Let's Make a Deal Pt. 20- Epilogue 04

Author's note:

This is the final continuation of a very long story. It won't make sense to you if you haven't read all the rest. I'm sorry, but the numbering of the epilogues is a little confusing. The part labeled "Epilogue 1" contained two sections of epilogue, and this last part (labeled "Epilogue 4") does as well.

Parts 19 and 20 were written for my own enjoyment only, with no thought of releasing them to others. After it all grew and I thought about it some more, I changed my mind.

If you didn't like the previous parts, you're almost certain not to like this. In particular, if what you want from a story is detailed descriptions of sexual acts, you may as well just go on to something else. You won't find them here.

Thank you to those few who bothered to read the earlier parts, especially those who sent me feedback encouraging me.

Epilogue 4: A quick summary, and Hannah and Nancy at age twelve

Brian and Lynda were quicker to start having children than Scott and Martha, and theirs were also spaced a little more closely together. Their firstborn was named Nancy because both their mothers were named Nancy. She was not quite a year younger than Hannah. The next three were Traci, Rob, and Kelli. (Scott told Lynda he was afraid she was developing an "i" problem.)

It seemed good to all four to raise their children to consider the others as aunts and uncles. In fact, after a while, Hannah and Nancy spent so much of their time together that strangers tended to assume that they were sisters, and still later they confused many people by introducing each other as "my cousin". While they were growing up, because Hannah was so much taller, people also often assumed that Nancy was a lot younger and Hannah older than they actually were.

And one side benefit of the girls' inseparability was something of a surprise to them all. Brian was the fourth of seven children, and most of his older siblings had settled in the area. When Nancy went to see them, Hannah often went along, and after a little while they accepted her calling them "aunt" or "uncle", and mostly treated her as though she really were their niece as well. This carried over to the younger Davidsons as they came along, though not quite as strongly.

As much as Martha longed for a large family, she had trouble becoming pregnant. Scott made sure she understood that he thought the problem was likely with him, and that he wouldn't love her less however few or many children they had. It still hurt her a lot when she found herself undergoing menopause when they only had three. But she soon realized that Brian's and Lynda's kids might call her Aunt Martha, but they treated her like a second mother. Nancy brought some of the younger ones along, most any time she came over—which was constantly.

The other two Davidson children were named Brian and Lynda. This caused less confusion than it might have, but of course there was some. Scott had some trouble keeping the younger Bruce kids straight, sometimes, because so often he wasn't home when they came over, and they were close in age and showed a marked family resemblance. He knew names and sequence, all right, but faced with a particular child he often had to guess. As for Martha, when they were there they were treated as if they were hers, and most of the time she found it a joy. She didn't get them mixed up any more often than Lynda did.

In fact, all four of the adults found that they needed some big discussions about discipline, as Hannah and Nancy began showing a real talent for figuring out what adult was most likely to say yes to any given proposed activity. The solution to that was simply to make clear that such behavior would always lead to loss of future privileges. Going to Martha and saying, "We want to do this but we're afraid Dad will say no," however, might just lead to Martha's checking with Scott—and also Lynda if her kids were involved—and even interceding on the kids' behalf. Or if they went to Scott and asked him, he would often—if asked—be amenable to checking with Martha and Lynda instead of just saying no.

Scott and Lynda were clearly the worriers of the four. Brian and his brothers had sometimes run pretty wild when they were little, and he was normally willing to allow anything that wasn't obviously insanely dangerous or expensive. In fact, early on he said flatly that if he was at work, not to interrupt him. If Scott and Lynda would agree, he said, that was good enough for him. And if they didn't agree, and Martha couldn't convince them, he was willing to stick with them, even if he might have done otherwise were he there. He was at least as quick as any of them to discipline over things that were morally shady, though, and the kids learned to think that through in advance.

