Song I listened to while writing this:

Punching Bag by Brian Tyler


Epilogue

His feet were heavy on the gravel as he walked. He side stepped Farell and made his way to her barrack. It had been a happy day, albeit an emotional one, but he was wired. He couldn't sleep. There was too much on his mind, and even though he didn't want to shatter the peace and newfound happiness, he knew he had to.

It was time to tell her.

Luke hated to do this now after Rita finally was relaxed, but she needed to know. He waited until he was sure Brendan would be asleep in Hendricks's old cot before going to meet her. They'd already arranged to before parting ways earlier that evening. She smiled upon seeing him, and he ached with worry that she'd never smile at him like that again after this.

"What is it?" she asked when they were finally alone. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," he answered.

"Glad to hear," she said, pressing into him and kissing him softly. As much as he wanted to continue that, he couldn't right now. With everything that had happened, he couldn't waste anymore time not telling her. He braced himself for her anger, which he knew was going to come. This was not the first time he'd told her, and if her past reactions were any indicator, he knew what she was going to do and say next.

"Luke, you're scaring me," she said, noticing his face and lack of response when he pulled back. "What's wrong? Are you...are you changing your mind? About us?"

"No," he said instantly. "Absolutely not."

"Then what's going on?"

"Rita, I have to tell you something," he started, "and please don't hate me because I honestly didn't know until recently. Before you ask, I have told you in a few different resets because I can't keep things from you and had promised to never lie to you, but you do get quite upset..."

"Luke..."

"I'll understand if you never want to talk to me again," he continued. His heart ached at thinking about losing her again so soon after getting her back. He hoped Brendan would still want to see him. Having his son with him was making him certain all over again that he wanted to be a father and that he'd do his damndest to be a good one.

"Luke, just tell me," Rita ordered. She looked afraid, and he felt bad for making her feel that way. He felt bad for telling her it was Rachel who had told him she'd come after Brendan and also joined the UDF, but the truth had impacted her badly, and he couldn't bear to see her so upset every single time on top of everything else, so he'd fibbed. He hoped she'd forgive him; he really hadn't known until almost three months ago when he was told about Rita leaving to find Brendan and not being in hiding like he'd thought. After he learned where she really was and didn't have to worry about Mei, he'd come to find her and help find Brendan, to win the war, and to make things right between them. He feared this would put him back to having her angry at him again.

"Rita," he said, sighing and rubbing a hand against his head. He looked at her, knowing her world was about to be turned upside down once again. She waited, her eyes searching his. There was no going back now.

"Rita," he said again, "it's your mother. Rosie."

"W-What about her?" Rita asked, looking startled. Luke met her eyes, seeing a lot of emotions there. He inhaled slowly and delivered the shocking blow:

"She's alive."

To Be Continued...


Okay, so this author's note kind of ran away from me, lol, but I had some final words to say before we close.

I had originally put this in the last chapter, but then I made it into an epilogue because I thought, if something should happen to me (and I've had a few close calls in my life with the most recent being last year, so I think about that now lol), I'm leaving everyone hanging, and I didn't want that to happen. I wanted to have a good, heartfelt ending that would be satisfying if I couldn't get back to this story. That being said, if something does happen to me, I do have someone who will post the chapters I have written for Part II (once they figure out how to work this site haha), and I have a summary to be posted as well so you'll know how it was all going to end. Hopefully, I'm around for a very, very long time still, so I'll get to finish it!

It feels like such a long journey already, and this was just Part I lol. This entire story is by far my biggest project. Part I has already dethroned my longest story on here and is the longest I've ever written. Part II is already at almost 100,000 words, and I'm not even halfway finished it.

Speaking of Part II, stay tuned! It is titled "Safely on the Edge" and will be posted soon. I'm just trying to get ahead a bit more and also keep up with my other stories I'm writing. You'll find out who I picture some of my other OCs as, and I just want to say, too, that I do that for me, so I don't expect everyone to visualize my characters as the actors/actresses I pick the way I do. I just really like some actor/actress's personalities from different films I've seen them in, and I can picture them working in my story, so I pop them in there. A lot of my other OCs are created in my head, and I don't have someone in mind to play them.

Thank you, thank you, thank you to everyone who reviewed! It has meant SO much to me :) I greatly look forward to your thoughts on Part II :D

P.S. If you need a Bluntham fix while you're waiting, feel free to check out Family Matters, Worth the Wait, or Bloodwork, all of which I'm still writing. If you want a completed story, a couple of my favorites are Strangers in the Hospital, Safe Again, Brave, Strong, Beautiful You (for angst lovers), and Never Fall for the Groom (also for angst lovers).

Until next time, my friends. Cheers! :)