Matters of the Heart

Epilogue

January 2071

Jesse and Abbey are now 86 and 85 years old. They have been happily married for 50 years now and still live in the house that Jesse had built for Abbey 40 years ago for their tenth anniversary. They raised their 7 children in that house and have watched their grandchildren run in and out of that house. They even watched their granddaughter bring in their great granddaughter in to see them.

Addison Soffer or 'Addi' as her mom and Dad call her is now 54 and is an author. She was adopted by her parents 2 years after they adopted Noah and Ethan. She was 16 when she went to live with them, and had been in and out of foster homes her entire life. She dedicates each of her novels to her parents, often speaking of how they 'saved' her. They came along at a time when she needed them the most, she was about to be phased out of the system, like most foster children when they reach a certain age. She has never married, due to her upbringing in the system, she grew to have a distrust in all men except of her father, whom she has an excellent relationship with, and her brothers, but like her parents she adopted 3 children of her own. Jessa, 21; Jillian, 18; and Jade,14.

Jaylee Soffer-Ellis was now 49 and followed in her mother's footsteps to become a Doctor and reknowned trauma surgeon. She and her husband, Jake, have been married 19 years and have 2 children, a son Liam, 16, named after Jaylee's grandfather and a daughter Alexa, 12.

Lily Soffer is now 47 and out of all of the Soffer children, she is most definitely a force to be reckoned with. Jesse used to joke that her brilliance came from her DNA, but Lily showed signs of ingenuity at a very young age. She devoted herself to her education and went through many years of school to become the criminal profiler she is today. She works for the FBI and often freelance and works often with the Chicago PD. She has neither married nor had children and will probably never have neither in her life and Jesse and Abbey have made peace with that. Her uncle Pat often joked that "there's probably not a man out there that could put up with Lily" and that's probably the truth. Her family knows that she has dedicated much of her time to her education and her career and they are very proud of her and the work she has accomplished. But that doesn't mean that Lily hasn't made time for her family. She checks in on Jesse and Abbey on a constant basis, has wonderful relationships with her siblings, and has spoiled each and every one of her nieces and nephews.

While Jaylee followed in her mother's footsteps, younger brother Noah Soffer, now 46, decided to be like his dad. He has become an award winning screenwriter, producer, and director. A decade earlier, he even co wrote a script and co produced a film with his father, which he recieved worldwide claim from, but no matter the awards, that will always be his most cherished piece of work for the memories that were made. Noah and his wife Isabelle, have been married 23 years and have 3 children, Marisa, 22, Cassidy, 19; and Luca, 15. Their daughter Marisa made them grandparents last year when she gave birth to a daughter, Abigail Lee, named after the baby's great grandparents.

Emme Soffer-Flueger is now 45 and is very dedicated to her work as a Social Work Case Manager. Emme grew up as one of the younger children of 7 but only Jaylee was her biological sister. Her parents adopted the rest of her siblings and were devoted parents to each and every one of them. That inspired her into the work she does now. She married her best friend Mason 20 years ago and they have 5 children, 2 of their own, twins son Jamie and Logan, 18, and have 3 adopted children, Amelia, 12; Shanna, 9; and Ashlyn, 5. Their son Jameson 'Jamie' and daughter Logan was named after the brother Emme never met, the son that Jesse and Abbey lost before Emme was ever born. They still to this day call Emme their "miracle child" They told their children about Jameson and wanted them to know that even though he never had the chance that they all had, he was never loved any less.

Ethan Soffer is now 43 and is serving his 3rd term as Cook County's State Attorney. He has made quite a name for himself and like his brothers and sisters he has devoted much of his life to his work. He never made much time for dating or relationships but 2 years ago, he finally got married to Maddie Flueger, who is 11 years older than him. It was a shock to his family but a welcomed one by his parents. Maddie had always been a part of the Soffer family, and even before Abbey came along, Maddie adored her uncle Jesse. Ethan and Maddie have no children of their own but Ethan is stepfather to Maddies 3 children, Hannah, 20; Patrick, 17; and Chloe, 14 and loves Maddies children as his own.

And then there is Levi, 34 now and most definitely out of all of their children, Levi was a miracle baby as well. Jesse and Abbey were done having children so they thought. They had Jaylee and worked hard to have Emme. They then adopted Lily, Noah, Ethan, and Addison. Jesse and Abbey were in their early 50's so obviously raising another child from the beginning was not something they had planned on at their age. But as they learned in life things happen when you least expect it. It had been all over the news. A young mother had given birth and wrapped her baby up in a garbage bag and threw it away in her apartment dumpster like it was trash. Thankfully, a man tossing his trash out before he left to report for his shift at the nearby fire station heard the baby's cries and jumped in to rescue the baby. Had he been a few minutes later, he might not have been able to get the baby to the hospital in time. That baby was Levi and the Doctor that saved his life was Abbey. She went home that night crying to her husband about what had happened. He had heard all about it already, second from it being on the news, he had golfed earlier in the day with his father in law who went on and on about how some people shouldn't be allowed to have children and then went on to tell Jesse about some of his harshest cases as a police detective that involved children. Listening to Abbey talk about "that perfect baby boy" he didn't think twice about it. "Lets go get him" he had told her. So the next morning, Jesse and Abbey went to DCFS to file to foster and adopt him. They named him Levi Patrick after Abbeys grandfather and after his godfather. Levi was the only one of their adopted children that they adopted from birth. The summer before his senior year, he had no idea what he wanted to do with his life, and it was during that summer that he found his calling, he found Chicago PD on a streaming service and he bingewatched all 10 seasons in 2 weeks time. When he was born, his parents were in their 50s, he had no idea growing up who his Dad really was, at home to him and his brothers and sisters, Jesse was simply Dad or Daddy, but he discovered him in those 2 weeks time, he was captivated not only by his Dad's performance but by the character of Jay Halstead. Levi's grandfather, Liam, had died when he was a kid but had heard of his career as he had been featured on several crime documentaries such as Dateline NBC, Forensic Files, The First 48, and Snapped. Levi had exceptional grades but he just didn't know what path he wanted to go down until then, he recieved a full ride to Purdue University in Indiana where he majored in Intelligence and National Security and minored in criminology. He often turned to his sister Lily during that time. After graduation, he applied to the Chicago Police Department where he was accepted into the Police Academy. He spent 5 years on Patrol, but then took the detectives exam. He is now a detective with the Special Investigations Unit at the 11th district. Levi has been committed to and focused on his work and career for the past 13 years but is now in his first real serious relationship and like Lily, he likes to spoil all his nieces and nephews. He's the one they like to call "the cool uncle" and like all of his brothers and sisters, Jesse and Abbey are extremely proud of him.

Addi, Jaylee, Lily, Noah, Emme, Ethan, and Levi all stood watching their mother and father dance together in the center of the room. They were married at a courthouse in 2021 just before Jesse's emergency open heart surgery while still in the middle of a global pandemic. They never had a real wedding but it didn't matter, The seven Soffer children had never seen such devoted love and adoration for each other from another couple. They could only hope to match their parents love for each other. And so today, their children gave them the ultimate 50th wedding anniversary. In front of their children, children-in-laws, 16 grandchildren, and great granddaughter, they renewed their vows and had the wedding reception they never had along with the first dance they never had. But Jesse and Abbey proved they never needed any of the pomp and circumstance, they loved each other deeply and they raised their children in a loving home. They had all they ever needed and all they ever wanted was each other from the moment they met.