The Monroe Legacy - Generation 3 Finale - Last Orders

As Lillia's  16th birthday approached, Gray wondered if maybe he had announced his decision too soon and put too much pressure on his young daughter. It had been almost a five years since he had chosen, aware that for Eva, adult life had already begun and wanting to grant her the freedom she deserved but rather than giving Lillia purpose, the legacy seemed to weigh heavily on her mind. He'd seen her sit staring at the increasingly battered legacy journal for hours, a strange look on her face and he wondered if Lillia might be having second thoughts, though she always denied it when asked.

Gray had thought that his decision would give her confidence in her teenage years, should she ever want to stand apart from her friends. Maybe it had, but Lillia had never wavered in her social allegiances, she was as close to Daisy and Rose as she had ever been and the three of them ruled the school. Gray and Rachel had kept their eyes peeled for any sign that the Flowers were more mean girls than dream girls but so far they just seemed like the average popular kids, they had their moments, but so did most kids.

Flynn was certainly king of such moments. The fit he threw his first day at nursery would, Eva said, never be outdone as the most simultaneously hilarious and traumatic experience of her life. It was said that the screaming could be heard a block away.

For all his tantrums, Flynn was a good kid and Eva had done a wonderful job so far, he was definitely a momma's boy but she was firm with him and Gray was so proud of his daughter. He was ecstatic that she would soon be home for good, having just completed her final year at Brown and she had graduated magna cum laude, in front of her thrilled family and a beaming Hayden.

Eva had finally given Hayden the answer he wanted the day she had recieved her acceptance letter for Brown, they married a few months later at home with just family as witnesses and spent a Honeymoon weekend flat hunting around the Brown campus.

The day they moved away Gray had been a mess, he'd planned out a sort of speech and a big farewell, something about how proud he was and that the sadness of her leaving would be made sweeter by the knowledge that she was chasing her dream. But when the moment came that all flew out of the window and they just sobbed and hugged and cried. 

Now they were coming back, Hayden had busted his ass working whilst Eva had been at college and they had enough for the deposit on a tiny house on a new development. With Flynn about to start school, Eva was due to start working at the local science facility and Hayden's hard work had guaranteed him a transfer to his company's office in town. Gray was thrilled, it would be wonderful to have them close and to get to know his grandson properly now he was a big boy, holiday visits just weren't enough.

Lillia was excited to see Eva too, especially now she knew her sister wouldn't want her room back! Casper was warier, not about Eva and certainly not to see Hayden, he'd missed his chess nemesis, but to be around Flynn, who he mainly remembered as a screaming and disruptive baby.

It wasn't the baby's fault, Casper knew that, but if his nephew was still very loud it was bad timing, Casper had been accepted into an elite summer science programme at MIT and he had a lot of studying to do if he was going to blow them away. In the years since they'd moved away Casper had grown from a studious little boy into a studious young man, his academics beyond reproach, he even participated in the odd group study, though most social gatherings still sent him running to his chemistry set and Tia.

Fortunately the reunion went well, Rachel cried a little, Gray grinned constantly and Flynn rather overawed by all the people who turned up - half the extended family were there to welcome Eva home - was very well behaved and quiet. Casper have Eva a quick hug before making a chess plan with Hayden and then retreated to his room. His family were nice he supposed but there were ever such a lot of them! 

A few weeks later Lillia found herself the sole inhabitant of the Monroe residence. Her parents having flown across to Yale to get Casper settled, the house was strangely still. At first That was exciting, Lillia thought to herself that this was how it would be once she was in charge of the house.  Then it was too quiet, the silence expectant and oppressive and she did what she always did when she was unsure, she called in her friends. Fortunately it was too late for Rose and Daisy to organised a  party so they settled for raiding the wine rack and getting rather tipsy whilst watching movies.

After a while the conversation turned to boys, as it always did, Rose giggling over a new senior who had transferred and Daisy swooning over Rose's brother Axel, much to her disgust. As usual , Lillia was the quiet one, it wasn't that she wasn't interested, she just hadn't really seen anyone of her type in a while. Usually her friends just let it go, but the wine spurred them on.

'C'mon Lil! There must be somebody you like.' Rose whinged, 'All the guys in our year are panting after the "mysterious" Lillia Monroe, but you're always single!'

Daisy looked sideways at her, a slightly unpleasant smile crossing her face. Lillia stiffened, she knew that look.

