You Should Be Here | j. christopher

EPILOGUE

FOURTY EIGHT MONTHS LATER.

december 19th, 2027
8:10 pm

AYOLUWA STILL LOVED Christmas after all this time and having her own family to celebrate with only seemed to make it better.

Ayoluwa was holding onto the hand of her and Joshua's two and a half year old son, Michael, while Joshua was carrying Nasir, now four, upon his shoulders.

The family were walking up to Rockefeller Center side by side where a crowd was forming around the still unlit 25 foot tree, all dressed in heavy winter clothes to stay warm.

Michael tugged on Ayoluwa's leggings and she looked down at her son, "Mama, can you pick me up? Please?"

"C'mere," Ayoluwa hoisted the child onto her hip.

"Are you sure that coming here with no security is a good idea?" Joshua muttered to her.

"No. That's why I..." Ayoluwa nodded to the corner of the crowd where a couple of beefy sized men were standing.

Joshua gave her a nod of approval as they finally joined the crowd around the tree.

Nasir slapped the top of Joshua's head to get his attention, "How long do we have to wait for the tree to be pretty?"

"I don't know buddy," Joshua replied.

Nasir clearly didn't like that answer and made a pouty face before hitting the top of Joshua's head once more.

"Nas! How many times do I have to tell you not to his your father?" Ayoluwa reprimanded Nasir.

"But it's fun. He doesn't get mad like you do." Nasir pointed out.

"He's no Muhammad Ali. I can take it." Joshua chimed in.

Ayoluwa shook her head as Michael laid his head on her shoulder, his eyes blinking rapidly the way they did when he was sleepy.

"Mom," Nasir called to her after the peaceful moment of silence.

"Yes?"

"Can you sing my favorite?" He questioned.

Ayoluwa tried not to smirk and thought to herself as she shot Joshua a glance: Like father, like son.

"When we get home, I'll sing. I don't wa-." Ayoluwa stopped at the pouty look on her elder son's face and sighed before looking around.

At the risk of Joshua possibly getting a bump on his skull from all the hits or getting chased out of here, Ayoluwa leaned closer to Nasir and Joshua and began to sing as lowly as she could.

"Chestnuts roasting on an open fire, Jack Frost nippin' at your nose," Ayoluwa sang to her sons and husband, "Yuletide carols being sung by a choir and folks dressed up like eskimos."

"Everybody knows," Nasir took over the song from her, "A turkey and some mistletoe, tiny tots with their eyes all aglow will find it hard to sleep tonight."