Old Flames

Old Flames: Epilogue

Epilogue:  Old Flames

Lainie and Aaron married on New Year’s Eve at the fire station.  The simple ceremony and reception took place inside the bay area, and it was a momentous affair...considering how half of the wedding party was called out to an apartment fire in the middle of the vows, allowing the twins more shares of the wedding cake than was healthy.

But that was okay.  It was one for the memory books, that was for sure.

No one gave Lainie away that day.  She walked down the “aisle” on her own, following behind her two beautiful children, giving herself to Aaron independently.  Just the way she wanted it.

*****

And two months after getting married, Aaron stopped assembling the new baby bed and looked around his house, realizing, Yes, the place was too small.  Luckily for him and Lainie, and unluckily for Richard Dozier, the bottom fell out of the real estate market that spring, and the property across the street from the Dozier family remained unsold.

Until Aaron bought it back from his dad at a highly discounted price.  That was where he built Lainie her castle.  The two-story, four-bedroom house looked out of place in the narrow lot, but neither Aaron, nor Lainie cared.  It was finished in record time, and was ready when Lainie went into labor at the end of August.

With twins...again.

This time, two girls.  Not identical, but they both carried the same sea-foam green eyes of their father.  They were named Caitlyn and Charlotte, and Aaron almost cried when he first held them. 

This meant assembling a second baby bed.

But with four girls in the house, Aaron, Chris and Bowser were outnumbered.  And spent a lot of time that following summer building a treehouse in the backyard...with a big sign on the door that said, No Girls Allowed.

And that was okay, too, because Aaron also built a nice-sized playhouse under Chris’ treehouse for Chloe and her sisters -- when they got big enough to play outside -- and boys were allowed...if they brought cookies with them.

*****

Life turned out pretty good for the Doziers.  Aaron officially adopted Chris and Chloe as his own.  Lainie sold a few more children’s books, and their parents -- Genna and Richard -- butted out of their lives.

After the real estate investments failed Richard, he turned to a new enterprise -- video rental vending machines.  Everyone thought he was crazy to invest in such a cock-eyed scheme, but after six months, Richard Dozier finally became richer than he knew what to with.

And Genna eventually gave up on the gum chewing and returned to smoking, though this time, she purchased one of those new-fangled electronic cigarettes.  Lainie still didn’t approve, but what could she do?

As well, Richard and Genna came to a sort-of happy compromise.  They still didn’t talk, or like each other much, but they didn’t go for each other’s throats either.  And that was enough.

So, as far as stories go, this one seems to find a happy, conclusive ending...with only a few exceptions:  Whatever happened to Levi Moon?  And if you're speculating on that, what about Jill Dozier?  What are their stories?

It makes you wonder...doesn’t it?