~ Epilogue ~

{One year later - 1900}

Four years since Jared left... On this day.

I sit on the rooftop alone, kicking the rocks with my boots. It's quiet, besides the buzz of Town Square. It seems extra busy today.

Usually, Jack is with me, but he's always stuck at work nowadays. I kick a piece of glass and it slides across the ground and stops when it hits the wall. I walk over to pick it up.

It's tinted green, but I don't know if it's because it's old or if that's the color of the bottle it's from. Well, I assume it's part of a broken bottle. And that only reminds me of Jared. So, I continue sulking. I soon walk down the steps to see my boys... I haven't seen much of them today, and I know they can cheer me up.

As if on cue, Davey opens the door and stands there as I come off the staircase. We all turn our heads. I run as fast as I can to greet him. I throw my arms around his neck and almost knock him down when I hug him. He laughs while he regains his balance and hugs me back.

"I've missed you so much!" I whisper, almost in tears.

Davey has been in school since the week after the strike was settled. His father's arm is finally healed and he's been buried in books since he went back. With that being said, he hasn't visited the boys and me in months.

"You know I've been stuck studying. We have finals next week," he replies.

"You could have at least made some contact," he pulls away and raises an eyebrow at me. "I'm just joking. I'm so glad to see you."

"And I you," he smiles and leans up against the wall outside my bedroom. I stand on my tip–toes to give him a peck on the cheek.

"You did miss my birthday a couple weeks ago, though..." I mumble off to the side and he takes my face in his hands and we share a long, deep kiss.

"Does that make up for it?"

"Yes, it does," I grin. "Oh! I wanted to show you something, but I wasn't sure when I would see you again."

"Well, I'm here now," he says in a "matter–of–fact" way. I open the door to walk into my room, Davey follows and shuts the door behind him.

He sits on my bed and I run to open my trunk. I search for a little while but soon find what I'm looking for. "Aha! Here we go," I pull out a small stack of papers tied together and sit next to him.

"What's this?"

"It's my birthday present from Jack!" I untie the thin string and begin to show him the beautiful drawings he had made for me. I hand him the stack and let him examine them.

"Is this... Us?" He smiles and I nod in response. "Wow. He's gotten a lot better, huh?"

"Well, he does have a job at the World now, remember?"

"Yeah... Our Jackie–Boy is all grown up."

"I wouldn't say all grown up, but he's getting there," He keeps scrolling through the papers and he comes to a certain one. "Ooh! That's my favorite one!" I stop him.

The picture shows Davey and me sitting together on the rooftop. We sit on the ledge, looking onto the Manhattan skyline. I'm leaning my head on his shoulder and Davey is kissing the top of my head. The sky is colored a bluish–grey and you can even tell the details on his plaid shirt. I never want to take my eyes off of the picture.

Davey kisses the top of my head, like so in the drawing. I lift up my head and give him a real kiss. He holds the back of my neck with his soft, warm hands and I run my fingers through his curly brown hair. He smiles while we kiss, which only makes me smile.

The door flings open and Jack appears in the doorway, out of breath and sweaty. "Cory! I–"

"Jack!" Davey and I both exclaim.

"I'm sorry, you guys are... I'll leave you alone–" He tries to walk out.

"No, Jack, what's wrong?" I stop him and gesture for him to come inside.

He takes a deep breath and looks at me. I still sit with my eyebrows raised in concern. We wait for him to say something.

"I was walking out of work, 'bout to go tah Tibby's tah get some food and– Oh! The food, I forgot the food, I–"

"Forget about the food, Jack. What happened?" Davey said to him.

"Um, it was a busy day, so I could be wrong, but... I waited to cross the street and I saw the back of his head, I thought it wasn't him at first, but when he turned around I could've sworn..."

"Who? Who did you see?" I ask, trying to move him along.

"I saw Jared," he blurts it out.

"You... You what?" I stutter.

"When he turned around, I saw his smile and I knew it was him. He smiled at the girl beside him and kissed the baby in her arms and–"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Slow down." Davey stops him. "Did you say a girl and a baby? With Jared?" My mind goes even more into shock; if that's even possible.

"Yeah, forgot that part, sorry," Jack apologizes. "I raced over here to tell you. I didn't know what else to do."

"Cory? Are you all right?" Davey puts his hand on my shoulder.

"Where were they going?" I ask.

"Uh, I was right past Town Square, so probably somewhere in that area."

I stand up and get my hat from my bedpost.

"What are you doing?" Davey asks as I frantically grab my things and walk out the door.

"Going to tell Medda. She needs to know."

~*~

I basically burst through the doors of Medda's Place. Jack runs at my side and Davey follows closely behind. I run to search for her, through the halls, all the doors.

"Medda? Medda!" I yell out and stop on the empty, dimly lit stage.

"Is she here?" Davey asks, out of breath from chasing after me.

"I don't think so..." Jack replies and stands beside me. He puts a hand on my shoulder as I groan.

Soon, her voice echoes across the stage. Her high–heeled shoes click on the wooden floor. "What is all the commotion about?"

"Medda!" I run to hug her.

"My word, child," she laughs when I nearly knock her off of her feet. "What's going on?"

"I have some news, and I'm not sure how you're going to take it..." I look at her and say with an anxious voice.

