Redemption - Epilogue
Takes place 3 and ½ years after the end of the war
Jake and Ed sat around the table, intently reviewing a schematic diagram. Suggestions were made and either incorporated or discarded as they brainstormed the best way to accomplish their mission.
They were in the middle of debating a key point when they were interrupted by two young voices. “Daddy!”
They looked up to see Rachel standing there along with Sarah, Jake and Emily’s daughter. Both girls were three and half years old.
Rachel had dark hair that streamed down her back in pipe curls. The ends of her hair were pulled back in barrettes so they didn’t fall into her piercing blue eyes. Ed thought she was truly a blend of him and Heather. She was also extremely smart and verbal, and curious about everything.
Of course, Rachel had also inherited a stubborn streak from both her parents. The first time she put her hands on her hips, stomped her foot, and said “NO”, he couldn’t help but laugh. She was just too darn cute and precocious. Of course, that had earned him a glare from Heather, who was the stricter disciplinarian.
With long blond hair and blue green eyes, Sarah was a mixture of Jake and Emily. Rachel and Sarah were such close friends that they acted more like sisters or even twins. They often seemed to speak in their own language, which both confused and amused their parents.
Sarah asked. “Are you going to be putting up my new swing set?”
Jake answered his daughter. “Yes, Uncle Ed and I are going to assemble it today. But you know honey, it’s not just for you. It’s for everyone to play on.”
Jake had ordered one of those mammoth play sets for the backyard. It had multiple swings, platforms, climbing bars, and a slide. Unfortunately, its promise of easy installation appeared to be anything but, given the number of pieces and the complexity of the schematic instructions.
Sarah nodded solemnly.
Rachel added. “But daddy, why are you helping Uncle Jake? You know that mommy’s much better than you at this stuff!”
Jake snickered.
Before Ed could respond, Heather and Emily came into the room. Emily was carrying Jake Jr., who was eighteen months old.
Emily said. “Rachel, your mom is also much better than your Uncle Jake at fixing stuff.”
Jake’s smirk dropped from his face. “Hey, we’re not totally helpless! We did manage to win a war.”
Heather smiled all too sweetly. “Oh, you two did that all by yourselves, did you?”
Ed shot Jake a look that said ‘gee, thanks a lot!’ before responding. “Of course not. The war was definitely a team effort and both of you played a key role.”
Heather shot her husband a forgiving smile. “Nice save.”
“You guys leaving now?” asked Jake.
Heather and Emily had agreed to take the kids out from underfoot while their husbands were working on the play set.
“We’re going over to the ranch for the day. Then we’ll bring your mom back here for a barbeque dinner.” Said Emily.
“Sounds good. We should definitely be done by then.” Jake said.
“We’ll call before we return, just to see how you’re doing.” Heather said.
“Have faith in us.” said Ed. “Oh, by the way. I may need to run back to the house and borrow some of your tools.” He knew that his wife was very possessive about her tools.
“Okay, but take good care of them.” Heather said as she kissed her husband good bye.
“Yes, dear.” Ed said with a dutiful smile.
After a few false starts and stops, Ed and Jake finally got the gist of how to assemble the equipment. It turned out that they did need some specialized wrenches and screwdrivers from Heather’s collection.
Since it was lunch time, Jake and Ed decided to stop by Bailey’s for a quick bite on the way back to the Green house.
As they waited for their sandwiches, Jake asked. “So have you made any decisions?”
Ed knew that Jake was asking about his career plans.
Jake had resigned his commission in the year after the war ended. With the trust fund from his grandfather and the money he’d saved while in the army, he’d finally been able to realize his dream of starting a flight school. After some initial struggles, his business was starting to flourish. Of course, his legendary status as a war hero didn’t hurt in attracting new students.
Being a career military officer, Ed had stayed in the army. He continued to be stationed in Jericho, with responsibility for overseeing much of the Midwestern region of the country.
As the reunification of the country was completed and the state borders stabilized, there was a gradual reduction in force within the military. Ed’s position in Jericho was being phased out. He’d been offered a promotion to General, but would be required to move to Columbus.
