Epilogue
Some Time Later . . .
“I present to you Mr. and Mrs. Victor Carl Dawson. Everyone, get on your feet!” The announcer was lively as the music played over the small gathering for the Dawsons’ wedding reception.
They didn’t plan to have a big wedding, but Victoria Dawson had some showing off to do. Not only was the wedding a big deal, but her grandbabies were as well.
Victor was right about that forty-two-year-old sperm.
In fact, he undersold it. Imagine everyone’s surprise when she went to her first doctor’s appointment to find out that she was pregnant with not one, not two, but three babies.
The couple was surprised but not mad. As far as they were concerned, it was a one and done. Well, three and done.
Winters Victoria, Anthony Vince, and Tony Carl were the light of everyone’s life. At a year old, they tore shit up and left. The only person that they listened to at this point in their baby lives was their Grammy. Grammy didn’t play, and they knew it.
Victor and Minnow’s wedding was today, but they married legally before the triplets were born. They had a courthouse ceremony and a small gathering on the farm.
Today’s reception was held at Dawson’s Inn formally Rosebuds Bed & Breakfast. Beverly Cook’s life turned upside down during the court proceedings for her sons.
She sold the property to liquidate funds for the lawyer.
Victoria Dawson, in true fashion of fuck-yous, felt it would be a perfect addition to the Dawson’s portfolio.
The inn is used more as an event space than it is a hotel.
Beverly moved out of Plasters after three of the four teens that were involved with the farm incident cut deals.
They pointed their fingers at the Cook boys as the ones who organized the entire plan.
One of them thought it wise to record their meetings, which proved as much.
The three teens pleaded to felony manslaughter.
They all would be out before they were twenty-three.
The Cook boys pleaded as well, but they would be in jail for much longer.
The sentence devastated Beverly. It was only when she lost all of her sons that she realized the error of her ways. It was too late, so she tucked her tail and moved a few towns over.
“Mrs. Dawson, you look beautiful.” A female voice complimented Minnow from behind.
She turned around to the familiar voice. Her cheeks blushed at the sight of her sister-in-law. “Verna, I’m so happy to see you.”
This was the same woman that berated her about support groups.
The woman that introduced her to the existence of Plasters, Georgia.
Verna was also the same woman who married Anthony Victor Dawson, Victor’s older brother, at the age of eighteen.
At the age of thirty, she had to bury him when he died in combat.
Minnow did not find out that Mrs. Pressley, her VA social worker, was her sister-in-law until her first wedding gathering.
After the first few meetings, Verna knew exactly what Minnow needed. Yes, she needed group support. She needed rest. She needed coping techniques. She also needed love and family. Verna knew exactly where to send her to get that. Verna found all the love she needed with the Dawsons.
When she suggested Plasters to Minnow, she didn’t know what the outcome would be. Yes, she knew that the Dawsons would love on her. She just didn’t know that one of the brothers would end up as the love of her life.
“Girl, you came to lil ole Plasters and turned it on its head,” Verna said before she pulled Minnow into a hug. “I’m so proud of you. You’re a mommy, you’re going to meetings more regularly, and you’re working on yourself.”
Minnow’s heart warmed. “I couldn’t have done it without you being obnoxious. Thank you for suggesting this wonderful gem that is Plasters to me. It changed my life.”
Arms pulled her into a broad chest, then lips landed on Minnow’s neck. “Verna, can I steal my wife before our babies get clingy? My mama got them under her belt right now.”
We all chuckled. “I’m going to leave you two lovebirds to it. Look now, don’t make more triplets tonight,” Verna joked.
Both of their heads snapped toward her. She was crazy. Minnow spoke up first. “Yeah, that’s not happening.”
The couple made the decision while she was still pregnant that Victor would get clipped. They were serious about the three and done. Winters, Anthony, and Tony were enough.
“Vic, we just got in here. Can we really sneak out?” Minnow asked with an inkling of concern. This reception wasn’t like their earlier one. Half of the town was here.
Victor kissed her lips. “We can do whatever we want. This is our shit. Come on.”
He pulled her out of the reception hall. People called out to them, and they ignored them. Nothing would stop them from their mission.
When they got to their destination, which was their suite, they stripped out of their clothes. He pulled her into his arms. “You’re so fuckin’ sexy, Mrs. Dawson.”
She blushed at his words. When she was pregnant with her triplets, she gained sixty pounds. She ran until her doctor told her that she couldn’t. Victor was obsessed with the changes of her body and made sure that she knew it. Like he always had, he continued to make her be safe enough to be soft.
“Mr. Dawson, you are so handsome. I love you so much.” She kissed his lips.
They looked at each other deeply. It was no secret to either of them what they wanted.
They wanted it more than anything in the world right now.
With three one-year-olds, it was tricky to indulge.
The babies were occupied by all the guests, and the couple had time alone to do exactly what they wanted to do.
They kissed each other deeply as they walked backward toward the bed. Once they made it there, they climbed in and got under the comforter. Minnow wrapped her body around her husband.
“Mr. Dawson, it’s getting late. What should we do?” she asked him seductively.
Victor kissed her forehead, then gazed into her eyes. She was so beautiful. “I think we should do what we’ve wanted to do all day . . . take a nap.”
Yes, sex was so intimate. It felt great, and it had the potential to make two people one. Parenthood taught Victor and Minnow that a nap could have the same effect. So, tonight when it got late, the couple made one choice: to sleep together as one. It was nothing sexy or salacious. It was real.
All Scootched In