Scott knew that his own impulse was to be overcautious to the point of squelching initiative, but left to himself that's what he would probably have done. Martha was apt to worry a little, but much less so than Scott, and they both wanted to encourage the kids to be brave and adventurous. When Scott was inclined to keep the kids on a tight leash, she often would quote to him, "Better drowned than duffers, if not duffers won't drown." He had always admired the character of Captain Ted Walker, RN. This came to be a standard reminder, just like "Discuss, don't dictate."

Lynda always worried, but if the others were willing she would usually go along. She would smile, pretty unconvincingly, and tell Scott, "Well, it's against my better judgment, but . . . " And then she would agree to whatever it was—and then worry.

She was the one who, when her children were teenagers and out to late events, would sit up waiting for them to come home safely. When the boys were in sports, she was always there to watch the games, and if people around her wondered why she wasn't cheering enthusiastically, she didn't enlighten them. There were a number of reasons for this.

First and foremost, she recognized that she was usually worrying unnecessarily. This didn't help her feelings, but she did realize that she was a poor judge of the actual risk. She trusted the others, absolutely. She had promised, wholeheartedly, to obey Brian, understanding that this didn't mean a passive anything-you-say-dear attitude but an active partnership. But she had been able to do this because she saw she could trust him to listen to her concerns and consider them. She also felt herself to be somewhat under Scott's authority, though she was careful not to tell either of them, or even Martha, about that. She trusted Scott, just as much as she trusted Brian, she thought, and maybe he still understood her a little better than Brian did. So if Scott didn't say something was too dangerous or stupid to allow, once all the issues had been discussed, she agreed to it, however much she might agonize later.

But as the kids got older, they started going to Scott first if they wanted to do something and thought it was iffy. It looked as though they figured out that he would ask what-happens-if questions rather than just say no, if they gave him a chance. He might say, "That seems like a really bad idea, because . . . ," but if they started trying to improve the idea, he would help them brainstorm. If they got it to where he would agree, he would insist on running it by the other parents, but once he was on board there wouldn't be any problem.

At any rate, all the kids survived. There were plenty of bloody elbows and knees, a reasonable number of sprains, and a couple of broken arms or so, but even Scott agreed that this wasn't unreasonable. Kids were kids, after all. Lynda learned to restrain herself from running out in terror every time she saw someone fall off a bike, and even to be pretty matter of fact in applying the needed bandages.

Brian and Lynda's solution to permanent housing came when one of the houses on Scott and Martha's "street"—actually a private road, more like a common driveway—went up for sale. They bought it, but didn't immediately move in. They wanted a lot of remodeling done, and while they were at it they had a contractor put on an addition, four more bedrooms and two bathrooms. They were planning for a large family.

This got Scott thinking, and consulting Martha, and so when they were expecting their second (Brian), they took a vacation not too far from home, and had an addition put on their house as well. Architectural purists would have been wringing their hands, but it almost doubled the available space. Besides two more bedrooms and two bathrooms, they put on a large room to house most of their book collection, even if it continued growing, and off of that two small office/study rooms, one for Scott and one for Martha. In principle, this also freed up the bedroom that had been a study before. As things worked out, that became a playroom and workroom. This still left them oversupplied with bedrooms, as things turned out, but over the years they provided hospitality to many visitors, enough that almost every year there was some time that all the bedrooms were full, often with some sleeping bags on the floors. Being able to do this made Martha very happy, every time. It wasn't often that they took someone in as she had done with Lynda—it did happen from time to time, though never so long-term—but their children grew up viewing easy hospitality as natural, and habitually opened their own homes to others when they were grown up.

The two properties actually adjoined, and they soon cut through the trees and brush and put in a flagstone walkway between the two houses. The kids were back and forth all the time, and it was a lot more convenient for the adults as well.

