BOONE’S EPILOGUE
BOONE’S EPILOGUE
For most of my first thirty years, I hadn’t imagined myself married or wanting children. Nothing about that life interested me until I saw Nova. She awakened a new side of me that soon felt as natural as my desire to ride with the Crimson Guard.
Over the next decade, plenty changed around Little Memphis and the Sleepy Eye Community. Not everything worked out as I hoped, but my home was always a place of refuge.
The girls kept Nova and me busy. In first grade, Skylar became interested in soccer. Early in kindergarten, Lyric started dance classes.
One day, the girls might ask about their birth father. They knew another man had created them, but as they reached their teens, they showed zero interest in knowing more.
Willow wanted to do everything her mom and sisters did. She loved sports, drawing, and was a huge book nerd like Nova. I often found her toddling after Skylar and Lyric, fascinated by whatever they were doing. I wasn’t particularly shocked when one of Willow’s first words was “retired.”
By Willow’s first birthday, I was in the process of adopting Skylar and Lyric. Chris hadn’t been missing for long enough to be declared dead. Without his approval of the adoption, we went to court to prove his abandonment to allow the adoption process to proceed.
His family back in South Dakota tried to stop us.
Though they had never made any attempt to locate Skylar or Lyric, they chose to sue for visitation rights.
Lula was unrelenting until the court declared Chris had abandoned his daughters, allowing me to adopt them.
During the court process, Nova, Skylar, and Lyric legally changed their last names to Chester.
As my family became official, Clint and Ivy settled into their new home next to ours in the Sleepy Eye Community. Their boys, Hank and Gus, were always in and out of our place.
When Ivy had gotten pregnant with her second baby, many of our friends assumed Nova and I might try for another kid. But we felt perfectly content with our three girls.
Willow looked exactly like her mom, having inherited her expressive blue eyes.
Though she inherited her mom’s shy expressions, my youngest daughter talked exactly like her big sisters.
Sometimes, the three of them would sit at dinner, speaking over each other about their day.
I never asked them to take turns or edit themselves.
They knew how to speak more politely with outsiders.
At home, though, they could be their rowdiest selves.
Once the three were in school, Nova and I decided to start the Chester Dream Home Construction business.
We began with minor renovations before becoming house flippers in Rawlins and Little Memphis.
While I enjoyed working with tools and knocking down walls, Nova had an eye for how to give an unloved house character.
We made a great team and were able to work around the girls’ busy schedules.
Each summer, Nova and I took the family on a two-week vacation somewhere different to allow the girls to see more of the world.
Afterward, we’d spend weeks in Rawlins with my parents.
Despite Nova suggesting the girls attend camp or something more exciting, they preferred to spend their lazy summer days riding bikes around the small town where their grandparents held power.
Early on, after moving into the house, I’d find myself missing the casual bonding I did at the Five Points Lofts. I could walk over to a club brother’s condo and hang out for an hour or two. Nothing needed to be planned. We were always in and out of each other’s places.
After a few years, something similar began to happen at the Sleepy Eye Community.
A club brother soon moved his new family down the block.
Then, a club sister chose to settle down with her man down the other way.
Our kids grew up together in the same way the Little Memphis and Rawlins Heretics kids did.
One evening, during a Little League baseball game, I found myself surrounded by my clubmates. Several of us had kids playing. Willow was a hell of a pitcher. Paxton slugged a massive home run earlier. Hank had stolen a base. The whole crew was having a great time.
My arm was around Nova, who stared fascinated by the game. On my other side, teenage Skylar and Lyric ate popcorn and hooted in support of their sister. Down the bench, I spotted Clint, Ivy, and Gus.
Never in my life did I think I would find myself in such a moment. I dreamed small until I spotted Nova Shaw with her shy smile and lovestruck gaze. The woman awoke a million possibilities inside me, and I couldn’t wait to find out what life together would bring us next.
––––––––
THE END