'I know who Lil likes'  she snickered. Rose whipped round, eyes wide.

'No! Who?!' She was shocked.

So was Lillia, 'Oh really?!' She teased, 'who is my prince charming! waiting in the wings then? I'd love to meet him!'

'Jeremy Gilbert, your geeky lab partner. I've seen you get all hot and bothered taking to him.'

Lillia flushed red, 'I do not have a thing for Jeremy. We're just friends.' She insisted.

Rose shrugged, 'But you have enough friends. Better friends. You don't need losers hanging around you.'

Lillia tried to stay calm, 'Which is why Jeremy is my lab partner and not at this sleepover. You guys know I need a good partner to pass that class.'

The ping of the microwave diffused the tension in the room and Lillia went to get the popcorn. She took the trash outside to cool off and once she was alone she took a deep calming breath. What had just happened was exactly why she would never tell anyone, anyone at all, about her crush on Jeremy Gilbert.

When Gray and Rachel returned, tired and having left Casper halfway across the country to take care of himself, a challenge they believed he was ready for but that scared them nonetheless, it felt as if an era was drawing to an end.

Gray felt older somehow, as if he had had just enough energy to keep him going for as long as he was needed desperately. He'd long ago lost count of the grey-white hairs on his head and had been amused by the saga of Rachel's attempts to find an anti-wrinkle cream that worked. Age had crept up on them quietly, kept away only by the tireless energy that they'd expended to try and keep everything together.

Now Eva was off with a family of her own, a home, a son and a husband, not to mention a degree and a career. Gray couldn't even see the angry teenager he'd once known in her any more, the glowing young woman she'd become was a testament only to her own strength of character and the chance to start again.

Lillia was almost grown, she seemed happy and confident, she had her sports and her friends and her academic were good enough not to hold her back. Gray only wished he had taken more time to treasure her childhood years, caught between her siblings she'd grown up too fast and that was something he'd never be able to take back.

And Casper, for all the nights of sleep that Gray and Rachel had lost over him, he was doing so well. It seemed like he too barely needed them. His schooling was so advanced that they could barely follow it, he functioned with hardly a thing to distinguish him from his siblings. The only time when the Aspergers really affected things was when he was surprised by or under-prepared for a social situation. Gone were the days where his temper flared at the slightest misunderstanding, he was learning to cope with the world and with the people in it and that was his parents dearest wish for him.

Gray hoped that maybe one day Casper would find what he had with Rachel with another person, that his son would want that for himself, but for now it was more than enough to see his son becoming independent, even if that meant he didn't need Gray so much.

Yes, it was the end of an era.

Looking across to where Rachel sat engrossed in a recipe book muttering ingredients to herself! Gray smiled. It was twenty years since they'd first sat together like this, their dreams very different from what they were now. Those two decades felt like a whirlwind, a constant fight to do what was best for their family and Gray couldn't imagine a better partner to have seen him through it than Rachel had been.

Perhaps now was their chance to go back after those dreams they'd shared that had fallen by the wayside, the dreams which had been hung up and used to pad their children's way in the world. Their hair might be greyer and their joints a little stiffer but there was time yet, this time was theirs. It was time to let Lillia chronicle their history and make her own successes and mistakes, time for Gray to step back and support his children rather than pushing them along.

Crossing the room Gray joined Rachel on the sofa, tapping the page of her book until he had her attention.

'Rachel, I think it's time to have another try at opening up that restaurant we always dreamed of.'      

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Generation Four has now begun. Read Chapter 1 - Holding Court now!

The Monroe Legacy - G.3. Chapter 21 - This Wonderful Mess We've Made

Hayden stepped back his cheek already reddening and looking a little taken aback.

'Well I wasn't sure how you'd react but I wasn't quite expecting that!' he said ruefully.

'How could you be expecting anything else Hayden!' Eva threw back, disbelief written clearly across her features, 'I haven't heard from you in almost two years! And now you're here. On my birthday of all days!'

Hayden's face fell, 'I'm sorry, I though maybe you might have missed me, that you might be ready to give this another go, I've never stopped wondering... But I guess it's too late... I'm sorry to have spoiled your birthday.'

Now it was Eva's turn to look bemused. 'Give you another chance? What were you thinking? You vanished Hayden, and now there's Flynn to consider, you don't even know him!'

Hayden's shoulders slumped, ' Flynn. I knew you'd found someone else, I knew that had to be why you did what you did. My parents were right. Goodbye Eva, I really hope you're happy.'

