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Chapter 19

Epilogue- Part one

Coming Home

Tobias' POV

It's been a long ride home with two fully energetic kids, a wife that is only three weeks out of a C-section surgery and a gunshot wound to her shoulder, a newborn and Uriah all in the van. With all of the stops that were needed for more than a handful of reasons, the whole trip only took us four whole days to get back to Chicago.

Since we were traveling with a newborn, a preemie newborn at that, the doctors advised us against flying home, leaving us with no other option but to drive back all the way home. Ethan's excitement for wifi, using his tablet and the possibility of seeing Kelly again had him practically bouncing all around the van. For Maddy who is just slightly over the age of two, she can't seem to sit still for very long, let alone leave her older brother alone for two seconds. Tris is still healing, so sitting up in the car even with the seat reclined is hard for her. She tried to suffer through the pain after a few hours of driving, but needed a break. She still has trouble moving around, let alone even going to the bathroom on her own. Because of her injured shoulder, she can't even carry the baby without any help. Uriah and I are in charge of feeding and changing the baby since Tris isn't able to. I know she hates every minute of this situation but for now it's what we got.

Zeke, Shauna, and Marlene all flew home well over a week ago to get things in order for us. Will and Christina had to fly home to Florida first, before being able to make it out to Chicago. Christina was very adamant about being the one to help decorate the new baby's room since of course we never thought we would be coming back home, let alone with another baby. Uriah offered to stay behind, knowing that I would most likely need another set of hands to help me get everyone back home in one piece. I'm very thankful that he did.

We had to wait for the pediatrician to clear our newborn, as he had to cross many obstacles before being released. He passed them with ease like the champ that he is. Tris and I are already so in love with this little guy. Tris says he looks just like me and she is excited to see a little mini-Tobias running around the house in a few years.

It took Tris five days before she was in the clear to get into a wheelchair and go upstairs to the NICU ward. I hated every minute of it, but cherished it just the same as Tris saw our son for the first time. She was only able to touch him by reaching in through the holes on the side of his incubator. I watched in amazement as our son turned his little head towards his mother's voice. His little eyes opened for the first time in search for the woman who must have sounded familiar to him. She shed tears when she saw his eyes open, revealing his dark ocean blue eyes. My eyes.

"He is so handsome," Tris said, glancing up at me from the other side of our son's incubator. "Just like his Daddy."

It was three days after that, that Tris was finally allowed to hold our son. We were warned and had to be taught how to hold him, since he was still hooked up to so many wires. A part of me wanted to be selfish and be the first one to hold him, but I knew that he needed to be held by his momma first. I helped Tris hold him in her arms, staying by her side the whole time. Her shoulder was and is still healing, so she is unable to move it very well, let alone take any weight on it. I happily kept my arm under hers, helping her keep our son close to her body. He fell asleep in a matter of seconds with his head laid on her breast, listening to the sound of her heartbeat. Our son's health was smooth sailing after that. It seemed that every minute that Tris or I held him, he seemed to get better and stronger.

Tris was the first one to be released from the hospital. Just twelve days from giving birth and having shoulder surgery, but she was given strict instructions and many restrictions. We stayed close by the hospital in a hotel. We didn't want to be too far away from our newborn son.

Uriah was more than eager to go back to the cabin, along with everyone else before they left to get all of our belongings. He cleaned up and locked up the cabin, while muttering under his breath that he and Zeke would most likely have to come back out here on a special trip to fix up what was broken that night before his mother sees it. I had promised him once we were back home and settled that we would make it a guy's weekend… After all I was part of making the mess that we had left behind.

Our son was finally released from the NICU ward four days after Tris was. Uriah and I had been switching off on who stays with Ethan and Maddy, while the other one helped by taking Tris to and from the hospital to visit our little guy. The day that he was released, we agreed to stay another two days at the hotel just to make sure that our son was more than fine before we hit the road.

Other than the short conversations that I had with Zeke, I'm not too sure what has been going on at home. I'm eager to make sure that our house is still standing. Like I said, Zeke, Shauna and Marlene all flew home long before Tris even was released from the hospital. Shauna and Marlene were very excited to get things started on the nursery. Other than answering a few questions that they had like, colors or a theme for the baby's room and where are Maddy's old baby things… I really don't know what has been going on there.

