Epilogue
Epilogue
Pushing her hair behind her ear, Catherine smiled broadly. Then she looked to stare upward into
Rome's eyes when he hugged her from the back.
"Look who's tummy is getting bigger," Rome whispered as his manly hands gently rested on her
stomach.
"I can't believe he's already spent twelve-week in my stomach," Catherine whispered, gazing at her
reflection in the mirror.
"He? Our baby is a she. Daddy little princess." Rome softly uttered.
At first, Catherine pouted a bit. Then she chuckled and mumbled, "Should we do one of those fancy
babies' gender reveal parties because at this point everyone seems to have their opinions about our
baby's gender."
As Rome was about to speak, a soft knock echoed on the bedroom door and K's voice sounded into
the room, "Good morning, boss."
"Morning, pal. What is it?" Rome called out?
"Scar just informed me that Axel's result is in. The doctor tried calling you, but you are not picking up."
"Yeah, that's because my phone is on silent. I will be with you in a few minutes!"
After k footsteps faded away from the door, Rome focused back on Catherine, kissed her head, and
said, "I will be back soon, okay?"
"Mmh," Catherine mumbled beneath her breath as she turned around in his arms.
Then she tiptoed to reach his lips, gently kissed him, and whispered, "Love you!"
"Love you more," Rome said, gently grabbing Catherine by her waist, drawing her into his arms.
When Rome came downstairs, he saw the housekeepers bringing in a bunch of boxes into the house
and carrying it upstairs.
At that moment, he saw Mr. Ford, approaching him from the opposite direction.
"Dad, what is all this!" Rome asked in disbelief.
"Preparation for my grandbaby!" Mr. Ford said with excitement echoing in his voice.
"You know that Catherine is only three months pregnant, right! And we don't even know the gender of
the kid yet!"
"Who cares if my grandchild is a boy or a girl! Plus, I bought gender-neutral colors, so it doesn't matter."
Sighing, Rome rubbed his temper and then inhaled softly before mumbling, "Dad, I didn't want to tell
you this so early this morning. But Catherine and I are moving out before the baby gets born."
"What!" Mr. Miller shouted, stopping in his tracks as he stood in the hallway. "You are taking our
daughter-in-law and grandbaby from us!"
"Look, guys, please do not make this a big deal. You two are welcome to visit any time, okay?" Rome
calmly uttered.
"Hell, no! It's not okay! You can not make us used to this life and then rip it away from us!" Mr. Ford
angrily uttered.
Knowing that this was an argument that would last longer than he wanted, Rome turned away from his
fathers and said, "I got to go."
"Don't you dare walk away!" Mr. Miller screamed, watching Rome head out the door.
After reaching his car, Rome smiled as he stared at K. Then he tapped him on the shoulder and said,
"I'm glad you are back on your feet like old times."
"Me too, boss." K heartily said.
The corridor of the Louis Cardinals hospital was swamped with police officers when Rome walked into
the lobby with K closely behind him. Then both men made their way to the private ward.
When Rome entered Axel's room a moment later, a faint smile surfaced on his face as their eyes
locked.
Then he looked at the doctor and said, "I'm ready for the result."
For a moment, the doctor stared at Amara, Rome, K, Brook, Blaze, and Scar. Then he opened the
envelope and said, "Well, there's not much to confirm here that you guys don't already know. Anyways,
according to the test result, you two are blood relatives."
That news didn't come as a shock to anyone and the doctor wasn't surprised in the slightest.
"I will take my leave now since my work here is done." He calmly uttered before leaving the room.
For a brief while, Axel gazed at Rome. Then he rubbed his neck and said, "Soo… cousin, huh?"
"Yeah," Rome mumbled, not knowing what else to say.
"So, after my eighteen years in prison, I'm allowed to visit my nephew, right?"
"It's your niece."
Smiling, K clenched his fist and said, "I know it will be a girl."
"Boy," Scar firmly uttered with a straight face.
"I'm with you on this one, partner," Brook said, gently nudging Scar in the shoulder.
Narrowing his eyes, Blaze took a step away from them and boldly uttered, "I'm with the boss on this
one."
"Traitor," Scar whispered with a frown.
Suddenly, a knock on the door drew all of their attention, and they gazed at the two officers in the
doorway.
"Axel, it's time for you to go." An officer mumbled, eyeing Rome.
Sniffing aggressively, Amara rushed into Axel's arms, hugging him tightly as she cried, "I love you,
brother."
"Don't worry. Eighteen years is not that long. And for your and my nephew's sake, I swear on my life
that, when I get out, I will be a new man." Axel said, squeezing her in his arms.
Then after letting her go, he turned to Rome and calmly uttered, "I'm glad our story didn't turn out like
our dads, and we got the second chance we needed to break the circle of hate."
"Me too, cousin. Me too." Rome said with a heartwarming smile. NôvelD(ram)a.ôrg owns this content.
The day was calm, the sky was beautiful, and the yard was quiet as Catherine sat on the balcony,
watching the clouds as she caressed her stomach.
Suddenly, a smile crept upon her lips while she watched the black SUV driving into the yard.
A couple of minutes later, it came to a stop, and Rome got out. Then he approached Catherine, taking
a seat beside her on the sofa.
"I told you that I wasn't going to stay long," Rome whispered as she leaned her head against his
shoulder.
"Mmh, thank you for keeping your promise." Catherine softly uttered. "How did things with Axel go?"
"Good. It went better." Rome mumbled, chortling faintly.
"You did great, honey."
"Yeah,"
Then he laced his fingers with Catherine's and said, "Forgiveness is hard. But I did it for us, for our
baby. We don't need our child growing up in hate and bloodshed. His or her future should be different
from ours. Better than our."
"I can't wait for the moment our child enters this world and watches them grow up into their own
person. It's going to be so exciting." Catherine heartily said, squeezing his hand.
"Yeah, me too. I'm eager to see who we are bringing into this earth."
"Hon,"
Shifting his head to meet Catherine's eyes, Rome calmly uttered, "Yes,"
"I don't want to know our baby's gender. Wouldn't it be fun and special finding it out the first time they
entered this world?" Catherine said, staring into his gaze.
With a soft smile on his lips, Rome pulled Catherine into his arms, kissed her on the forehead, and
said, "Let's do that. Until you give birth, Rene's gender will remain a secret."
"Rene?"
"Yes. It's a gender-neutral name for both boys or girls."
Giggling faintly, Catherine raised her gaze to meet Rome's eyes as he touched her stomach. Then she
rested her palm against the back of his hand and mumbled, "Rene. I like the sound of it. Our little,
Rene Ford."