This wasn't making sense. Someone else? Was he drunk? High? Had he lost his mind?

'Hayden, I have no idea what you're talking about. What am I meant to have done? All I've done is pick up the pieces you left behind and raise my son. Raise our son.'

Hayden stopped dead, turning slowly, his face white and his eyes wide.

'Your son?' He managed, his mouth opening shutting as no further words came out.

Eva was lost now. 'Our son. The one I called to tell you about all that time ago. And I never heard from you again.' She could see his brain working even as he stared at her wordless. Then his jaw set, his voice quiet but filled with loathing.

'I am going to kill my parents.'

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Two hours later and the picture was clearer. No less painful or unbelievable, but clearer. 

Hayden's family had been visiting when Eva had called, his younger brother Chad had taken the call, the two sounded similar, but instead of waiting and telling Hayden who was at a lecture, he'd blurted the whole thing to his parents who he was with, waiting for Hayden to return.

When the message was finally passed on, it was rather a different one from Eva's original. The Steels were a wealthy and respected family, a teenage pregnancy was not what Titus Steel had in mind for his eldest son. Instead they told him Eva had called to end things, reinforcing the false message with their "observations" of her with another boy around town before they'd left for their visit to England. As Hayden wallowed in his heartbreak, they'd comforted him even as Titus used his contacts at the school to send a message from Eva's school account putting a final nail in the coffin of their relationship.

Hayden had buried himself in schoolwork and parties, moving from one one-night-stand to another, convinced by what seemed now pretty pathetic evidence that the girl he loved saw him only as a summer fling. When the opportunity arose to do another year in England he had accepted and had just recently returned to town, still unattached, where the memories of Eva had driven him to come and see if she might give him another chance.

Eva listened shocked and horrified as the whole sordid business emerged, hearing only Hayden's fury on his end of the phone. His parents had the decency to admit what they had done, begging their son to see that the child could have been fathered by any number of boys in towns, you only had to look at Eva's past to see she was a man-eater.

This was the point that Hayden hung up, collapsing to the sofa with his head in his hands. Eva didn't know what to do, her heart was breaking all over again and not for her. It broke for her son, who might have had two parents to love him right from the start if pride and idiocy hadn't kept the Steels from telling the truth and both her and Hayden from contacting each other and demanding a better explanation.

The tension was broken by a child's cry from upstairs  and Hayden finally met Eva's eyes.

'Is that...'

She nodded. 'Do you want to meet him?'.

Hayden said yes, a tight smile betraying his nerves. Eva went up and calmed Flynn before bringing him down stairs. As she entered the living room she could almost feel Hayden's gaze fixed on the little boy in her arms. Flynn regarded the stranger who looked so much like him with apprehension, Hayden reached out uncertainly and Eva passed her son to his father.

She watched Hayden's face change as he took in the resemblance, watched the pain blight his features as he realised what he had missed. She watched his expression change as he felt for the first time that impossible love that she had felt the first time they given her Flynn to hold.

From that day things were very different for Eva and the Monroes as a whole. Hayden got a condo nearby and was always around, helping with his son and spoiling him rotten. He broke off all contact with his parents. 

He also helped Eva study, impressed by how advanced she was but disappointed as she repeatedly turned down his offered affection, insisting that they learn how to co-parent before they rekindled any sort of romantic relationship.

Strangely, Casper also liked Hayden, the two would play chess for hours, equally matched in skill and concentration, rarely speaking but companionable in their silence. Having got over his urge to castrate Hayden and being caught up with the situation, Gray was glad to see how hard the young man was working for his grandson and daughter. He was also thrilled that Casper had accepted him, it gave him faith that his son was capable of forming bonds when the right kind of people were around.

Lillia was pretty ambivalent to the whole fiasco but was soon forced to take more notice when the school gossip mill got hold of the "Steel scandal" as it was becoming known. Lillia had confided only in Daisy and Rose who had sworn to keep her secret. She hoped that maybe Chad Steel had been the one to start the rumours but she had been friends with the Flowers long enough to know that their promises weren't always binding.

She'd seen Daisy kissing the boy the Rose was infatuated with at a party when Rose had had a cold. She'd seen Rose copying in a test and when the teacher caught the duplication, Daisy swore blind that she had seen the other girl copying from her friend. Life with the Flowers was exciting and sociable but she was increasingly aware that it had it's dark side too.

