EDITH’S EPILOGUE, AKA HAPPILY EVER AFTER
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Marriage and motherhood are everything I hoped for. Duke’s very presence in a room, even if we aren’t engaging, soothes me like nothing else can. By the time Sean is born, I know what Duke’s thinking without him saying a word. The magic between us makes everything clearer.
I couldn’t ask for an easier kid than Sean. He sleeps and eats well and rarely cries. I take him with me everywhere. We spend a lot of time at the homestead over those next few years. Duke probably wishes we were at the Basin Rock house more, but he understands the benefits of Tumbling Rock. Duke also wants to stick close to Lola who becomes skittish about leaving the homestead after Lina is born.
Though Clover moves out of the Basin Rock house, the apartment never suits her. She is usually back at the old house or at the homestead, where she bounces between our place and Lola’s. Eventually, she wants to claim several dogs, so Duke helps her order a prefab house for the Basin Rock property. He knows just what his kids need to feel comfortable.
I’m thrilled when Tuesday turns up pregnant. She is so great with Sean and the other babies. Her pregnancy goes well until the midway mark when a dangerous condition leaves her on bed rest. My cousin’s usually exuberant personality takes a real beating. She’s so scared to lose the baby. She also worries she jinxed herself somehow and caused the cervical insufficiency now threatening her pregnancy.
“I’ve had it too good all my life,” Tuesday tells me one day while we rest in her bed with Sean. “This is my punishment.”
“Don’t think negative thoughts. Just imagine yourself holding your baby.”
My hopeful thinking comes true when Mimi is born healthy. By then, the homestead’s baby fever is in full swing. Once Lola and Val are expecting their second, Duke suggests we try for another one.
“But with this baby, I want to know the gender,” he insists as we cuddle up in Basin Rock with Sean. “I don’t want to waste time picking a boy name if we’re having a girl.”
In my head, I’m certain we’ll have two sons as if we’re destined to flip what Duke had with Kerrie. But, instead, we flip Lola and Val’s baby order.
Their second child is a boy named Worth. A few months later, Duke and I welcome Wendy. My delivery is far less chaotic this time around. As soon as I get flu-like aches, Duke hurries me into the car and to the hospital. My parents have plenty of time to join us for Wendy’s birth. When it’s time for me to push, Ma-Journey holds one of my hands while Duke cradles the other. Nearby, Pa-Donovan entertains a super chill Sean who is mostly interested in the view from the window.
With her light brown hair and blue eyes, Wendy looks a lot like I did as a baby. She’s easygoing like her brother. Rather than trying to control situations, they roll with the punches. In that way, they take after their pa more than me.
Duke never seems overwhelmed by the small humans demanding everything from him. He’s the same relaxed, involved father as when he was raising Lola and Clover. Despite his cool exterior, I make sure he has time to hang out with Val and the meatheads, bond with his older kids, talk cooking with Erin, and ride alone so he can clear his head.
We have two date nights a week. On Saturday, my parents take the kids overnight while Duke and I hang out in Basin Rock. We usually start with a long ride around town followed by a meal and then an hour or two at the clubhouse with the meatheads. Duke even teaches me how to bartend. We work in perfect sync on busy nights.
No matter what’s happening, Duke can’t stop touching me. His constant affection always makes me feel sexy and loved. My lust is easier to handle now that I have constant access to Duke’s gorgeous body.
With our active sex life, Duke eventually asks, “Are we done with two?”
Growing up, I wanted to be my ma. I dressed like her, fought like her, sounded like her, and scolded others like her. I assumed I’d have three kids like she did, but I feel done after Wendy.
“I was too chickenshit to get snipped after Clover,” Duke says, wrapping me in his arms. “That turned out to be a good thing. Since there’ll be no third wife down the road, I’ll bite the bullet so you don’t need to worry about birth control anymore.”
Val and Lola also decide to stop at two kids. Tuesday is content with Mimi and Roxie. West and Alexis have two with Ace and Gem.
Ike and Oana wait a bit after Cherie to get pregnant again. My nephew Van reminds me so much of his pa. Otto and Betty have no interest in making their own kids, but they enjoy being the cool aunt and uncle to their nieces and nephews.
Being super chill kids, Sean and Wendy get along with all their cousins.
“You’re Lina and Worth’s aunt and uncle,” Val explains to my kids when they’re five and four. “You’re also their cousins.”
“What?” Sean asks. “Are you sure? You’ve been wrong before.”
I laugh at Val’s shocked expression. Sean already has a way of poking at grown men and making them doubt themselves. If my boy weren’t so chill, he might become a menace. Instead, I think he’ll make a great club president one day.
Val sighs dramatically in response to Sean’s questions. “At least, you didn’t call me a doofus.”
“Was that an option?” Sean asks earnestly.
Shaking my head, I insist, “No, it’s not. Val’s too sensitive to tease like that.”
My kids look at me and then at Val before glancing at each other. They nod and don’t hassle him, even if they don’t believe him about the aunt-uncle thing for years.
Sean and Wendy are Mooneys in spirit. They like to play and get rowdy, but they’re also aware of the rules. They’re probably a little more rebellious than I was growing up. That’s the McGraw influence. Duke loves to ride, will fight if necessary, and doesn’t back down easily. They see how their pa holds himself, rough without being scary. I catch Sean pulling the same facial expressions with his cousins as Duke does with the meatheads. When annoyed, Wendy crosses her arms and scowls just like her pa.
