Well, this is it. Back where we started, yet still at the end, five fictional years later. This has been a fun fic to write and I owe a lot of it to Jane L. Black for helping me come up with everything. I also owe a lot to you, the person reading this. Thank you for supporting this story. It means a lot. Cue epilogue.
It was a cold and dreary morning. Rain pelted down, ruining just about all festive spirit. Even though most porches and front yards were decorated for Halloween, only a few brave souls were out. Those few couldn't particularly enjoy them though, as the rain made it difficult for them to see anything. But, rainy and dull as the weather may have been, Halloween of 1965 was still a celebration in the Hargreeves household.
Vienna opened her eyes, blinking to get rid of the last whispers of sleep. On her bedside table, his gift waited for her, as he'd promised her it would all those years ago. A smile spread across her face as she picked it up, slowly sliding the intricate band onto her finger. It was made for her, just like him.
As the weather was dark and unforgiving, she decided to skip her usual morning routine. It was her birthday, after all. Keeping her hair undone and her face untouched by makeup, Vienna pulled on Five's only t-shirt, too long on her since his second growth spurt, and a robe. Yawning, she stretched lazily before leaving her room.
Of the original eight, only three of them still lived in the house. Though it was looking more and more as though Five and Vienna would get to keep it for themselves, as Luther and Sarah were talking about moving in together. Allison had moved in with Ray when she married him in '62. Klaus and Ben lived in the apartment above the salon. Diego lived… somewhere with Lila.
When Vienna entered the kitchen, Five was there with his paper, per usual, her crossword page lying on the table. Luther sat opposite his brother, eating breakfast quietly. "Good morning," she said, sliding into her designated seat beside Five, "Anything interesting going on in the city?"
He shook his head, lifting her hand to press a kiss against her fingertips. Five knew, without looking, that the ring was sitting pretty on her finger. It wasn't as though she would say no. After five proposals, starting with the one the night they'd saved her from the Handler, and always getting the same answer, he'd expect no less from her. Ask me again when we're eighteen, she'd said. So that's what he did. "Happy birthday," he murmured, "The others are coming over soon."
"In this weather?"
"Allison and Ray are bringing games," Five stated, taking a sip of his coffee, "It's like they want this family to shatter again." Monopoly was never, ever, a good idea. Because Klaus, ditzy as he was a lot of the time, was a mean businessman. And Allison was competitive, unlike anyone he'd ever met. The shouting matches… everyone could do without them. And Clue was no fun with Vienna, who always won because her spidey-sense told her who the killer was. Poker wasn't her thing, much to the relief of the rest of the family, but she'd deal whenever Vanya challenged Diego and Luther. Five wasn't one to play games, though he'd occasionally participate in Yahtzee. "Klaus is picking up the cake," he continued, "Let's hope, for the sake of the cake, that Dave's the one carrying it to the car and that Ben's driving."
Luther stood, putting his plate away. "Sarah wishes you a happy birthday, but she won't be able to make it today," he said, ruffling Vienna's hair as he passed her, "She's visiting family in Ohio while she's still got time off."
A nod of acceptance. "Do we know if Diego and Lila are planning to show up," Five asked, folding his paper neatly, "I mean, she's could pop any day now and I think Diego said it might be hard for her to travel." When the couple had announced that Lila was pregnant, Five had been oddly proud of his brother. It helped that he was going to be an uncle again. "I don't think we should—"
The loud knocking on the door cut him off. Luther went to open it, stepping aside to let Klaus, Ben, and Dave come in. They, like the residents of the house, were still in their pajamas, their raincoats barely shielding them from the rain. Dave was holding a large box, which Luther took from him and headed into the kitchen to put down while the new arrivals got their coats and rain boots.
Vienna walked out to the living room, grinning as she accepted the kisses to her cheeks. "Thank you for coming," she said graciously, "With this weather, I wouldn't have blamed you if you didn't."
