After a while of debating, I've decided to write another part to the epilogue. This is just really fluffy, but so what?
We all know where the disclaimer is. . .right?
Discovering The Waterfront
Chapter 19
The Aftermath: Pt. II
Two years had past since Mark's return. He had since joined APO and was often paired on missions with Isabelle, but they had quit, together. The duo had been inseperable since he had come home. They were living together and had gotten married shortly after he came home. The poets were right, true love never dies.
Isabelle awoke slowly to the soft sound of crying. It was more of a whimper and not a full out cry but she heard it none-the-less. Thanks to the amazing technical quality of a baby monitor.
If you listen to the sound of hope in the
Children's voices, Asking questions you'll know
How Blindness is a blessing
But I know your type, you're always right,
your tongue controls your mind.
But I guess, life's the lesson.
She padded into the hallway of the new apartment, boxes still littered the hallway where she and Mark had placed them. The one quality they shared at its highest level was laziness and unwillingness to unpack box after box. It was just so agonizingly boring. Isabelle left their bedroom and entered the smaller bedroom down the hall.
She walked over to the crib and picked up the toddler inside.
If they said 40 years
I would die before I let them take
the love that I have paid for with my tears.
And now the time has come
to cut our tongues out and commit ourselves as you did in your memory we...
"Hey Jack," She whispered quietly and he stopped his whimpering almost immediately. Isabelle's grandfather had passed away right before Jack was born, therefore she named him after her beloved grandfather. Mark had no problem with it, as long as the middle name was Julian which Isabelle agreed to wholeheartedly.
Tear down the walls and let them know
We could have it all
We could have some hope
this city could be ours by nightfall.
It was amazing how much Jack looked like Mark. They had the same face frame, the same eyes, but he had dark brown hair, much like her own. She imagined what Mark would have looked like as a small child and found she was already looking at him. Jack wrapped his tiny arms around her neck, clinging onto her as if he would drown without her.
Do you hear the war drums beating?
Are you truly happy doing nothing, darling?
I need to find the center
'Cause love is something right
its not cooked up over night
In sticky situations you tried
but less is more forever
"Aw, I love you too baby boy." Isabelle placed a light kiss on his forehead and she watched as his lips curved upward in a small smile. He could talk, though it was only a few words at best and several phrases.
He was smart for only two years old but he was the quiet type. Isabelle and Mark had picked up on that when he started talking. He would say 'I love you mommy' or 'I love you daddy' and that was it for the entire day. Every so often he would say a word or two, but mostly he just made gestures.
Mark seemed to understand his son's quiet demeanor more than Isabelle did. She knew Mark could talk up a storm but she found that it was usually only to her, making her feel special. He was definitely the quiet type, exactly like Jack. The two had elected to quit the C.I.A. and get "normal" jobs. Isabelle stayed at home and Mark worked at a computer company. . .literally. They were very commercial and suburban, even if they lived in a three bedroom, Los Angeles apartment.
And they said 40 years
I would die before I let them take
the love that I have paid for with my tears
and now the time has come
to cut our tongues out and commit ourselves as you did in your memory we...
"Jacky, you want to go and lay by Mommy and Daddy?" Isabelle suggested. She felt the swift nod and carried him out of the room. She passed the bathroom, felt her stomach turn and placed Jack on the ground.
"Hang on, I've got to go take care of something." She entered the bathroom and vomited into the toilet. Morning sickness sucked, but she had survived it once and she could do it again.
"Alrighty," She said to Jack after she had rinsed her mouth out and left the bathroom but not before she flushed the stomach juices away.
Tear down the walls and let them know
We could have it all
We could have some hope
this city could be ours by nightfall, nightfall
"Mommy?" Jack asked after Isabelle had picked him up again.
"Yeah?" She returned, waiting for his next question.
"Park tomorrow with Daddy?" He couldn't quite form complete sentences as he only knew a few words, but he could still be understood.
"Sure. We can go to the park tomorrow, but we have to ask Daddy. He might be off of work tomorrow and we might be able to have lunch there. Fun right?" Jack picked his head up from her shoulder and looked directly into her eyes. It was amazing how quiet but sincere he could be.
Tear down the walls and let them know
We could have it all
We could have some hope
this city could be ours by nightfall
He nodded quietly and Isabelle smiled at how innocent he was.
"I love you baby boy," She told him in a whisper as they entered the bedroom.
Mark turned over, he had obviously heard the conversation as he was now awake and smiling. He had never gotten over how much he loved Isabelle. Jack was only another additive to the equation that made up their family and now they were having another. There was no way Mark could have been any happier than he was at this moment in time.
The minute I was born you stole my heart
The minute I was born you stole my heart
The minute I was born you stole my heart
The minute I was born, the minute I was born!
"Come here." Mark whispered, his voice semi-hoarse from unuse while sleeping.
Jack bounced lightly in Isabelle's arms. She placed him onto the bed and he immediately jumped onto Mark. It was probably one of the sweetest things any person could have witnessed in their life. Mark and Jack lay down quietly on the bed as Isabelle lay down next to the duo. She ran her hand absentmindedly over her still flat stomach, secretly thinking over names.
Tear down the walls and let them know
We could go all night
We could just stay home
this city could be ours by nightfall, nightfall
Mark was staring at her, smiling, while Jack snuggled softly between the two.
"What?" Isabelle asked with a smile.
"You," He whispered, causing her to blush lightly.
Tear down the walls and let them know
We could have it all
We could have some hope
this city could be ours by nightfall
She gave him a quick kiss which he returned with just as much love in the gesture.
Lies had made up their lives before but everything turned out alright. To think, if a kidnapping had never taken place, they might not be there now. It was a twisted but still incredibly fateful end that did in fact justify the means.
There we go, a fluffy and hopefully satisfying ending to all of you readers out there.
Bitter Uprising - The Classic Crime - Albatross