"Calm down, Cory. Here, come to the dining room. I have someone I would like you to meet," she locks her arm in mine and leads me to the dining room backstage.

We walk down the halls silently. The boys walk behind us making no sound. I walk with a blank face, tense muscles, and a racing heartbeat. Medda soon opens the door into a room where two considerably well–dressed people–a man with dirty blond hair and a woman with beautiful red hair–sit at a table, their backs facing the doorway. They both turn around at the sound of the many footsteps walking into the room. I stop when I see the man's face. My hand goes over my mouth and my eyes begin to well up. He stands up when he sees me and gives a slight smile.

"Cory," he rubs his sweaty palms on his pants when he stands.

"Jared," I whisper my brother's name.

"Wow... You've grown so much," Jared smiles and begins to walk toward me with arms open. I put my hand out and step back as a sign for him to stop.

"Stay away," I warn him.

"Can we... Talk?"

"You can go to my dressing room if you'd like," Medda suggests. "It's just down the hall. It's the one with my name on the door."

"Thanks, Medda," Jared nods to her and gestures his hand for me to follow him.

I follow in his stride down the hall, but I keep my distance. We reach the door with Medda's name and he turns the knob, but he lets me in first. I walk in without thanking him and stand in the middle of the brightly decorated room.

"Cory, I–" Jared begins to speak, but I interrupt him.

"What are you doing here?"

"I'm having dinner with Medda."

"No. In Manhattan," my tears go away and the anger begins to burn inside of me. The anger I've kept inside for four years. "Why did you disappear for so long? No, why did you come back after so long? I was finally starting to be okay without you. Why did you come back?"

"I came to see Medda. I came to see you..." He steps toward me, but I step back.

"You... You're not supposed to be here. You left. Remember?" I passionately speak with my hands. "Four years ago to this day you left me. You abandoned me."

"I'm sorry, but–"

"What makes you think you can just come back after so long and it'll be okay? You'll flash a smile and I'll say, 'I've missed you so much!' You can apologize and I'll automatically forgive you, Jack can forgive you, Crutchie! That anyone will forgive you after what you've done to me... To all of us!" I turn my back to him as the tears begin to flow. I bury my face in my hands and begin to breathe heavily.

"Cory–"

"You were all I had left!" I spin around and yell at him with a red face, wet with tears. "You were all I had left after mom died and after dad turned into a jerk, you were the only family I had," I shove him and he walks backward. "You were all I had and you LEFT," I hit him one more time and turn to Medda's couch, fall to my knees, and cry into my hands.

He slowly nears me and squats down to my level. He puts his hand on my back and rubs circles. "Look, I know I hurt you, I'm sorry. I'm sorry for all I did. I'm sorry for not paying attention to you and not being there for you. I picked up an awful habit and I feel so guilty for that. But I feel even more guilty for letting it pull me away from my only sister. I hurt one of my friends, I ran away with a girl I met at Medda's, and we didn't come back until years later."

I adjust my position and sit with my arms hugging my knees, but I still don't look at Jared. "Jared, if you had just–" I try to say something.

"No, please. Let me finish," I nod and he continues. "I'm truly regretful. I spent the entire first year I was away wondering how you could ever forgive me–If you would ever forgive me. I was so mad at myself for letting a stupid bottle get in the way. But... Angela saved me. She turned me into a better man. We settled down, we had a baby. The only thing left to do before I started my new life was... To apologize to you. So, Cory. I ask you will find it in your heart to forgive me for what I've done. Please. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if you didn't."

I pause and look into his warm, green eyes. I take a deep breath and hug him. "I forgive you, Jared," I whisper. "And I love you."

He pulls away and holds my face. "I love you too," he wipes the tears from my cheeks and hugs me again.

We walk out to the dining room again where Medda sits, holding the baby. Jack and Davey stand leaning against the wall while the two women gawk over the small child. The boys stand straight when they see us. Medda and the redheaded woman turn to face us. They both give a warm smile.

"Hi," I say awkwardly and wave.

"Cory, I want you to meet someone," Jared leads me to the table where the other ladies sit. "Well, two people... This is Angela. She used to perform here at Medda's,"

"Oh, she was one of my favorite performers. I was devastated when she left with Jared," Medda puts her hand on her heart and reminisces.

"It's nice to finally meet you," Angela smiles. "I've heard so much about you."

"Nice to meet you, too," I say and hold my hand out for a handshake–restraining from spitting on my hand first.

"And this..." Jared takes the baby girl from Medda's arms and holds her close. "...Is your niece, Emily,"

I gasp and start to tear up a bit. "That was mama's name," I say quietly.

"Cory, you aren't crying, are you?" Jared looks at me.

"No, it's just... You stole my name!" He and I laugh–in my case, through the tears.

"Do you want to hold her?" Angela asks. "Jared, let her hold Emily."

"Oh, um, sure..." I take her in my arms very careful not to drop her. "She's so tiny..."

She has Angela's red hair, but she has Jared's beautiful, warm green eyes, I'd know them anywhere. I sit down with her. Jack and Davey walk behind me to see her for themselves. Jack makes a face to make her laugh. That laugh was the most beautiful sound I've ever heard.

So, that's what you call a family?

Mother, daughter, father son?

Guess that everything you'd heard about is true.

Well, now I've got a family. And I couldn't be any happier.

~*~

the end