Chapter 10: Epilogue

Four weeks had past since the incident in the warehouse.

Alex underwent surgery as soon as they reach Varick's ship and the hard was removed. He was getting ready to marry Carrie in a few more days. They both planned to stay onboard the ship and travel the galaxy with the rest of the warriors.

Melissa also underwent surgery to repair the damages done by the bullet. Her left lung was punctured, her heart was nicked, and the bullet embedded itself in her spine. After she recovered from surgery, she went to the reading of Kareem's will. She received his entire estate, which she immediately sold for a large amount along with the club and the bakery. She donated half of the money to charity and placed the other half into a Swiss Bank Account for future use if she came back or if any of her family members came back. She also was given a personalized letter from Kareem. It read:

"Dear Melissa,

I know I was not the husband that I should have been. I was jealous of the fact that Varick had your love and I never was able to reach your heart the way he did. So, I am sorry for all the pain that I caused your family. I hope that our estate will be put to good use. You can do whatever you wish with it because; I always did whatever I wanted to with you and never cared about your feelings. It's taken me twenty-five years to realize my mistakes and I hope that one day you could find it in your heart to forgive me. Know always that I loved you but, I guess it's too late now for me to right my wrongs that I did unto you. Tell Alex and Melody that I'm sorry for everything. I only wanted what I thought was best for everyone and it was never the right decision. I hope that this time will be different. I want only your happiness, Melissa, and if it's meant to be with Varick then I am happy for you both. Good luck in the future because, it is always uncertain.

Love always and forever,

Kareem Walker

After everyone was in recovery, Tanaka, Varick, and Bashera went back to find the hard meat nest, which was located under the warehouse. They also found the one who bought Melody from Kareem there. Tanaka would have killed him himself but, he was already killed by a hard meat. They blew up the warehouse and every single hard meat that was there, including the queen.

After they returned from their hunt, Tanaka and Melody married. They were expecting their first child in about eight months. It was all Tanaka talked about was their upcoming child. Melody joked around with him and said that it might be twins because; it runs on her side of the family.

Bashera spent his time with Mara training her. He had finally gone on his first hunt and was branded as a warrior. He spent many hours laughing with Mara as they tried to learn each others language. They were to be married next month. Mara's biggest kick out of the whole ordeal was the fact that she had to be marrying the ugliest male in the galaxy yet, he knew how to charm her socks off without even having to try.

As for Varick and Melissa, they were just enjoying each others company as they watched their children find love in the most unexpected places. They decided after twenty-five years of being married to each other, they were going to renew their wedding vows to each other. They were to be remarried tonight in a simple ceremony with the entire crew invited.

"Mom, you look gorgeous" Melody exclaimed as she watched her mother walk out of the bathroom in an ivory V-neck and V-back sheath which had a skirt featuring godets of organza. Underneath it was a spaghetti-strap charmeuse slip undergown. Melissa also had her hair braided into tiny braids all over her head with several silver beads on each braid. On her feet she wore a pair of ivory sandals that had a small two inch heel.

"Let's just put it this way, I feel gorgeous" Melissa stated as she ran her hands over the front of the dress, stopping just briefly over her flat stomach.

"You gonna tell him?" Melody asked, knowing that her mother was keeping a special surprise secret from Varick.

"After the ceremony" Melissa smiled as she looked at Melody.

"Hey mom, it's time to go" Alex stated as he walked into his mother's room.

"I'm coming" Melissa happily stated as she walked out of her bedroom and down to the trophy room, which is where all ceremonies were normally held at. Melissa knew that Varick had not seen her since last night, as was an Earth custom that he did not like that well but, went along with it.

As Melissa walked down the hall, Melody was on one side and Alex was on the other. She could hear the chirps and pleased growls of the other warriors as they welcomed Melissa into their world. Most of the warriors she met the last time Varick was on Earth but, the few that she didn't recognize were fairly content that the oomans who had come to stay with them readily adapted to their way of living, with a few minor problems that everyone eventually learned to live with.

Melissa saw Varick standing in the middle of the room. All around the edge of the trophy room were all the crew members who formed a circle with only one break, which was where Melissa walked through and came face to face with Varick. They repeated their vows to each other as they had done so many years ago. After they had finished their vows, the room filled with loud growls from all the Yautja warriors and even Mara and Carrie let out their own versions, which resulted in several of the warriors laughing at their attempts.

Bashera even let out his own version of a silly roar, which Varick and Melissa had to laugh at him. Mara ended up punching him in the shoulder for laughing at her which he did his fake begging for forgiveness act in front of all the warriors. Mara laughed out loud when she saw Bashera on his knees with his hands clasped together over his heart. There was not a warrior in that room who didn't laugh at Mara and Bashera for being themselves.

Later on that night, Melissa stood beside the large window, overlooking Earth, and sighed. She was dressing in a thigh-length tee shirt with nothing on underneath. She was still waiting to tell Varick about her little surprise for him. She smiled to herself as she placed a hand over her stomach. She had known for a couple of weeks but, decided to put it off until tonight, when Varick came in from making his rounds on board the ship.

"You look lovely, Lissa" Varick happily stated as he looked at his forever mate as she turned her head to him and smiled.

"Is something wrong?" Varick questioned as he crossed the room to where Melissa was standing at and wrapped his arms around her waist.

"Nothing's wrong. I just have something I need to tell you" Melissa turned in his embrace and looked adoringly up at Varick.

"What is it?" Varick questioned as he gazed into Melissa's blue eyes.

"We're going to have a baby" Melissa smiled up at him, she didn't think he could be happier until his hands slid down to her stomach and then he got down on both his knees. He placed his hands on her hips and pulled her closer to him, until he placed the side of his head against her stomach. He looked up at her after a few minutes and then rose to his feet.

"I love you, my forever mate" Varick confessed as felt a new kind of emotion welling up inside of him.

It was the same feeling that came over him when he found out that Alex was his son. Varick always found ways to spend time with Alex in order to try and make up for the time that he had lost. Alex had even started calling him dad, which made his heart sing.

He now had two sons; one full blood who was adopted and one hybrid that came from the ooman female he had married all those years ago, but both were loved equally. But, they also loved to test his patience when they started rough housing around, especially when Bashera joins. He normally has to walk away and laugh. There was nothing more frustrating than dealing with three young males who had nothing better to do with their time than play fight. Or, as Melissa called it, making a dog pile.

Now their lives were perfect. They had found each other after twenty-five years of being apart. Varick now had two sons, with another child on the way. He also had daughters by marriage to his sons. Neither one of them could have asked for anything more. Except to live…

Happily Ever After

I guess I had everyone fooled on Melissa. Believe me; I would not be that cruel of a person to kill off Varick's forever mate. I hope everyone enjoyed this story as much as I enjoyed writing it.