Menagerie

Epilogue - Charlotte

Simon and I pulled into my parents' driveway and I was hit with a rush of nostalgia. I hadn't been back here since before the road trip, the one I had known even going in would change my life.

Dad opened the door and stepped out, holding it for Mom. She sprinted down the driveway and had her arms open for me to step into even as I climbed out of the passenger seat.

"Char!" she sighed happily as we hugged. "It's so good to see you."

Mom quickly released me and went to hug Simon while Dad gave me a quick, hard hug and a kiss on the forehead. "Did you guys have an okay drive?" he asked.

"Yeah, it was good."

The front door opened again and Serena came sprinting down the driveway. I yelped in surprise but ran to meet her in a bear hug. "Serena! What are you doing here?" I demanded.

She pulled away and grinned mischievously. "I moved here. I'm renting an apartment twenty minutes away."

"What?!"

She laughed at my reaction. "I needed a change and it's not like work was holding me back. I can bartend anywhere."

"But... Montana?" And if she was going to move here, why couldn't it have been back when I lived here?

"The road trip ended and I couldn't go back home, Char. Come on, let's talk." She took my hand and led me up to the front porch, where we sat down on the hanging swing. We rocked a few times before Serena spoke again. "I've seen people with their new mates over and over again since I was a kid," she began. "It always seemed kind of miraculous. Someone's single until one day, they show up with a mate. I always kind of thought they seemed brainwashed. How could you want someone so quickly? How could you be happy alone and then one day wake up with a stranger and be happiest when you're making googly eyes at them?"

I opened my mouth to answer and closed it again. She didn't really want an answer, and I could tell she was using the pause she took to collect her thoughts, not to give me a chance to jump in.

After a little while, Serena spoke again. "I didn't want to lose myself," she said. "I felt like taking on a mate would change my life – change me – too much. I only came on your road trip because I missed you and because you know I love a crazy plan."

I snorted. That was certainly true. "So what changed?" I asked. Because mating season was over and Serena was still single.

She shrugged and looked up at me, then at Simon for a moment. "I watched you find Simon. You changed in the course of a day just like everyone else I'd seen. Then Penny found Owen and for the first time, what I saw wasn't a perfect first morning together full of dopey looks and smitten smiles. They struggled to understand each other. Owen needed support and Penny somehow knew exactly how to give it to him. That's not the bond, Char. The bond pulls people together but it doesn't make them fit together. They're just... right for each other, you know?"

"I know." Of course, I still had no idea where she was going with this.

Serena sighed and ran a hand through her hair, which was in dozens and dozens of tiny braids. The look suited her. Then she met my eyes. "The real difference came from watching Jasper and Lyle. After we left Edmonton, Penny and Owen went to Washington with his friends and I rode to Montana with Lyle and Jasper. At first, Jasper's relationship only seemed to confirm what I always thought – that mating means losing yourself. Jasper was into women before he met Lyle, I know he was, and it seemed like something fundamental about him changed when he met Lyle. He acted differently around Lyle, but as I spent more time with them, I realized something. Jasper didn't change, not really. Acting differently isn't the same as being different. I saw glimpses of the person he is with Lyle before they met. He usually had that solemn, standoffish thing going on, but whenever anyone he loved needed him, he was soft and supportive and did anything they needed him to do. He's that softer version of himself all the time when Lyle's around. Jasper didn't lose himself to their relationship. If anything, he connected better to himself."

I couldn't help smiling. "I don't feel like I lost anything when I met Simon. I gained a lot, but I didn't lose anything."

Serena smiled and leaned back, setting the bench rocking again. "I know that now. I think I just needed to see an extreme case up close. Anyway, I needed a change. A new place to live to go with a new take on life. I'm going to start seriously looking for a mate next time my season comes up, and hopefully I'll bring him or her back to Montana to stay. It's really kind of perfect here, you know?"

I looked around wistfully. "I know."

Serena looked concerned and asked, "Do you know yet where you'll be living?"

I looked around and realized that my parents and Simon had already gone into the house. "Can you keep a secret?"

"I'm insulted you think you have to ask," Serena said with a conspiratorial grin.

"We're moving here. Simon found a company that's willing to sponsor him so he can legally live in America. I'm waiting for the right moment to tell Mom and Dad."

Serena squealed and wrapped her arms around me. "This is incredible!"

I hugged her back and basked in the feeling of absolute rightness that washed through me. I had more than I ever would have wished for myself, enough that I almost felt guilty for being so happy.

I hadn't thanked Penny for her harebrained road trip idea for fear it would encourage her to come up with more wild plans, but her crazy plan had led me to an incredibly good life. Maybe I would thank her, I decided. If one crazy plan could give me all this, imagine what might happen next time.

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To anyone who's made it this far, I want to thank you for spending your time on my work. I really do appreciate it.

I'm toying with the idea of adding a few bonus scenes to this story. If there are any in particular you'd like to see for any character, either during the events of this book or after it, I'd be happy to take requests.

I'm also toying with giving Serena her own book. I like where she left off, but there's a lot left to explore here. Would there be any interest in that? I'll probably write it either way, but if people are waiting on it, I'll bump it up the priority list. Otherwise, it comes when it comes.

Thanks again for reading,

Nia