"Don't be stupid, it doesn't suit you," Dave retorted, hugging her tightly, "A hurricane wouldn't have stopped us." He presented her with his and Klaus' gift, the box wrapped clumsily. Klaus had insisted that he do it himself, and Dave was hopeless to resist him. "I would never betray the cake like that," he joked, trying to be as formal and courtly as possible, "It's lemon, Vienna, what kind of monster do you think I am?"
Chuckling, Vienna conceded his point. "Very well then, kind sir, please follow me to the kitchen so we can get a cup of tea," she replied, though her attempt at formality was hindered by her continued giggles, "Five, honey, could you get a kettle going?"
"Tea is just flavored water!"
"So is coffee, yet you drink eight cups a day!"
Grumbling good-naturedly, Five did as he was asked. Who was he to deny her on this greatest of days? He nearly dropped the kettle at the thought. Holy shit, she really did a number on him. All that… positivity. She did that. Made him happy. What the actual fuck? He barely recognized himself, sometimes wondering if he was dreaming. Over the years, the moments when he woke up thinking he was back in the apocalypse went from regular to few and far between. He still struggled on bad days, thinking he didn't deserve all the good things in his life. Vienna would be at his side on those days, reminding him that he deserved everything after growing up the way he had. Five thanked God for her every day.
"Are you okay, honey?"
He turned, giving Vienna a smile. "Yeah, Sun, I'm all good." She didn't believe him, and he loved her all the more for it. Rolling her eyes, Vienna walked over to him, one hand coming to rest on the back of his neck while the other tangled with his. Five grinned down at her, knowing the difference in height between them annoyed her. At thirteen, they'd been roughly the same height. At eighteen, she barely reached his shoulder. Still, he let her pull him down to meet her halfway. It was just a brush of lips, akin to their first kiss. In a way, it was a sort of first kiss. She wasn't his girlfriend anymore. "How long do you think it takes before they notice?"
"Allison will walk through the door and just know," Vienna replied, "Though it's a small miracle Klaus hasn't noticed, he's such a sucker for all things shiny." She smiled up at Five and him down for another kiss before stepping away from him. Taking the kettle from him, she set it on the stove and prepared her beloved tea set. "Could you go see if the mail has arrived?"
He blanched. "But… Sunshine, it's… there's rain!"
"Please?"
He was not whipped. He wasn't. The only reason he was already heading for the door was that he didn't want Vienna to go outside, lest she catch a cold. He was pulling on his raincoat because he was a gentleman, not because the love of his life had him in the palm of her hand. With a heavy sigh, he tore the door open, scaring his unsuspecting sister and her husband in the process. "What the fuck, Allison, you could've knocked."
"I was going to!" Allison stared incredulously at her brother. Wrapped in a hot pink raincoat, Klaus' probably, he looked adorable mussed. Guessing what he was going out for, she held up the two envelopes she'd taken out of the mailbox. "I picked these up, figured you didn't wanna go out in the rain."
Five snatched the letters from her fingers, leaving Allison and Ray to invite themselves in as he slammed them down on the coffee table in front of Vienna. He walked away and headed into the kitchen, fully expecting her to follow him in order to lecture him on manners, as she always did. Only, she didn't.
"Vienna?" Dave looked at his friend in concern. Her eyes were filled with tears as she stared down at one of the envelopes, her hands trembling. "What is it?" Surely Vanya hadn't sent anything to bring the girl to tears? He watched, along with everyone else, as she slowly opened the letter. He caught sight of the return address, frowning. Who was Samuel Stein?
Darling Vienna,
Just minutes before I sat down to write this letter, my son told me that he is expecting a daughter. Her name will be Anna Stein until she travels back to the country from which my parents came. There she'll meet a man named Henri Lacroix, a student from Monaco. They'll get married, he'll make investments that will make him millions. They'll move to America, to be close to Anna's family. They'll have a daughter.
But you already know that, don't you? After all, sweet Vienna, you're the child they'll welcome into the world on October 31, 1989.
