NaNoWriMo Day 30: 50,017 of 50,000
I ONLY BLOODY WELL DID IT!!! 50,000 AND SOME CHANGE.
Huzzah!
The finale of “The Man with the Knife”
To read the previous chapters head HERE!
Chapter Forty-Two
As Theo arrived to his sister’s house one afternoon a newspaper greeted him at the front door. The faces of Tiffany, Diane, and Johanna graced the cover. All of them were smiling, arm in arm, as they left the courthouse just moments before Ophelia was found dead in her cell. Theo looked down at the three women and smiled, happy that despite the overall negativity in Theo’s life these women were smiling. He were all that he thought about for nearly a year and he was content now that it was over.
The trial revealed the motive, but it was one-sided because the defense decided to only put Tyler on the stand. The collective intake of breath that carried throughout the courtroom when Tyler announced the motive was something that was going to live with Theo forever.
“They harmed my family. They deserved the same treatment,” he said without any emotion.
“Could you elaborate please?” Adeline had asked as Theo’s heart pounded in his chest. “Let’s start with 17-year-old Tiffany Lee.”
Tyler chuckled in a courtroom of people before responding. “Seventh grade. Ophelia endured hell with her looming around all of the time.”
“So you figured it was time to get revenge, right?” Adeline carried him forward to the edge.
“Absolutely, she wasn’t just mean to Ophelia. Tiffany was mean to everyone,” Tyler explained.
“Okay, so why kidnap her?” Adeline continued to press.
“Simple,” Tyler began, “she got what was coming to her. Granted Ophelia and I weren’t sure what to do with them next, but taking them was the beginning.”
“Right, and Diane?” Adeline asked.
He shrugged. “She stole food from our house a couple years back when we all lived together. It served her right starving her while we had her.”
Theo was beyond uncomfortable as Tyler explained himself. He could not find himself to understand how the guy he met on the ski lift was the same guy in front of him almost a year later.
“Lastly, why Johanna?”
“She beat up our mom who worked at the women’s shelter. Almost killed her. We wanted to do something special with her.”
Theo was now on the verge of throwing up and he couldn’t handle hearing anything more. He stood up, took one look at Tyler who seemed beyond thrilled to be looking at his friend, and turned to leave. Alice, Chloe, and Saul had followed him out reassuring him that all would be normal again.
“I don’t know how anything can go back to normal.”
It was happening. After nearly six months of rebuilding Alice and Theo’s townhomes were rebuilt. They were told they could move back in the next day. In celebration, and Theo was sure relief, Chloe put on a dinner celebration at her house.
“Here’s to restarting,” Chloe said putting her cup of water up. Other followed suit as smiles were seen all around the table.
“I am just glad it’s all over,” Alice sighed.
“Me too. I feel like I can breath for the first time,” Saul shared.
Everyone looked at Theo waiting for his response. He wanted to be honest and say he was also relieved, but he still felt unsettled. Maybe it was because there was nothing questionable lying in front of him. There was no mystery to solve, no accident to be recovering from, and no trial to be preparing for. It was time to move on and it was time to tell someone how he truly felt.
Theo looked at Alice and smiled warmly. “Here, here.”
The next morning Chloe helped Alice and Theo move what little they had into her car and drove them down to newly rebuilt Ballard. It had its old feeling back even though a lot of the iconic buildings were no longer standing and couldn’t be rebuilt due to funding. Priority began with housing people and whatever was left over was up to the businesses. Theo had never felt more settled than in the moment he and Bella walked back into their home again.
After the earthquake Theo’s roommates decided to no longer live in Seattle and allowed him to rent out the place. Alice was quick to jump at the chance to live with him. He was hesitant at first knowing that the pair of them were heading in the direction of dating, but after all that he had been through it was time to move forward with his life.
“Hey Alice,” he said to her in the doorway of her room around a week after moving back in.
“Yo,” she began turning in her desk chair to look at him.
He smiled warmly thankful for having her by his side. “You want to go get some dinner tonight?”
“Sure,” she turned, “will Chloe be joining us?” Ever since Theo had been found in the woods Chloe was almost glued to his side. Until their parents decided if they were moving out here or not she felt like she had to be the one in charge. The one to hold him together, but everyone knew — including Theo himself — that it was all because of Bella that things held themselves together.
“No, actually. Um,” he hesitated knowing what was to come, “I was hoping it could be a uh-”
“A date?!?!” Alice exclaimed turning around and standing up expectant.
He smiled again seeing the excitement on her face. “Yeah, a date. I figured it was about time.”
She rushed toward him and wrapped her arms around him in a tight embrace. “I thought you would never ask.”
And so they began their journey in that torn down and rebuilt townhome in Seattle. With a whole future ahead of them and so much to leave behind.
The End.
Epilogue
It was a ceremony unlike any other and one Theo could hardly believe he was attending. The re-construction of the Space Needle has just been completed which added a certain element to the whole event. He was more awestruck that he was here to be a part of a wedding he never dreamed would happen. If someone had told him this time two years ago that his sister would marry the man he was stalking.
“Hey handsome,” Alice looped her arm through his tuxedo one smiling happily up at him.
“Can you believe this?” he asked her as they stood waiting to be seated.
“Oh come on,” she began, “it’s not completely unlike your sister to fall for a man like Saul.”
“Yeah, but Saul was the guy I was obsessing over for a year and now he’s going to be my brother-in-law. It’s just weird.”
“Saul is so kind and sweet though. I mean he did save our lives too. A girl does tend to fall for that whole ‘saving your life’ thing.”
Theo shrugged. “I know and she is truly happy so what more could an older brother ask for?”
