Always and Forever... Maybe *Spot Conlon*

*Fifteen years later*

"Ty, stop bothering your sister!" I yell through the house to the two kids bickering upstairs.

There's a laugh and a groan.

"But Mom, it's not even my fault!" Ty groans.

"Seriously, give the guy a break," Spot comments from the couch.

I roll my eyes. "If you want to give me parenting advice, go upstairs and figure out what's wrong with our children."

Spot shrugs. "I'm sure you're right. Ty always bothers Brooklyn."

"Ty bothers everyone," Brooklyn says, walking down the stairs. Our ten-year-old daughter takes a seat next to her father.

Ty runs down the stairs. "That's not true! I was just trying to read my book when you came bursting into my room asking about why all your school papers were crumpled when you're the one who just throws them in your bag."

Spot scoffs. "Ty, c'mon buddy, you ain't fooling nobody when you say you were reading."

Our eight-year-old son crosses his arms. "I read all the time."

Spot nods. "Really? What's your favorite book then?"

Ty pauses.

Spot nods again. "That's what I thought."

Ty groans.

I ruffle his dirty blonde hair, similar to his father's. "It's alright buddy, one day you'll learn."

I look out the window at the midday sun, high in the sky, barely hidden by the buildings. Another summer in Brooklyn coming to an end.

"Hey when are we getting together with the others again?" Spot asks me.

I turn to him. "This Thursday. It's the only day Jack and Sarah don't have anything to do for Josh. The boy's already enrolled in five different activities after school. It's crazy."

"The others bringing their girls?"

"Mush, Race, and Crutchy are, I know that. Davey might be. Les will be there too, and I have no idea if he has a girl or not. It's weird to think he's almost twenty-five now. Blink and the rest I have no clue what their statuses are now."

Spot shrugs. "Okay."

It's been fifteen years and a few months since I met Spot. Fifteen years since the most life changing moments of my life. Fifteen years since the most action-packed summer of my life. Nothing's ever lived up to that.

Spot and I live in a small house in Brooklyn, with our two kids. Our daughter, Brooklyn, who's clearly named after the city Spot's in love with, and our son, Ty, named after Spot's closest friend who died in a war, Tie.

Jack and the rest of the newsies still live in Manhattan. Jack and Sarah have a house, with their twelve-year-old son, Josh. Mush, Race, and Crutchy are married to different girls and live in apartments with no kids. Davey's getting married sometime in the next six months. Les and others either have girlfriends or not. We try to meet together once a month to catch up. Next Thursday will be our last full day before we're caught up in busyness with our jobs and school. School's just starting up again, the end of August rapidly approaching, winter waiting in the wings.

Life nowadays isn't too bad. Spot and I both have steady jobs that don't keep us away from the house too long and provide us with good income and health benefits. We have our ups and downs, as always, but time has proven that we're meant to be together and can stay together. Life may not be perfect, but it's better than what it was like on the streets. I'm just glad that my kids can now have proper educations without worrying about where their next meal is going to come from and not having to survive on their own.

At the end of the day, it all comes down to love. Spot and I never really knew what that was like when we met. I knew what it was like to love my brother and the Manhattan newsies. Spot knew what it was like to feel the need to protect and lead others. But neither of us knew how to love someone else in a way that wasn't just family or friend, but something more. We had to learn, and even though we both made plenty of mistakes and had a lot of problems keeping us apart, we learned how to stay together and work through our problems. Even if we both knew our always and forever wouldn't last.

Always and forever isn't guaranteed. But we can love like it is.