Memories Made of Lies | A Short Story [COMPLETE]

| Epilogue - Ben |

"Ben," Katie's groggy voice said to my right. I groaned, wanting to ignore her and the crying that I heard from the other room and go back to sleep. "Ben, it's your turn."

Sighing, I rolled over and faced the other side of the bed, my blurry eyes trying to adjust to the darkness. Slowly, Katie's form developed and I made out her slouching eyes looking at me pleadingly.

Running a hand down my face, I sighed and pushed myself up to a sitting position. In the other room, Sadie continued to cry on and while my heavy body wanted nothing more than to lay back down and pass out again, my heart twinged with sympathy and love.

I scuffled down the hall, nearly tripping on the vacuum cord that was sprawled out across the floor from all the cleaning we had been doing the day before. When I finally made it to Sadie's room, she was close to screaming.

"Shh, it's okay, sweetie." I reached over the edge of the crib, picking her up. She quieted some as I draped her onto my bare shoulder, only whimpering as I rubbed her back. I paced the room, whispering sweetly to her, trying to help her go back to sleep. When she still whined a little, I reached up and ran my fingers gently over her head, her blond wisps of hair tickling my finger tips. This did the trick, settling her down.

"There you go." I glanced at her round face, one of her baby cheeks squished against my shoulder as her golden brown eyes drooped with sleep. She had Katie's eyes and every time I looked at her, I couldn't help but smile warmly.

She was my daughter. Our daughter.

"You always get her back to sleep so much faster than I do," Katie whispered.

I turned and faced her from where she was leaning against the door frame. Often, when one of us got up to care for Sadie, the other wouldn't be able to go back to sleep either.

"But she always wants you when she's awake," I muttered back, teasingly.

The corner of her mouth lifted as she tiptoed further into the room, coming up behind me. She ran her thumb on Sadie's soft forehead and stared at her with so much love in her eyes. It made me love her even more.

"It's been four months and I still can't believe she's really alive, really ours." Her eyes turned from our daughter to me. I was already staring at her and her messy hair and sleepy eyes, wondering if she could get anymore beautiful. Of course, I had wondered that same thing on our wedding day, but she never ceased to amaze me.

Katie lengthened on her tiptoes and brushed a soft kiss on my nose and then on Sadie's head. Then, I felt her arms slip around my bare torso and her warmth seeped into my skin. She rested her ear on the base of my neck and I sighed, my heart filling with contentment.

"Have you heard any news recently?" she asked quietly, her tone gentle yet slightly scared.

I felt my heart stutter. "No. But I promise they'll never find us." I had made this promise over and over, for the past six years. Ever since we had found out that she was the R94 prototype, I had promised her that I would never let the UIRC find us and take her. We had moved from place to place, hiding and running so they couldn't follow us or track us. And now that we had Sadie, I knew that promise was so much more important.

"I know," she whispered. "I trust you."

And every time she said those words back, it only made me more determined. No matter who Katie was, what she had been through, I would never stop fighting or running. I would never stop protecting our daughter or her. I would never forget the lies or the memories or my love for them.

A/N Hey guys! I know this was long overdue and I said I would write an epilogue A LONG TIME AGO, but I got kind of busy and distracted. So here it is, better late than never! XD Haha! Hope you liked it!