The problem was that it was easier to be in the crowd than at the mercy of them and with the end of middle school on the horizon, Lillia didn't want to start high school without her girls at her side. So mostly she tried to avoid the drama and the backstabbing, only getting involved when she had no choice and even then rarely doing more than agreeing with the overriding opinion.

In theory, she liked the idea of being the girl who stood up for the underdog, who came out on top because she did what was right like the heroines of all those teen movies. But they were just movies, and the real world was harder and at Brittlebush Academy you either ruled the halls or you tried to melt into the flooring to make the process of being walked on less painful. So Lillia bit her lip, even when it was her own family being discussed, rolling her eyes on cue and nodding when Daisy pointed out to some gossiping wannabes that after all, Eva was only her half-sister, and hadn't even grown up in the same house.

Lillia blushed at that one, barely able to meet Eva's gaze that night after she agreed with her friend while her conscience screamed that she was a coward.  Eva noticed the change in her sister but didn't have time to get to the bottom of it, her well-meant enquiries about Lillia's life met with a wall of teen attitude and awkwardness. Lillia wished she was more like Eva, fiery and brave, but all she had right now was an average GPA, swimming and her popularity. Even her little brother outdid her in most ways, he was two school years behind but he could do her calculus in an instant never mind his science projects which completely baffled her.

Lillia was just glad that Casper had never joined the  Brittlebush Middle School, she wasn't sure that even her social standing would have protected him and invisible friends were no help in the schoolyard.

Casper was glad too, from what he had seen of Lillia's friends he was pleased that he went to Oakfield and not just because of the uniforms and the turrets. He liked his sister fine but the other two girls talked all the time and very rarely said anything that made sense. Casper knew all about hormones from his biology textbooks but he was glad he hadn't had to deal with them yet, he didn't think that lip-gloss or boys or prom would ever be very interesting. Or soccer or whatever boys were meant to like.

Casper preferred his own company or to talking to people who made a lot of sense. He couldn't really understand why Eva and dad were angry with Hayden, it made sense to focus on your studies and Flynn was only a baby who still didn't know the difference between a toy dog and the actual dog when his dad came back. Casper was just glad that Hayden was there now, he was good at chess and he knew a lot more about physics than his parents, Casper liked him.

In fact the only person Casper liked more than Hayden was Tia and that was different. Casper wasn't stupid, he saw the looks his parents had when he talked about Tia, heard the phrase "over-active imagination" bandied around by teachers but Tia was more than that.

The strange thing was that even though he knew it wasn't logical, he believed completely in Tia. Casper couldn't provide empirical proof that she was there but she was real, even if only he could see it. After all his imagination was only an extension of himself and his mind and Tia was many things Casper wasn't, talkative, adventurous and creative. It was one reason Casper kept studying, the hope that one day he would be able to explain Tia and stop hiding her away in public.

By Christmas with everything changing and relationships growing in the family Gray knew the time had come to announce his choice for heir. They were gathered together in front of the Christmas tree, ready to snap a picture.

Hayden was invited but Gray knew he was sulking, he'd caught sight of the young man down on one knee in the snow as Eva once again refused him. Gray felt bad for Hayden but also proud of his daughter, she wouldn't commit to anything until she was sure it was the right thing for her and her son, no matter how involved Hayden was becoming.

Once the photograph was done, Gray stood and cleared his throat, Rachel's smile giving him the confidence he needed as he began.

'It seems like only yesterday, or possibly it was a thousand years ago that I was sitting in your place, wondering what my mom was going to say. Since then, so much has happened in such a short time, the bad and the good and I can say honestly that if you had asked me to picture today twenty years ago, I wouldn't have guessed at all of you sitting here.

There were times I wanted to give up, when the shadows on me were so dark that I felt like I was drowning. But the light that follows complete darkness burns the brightest, without that darkness I would never have seen the world the way I do and despite my many, many mistakes I've been blessed beyond my wildest imaginings.

Rachel, I've told you a thousand times that you saved me, but I'll tell you again. You were brave when was a coward, selfless when I couldn't see past my own pain and you loved me when I didn't love myself. I'll never be able to thank you but I promise to spend the rest of our lives together trying.

Eva, you were my first true love and my first heartbreak. While I would give the world to have those missing years back, I can't hate them as I once did because they're a part of the phenomenal person you've become. You're strong, fearless and you fight for everything you want. Perhaps I don't get all of your past but I hope to have the honour of being in your future, whatever it brings I know it will be magnificent.

