EPILOGUE

They never did catch Colin.

I didn’t really think they ever would—he was too good. They found his car at the airport in short-term parking. Apparently he’d gotten on a plane out of the country on Monday afternoon. Best as we can figure, as soon as Sasha was dead, he just hopped into his car and drove to the airport. But on his way, he stopped by the apartment and grabbed the picture of the three of us.

Papa pulled some strings with the licensing board, and both Frank and I managed to get our own licenses. Since the rent on our office space was paid for a year, we decided to keep it, and now we are partners in Sobieski & Bradley. We changed the name on the door, got new business cards, and started over. It was sad cleaning out Colin’s desk, but there wasn’t really anything in it other than office supplies. He left no real traces of anything behind—but then he’d never really had anything of that nature here.

Storm continues to throw work our way, and so does Millie. We’re doing okay with the business, and after Mardi Gras, I was kind of happy to return to some semblance of calm and normality.

Papa doesn’t know, to this day, that there were triplets. At first, I wasn’t sure it was such a great idea to keep it from him, but Maman finally convinced me. Misha claimed their bodies as the next of kin. We had them cremated, and we spread their ashes in the river. It was a sad moment—all of us gathered there on the Moon Walk. I prayed for them, as I’m sure we all did.

Misha was a little awkward at first as part of the family circle, keeping quiet and not talking much. I talked to him a few times, and he told me stories about his brothers—my uncles—and what they were like as kids. But as time passed, his Diderot blood became apparent, and he started giving as good as he got at family gatherings. He even managed to leave Mom speechless and sputtering once.

He was definitely a Diderot.

Frank moved into my apartment, and Millie and Velma rented out the top floor to a group of flight attendants—all male, of course. They just use it as kind of a base, so a lot of the time it’s just empty. I did a ritual cleansing before they moved in, just to be on the safe side.

It hasn’t been easy for Frank and me, but as more time passes, it gets easier. And we have each other, which is the most important thing. Nobody ever mentions Colin to us—to people outside the family we just say it didn’t work out and he moved away. I try to remember the times we had together that were good, when we laughed and joked, and whenever either one of us starts going to that dark place, I just think about the picture. I remember that he took that picture with him, wherever he was going.

It’s easy to hate, but it’s so much harder to forgive.

I’m not there yet—and neither is Frank. But every day, we pray for the strength to get past our hurt and anger.

And every day, I wake up in Frank’s arms and feel grateful. Grateful to be alive, grateful for my family, grateful for all the blessings I have.

And I know someday I’ll get to that place where I can forgive Colin for everything—we both will—and we’ll be better people for it.

Life never hands you anything you can’t handle.

It’s how you handle it that matters.

And we’re going to be just fine.