For a while, Martha and Lynda worked part time so that they could take turns caring for the girls, but as more children arrived they both stayed home, and much of the time it was together. Scott did see this coming, and picked a couple of other employees to be trained by Martha and Lynda—and him, of course—to take over what they had been doing. He didn't want ever again to be caught the way he had been when he'd had to fire Martha. He wondered how he'd ever managed before Martha had developed into his indispensable assistant. But at any rate, thereafter he made sure he always had at least two people who had been moved around enough to know all parts of the business well enough to take over if he wasn't available. His big problem was finding people he felt sure he could trust. For whatever reasons, the people he picked for this all lived up to the trust he had to put in them. Not all of the people he hired to take over their previous jobs were as trustworthy, though.

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When Hannah was almost thirteen, and Nancy was just twelve, they came to Scott and Martha. Hannah seemed a little embarrassed, but finally came out with a question. "Dad, did you and Mom have sex before you were married?"

Scott did wonder where this question came from, but he answered it without probing. "Hannah, are you unusually dense today? You know the answer to questions like that. It's none of your business, and I say that whether we did or we didn't. You know what's right and wrong. If we did something wrong, that doesn't mean it's OK for you to do the same. If we didn't, I still say the same thing. With some people, that answer would tell you the real answer would be yes, but you know me better than that." Then he just waited. He was sure more was coming.

The girls looked at each other, Hannah with an I-told-you-so expression on her face. She said, "Someone told us you did. And a lot more stuff, but there's no point in asking you about that, when you won't even answer what I did ask."

Scott said, "You know what to do about gossip. Don't listen if you can help it. I gather that you did and it's bothering you, since you're asking us. Don't believe it. Don't pass it on. And don't expect a yes or no from me, or your mom either, unless it really is your business somehow."

The girls laughed, but then Hannah looked serious. "Dad, I'm not asking because I'm facing a situation. But if you did that, or some of the other stuff, can I really trust you, both of you, not to decide someday that there's someone you like better? That's really what worries me."

Scott sighed and said, "OK. Sit down, both of you. I've got things to say to that, and it may take a little while." When they were all sitting, he said, "Now, you know I do sometimes tell you things that are really none of your business, if it seems likely to help and if it doesn't tear anyone else down. I've told you some things from before I married Chris. You know that it wasn't because I was being good that I didn't sleep with one girl, and there could have been others if things had gone differently. Sometimes being innocent gets you in trouble, but sometimes it does keep you out of it, and it sure did for me that time. Nancy, you've heard about what I'm referring to, too, right?" She nodded.

"I told you about that time to emphasize that in sex—as in lots of temptations—once you get started it's hard to stop. You remember that comic strip, too, right?" The strip, Cathy, from many years earlier, showed her saying that she wouldn't even drive by the store, then that she wouldn't stop, then that she wouldn't go down the candy aisle, and so on—ending as she pigged out. He'd tracked it down on line and printed it, and used it repeatedly with his kids, and Nancy had been in on the lesson more than once.

"OK, I am going to tell you a few things that are relevant to what you asked, but not an answer. One of them really is your business, or will be one of these days, and I doubt you've even thought about it.

"First off, between the time Chris was killed and the time I married your mom, I did have sex with one other woman. I'm ashamed to admit it, but it did happen, and your mom knows all about it." Hannah had looked at Martha for a moment. "It went on for a very few months, less than half a year, and we ended it because we both knew it was wrong, and we agreed that we had to quit it. Neither of us was married at the time—so we weren't thinking of dishonesty to spouses—and when we stopped, we stopped. Period. We decided that we wouldn't get married—aside from sex we really weren't right for each other—and it wasn't because we already were married to someone else. So you understand, I'm not refusing to answer your question because I'm somehow trying to make it sound like I never do anything seriously wrong. Got that much? Oh, and that woman and Chris and your mom are the only ones I've ever had sex with. And your mom never, ever, had sex with any man but me, and never even came at all close to it. That's more than is your business, but I do hope it helps with your worry.

"The other thing really is your business, or may be someday. Neither your mom nor I ever had a child with anyone else. There's no possibility at all that you might get married to someone, or think about it, and then find out he's your half brother. Nancy, the same goes for your folks. This is not something they wouldn't have talked about with us, and we've known them well since they were teenagers, besides.

