EPILOGUE
EZRA
We count the passing moments in our lives by each fleeting second, minute, and hour. These small increments eventually turn into days, months and years. Before we know it, the better part of our lives are behind us and we're watching as our children raise their own family and our wife's hair slowly turns more and more grey each day. You can try as hard as you can to slow time down, to savor each passing moment… but this is an impossible feat.
Ezra found out early on that no matter the occasion, no matter the moment, he would miss them all. It wasn't enough to slow down and smell the roses, as some like to say. At least not for him. He lived for every minute or hour that he spent with the ones he loved. He defined himself by those surrounding himself and couldn't bear to miss anything.
Wiping his sweaty hands against the rough fabric of his jeans, Ezra leaned back against the side of the beaten up truck currently housed in their garage and watched as his son tirelessly worked to screw in one last bolt. He smiled proudly when Noah fist pumped in success and shot his head up to flash him his own bright smile. He cherished these moments especially. Watching his son learn and grow every day into a decent, respectable man was any parent's aspiration and he felt that he had definitely succeeded. Sadly, though, Ezra knew that these moments were going to be fewer and fewer. The older Noah got, the more he'd strive to get out on his own, to start his life.
"Are we going to take a look at the timing chain unit? That'd be my next guess as to why this truck is still having issues," Noah told him thoughtfully. He reached for a rag to wipe off his greasy hands and tossed it to Ezra so he could do the same.
Ezra chuckled as he caught the fabric. "Maybe tomorrow. If we spend any more time out here your mom is going to come looking for us herself and you know she won't be too happy about it. Come on," Ezra nodded towards the door and started walking, forcing Noah to sigh in displeasure and follow.
"I don't understand why I have to go to the graduation ceremony anyway," Noah grumbled as they walked. "I mean, I've already passed all of my classes and gotten accepted into college. We won't even get our actual diploma, it's being mailed out in a few weeks."
Ezra reached over to sling an arm around Noah's shoulders, pulling him lazily to his side as they walked. "Yes, but this is a moment you can't miss. We get to hear you give the valedictorian speech and take pictures of you walking across the stage. You wouldn't want to deprive your mother of those moments, would you?"
Noah shook his head and sighed reluctantly. Ezra knew he'd won so he gave him one last squeeze before releasing him and pushing open the side door leading into the kitchen.
"This, my dear student, is called a Mojito," Hardy was saying as they entered the room. He flourished a few mint leaves decoratively across the top of his freshly made drink and shot Ezra a smirk before lifting the drink to his mouth and taking a long, drawn out sip. Lily giggled from the barstool lining the counter in front of him and reached out her hand for a taste.
"Are you teaching my daughter how to mix drinks?" Ezra chided with a smile. He swiped in and took the drink from Hardy's hand before Lily had a chance to take a sip. He smirked down at her and downed what remained.
"Ddaaaddd!" Lily whined, pouting in such a way that only melted Ezra's heart. At thirteen, she was a spitting image of her mother. She was beautiful and smart… he was already fighting off the admirers.
"Liiiillllyyy," Ezra whined back. He let out a short laugh when she huffed and crossed her arms across her chest, slightly rumpling the pretty summer dress she'd donned for Noah's graduation. He leaned down and pressed a quick kiss to her forehead before making his way around the island to wash his hands in the sink.
"Remind me again why I have to go to this ceremony? You don't care if I go or not, right No-" Hardy cut his tantrum short when he looked around the small room and found no Noah. Scrunching his brows in confusion, he leaned back against the counter next to where Ezra was drying his hands. "Where'd he go?"
Ezra shrugged but let out a small sigh, crossing his own arms across his chest and watching as Lily typed away at her brand new cellphone. Who she could possibly need to talk to was beyond him.
"He's upset that we didn't finish working on his truck," Ezra told his best friend. "At least I think that's what this is about."
"What he's upset about," Aria butted in as she walked into the kitchen. "Is the fact that he has to officially say goodbye to the only friends he's known for thirteen years now. This is a big night. Come on, Ezra, as a teacher you should know that."
Ezra smiled and rolled his eyes at her smart answer. If his wife was one thing, it definitely wasn't shy to voice her thoughts. She walked over, pressing a necklace he'd gotten her on one of their anniversaries into his hand. Turning around, she gathered the hair off her neck.
"Will you help me, please?"
Ezra wrapped the jewelry around her neck, delicately clasping the hook on the back of her neck. Leaning down, he pressed a soft kiss to the skin he found exposed there and heard as Hardy let out a scoff from beside him.