I do however know one thing… Tris and I asked them to take Maddy's crib out of her room and place it in the nursery, while we get Maddy a new big girl toddler bed. It's well past her time and the crib is well needed in another room now. They were more than happy to fulfill that request of course.

I let out a large breath of relief as I turn on our street. It's been a long few days, I swear we have stopped at least fifteen times since we left the motel this morning. I slow down the van preparing to turn into my driveway. My eyes nearly pop out of my head when I see the front yard.

The last time I saw our home it was barely recognizable with pieces of our smashed mailbox, a run over, torn up lawn and pieces of our glass window everywhere.

That isn't so much the case anymore, the house actually looks really good. The glass has been cleaned up, the window has been replaced, the lawn has grown back and cut nicely and the mailbox has been replaced. There is even a large banner hanging on the front door that says, "Welcome Home!"

"Oh my god!" Tris calls out from the back seat when she sees the sign on the door. I turn back in my seat, eager to see the beautiful smile on her face. She has been more eager than I am to return home, especially to bring our newborn son home where he belongs.

"YAY! We're home!" Ethan calls out from the third row seat.

"Yay!" Maddy yells out, joining her older brother as she claps cheerfully.

"Oh thank god, I gotta take a piss," Uriah says next to me. He quickly undoes his seatbelt and reaches for the door. He jumps out of the van and makes a run for the house. I don't think I have seen him move that fast in days.

I can't seem to stop smiling, as I climb out of my own seat and walk around the van, opening up the double doors to the back. Ethan helps by unbuckling his little sister from her carseat, while I carefully lift Tris out of the back seat as carefully as I can. I gently place her on her feet, careful not to let go till I know she has her footing. Then I reach back into the van lifting a very excited Maddy out of the van first, then I hold my hands up for Ethan, careful not to help him but ready incase he needs my help at the last minute and finally I reach in unstrapping our new son's carseat and carrying him in it. He has been asleep for the past hour, no doubt he will probably wake up in the next hour or so looking for his next bottle. I swear this kid has a built in body clock, he is always on time for his bottles.

I carry the carseat in my left hand, as my right hand gently guides Tris' lower back towards the house. She is slower than she normally is of course, as she is stiffer moving in some ways more than others. The Doctor said that it is normal and Tris will take at least six to eight weeks before she feels more like herself again. Maddy and Ethan both run into the house, leaving the door wide open for Tris and I.

"Home sweet home, little guy, I say gently to my son as we walk through the threshold. Tris sighs in relief at being home the minute her feet land inside of the house. I close the door behind us, making sure it's locked before turning back around. I'll unpack the van later, once I have the kids and Tris settled down.

"I can't believe we are finally home," Tris says, her voice is filled with so much emotion. I know exactly what she means. For a minute there I thought we would never see our home again. "Where is everybody?" Tris calls out. Now that she mentions it, where did everyone go?

"We're out here in the backyard!" We both hear yelling coming from the back door. That sounded like Zeke? What the hell is going on? We continue to slowly move around the house, heading to the back door. When we come around the corner, I see everyone that we hold dear to us there, just right outside. They are all gathered, excitingly smiling at us. Some cheer welcome home, while some of them awe at the newborn that is still sleeping in his carseat. Tris covers her mouth, as she gasps in surprise with tears of joy in her eyes.

Hana is the first one to make her way over to the both of us. She's careful with Tris, giving her a one arm hug as gently as she can. She then bends over, barely touching our newest member of our family's head.

But what takes us both off guard is two particular people here right in front of us. Tris and I both feared that we would never see them again, that we lost two people that have become so dear to our hearts... Lauren and Kelly. Lauren rushes over with tears in her eyes, hugging Tris as carefully as she can. I glance behind Lauren smiling at the sight before me. Ethan and Kelly are both bear hugging each other, moving in a rocking motion… I suddenly realize that if we were to try and tear those two apart we would probably need a crowbar and some rope and even then we probably would have a lot of trouble. They missed each other so much.

"Lauren, oh my god! How is this possible?" Tris asks, not letting go of her.

"Zeke tracked me down and told me everything…. I was on the next flight back here after that. I knew I just had to beat you both home and surprise you…" Lauren explains. I glance over at Zeke, who points at me while giving me a wink. I should have known he would go to great lengths to make our homecoming special for us. He always does.