"But I guess I should throw in one more thing. I can't really imagine reasonable circumstances that would cause your mom and me to split up. The same for your folks, Nancy. You both know all four of us, and there's not much we try to keep from you. But having said that, I've known a few couples who have divorced after many years together, and to me it came out of the blue, quite a shock. I don't know why—it's been none of my business, and I know of nothing to be gained by asking, or knowing. My point is that I've let you down sometimes, and your mom has too." Hannah nodded, looking very serious indeed. "But I know of no reason to think that's coming in our family. Beyond that, it's a matter to pray about, and to trust the Lord to provide strength and protection, day by day.

"I suspect that all of those other couples I mentioned had problems for quite a while, that just didn't show to anyone else. But your mom and I are committed not just to not divorcing, ever, but to actually sitting down and working through any problems we do develop. That can be hard and painful, but that's what we've promised, and we've tried to be faithful to it."

Hannah was quiet for a minute or two. Then she said, very seriously, "Thanks, Dad. That doesn't answer the question I asked, but it answers the question that had me worried." She got up, and came and gave him a hug and a kiss on the cheek, and then the same to Martha. She said, "A lot of the kids I know really talk like their parents are idiots who just want to keep them from having fun. They ignore what they say as much as they can get away with. I know you've tried to raise me differently, but you're different from their parents too. You never tell me, 'Do as I say, not as I do.' That makes it a lot easier. Thank you for that, too."

Scott held up his hand. "Wait a moment, hon. I think I know what you mean, and I'm glad you see it that way. But if you think, you know there are at least a couple of ways I might say just that.

"For one, there are things that aren't OK for you because you're too young. You know I don't drink, beyond a sip or two of champagne at a wedding or something—and I do mean a sip or two—but your mom occasionally has a glass of wine. You're under age yet, so you're absolutely not to drink alcoholic beverages for a few years yet. You already know that, and why, of course.

"But relating more to what you meant, I sure will try to act in a way that I can say, 'Do as I do,' and if you catch me failing at that you should point it out to me. Using good judgment about when and how, of course. But I just told you about some serious wrongdoing on my part before I married your mom. It's not 'Do as I say, not as I do,' but more like, 'Don't do as I did.' Learn from my bad examples as well as my good ones. And, finally, well, what's the rule Paul laid down? 'Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.' You owe the Lord, not me, obedience. Obedience to me and your mom, yes, but even when we tell you what to do, and we do always try to make that godly instruction, the Lord's the one you have to obey. And it works the same for our example."

Both girls nodded. This was not at all a new idea to either of them. Hannah came back and hugged and kissed him again. "Dad, most of the kids I know also don't have parents who care so much about getting all the details right. Sometimes, like now, it can get a little tedious. But I'd rather have you any day, than their parents who just don't care about the details. You know. 'OK, whatever.'"

Scott said, "Hannah, and Nancy too, can you take one more thing now? It's not related to what we were saying, but to what you were doing." They looked a little puzzled, but nodded and said, "Sure."

Scott said, "If I'm not careful, this will come down on you harder than I mean it to. When you were younger, for a talk like this I'd likely have set you in my lap to talk about it, either one of you. Even just a year or so ago. I can't afford to do this with you, not on any extended basis. What you just did, brief hug and kiss on cheek, was just fine. But now that you're really young women, and very pretty ones now and I expect really beautiful in two or three years, you need to be careful to keep that kind of thing brief. Even with me, but especially with boys your age and a little older. Expressing sisterly, or daughterly, affection is good, and I'm proud and happy that you do it freely. But you need to know that men, and boys, get aroused fast, and make sure that you're not communicating more than you mean. And with that, I'm going to cop out and tell you to talk with either of your mothers if you need more information or discussion. Both about the effects on the guys, and about the effects on you. You really need a woman's point of view on it."