"You two make me sick," he muttered. He grabbed a beer from the fridge and pulled Lily from her stool, forcing her to join him in another room. Ezra smirked and rolled his eyes, if he really needed alone time with his wife, he'd have forced them out a long time ago. Turning around, Aria rose up onto her tip toes and pressed a soft kiss to his mouth. Ezra felt the urge to pull her tighter to him, to deepen the embrace, but Aria had other ideas. Pulling away, she smiled up at him but frowned when she took in his dirty clothes.
"Ezra we have to leave in twenty minutes," Aria started. "Would you please go clean up? And while you're up there… could you talk with Noah? He's… not himself. I tried to talk when he came upstairs but he basically ignored me."
Ezra reached forward to caress her cheek and leaned down to press another soft kiss to the corner of her mouth. Even after over ten years of marriage, Aria had him wrapped around her pinky finger. He'd drop whatever he was doing to help her, and talking with their son… let's just say he wouldn't say no to that.
"Sure," he answered with a smile. Heading towards the stairs leading to the second floor, he tossed a glance back towards he wife with a smirk. "You owe me for this though. Teenage hormones… yeah, you're going to owe me."
Ezra listened to the fading sound of Aria's giggles as he made his way towards his son's bedroom. He took a moment to collect himself before knocking lightly at the door and pushing his way in. Noah sat, fixated on buttoning his dress shirt, upon his unmade bed. His hair was still wet from his shower and his shoes lay waiting on the floor. Glancing up, Noah looked at him for only a brief second before threading the last button on his shirt and reaching for the tie lying on the mattress next to him.
"This seems to be a thing of ours," Ezra started with a small smile. He pushed his hands into the pocket of his jeans and came to sit down on the bed beside Noah. "You getting upset and running to your room, forcing me to follow for a talk. I remember the first time you did that was right after Lily was born. You probably don't remember-"
"I remember," Noah cut him off. He sighed and finally looked up at him with his own small smile. "I don't need a talk, though. I'm fine."
Ezra reached over and fixed his collar, ignoring the last part of his statement. He paused a moment before rising from the bed and walking towards the door. Noah quickly looked back up in confusion, telling Ezra that he really didn't expect him to leave. He, however, needed to retrieve something. Wasting no time, Ezra made his way into his and Aria's room and dug around in the closet until he came up with an old, battered shoe box. It was covered in dust and smelling of stale air but Ezra hugged it close to his chest and walked back to Noah's room. Sitting down once again on the bed, he handed the box to the boy.
"I was going to wait until tonight to give this to you," Ezra explained. He scratched the back of his head nervously before starting again. "When we first met, you were less than four feet tall. You had this cute lisp that instantly melted my heart and… you asked me to help you with something."
At that, a smile slowly overtook Noah's face. He knew where this was going. Ezra reached forward to pry the lid off the box and picked up the first piece of paper he saw. Uncrumpling it, he immediately recognized Noah's preschooler scribbles and smiled in remembrance.
"You asked me to help you mail these letters to your father," Ezra said quietly. He began unfolding more papers, each one becoming more and more legible as Noah grew up. The last one, written when he was around eight or nine, only said one thing.
"I miss you," Noah whispered as he read the note. He wiped a stray tear from his cheek and moved his gaze out the window, staring absent mindedly out into the backyard. He was silent for a moment or two and Ezra wondered if he had done the right thing by giving him this now, maybe he'd just made him even sadder.
"I can't believe you kept all of these," Noah said hoarsely.
Ezra reached over to take the box from Noah's hands, placing it on his nightstand before pulling the boy tight to his side and pressing a few kisses into his hair. "Everything you have ever done is important to me. These letters, though, they epitomize our relationship. Without them… who knows if we'd be here right now? So of course I kept them."
Noah didn't answer but after a minute or two, he reached across to pull Ezra into a hug, burying his face into his shoulder like he used to do as a little boy.
"Everything's going to change," he whispered. Ezra could hear the tears in his voice and he ached for his son. He was confused, anxious, and unsure about the future. He remembered feeling the exact same way.
"It will," Ezra agreed. "But it only gets better. I won't lie… life's not always going to be easy. You're going to have to deal with a lot of good and bad things. But you're a strong man, Noah. These letters told me that. From day one, even as a child, you weren't content with just sitting by and letting life happen. You've always wanted to find your own way, to reach out and learn new things. You've never let go of your hope for better things. Don't start now, because life is waiting to begin."
They sat there, basking in the comfort of each other's arms, for another minute or two. The sound of Aria yelling for Lily to put down her phone and get her jacket could be heard from downstairs and Ezra couldn't help but to chuckle. Noah pulled away and roughly wiped the last of his tears away before standing and shoving his feet into his shoes. Glancing up at Ezra, he smiled the first true smile Ezra had seen in days.
"You're not going like that are you? Come on, we're going to be late."
