college funds," he explained. "I've also decided to take a step back at Rangeman."
"Ranger, no," I said, plopping Bailey on the floor as she squirmed to get down. As she moved to join her older sister on the stairs, I closed the distance between myself and my husband. "You love Rangeman, you can't give it up."
He smiled down at me, caressing my face. "I'm not giving it up, Babe," he promised. "I'm just not going to be participating in takedowns as actively anymore. It's been a struggle to balance the active side of things along with all the paperwork I have to do as boss and be here for you and the kids. It's time I got my priorities right. And Babe, you're priority one."
Before I had a chance to respond to this monumental news, his lips had claimed mine in a gentle, loving kiss, his hand delving into my hair as Em wrapped his arms around my neck.
"Ga-ross," Laura exclaimed from behind me, and we finally broke apart, Em clinging to me as we did so.
"Yuck," Bailey agreed, grinning up at us, as always, proud to be her sister's shadow.
Ranger narrowed his eyes playfully on the girls. "Gross?" he asked. "Yuck?" He took a step towards them, his hands out as his fingers moved menacingly. "Let's see what you think when I do it to you!" And as he took another step in their direction, they turned as one and began making their way down the stairs as fast as their little legs would take them. He caught Bailey first, just halfway down the steps as she made her way down one at a time. Kissy noises ensued as he lifted her up, pressing loud smooches to her cheeks as he continued in pursuit of Laura, who had disappeared around the corner at the bottom of the stairs.
In my arms, Em let out a short chuckle.
"You think that's funny, do you?" I asked, turning my attention to him with a grin.
"Kissy," he said enthusiastically, pointing down after his father and sisters. "Da kissy."
"That's right, Dad kissies," I agreed. "An Mommmy kissies too!" I exclaimed before descending on his chubby cheeks with kisses of my own. It was at that moment, with giggles and chuckles emitting from all corners of the house, that it finally sunk in that everything had worked out just as it was meant to. We were together and that was all that mattered.
Thanks, as always, for reading along and I hope you've enjoyed the ride enough to leave a review. Also, ya'll should check out my original fiction that I've spent the last month working on for NaNoWriMo. I think you will be pleasantly surprised to find that it's not so entirely different to what I write here.