Lillia, you were my angel, you helped your mother bring me back to life and since then you've never stopped shining. You have a work ethic that puts me to shame, you're a true friend and a great sister and I'm so proud of who you are and how you've overcome the struggles you've faced. I have no idea how you have the energy to do everything you do and I can't wait to see what is next for you.

And Casper, youngest but by no means least. You have changed the way I see the world, it used to be that I knew of only once type of success, one type of failure and now I know better. Your mind staggers me and I can't pretend to understand half of what you tell me but that's okay. It's better than okay, it's my privilege to learn more from you every day as well as to try and teach you a little as you continue to grow up.

The three of you are all so different and I will do my utmost to provide for whatever dream you decide to chase. As is traditional you all receive an inheritance when you reach 21 and I will do whatever else I can to help you start your lives when the moment comes.

But I have to choose an heir. 

Eva, you have had so many choices made for you that I want you to be free to go wherever you choose and not to feel you have to meet any expectations but your own. Casper, you're still so young but I feel like you too might one day come to find your own dreams and the idea of the legacy in conflict.

So I have chosen you, Lillia to carry on the Monroe name. I know that you are a good person,  good friend and a hard worker but I worry that sometimes you hide behind others. This is why you are my choice. The legacy changed me from a boy who couldn't see past his ambition into a man who knows the value of what he has, I hope it gives you the confidence to find your own identity and to wear it proudly through whatever life holds for you.'

As her father finished speaking, Lillia stood mute. She was the quiet one. Perhaps even the boring one. How had she been chosen above Eva's courage and Casper's intelligence.

As Lillia finally lifted her eyes to meet her father's gaze she saw a mixture of pride and concern, as if he knew that inside she was less than the persona she let everyone see.

But Gray seemed certain in his choice, Lillia just wished she could see things as he did.

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So Lillia Hallie Monroe will be leading out the fourth generation of The Monroe Legacy. There were a few hitches with voting which left her in last at final count but after deducting 5 mis-votes for Casper and 4 for Eva she actually finished ahead by two in the closest vote to date!

I was pretty surprised that she led for much of the voting, but I'm excited to write her story - it will be totally different to Gray's but I hope you enjoy it! 

There will be one final chapter to sum up Gray's generation - I couldn't quite get the loose ends tied here without it being even longer so I hope you'll forgive me

Chime in the comments and let me know what you think of the new heir - was it your pick/what you expected?

Read the Generation 3 Finale - Last Orders now

The Monroe Legacy - G.3. Chapter 20 - Slipping Through My Fingers

If Gray slept any better in the year which followed it was only because he was too exhausted to stay awake any longer. Between Flynn's cries, Lillia's shrieking gaggle of friends, worry about Casper and his dreams it was a wonder that he got any sleep. 

Rachel looked just at tired and they were talking more seriously about selling the restaurant, though it had long been their dream the funds would allow them to send Casper to a school where his needs would be met, they could both work shorter hours too if they worked for somebody else.

The decision was made for them when a celebrated European chef moved to the city and approached them offering more money that they had dared hope for. By the time Flynn turned one the paperwork was final and Gray and Rachel were saddened but quietly relieved. The restaurant had been like their fourth child and just now they could barely handle three. Rachel picked up a breakfast shift at a local brasserie whilst Gray was interviewing for a couple of head chef jobs at upmarket restaurants.

Their new flexibility had partly been set up with the idea that they could help Eva with childcare and enable her to go to college part time, but Eva had other ideas. When Rachel brought up some Afternoon classes and her availability to babysit, Eva kindly but firmly refused.

'Flynn is my son and I want to teach him what he needs to know. I don't want to be one of those teen moms who lets their parents handle everything.'

Rachel shrugged  'Eva you're a great mother and Flynn is a wonderful boy but you deserve more than a high school diploma and endless play dates.'

Eva smiled fondly at the woman she had come to view as both a mother and a best friend.

'I know I do Rach, and I'm not giving up on me. Hayden gave me two good things; Flynn and the idea that I can do better than community college. I'm studying while Flynn naps, every day I learn more and realise how much more I'm capable of. Once Flynn is in school, I'm going to go to an Ivy League College, I'm going to chase a dream that I didn't even know I had until it was threatened.'

Rachel could see the steel and determination in the young mother's eyes, not even 21, Eva had dealt with more than most people did in a lifetime and she was so strong, she hoped that her children would grow up to be as courageous as their big sister.

