𝐄𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐌𝐨𝐨𝐧 ♦ 𝐑𝐃𝐑

🇨​🇭​🇦​🇵​🇹​🇪​🇷​ 48

Weeks passed and myself and the kids chose to head out and see some of what New Hanover had to offer to us. I had to take them into Valentine to get their haircut at the barber's considering Selina was more than enough busy nowadays with Little Asher and all. Sadie was still growing out her hair to be as long and luscious as her mother's, knowing one day though that she would cut it off and start over. Selina had long hair and always had, but with the climbing temperatures and even when we were working for the government, it was common for her to have it in a tight bun on the back of her head. Stating that one day, she would see to it that Sadie knew how to do it as well, for they both did have some thick hair.
Riding back into Valentine after so many years was crazy, I hadn't been down this way since I met Selina and we had the camp down on Horseshoe Overlook. Which, if I was honest, I wouldn't mind taking the boys down to see so long as it wasn't any danger to them. There hadn't been many gangs down in these parts in years, which I'm sure was a sign of the west being tamed, as everyone had wanted it to be. Selina and I were just the product of tamed members of gangs, we knew we could be violent if we wanted to, but we never chose to, for we were like everyone else and that was all we ever did want for ourselves. We had four children, sure, we were almost taken out by the government multiple times, even just recently when we was living out honest life.
It had been tough the last few weeks, Andrew and Sadie both had aged while we were gone, Andrew was now eleven, Sadie, five, and Arthur had just turned thirteen about a month back. Hard for us to really celebrate while we were rebuilding our lives. Selina was also so heavily pregnant with our latest son that celebrating the big thirteen for Arthur was hard and kind of left to me. Best I did was teach that boy to shoot out in the woods, see just how good he still was. He really wanted to learn how to dual wield like I could, but I told him we'd wait a couple years. He still sometimes looks down the barrel of his gun on accident and that's exactly why I try to keep it safe for him now. He's still learning. As for Andrew and Sadie, we did a get together with everyone, had a nice dinner and some homemade cake from Selina's mother. As for Selina and I, we forgot our birthdays even existed with everything going on. I turned that great thirty five and Selina thirty six and even then, she felt older than the hills nearly being forty, but as usual, my wife didn't look a day over thirty. Me? I
Probably looked more my age considering how much I smoked and drank back in the day, not to mention I had scars on my face and all too.

"Is this were you met momma?" Arthur asks as he looks over at me from the seat of the wagon. He felt proud to sit up here with me now, Andrew would still hang out in the back, but you could mostly find him reading or just cloud gazing back there if he wasn't talking to his brother. "It is... We met in the saloon I'm 'bout take you both to for those haircuts." I nod to my son and he gives me a bit of a prideful smile. "I'm excited to see. I know I ain't old enough yet to really do anything in a saloon, but seeing where you and momma met seems so cool." He muses happily and I grinned, reaching over to rub his head and mess up his longer locks. Him and Andrew did prefer a cut like mine, parted to the right, a fade, they always hated it when it grew out more and they just didn't seem to be having a good time with it anymore.
We pull up near the stables and we hop out the wagon and walk down the middle of the road. This place really didn't change if I was honest. Just about the same as it was when I was twenty one and apart of the gang. We walk within the saloon and the old barber is still there to greet me. "Do my eyes deceive me? Asher Sanders? Boy you ain't been this way since before nineteen hundred." He muses with a laugh, he was older now and grey just as we were all becoming. "It has been a while, Jerry. How are you?" I give him a shake of my hand. "It's good! Always has been! Who are these little guys?" He asks before I pull the boys forward. "Ah these are my boys, Arthur and Andrew." The boys give the older man a wave and he ends up shaking their hands as well. "These the ones with that girl you met all those years back?" I was surprised Jerry even remembered me meeting Selina, let alone that I had seen him a couple more times before we left the area. "They are, surprised you remember." He laughs and then looks at the boys, "Your pa here got his haircut by me just before he met your momma. Crazy knowing you two got together and got busy." I give him a chuckle before I sat down in the chair.

An hour goes by between the three of us and we got our haircut and shared some more stories about the past. It was interesting to almost feel like I was reliving everything. But the real moment of reliving life was going to be when we headed to Horseshoe Overlook. We get back on the wagon and I turn to talk to the boys. "Alright boys, were gonna be heading to an old gang campsite. Just know that if we encounter anyone, pa isn't gonna be too nice to them." They nod to me in an understanding manner before we headed out, I was pretty excited to go back, but nervous, the memories were going to be interesting to relive.
We're coming down the path to Horseshoe and there's no smoke, no nothing. Now I knew we were home free as we're in the middle of the open field. I jump off along with the boys and I watch as Arthur runs over near the cliff and looks at the Ambarino mountains. "Wow pa! What a view!" He shouts happily, I look out upon the horizon. "That was your Uncle John's favorite view, he loved it. Your mother's too." I state, arms crossed as I'm looking around. "So this is where you and Uncle Dutch, Uncle Arthur, Uncle Charles, Aunt Sadie, Aunt Abigail, momma, and Uncle John camped once?" I loved how Andrew could name off literally everyone he could recall from photos and everything of the such. He was pretty smart about it all. "Yes, son. This was the first big camp we had. Your momma joined us here." I reply, it was nice to actually talk to them about everything, though I knew a lot would still have to wait till they grew up.

I look over to where my old tent would've been. All those nights I had with Selina before our relationship was official. It was beautiful going down memory lane. No matter how naughty it could've been. This was the start of all of this, the very beginning.
We talked and hung out for a bit longer before I chose to take the boys home. They were so excited to tell Selina about their trip to the camp and how it was so cool and, even beautiful with the view. She was happy that they were happy, but she did tell me later in the day how she wished she could've gone too. One day, her and I would walk down those memories together. For even if they weren't all great, they were great to us.