Duke and I don’t butt heads over much during our marriage. One sticking point is where to send the kids to school. I would rather they attend Tumbling Rock’s elementary school with their cousins while Duke wants them to go to the local Basin Rock schools.
By then, we’re spending most nights in Basin Rock. Yet, during the day, I often take the kids to the homestead. They are best buddies with their cousins. The natural leader in Sean is a solid mix with Worth and Van who prefer to follow. The three boys often walk around, talking about animals, motorcycles, and mustaches.
“I’m getting one for my lip when I’m big,” Sean announces with great bravado one spring day while everyone is together for a birthday party.
Duke instantly glances at King Peepaw Jared who nods approvingly. I share my grandfather’s proud grin.
“I don’t want anything on my face,” Worth says with less bravado and then looks to Val to see if that’s okay.
“Your face, your choice,” Val replies, winning a smile from his boy.
“I’m going to grow a beard like Otto,” Van decides.
My nephew is a tricky kid to read. I’m never sure if he’s teasing or not about the beard. Only time will tell.
With Wendy and Sean so attached to their cousins, I feel like school will be more fun in Tumbling Rock.
“I have a plan,” Lola announces after I explain the dilemma during dinner in Basin Rock.
By then, Lola and Val have a house on the property, not far from ours and Clover’s. Like Duke and me, they bounce back and forth between homes.
“This should be good,” Clover says, snickering with her sex-free life partner, Zelda.
The two of them live together with their many pets. Alexis’s cousin is also disinterested in the romantic aspects of a relationship, but she adores Clover.
Months ago, Erin found her own special someone. Her fourth husband is a gentle, goofy guy named Henry who retired to Tumbling Rock. The two met at a farmer’s market on his first weekend in town. They’ve been inseparable ever since.
Lola pauses to admire her family before explaining her idea, “Val and I have chosen to send our kids to school in Tumbling Rock. If you did the same, we could take turns driving back and forth and lessen the load for everyone.”
Duke frowns. “What’s wrong with the schools in Basin Rock?”
“Nothing,” Lina tells her peepaw and pats his hand. “You’re doing great.”
Chuckling now, Duke shrugs. “I liked the schools.”
“Allow me to explain, sir,” Val says, winning an eye roll from Duke and me. “Our people are more awesome than other people. The more of us in one place, the cooler it becomes. Of course, as we all know, school is a drag.”
The four kids instantly go wide-eyed and glance at each other, having been told school was fun and exciting and not to worry about being away from home all day. Now, they realize they’ve been lied to.
Val ignores their horror and continues, “In Basin Rock, there’ll only be four awesome kids. In Tumbling Rock, there’ll be nine. Ten if you include Oana’s nephew. That’s a small army right there, watching each other’s backs, making each other laugh, and smelling each other’s farts. Just priceless.”
“I’m not smelling your farts,” Wendy tells Lina immediately.
“You’re smelling them right now.”
The two of them start laughing. Their brothers quickly join in. Soon, we’re all laughing at how Lina pretends to fan the smell at Wendy who swoons as if lightheaded from the stench.
Duke and I share a gaze. I know he’s come around on the school issue. After all, he spent much of his life feeling like he had to stand alone. Even with his brother and the club, he couldn’t trust anyone to have his back. He was a man with many friends, but none he fully trusted.
His life opened up when Val claimed Lola. Duke is no longer alone at the top. He’s even stepped back into the VP position to let Val run the show.
His daughters have found love and a solid tribe of friends. His mom isn’t marrying men for their wallets or penis sizes anymore. She’s actually in love.
The Rawkfist Motorcycle Club is no longer his rival. His relationship with the meatheads is stronger now that he no longer resents them for being unable to lead. Without that pressure, the men can hang out like they did years ago before Duke worried about the Charleston club.
The threat from Charleston ended once they learned taking Basin Rock would involve also facing off against the Rawkfist Motorcycle Club. The two clubs are a good match. Rawkfist has a better management style, something Duke is learning to emulate. Meanwhile, the Blood-Red Suns have a surplus of younger guys able to throw down in a fight.
Duke and Val are a solid team. Each one is strong where the other one is weak. I doubt Val would have done well as West’s VP. They are too much alike and tend to solve problems by wrestling. With Duke, Val has a steady hand for his more exuberant tendencies. Meanwhile, Val pushes Duke out of his comfort zone.
Though I’ve also been known to push Duke from time to time, I prefer to act as his safe space. No matter how weak, grumpy, worried, or silly he feels, Duke never has to hide from me. He trusts in the magic between us. Nothing can make me turn on him. What we share isn’t temporary or fickle. We’re the real deal until our last breaths.
Looking back at the years I waited to find my dream guy, I’m horrified by how much time and effort I wasted. I could have simply sat on my ass, enjoyed my life, and waited until the day Duke moseyed into view. I should have trusted in my family’s magic.
That lesson is why I’m less controlling now. I trust myself and life in general much more than I did before meeting Duke. I give into my Earlham urges without fear. Whenever I begin to overthink life, I’ll look at my husband. His beautiful blue eyes will meet mine, and I quickly settle down and enjoy life rather than trying to control it.
Thanks to Duke, I’m the very best version of myself.
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THE END