NOAH
Sitting in his seat, surrounded by his classmates in their caps and gowns, Noah felt the sweat bead down the back of his neck. He nervously gripped the now crumpled piece of paper housing his valedictorian speech in one hand and looked towards the stands where his family sat. He was instantly able to pick them out in the front row and laughed quietly as he watched Hardy sneak a drink out of a flask he'd stored in his coat pocket. Some things never changed.
His dad, catching his gaze, smiled brightly at him and flashed him a thumbs up. With a sigh, Noah turned back towards the stage, catching the end of the super intendant's speech.
"Congratulations again, graduates," he concluded. Shuffling a few papers on the podium in front of him, he looked back up and smiled at the crowd. "Now it is my great pleasure to introduce this year's valedictorian, Noah Montgomery."
Noah stood at the call of his name and took a deep breath before making his way up to the stage. His heart felt like it was beating a hundred miles an hour and with each passing second, he felt his undershirt soak through more and more. He could do this, he just had to keep repeating that to himself. When he finally reached the podium, he shook the super's hand and turned nervously towards the crowd of his classmates and their families. He couldn't make out anyone in particular, with the bright lights shining down at him, and that helped. Taking another deep breath, he uncrumpled his speech and laid it out before him.
He could do this.
"Today is the day that we arrive at a crossroad," he started. He paused for another breath before continuing. "All of our lives, we've traveled down the same path. We've spent years in the same classrooms, surrounded by the same people and learning the same things. Now we're forced to go our own separate ways. But this shouldn't scare us… it should exhilarate us."
Glancing towards the student body, he could see, even though it wasn't the best of light, that they were all listening. That excited him so he kept reading.
"I've known most of you for my entire life. I've become best of friends with only a handful but I've been a friendly face for most of you. That wasn't always the case for me. I struggled- when I was younger- to put myself out there, to meet new people and make new friends. I sat, struggling, at a crossroad of my own. This changed, though, the day that I met my father."
Though he couldn't see Ezra, he was sure that his Dad was sitting in his seat with tears filling his eyes. He was always such an emotional man, it was one of the things that Noah loved best about him.
"We've heard that those that teach us the most or that act as a parent can't be our friends. They have to choose to be a parent, or a teacher, for us, to be a role model but that they can't be both our friend and our ally. But this isn't true. The most influential person in my life is also my best friend. Without him… I wouldn't be standing here today talking to all of you. We get to choose our friends and I couldn't have picked a better one. Remember that when you leave these halls."
Glancing at the second half of his speech he felt his voice catch in his throat.
"I- I used to think, when I was little, that a father was someone who helped create you. Someone with whom you shared the same DNA. I wrote letters to a man I had never met and hoped, against all hope, that he would come back into my life. What I didn't realize, though, was that the man I was asking to deliver these letters for me was already my father. He's been there for my first day of school and for the last. He's helped me study for exams and fill out college applications. He's… loved me before I even really knew what love was. We each have these people in our lives so please stand and give them a round of applause for getting us to where we are now."
The sound of students jumping to their feet and filling the auditorium with their claps deafened Noah as he took a short step back from the podium. He felt a large smile overtake his face and once again glanced out towards where his father sat. He could just barely make out Ezra, with Aria pressed to his side, in the stands. He was grinning like a fool and brushing away a slew of happy tears. This melted Noah's own heart. He waited for the student's to again take their seats before continuing.
"I wrote one last letter for my dad. Most of you won't understand the significance of this… but he will."
Noah reached a shaking hand into the pocket of his dress slacks and retrieved a letter he'd written days ago. Unfolding it, he took one last shaky breath before reading.
"Dad… I'm standing here, on my graduation day, wondering how this all happened. You've been there for almost my entire life, helping me to stand when I fell and guiding me when I was lost. I didn't know when we met how important you would become to me… but I honestly can't imagine becoming the man I am today without you. Thank you for loving me. Thank you for always being there for me. Mostly, thank you for being my father."
He folded the paper back up and stuck it back in his pocket, turning one last time to the speech on the podium.
"As it turns out, I'd been delivering the letters to my father by myself since the beginning. He's helped me at each of the difficult places in my life and I don't expect that'll stop now that we've graduated from high school," Noah read. He glanced up towards the student body to finish his speech. "So now we're at a crossroad. Where each of us ends up is our own choice. But remember, we're not alone."
THE END
I apologize for how long it took for me to post this epilogue but I wrote, and rewrote, many portions over and over again. I wanted it to be perfect. I hope this story wrapped up well for my readers and I look forward to hearing your last comments. For those of you reviewing as guests, I highly encourage you to create a profile as I like to personally go through and send thank you messages to my reviewers at the end of my stories. If not, then take this as my heart felt thank you lol. Again, thank you all so much for following along!