Eternal Flame

Epilogue

5 years later
Aria's POV

"Do you need help?" I ask Ezra as I walk into the kitchen.

"Yeah, can you pack Ben's lunch while I finish breakfast?"

"Sure." I reply and start packing.

"Speaking of Ben, where is he?" Ezra asks.
"Getting ready in his bedroom." I reply, "I asked him if he wanted help but he, and I quote, 'is a big boy and doesn't need me to get dressed' so I left him alone."

"Is that why you're upset?"

"I'm not upset."

"Yeah sure." Ezra says and gently takes the bag containing Ben's lunch from my hands and makes me look at him, "Spill it."

"It doesn't matter. I'm overreacting, it doesn't make sense." I tell him but the look he gives me tells me he won't let this go so I sigh and start telling him what's going through my mind, "It's just... today he doesn't need help to get dressed and tomorrow he won't need me for anything. He's already 11 and going to middle school. These last 5 years flew by and before we know it he's going to be leaving for college and he won't need us."

"Aria, come on. That doesn't make any sense. I mean yeah he's growing up and believe me, I like the idea of him leaving just as much as you do but preparing him for life is our job as parents and if a time comes when he doesn't need us, that means we did a pretty good job. But we're a family. We're his parents, the people he turns to when he needs help and a safe place. It's not like we're never going to see him again."

"I know." I say, looking down, slightly embarrassed but before any of us can say anything else, Ben walks into the kitchen and sits down, ready to have breakfast.

"How many pancakes do you want?" Ezra asks Ben.

"Three!"

"Three pancakes on the way." Ezra says and then asks me, "How many do you want?"

"I'm not hungry right now. I'll eat later." I tell him.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. I'll wake up Sophie and get her ready."

"Ok." He replies.

Soon after the final adoption hearing, Ezra and I started talking about adopting a baby. We knew we wanted to have at least two kids, and considering that Ben was already 6 and that we didn't want the kids to be too far apart in age, it didn't take us long to start a new process. We knew that kind process could be long so after talking to Ben about it, we called Lauren to see what we needed to do to start.
As expected, it took over a year but when we finally got the call saying we'd been chosen, all those months waiting for a call felt worth it. We got along with Sophie's birth mother well and we saw her for the first time it felt like nothing else mattered. Ben loved her from the second he laid his eyes on her. Despite being only 8 at the time, he was incredibly helpful and even though he had a few jealousy crises, Ezra and I always did our best to make sure he knew that just because we had a new baby at home that didn't mean we loved him any less.

Just as I reach the first floor, she comes out of her bedroom, with her teddy bear in her hand, still rubbing her eyes. "Good morning." I say as I pick her up. "Did you have a good night of sleep?"