Epilogue
Twenty years later, Jasper still teases them about it. It only took about twenty minutes for him to blab about it to everyone at Junk N' Stuff/the Man Cave once they got to work that day after school.
Ray burst into hysterical laughter, but pulled himself together long enough to apologize and say, "Yeah, saw that coming from a mile away. I knew I should've made a bet with Schwoz on it."
Schwoz had the same reaction the hallway did before going, "Hey, I wanted the side of them getting together! You refused!" (Ray laughed even harder at that.) Everyone was kind of surprised, given Schwoz wasn't normally the kind of person to make bets.
Bork grunted and grinned before pulling the lovebirds (A.K.A. Henry and Charlotte) into a hug so tight that they could barely breathe and almost passed out.
Gooch started crying. Jasper was still all hyped up.
Henry and Charlotte, though, didn't mind all that much. (Even the squeeze hug.)
Ten years later, they agreed on a last name: Henry wanted a new one (even after being adopted by Ray, he still had "Hart" as a surname because he didn't want to change it right then) because he was still having a hard time letting go of his past, and Charlotte totally backed him up. They ended up doing that name mashing thing.
A few years (yeah, a lot of time jumping here) after the whole incident with Jim Grim had been resolved, Charlotte's parents finally divorced. Her mother had both her daughter's last name as well as her own changed to her maiden name, which was Bolton. So Henry and Charlotte's legal surname ended up being Holton.
...
Throughout their teenage years, they got teased (in a friendly way, not like Mitch would've if he'd bothered) by their friends that they were going to have a kid or kids together someday. As it turns out, they were right. Henry and Charlotte did end up having kids as adults.
Twins, as a matter of fact.
Piper Susannah Holton (who acquired the nickname "Susie" early on) was born first (by about seven minutes). She looked more like her dad, although her hair was short and curly like her mom's, except blond.
On the other hand, the second born twin was Hector Jake Holton (who they called "Jesse" even though they still have no idea where the nickname came from). Unlike his sister, he resembled his mom, although his hair was shorter and stick-straight.
Both kids inherited not only their father's bravery and strength but also their mother's intelligence and creativity.
Neither of them knew what their dad did as a job.
Speaking of which, many people find it interesting that Captain Man's sidekick is obviously past his teenage years but still goes by "Kid Danger" like he always had. Truthfully, though, he was an amazing person and superhero (sidekick) and they really didn't care. Neither did Henry, although Captain Man would sometimes use the name to get the upper hand in an argument.
The kids didn't know Uncle Ray's secret, either. They really liked him, though. They also thought, like most of their friends, that Captain Man and Kid Danger were cool.
Obviously, this was something that Henry and Charlotte had to be prepared for. They explained to both kids that they had spent time as teenagers- and so had family-friend Jasper- going all fanboy/fangirl on the team (kind of a lie, but kind of not) and really wished they had used that time another way. The kids bought it and both made a point to not "obsess over celebs" as they often put it.
And speaking of the family-friend, Uncle Jasper (as he insisted being called by Susie and Jesse) still loved telling the story of when his besties admitted they had gotten together:
"So… Jasper," Charlotte had begun, "remember how you pried it outta me that I liked Henry and you told me that he liked me?"
Now, Jasper was never the most intelligent kid (ha! As if), but he put the pieces of the puzzle together immediately and started squealing, almost dropping his art project. Henry practically slapped his hand over his friend's mouth before the whole hallway could stare. Then he went, "Wait, when did Jasper tell you that?!" to Charlotte, and she said something like, "A-"
(She got cut off by the warning bell and they had to rush to class. Seriously, school bells are the enemy!)
They later (after school that day, to be exact) confessed to him about seeing The Wizard of Oz together, which made him even happier. It was like Jasper was a fan of some TV show and his favorite pair of characters finally got together.
...
One night, after the seven and a half year-old kids were in bed, Charlotte found Henry on their back porch, squinting at something in the moonlight.
"What's that?" she asked. Henry was slightly startled but didn't flinch. After being Kid Danger for so long- over twenty years- he had learned to hide it.
He didn't answer. Well, not verbally, anyway. He handed it over, and Charlotte saw that it was a photo.