"Thank you," I say, reaching out for a one arm hug. I pat his back when he accepts the hug, but I'm careful with the carseat with the baby that I continue to cling on to.

"What are brothers for?" He says, smiling when we finally break apart. "Anywho, who's up for food. We got hamburgers and hotdogs on the grill?" Zeke says, of course changing the topic to food.

"Excuse me, Mr. and Mrs. Eaton?" Chills run down my spine, as I turn towards the all too familiar voice. There stands in the same spot as he did the day he was here to deliver his bad news, Detective Caldwell. My blood runs cold, fear of the past repeating itself. I feel the tension in the room, as everyone quiets down and turns towards the Detective. "I'm sorry to interrupt… I just wanted to come down personally to tell you that it has been decided that no formal charges will be charged against you or your family for the deaths of Marcus Eaton and Eric Coulter…" He explains. I let out the air in my lungs, that I didn't know I was holding. "As for Peter Hayes, he is working with the authorities, cluing us in on how Coulter and Eaton were both able to escape from prison in the first place. It's our understanding that Eaton was updated on Coulter's past with you both… He sought out Coulter in hopes to help fuel his anger and get back his revenge. It was an inside job, Hayes is helping us find out who was indeed at fault." Detective Caldwell explains what he was able to find out from Hayes. It turns out Hayes was tipped off in Boston by Tris' brother, giving our exact whereabouts. It was under Caleb's understanding that the situation was totally against me and Hayes promised that no harm would come to Tris or the kids. Whether or not that is true, I'm not too sure. Hayes was supposed to be the "tracker" so to speak. He was supposed to track us down and get back word to Eaton and Coulter about our whereabouts. It wasn't until Zeke's last trip out to us that he finally was able to follow Zeke, he didn't have as many difficult and absurd routes as he did once before. I tried to ease Zeke's sudden rage at himself, as it could have happened to anyone. He got laxed and careless. We were on the run for so long, it could have happened at any moment to any of us. It all turned out fine in the end, I won't hold any blame against him for that. The Detective did however mention the remains of Coulter and Eaton were cremated and trashed. Surprisingly I had no feelings against that, not at all. To me my father was never truly a father. Not where it counted, anyway. We finally said our farewell to Detective Caldwell, hoping that we never have to see him again.

We all sit down, after Shauna offers to help Tris to and back from the bathroom. I serve Tris her favorite foods on her plate. Hana is more than happy to feed our newborn son when he wakes up crying for his bottle.

"So have you all named this poor kid yet, or are we going to be calling him "the baby" or something from now on?" Zeke blurts out from across the table.

"The baby?" Uriah huffs out, "Please, calling that kid Olaf or Rex… Or hell, Uriah the 2nd will do," he suggests, so proud of himself. Oh god no, fuck that. I glance at Tris who is sitting on my right, pleading with my eyes to reveal our son's name.

"No, we are not naming him Uriah the 2nd," she says, nearly laughing. She winces, as she tries to stand up a little straighter as she proudly and finally reveals our son's name, "We have decided on Christopher Andrew Eaton," she says, smiling. All of our loved ones all cheer for our handsome son. I can't help but glance at everyone's faces. We came so close to losing everything, to losing each other.

It's funny I always chose the bad side of love. As I always thought that love was an evil way to hurt someone else. It's funny how my view on the subject has changed in such a short time. It's funny it only took one person to make that choice change. To break down the walls that took me so many years to build up. To give me unconditional love and support and to give me herself entirely. To have that love, built into something so rare and so right.

After all…

One choice can transform you, destroy you, become a sacrifice or a loss, or a burden, or even become a love and define and free you forever.

For fear doesn't have to shut you down, but it can wake you up.

A/N

Well there you have it, the first Epilogue. Heads up, in the spirit of our American Holiday celebration coming up...Epilogue 2 will be released just a few days earlier on Sunday July 4th. So stay tuned and see just what the world has in store for our favorite couple of all time.

Also keep your eyes open for my new story coming your way, soon to be released on Tuesday July 13th.

Revised by: FDFobsessed

Like always you keep reading, I'll keep writing.

Happy reading, stay safe and healthy,

Trini