“I’m thinking of turning down the promotion.”
“Haven’t you wanted to be an Army General since you were…like five years old?”
“Nah. Until I was at least ten, I wanted to be a cowboy.”
Jake shook his head and laughed. “Yeah…I could tell.”
Ed knew that Jake was recalling their dash on horseback through enemy territory. “Hey, I more than held my own that night.”
Jake continued to press his point. “Seriously, hasn’t being an Army General always been your dream?”
“I guess, but Heather and Rachel are my priority now. I don’t want to take them away from their home. Also, the position would require long hours and a fair amount of travel. I’m not willing to be away from my family that much.
“If you leave the Army, what will you do?”
“I don’t know. Maybe I’ll just be a full time dad and let Heather support us.” Ed said kiddingly.
Jake snorted. “Yeah, like I could see you doing that. Plus, good luck supporting your family on a teacher’s salary.”
Ed laughed. “Good point. I’m sure I’ll think of something.”
Jake was silent for a minute. “What about working with me?”
Ed was saved from an immediate reply as the waitress brought over their food. As he bit into his turkey sandwich, he asked. “Are you serious?”
“The business is growing and I could use the help. Plus your military experience and connections could be valuable.”
Ed thought about it. “So you’d be my boss? That would certainly be different.”
Jake smirked. “While that could be fun, I was actually thinking of you coming on board as my partner.”
Ed looked up in surprise. “Wouldn’t you want your brother as your partner?”
“He and Mary are tied up with running this place.” Jake gestured around the bar. “Plus, he’s busy being the mayor.” There had been an election the prior year and a member of the Green family was once again mayor of Jericho.
Jake continued. “And before you ask, Stanley and Mimi have their hands full with the farm.”
“I’m honored.” Ed thought for a moment. “I assume you’d want me to buy into the partnership.”
“Well, that wasn’t my motivation for asking you, but I’m not going to turn down the money. It could come in handy in my...or rather our….expansion plans. Plus, it would also make you feel like you had an ownership stake.”
Ed nodded. “I’m intrigued. Obviously I need to talk to Heather about it before making any decisions.”
Jake nodded. “Just let me know after you guys discuss it.”
Ed signaled the waiter for their check. “Speaking of our wives, we need to get back and finish the playset before they lose all faith in our capabilities.”
By late afternoon, the men were almost done assembling the equipment. They were just putting the final pieces in place, when Heather called Ed on his cell phone.
“How are you guys doing?” asked Heather.
“Pretty good. We’re just about done.”
“Great. We’re going to be heading back soon. By the way, you know the girls will want to try it out as soon as we get home. You may want to stress test it before we get there.”
“Sure. See you soon.”
A short while later, Emily and Heather returned with Gail and the children. They walked through the house, out the patio doors, and into the backyard.-
Their jaws dropped as they saw the men - their two tough guys, their two seasoned warriors - playing on the swings like carefree 5 year olds.
Heather recovered first. “What on earth are you guys doing?”
Ed looked up innocently. “Just doing the stress test that you suggested.”
Sarah and Rachel chimed in. “Daddy! We want to use the swings!”
Emily asked. “Are you going to let your daughters have a turn?”
In response, Jake leaped off the swings from mid height. Not to be outdone, Ed quickly followed suit.
“COOL!” exclaimed the girls.
“Nice example for the children.” Gail said chidingly.
Ed and Jake exchanged chagrined looks. Ed knelt down so that he could look both girls in the eye. “Rachel, Sarah - what daddy and Uncle Jake just did is very dangerous and you should NEVER do anything like it. We were just trying to demonstrate what not to do.”
Jake added. “If you want, we can demonstrate the correct way to get off the swings.”
Rachel said. “Uncle Jake, we know how to use the swings. After all, we’ve been to preschool.”
∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞
The rest of the afternoon and early evening passed in a blur of frenetic domesticity. While some might consider it routine - or even boring - Heather treasured every moment of it.