Lillia certainly wasn't a shrinking violet, every day she seemed to become more popular, the play date requests were  constant but Gray found that his daughter refused most of them, she rarely socialised without the Flowers in attendance. 

When his daughter returned from her first unsupervised shopping trip, an eleventh birthday treat with Rachel on standby in the coffee shop, he was staggered by the change effected by a day and a hundred dollar gift card.

Gone was the little girl who had brightened up his dark moods when Eva was missing. Gone was the big-sister lookalike who wanted nothing more than pink stripes in her hair and to play soccer every day.

This Lillia was a beautiful teenager and a complete stranger to him. Standing slightly self-consciously between her chattering, giggling friends she looked for a moment like she would rather be anywhere else, her shoulders tight and her eyes flickering from side to side. As Daisy began to talk about some cute guy at the mall, Rose nudged Lillia unintentionally and the mask snapped back down. The threesome were soon tucked up in their customary places on the sofa and chattering away as only teenage girls can, everything bright, exciting and wonderful.

Gray wondered if he'd ever see that quiet, sweet natured girl again or whether this sparkling, larger than life character was who his daughter had always been waiting to be.

Gray hoped that maybe a little of Lillia's social ease would rub off on Casper but if anything the constant presence of the Flowers in their home seemed to cause the shy child to keep more to himself than ever. Gray and Rachel tried to make him as comfortable as possible, limiting Lillia to hosting her friends once a week and continuing to build the structures that Casper's behaviourist insisted would help him learn to manage his obsessive behaviours and feel secure in social interactions.

Sometimes they felt as if they had turned a corner, he would come willingly to dinner and voluntarily talk about his latest potion idea or something he'd noticed at school (while quiet he was very perceptive). But the next day he would get frustrated with not being able to find the book he wanted or find himself in a situation at school he didn't understand and then he would shut down, withdrawing to the comfort of Tia's company and his books.

Casper's move to Oakfield Prep school in the Autumn helped in some ways, the class sizes were small and they had tutors who had worked extensively with autism spectrum disorders as well as the academic faculty. Casper's intelligence was quickly spotted and found space to flourish here, he also loved the fact that everyone was in uniform and it was like Harry Potter!

After a term, Gray was a little disappointed that Casper hadn't made any friends, or even mentioned any of his classmates by name. Rachel kept reminding himself what their doctor had said, there was no "cure" for Casper, no linear path for improvement or change, he was a perfectly normal kid who found different things of value and different things intimidating from his siblings. It wouldn't do to measure him against anyone else's ideas of success and failure, he'd create his own rules.

For now they could celebrate that Casper would reach his academic potential and that he was continuing to bond with his family. These things alone were a huge triumph.

Despite the financial stability that selling The Lonely Cactus had brought them, Gray and Rachel missed that restaurant. The new owner had changed the name, refurbished and although it stood in the same place it always had it was no longer the place they'd dreamed of. Rachel had ideas to become stakeholders in the little bistro she was now working at but Gray felt as if he had to secure the children's futures before he could decide what was next for him. Eva was already a woman and a mother and Lillia was growing so fast. Even Caspar seemed to be an old head on young shoulders and the time had come to plan for them first and himself second, running any kind of restaurant was crazy difficult.

Gray had though that choosing his heir would be impossible, as if he were choosing a favourite but actually in the end it had been simple. His mother had told him that she hadn't struggled in the end, he'd never believed her but now he understood. There was one of his children who would both benefit the most from the legacy and who needed it most. One who would use this opportunity and this challenge to see themselves more clearly.

As Eva's 21st birthday was approaching he decided to wait on the announcement, she'd had so many milestones missed or overshadowed by other events that she deserved the day to herself. Even little Flynn was well-behaved and quiet as they sang and lit the candles.

After thinking a while on her wish, Eva made it, hoping only for happiness and success for her and her son. Later that night she walked out in the garden alone, she couldn't escape the feeling that everything was going to change now. She was an adult, she had a son, it was terrifying but also exciting. 

Eva was so caught up in her thoughts that the voice from the gate made her jump.

'Hey. Happy Birthday Evie.... You haven't changed at all.'

Her heart racing she turned slowly and locked eyes with Hayden. Eva felt those old butterflies stir even as she strode towards him, jaw set and eyes blazing.

'What the hell are you doing here.'

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Read on in Chapter 21 - This Wonderful Mess We've Made