As I'm sure you know, my name is Samuel Stein. I'm your great grandfather, though I'll have passed by the time you're born. In this time, you've taken my name, rather than your father's. The vision that came to me as my son told me his news alerted me to this, and as such, I have taken the liberty to give you a gift to be delivered to you upon this day, your eighteenth birthday.
Because of the intricacies of time, we can never meet. But you should know that I loved you the moment I learned that you were to be born. You're the last of us. Use the gift you were born with wisely, dear Vienna. Happy birthday, child.
P.S. Do right by your chosen one. He will conquer time for you.
Vienna shook as she handed the letter to Five, looking into the envelope. A slip of paper, with numbers scribbled hastily on it. A bank account. She let out a watery laugh. Once, her mother had told her that Samuel Stein was a loon who couldn't keep track of even the simplest things, referring to how he had apparently 'lost' nearly half a million dollars back in the Sixties. It would seem as though the old man wasn't as crazy as his family had thought. She lifted a hand to her face to wipe away the tears.
"Oh my God."
Six pairs of eyes immediately focused on the ring sparkling in the candlelight. For a split second, everything was so silent a needle could drop and practically startle them. Then the room exploded as Vienna was engulfed in hugs and showered in kisses. Five realized what would happen just a fraction too late, rendering him unable to escape as Luther grabbed the back of his shirt and tugged him into the celebrations.
When things finally calmed down, Allison and Ray pulled out the games. Klaus immediately threw himself over the Monopoly box, claiming his favorite token, the wheelbarrow. Allison reached for the top hat, grinning cockily at her brother.
Wisely choosing to stay out of their way, Five and Vienna settled in the armchair while Ben and Luther took the couch. All of them shook their heads, pitying the competitive siblings' significant others. They were in for a rough ride.
Jaws hung open. Ben, who had been whittling a tiny wooden otter, cut his finger. Even Vienna, the one of them who could at least sense things, was surprised. Dave smirked. He was the king. "Babe, I warned you," he said, smug an apologetic all at once as Klaus glared fiercely at him, "I'm undefeated."
"But that's not fair," Klaus whined, "Vienna, tell him it's not fair!"
"Don't look at me," she protested, "It's not like we discuss our freaking prowess at boardgames when we gossip at the salon!"
"You're gonna be my sister-in-law, you should be on my side!"
"Hey, leave my fiancée out of this," Five defended, rolling his eyes, "She's just an innocent bystander."
"She's been with you for six years, I doubt she's that innocent."
Allison balked. "Okay, maybe we should cut into that cake." Dave was on his feet immediately, dragging Klaus along with him into the kitchen. Ben and Luther followed, tempted by the promise of sugar. Ray, dutiful husband as he was, helped his wife get out plates and forks.
In the living room, Vienna frowned, much to Five's displeasure. "He didn't mean it like that," he said quietly, thinking that Klaus had crossed the line, "He's just… Klaus."
Vienna shook her head. "That's not it," she murmured, looking down at her arms, "I have this feeling something's going to happen."
"Good or bad?"
"I don't know." That was the downside to her strange intuition. Knowing something without knowing what it was. "Could you go see if the power has come back on?"
Five eyed her skeptically. "I wasn't aware that the power was out." But he did has he was told. Because, fine, he was whipped. He walked over to the light switch, flicking it. The lights came on. The phone rang. Groaning, he picked it up. "What?"
Anxiously, Vienna watched as his eyes widened. She could barely contain her curiosity. It didn't help her nerves at all that Five took his time sharing the identity of the caller even after he'd hung up. "Well, who was it?" By that point, the rest of the family present had gathered in the living room again, all of them looking at Five.
"That was Diego," he replied, voice sounding odd, even in his own ears, "We need to go to the hospital."
Another moment of complete silence as the others processed. Then pandemonium as the implication of his words hit all of them at the same time. The baby was coming.
Five waited, mostly patient, for his family to get their shit together so he could take them to the hospital. Silently, he thanked whoever had helped him through all the bullshit in his life for bringing him to that point. Then he smirked. He knew who it was. She was right there with him. His fair Vienna.