Everybody pitched in to get dinner ready. The women worked in the kitchen preparing the salads and side dishes. Through the patio doors, Heather could see Jake tending the barbeque. Ed kept him company while holding Jake Jr. and maintaining a watchful eye on the girls.
After they finished dinner on the patio, the adults relaxed and talked for a bit as they watched the children play. Eventually Jake and Ed got restless, and got up to join the kids.
Heather smiled to herself as she watched them. They had all been through so much that it was wonderful to see the men cavorting with their children. They were playing some kind of tag, that seemed to involve the children chasing their fathers around the backyard.
Heather’s smile grew somewhat bittersweet as she watched Ed roughhousing with Jake Jr. While Ed claimed to be perfectly content, she knew that he would’ve loved to have another child, especially a son. She couldn’t help feeling a bit guilty that she was unable to give that to him.
She forced herself to shake off those feelings, since she knew they were unproductive. Anyways, it was just about time to call the children inside to get cleaned up.
Later that evening, after they got home and put Rachel to bed, Heather and Ed relaxed for a few minutes on the sofa.
“Are you okay?” Ed asked.
“I’m fine. Why do you ask?’
“I noticed you got quiet for a while after dinner, while Jake and I were playing with the kids.”
Heather realized that she shouldn’t be surprised that he’d noticed, even though he’d been across the yard at the time. She knew he was very attuned to her feelings. “I just got a little emotional seeing you roughhousing with Jake Jr.”
Ed put his arms around her. “Heather, we’ve been through this before. As much as I love with playing with Jake Jr, I’m very thankful for what we have. I don’t need a son or another child to make me happy.”
He turned to face her. “You have no idea how scared I was in the hospital after Rachel was born. As I’m sure you’ve heard from Jake and Gail, I pretty much freaked out with the thought that you’d never wake up again. To have this life with you and Rachel….well that’s all that I could ever want.”
“I know. I just wish we could have more children.”
“Well, if that’s what you want, we can always adopt. There are a lot of orphans from the war who could use good homes.”
“Well, I guess we need to figure out where we’ll be living first.”
“On that note, I had an interesting talk with Jake today.”
“Oh, that’s why it took you guys so long to assemble the equipment.” Heather couldn’t help gently teasing her husband.
“Hey, we did just fine.” Ed protested with a smile. His expression turned more serious. “I told him that I was probably going to turn down the promotion and resign my commission.”
“Are you sure?” Heather looked at her husband intently. While she wasn’t shocked, she wanted to ensure that he’d fully thought it through. She was concerned that he was giving up his dream just for her and their family. “I don’t want you to regret it later.”
He looked her in the eye. “Absolutely. As I told you when we first got together, I never want to be an absentee dad ..or husband…again. I also don’t want to leave Jericho. I’ve literally gone through blood, sweat, and tears to make it my home.”
Heather reached out for his hand. “So what will you do?
Ed smiled. “That the interesting part. Jake asked me to become a partner in his business.”
At first Heather was surprised, but as she thought about it, it made sense. What had occurred between Jake and Ed was ancient history and they’d since become close friends. She also realized that Jake needed a partner if he was going to expand his business and Ed was the most logical choice. “What did you tell him?”
“That I was interested but I needed to talk to you about it. We would need to put a significant amount of our savings into the business.”
Heather was quiet for a moment. She thought about all they had been through, from the bombs and the fallout, to the conflict with New Bern, and eventually the war with the ASA. It felt good to think about building for their future instead of just trying to survive their present. “Well, it could be a good investment and a new adventure for us. If that’s what you want to do, we should go for it.”
Ed smiled appreciatively as he leaned in and kissed her. “What did I do to deserve you?”
Heather smiled playfully. “You were just lucky, I guess.” She reached over to him to return the kiss. That was the end of the conversation for the moment.
As Heather and Ed went through their normal nightly routine, including checking in on their sleeping daughter, she couldn’t help but think how lucky they were. Not just that they had survived the war, but because they had each other, their daughter, and a community of family and friends. After Ed got into bed and pulled her close to him, her last conscious thought of the day was to appreciate all that they had and promise to never take this life for granted.
The End