Ryan's Summer Pt. 05

EPILOG

The football stadium was packed with family and friends as the commencement ceremonies began. Fortunately it was a beautiful mid-May day with clear skies and bright sunshine. The gathered crowd was buzzing with excitement as the school principal began to read the names of the graduating class.

After several hundred names he read out, "Ryan Crawford."

Ryan heard his name and walked with determined steps up the stairs to the stage. His black gown flowed with the warm breeze as the cap sat perilously on his head. He looked out at the audience and saw his mother and two sisters sitting proudly in the front row. Several rows back sat four other women who looked on just as proudly. One was holding an infant boy... Ryan Lloyd Wellsworth. Her naming the baby after him surprised him. However, she said that Lloyd didn't want a junior or a Lloyd Wellsworth II. He wondered if she was telling him the truth. It didn't matter anyway. Both she and Lloyd seemed exceedingly happy... she had her baby and he had an heir to his fortune and someone to carry on the family name.

He waved to all the women in his life, with a special salute to Cindy, who he had grown very close to. While he loved all of the women in his own way, Cindy was more his age and he was hoping that their relationship would grow. But then, he had special feelings for Mary, who held his son... a son that would never know the truth. However, Ryan was determined to be special in his life. Then there was Gabrielle and Sandra... both insatiable and loving. They had taught him how to be a man and so much more.

As he took the diploma and waved again, he felt a wave of sadness. While it was the happiest day of his life, it was also the saddest, as he would be leaving for college in the fall. Leaving the women he loved, friends, and family, to venture off to a new world.

He had often thought that this day would never come. He had all but given up hope of going to college because he could see no way to get a scholarship. His meager savings wouldn't get him through the first year of books alone. He had tried many times to ask Mary for a loan, but after he found out that she was pregnant, he could never bring himself to ask her. He felt that it would be too much like he was asking for a reward for being the father of her baby. When all seemed hopeless, and to his great surprise, Mary, Sandra, and Gabrielle had arranged for him to receive a full four-year scholarship to a prestigious southern university. He wasn't sure if they had put up money or just knew someone important. He assumed that it was the latter. What he didn't know was that his good friend Benny had orchestrated the entire thing.

Ryan took the diploma and shook the principal's hand. As he walked off stage he saw Benny standing in the back row. He waved to his friend and held up his diploma. He saw him return a thumbs up sign.

The school song began to play and some of the students wiped tears from their eyes. Ryan turned and looked at his lady friends again. He smiled at the thought that he would still get to visit them on the job this summer and for three summers afterward. But he would miss them in between... especially Cindy. Nonetheless, the future was indeed bright and very exciting. He was a lucky man.

The End