Epilogue

SCOTT HAD CAUGHT the first commuter train to Toronto that morning and would be gone until dinnertime. Jana finished her coffee and closed her wall-com unit after scanning the morning news and weather. She looked lovingly at her twin babies, content, for the moment, in their playpen in the corner of the kitchen. Sally's greatest pleasure was throwing things out of her reach and then screaming for them to be returned, and Shawn had discovered he could climb, and therefore could often be found crawling or toddling on shaky legs in search of adventure, so she knew she was in for another busy day. It was a Tuesday, not one of the three days per week her housekeeper/nanny came in to help.

But Jana had learned to pace herself - to enjoy each day for the wonders it brought and to live in the moment.

She went to the wall calendar and steeled herself to turn the page and reveal a new month. December 1st, 2015, would have been her mother's 65th birthday. A milestone she could not reach, thought Jana. Such a dreadful waste - the books that have not been written; the hole that was there in the place she should have occupied when the babies were born; and the hugs that grandma and babies have not shared. Yes, my mother left a gaping hole in many lives. Jana felt the tears forming, as she had known they would on this landmark day. She accepted the sadness and let it flow.