“That’s the spirit! Oh let’s go they are starting to sit us,” Alice said reaching for his hand and tugging him forward. The pair was able to sit up front next to Theo’s mother and soon his father.
“What a beautiful day for a wedding,” Theo’s mother said after they sat down, “Alice you look beautiful.”
“Oh thank you Maureen,” Alice remarked, “not to be outdone by the bride though. I know Chloe is going to look absolutely radiant.”
Radiant she truly did with a flowing white gown that seemed to sparkle in the Seattle sunshine. The waters of Puget Sound stretched out behind them on the beaches of Alki a setting sun making the mood of the ceremony even more romantic. The groom was beaming from ear to ear and truly looked different everyday leading up to this moment. Once all of the recovery and clean-up had mostly subsided Saul decided it was time to clean himself up. He joked with Theo that being mistaken for a homeless man was enough to get him to trim his beard. Not only did he trim his beard, he also cut his hair and changed his clothes everyday.
“He cleans up so nice, right?” Chloe had remarked after the four of them had a meal. By that point Chloe and Saul had been dating for several months and it was still something Theo couldn’t get used to.
“Oh my remember that night we all got together and laid out all of your research,” Chloe was reminiscing over drinks as plates were taken away, “and Theo you had a a journal filled with Saul’s whereabouts.” She was really the only one laughing which showed Theo how uncomfortable this whole situation was to him.
“I’m flattered,” Saul eventually said smiling, genuinely, at Theo. That was when he began to thaw at the idea of Saul being a normal part of his life. The night before he was to marry his sister Theo had to talk to him and ask for some sort of forgiveness.
“I just feel terrible for being so obsessively judgmental,” Theo tried to express a tone of absolute foolishness.
“Hey man, what’s done is done,” he remarked pushing back a few pieces of hair. While Theo had made him out to be in his late 30s, early 40s turned out not to be the only thing that wasn’t true. When Chloe announced her and Saul were dating Theo had to express his fear over the age gap.
“Age gap? Theo he’s 29,” she said making him out to be a fool right there in front of her.
All of these memories collided as his sister glided down the aisle and approached her soon-to-be-husband. Their dad gave her a gentle kiss on the cheek and handed her off to Saul who was all smiles from ear to ear.
“Dearly beloved,” the pastor began, “we are gathered here today to witness the union of Chloe Henderson and Saul Wilson.” The pastor continued as Theo heard sniffling from beside him. When he turned he noticed Alice had begun crying.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered, “I just love weddings.” Theo patted her hand and smiled. He didn’t mind. Not one bit.
“So I will try to keep this short and sweet,” Chloe began her vows tuning Theo back in, “but as you all know, or will soon know, I love to write and tell a story. Anyway, Saul I don’t think there is anyone on this beach more surprised that we have fallen in love than my older brother Theo,” Chloe looked at her brother as everyone chuckled, “I on the other hand am not. Every step of our journey has led to this moment. Where it truly began though was that fateful evening when everything crumbled around us. I saw you defy insurmountable odds to get us to safety. That is something I will never forget.” Theo couldn’t agree more because other than his sister’s happiness being important, her ability to find someone that could take care of her in the event of another natural disaster was invaluable.
After Saul gave some short and sweet vows to even out with Chloe’s nearly five-minute story of love and defying of the odds, rings were exchanged and kisses were made as everyone stood up to clap. The reception was being held in the small beachfront market building that fit the small crowd perfectly.
“Theo!” Chloe came bounding toward him holding the train of her dress. He stood up to hug his sister.
“Congratulations sis. You look beautiful,” he was being honest with her. The two of them had become closer since he moved out to Seattle, but after everything that had happened to them over the course of the past two years, Theo couldn’t imagine his life without her by his side.
“Aw, there are our two lovely kids,” Theo and Chloe’s mom speaking made them both part from the hug.
“Mom, dad thank you,” Chloe said with a sincere look on her face.
“Oh, for what?” their mom asked.
“For giving us each other,” Chloe said putting her arm around Theo’s shoulders.
Their mom seemed to crumble at that and their dad looked on as they all hugged each other.
“Where is my beautiful bride?” Saul came swooping in and joined the hug. “Oh, she’s in the middle of all of this love!”
The night went on with a lot of celebration, food, and champagne. Theo’s energy was waning and Alice could tell. “Hey let’s get out of here.”
Theo smiled and took her hand as they said their goodbyes and made their way to the car. Alice drove only a few minutes before pulling into a boat launch park where the skyline could be seen in front of them. Alice parked the car and got out not waiting for Theo who wanted nothing more than to get some sleep.
Alice stood at the front of the car and seemed to settle there making Theo curious. So, he unbuckled his seat belt and got out moving toward his girlfriend. She sighed as he found a comfortable spot next to her.
“It’s beautiful isn’t it?” Alice asked Theo.
“It is,” Theo responded and the city truly was stunning. No, it wasn’t the same as it was before the earthquake, but nothing really was the same. Yet, standing here next to Alice for the first time in awhile Theo felt like it all may just be okay.
“I’m glad they finished the Space Needle. It was getting kind of depressing looking at the skyline.”
Theo chuckled because that’s all people could do around the city now. Laughter needed to fill every street corner and house because without laughter the turmoil of what they had endured could send everyone into a deep, dark hole.
“You and me, Alice,” Theo said softly putting his arm around her shoulder.
“You and me, Theo,” she uttered back kissing his temple. This was it for them. They didn’t need to go anywhere else for a while. All they needed was to stand there across from the Puget Sound and gaze at the city that had brought them together and would continue to bring them together for many years.
Follow along with me this month at Jenna Pratt!