A family photo, to be exact. Of the Harts. Not the one with Captain Man in it, but an actual family photo: Mr. Hart had his arm around his wife behind the couch from Henry's old house, and they both had these goofy grins on their faces. Henry was sitting on the floor, not over enthusiastically grinning but still smiling. Piper was sitting on the couch but had still found a way to pose like a supermodel. Charlotte had taken that picture back before Henry became Kid Danger, probably by a few weeks.
She squeezed his hand. "Does it still hurt?" She missed them sometimes, but mostly her thoughts were centered on something else. But Henry was the one who lost his biological intermediate family.
"I don't know." Henry used his free hand to balance his head. "Sometimes I'll be thinking about something entirely different, and then their memories just hit me like a tidal wave."
Charlotte nodded and handed back the photo, which Henry set down under his leg so the soft breeze wouldn't blow it away. "It's okay, Hen. But it's not like they would want you to just forget about them entirely."
"I know. Actually…" Henry swallowed, "don't judge me for saying this-"
"I would never judge you."
Henry smiled a little. "I know." The smile faded. "But… well… sometimes I just feel like they're watching me. Us. Our family."
"What do you mean 'watching'?"
"I… I don't know. I just do. Sometimes I'll be thinking about Piper getting her licence, or dad ringing his handbells, or mom driving me somewhere, and I swear I can feel this… just this chill run up my spine and all over my body."
Charlotte wasn't really sure how to respond to that. She went with: "Maybe they are. Maybe your parents and Piper are watching over us, as angels or something. Making sure we're alright down here."
Henry shrugged.
"We're going to have to tell them someday," said Charlotte, looking at the window that was part of Jesse's room. "Eventually."
"Yeah," agree Henry. "But I don't know how, or when. How would they react to that?"
Charlotte shrugged. "I don't know. But I think they'll be alright."
Henry nodded in agreement. They say in silence for a minute.
Charlotte was the first to speak and changed the subject. "How's your eye?"
A couple of days earlier, Captain Man and Kid Danger had been fighting a new villain who was spraying around this liquid- they still didn't know what it was at that point- and some of it got into Kid Danger's left eye and made it fuzzy. Really fuzzy- he saw almost nothing, and what he did see was about as clear as spray-painted cotton.
"It's fine," said Henry. "Schwoz said he's almost figured out what that stuff was, and then he can fix my eye. Until then I have to pretend I can still see."
"Yeah, it kind of ruined your vision." Both Charlotte and Henry had always had 20-20 eyesight and never needed glasses or anything. Everyone was always shocked at how well Charlotte could see, given how often she reads. "But you've done a pretty good job of hiding it from everyone, especially the kids."
Henry smiled a little. "Well, I did spend two hours in the Man Cave practicing with Ray." Charlotte smiled, too.
Henry frowned again. "What's wrong?" Charlotte frowned, too.
"It's just…" Henry scooted a little closer to her, "I hate lying to them."
"Me too."
"Yeah, although they think you work with computers somehow, which is partially true."
"Admittedly, yes. I wish I could tell them the truth."
"Me too."
When Henry and Charlotte told Ray the news, that they were expecting twins, he exploded with joy (almost literally). He did, however, put his foot down and say they weren't allowed to them then their secret. Yet, at least, he had said.
"I don't think they'd believe us, anyway." Henry added.
"Yeah," agreed Charlotte. "It might seem a bit unbelievable to them that their dad is Kid Danger. Even Jasper's reaction…" she grinned a little. So did Henry. "Yeah, that really had me scared. But it all worked out fine."
Charlotte scooted a little closer to Henry and rested her head on his shoulder. (Even as adults, he still towered over her by half a foot.)
Yeah, Henry and Charlotte definitely still had problems. But they had each other to deal with them.
And they would make sure the secret stayed safe.
…
Susie looked at her brother, her hand resting on the door to the back porch. "Did... you just hear what I just heard?"
"I think so." Jesse said. "You're mean Mommy saying that Daddy is Kid Danger?"
"Yeah. That's… that's a little weird."
Jesse opened his mouth to say something, but they heard Charlotte say, "Let's go inside, Henry. It's starting to get a little chilly out here."
Both children raced upstairs to the hallway where their next-door bedrooms were.
"I think," said Susie, "that we have some a mystery on our hands."
THE END
*sob* Well, that's it, folks. Thanks for sticking around and for all the reviews, they are very much appreciated!
So, I promised a release date for my next story, so I shall give it to you guys: On Sunday, July 22, I will post my new story!
See y'all later!
Ciao, and Happy Reading!
