The Nuclear Family Pt. 04

Turned out Joanna's fiancé, Jordan was just a regular guy working as an administrator for one of the state government departments in Victoria. Joanna had met him as she now works in the same area and they had fallen in love.

As they told us their story a couple of days before the wedding, Joanna admitted that it was touch and go for a while once Jordan, her fiancé, found out who she was and that she was not a beloved Australian figure thanks to the mini-series. Jordan admitted that he broke up with her two weeks after Joanna told him about the other things that weren't in the mini-series. But Joanna had pursued him and managed to make him fall in love with her despite her broken past.

It also helped my sister that this would be a shotgun wedding. They were four months pregnant. I knew like with Georgia, I would never be close to Joanna. However, her betrayal for some reason didn't cut as deep, and she was the only living flesh and blood of my family with whom I had real contact, so Amy and I regularly talked with her over the years. I was surprised that they made it. Jordan and Joanna ended up with three kids, and to this day, they are kind of boring as a couple but very much in love. Joanna tells me the boring part keeps them together. There are no surprises and lots of communication. I know she's trying to leave her past behind.

Darren and Toni ended up with four kids. Being an older couple, no one saw it coming, but not long after the shooting, Toni became pregnant and not six months after that, she was surprised that they ended up being triplets. Today they are busy despite the nanny and a rotating au pair in their house. Darren still runs the dojo; its popularity has never decreased.

Peter and Ruth retired, buying themselves a campervan. These days they are travelling around Australia as grey nomads, hoping to make it back to Queensland for Christmas to see their grandkids. Ruth, who we heard very little of in this tale, is still married, and we get together every few months. She talks with her sisters quite a bit and often acts as a go-between with Georgia and Amy to arrange events when needed.

Lastly, Amy and I, well, of course, we're still together. ALRO and ALRO Homes are still going strong. We still get hounded by the media now and then, but nothing serious. I've been asked to commentate on a few fights on one of the sports networks since the shooting ended my fighting career, I'm yet to say yes, but Amy thinks I'd have fun.

Even as we ease our way into our forties, Amy is still my goddess and rescuing angel. Yeah, there are a few wrinkles as we're getting older. And yes, we argue and fight as all couples do. The kids are growing up fast, but we still hold hands every chance we get, laugh at the same jokes, and caress each other in bed at night and sometimes in different places. Her smile still makes my heart soar, and I'm a grumpy bastard when she's upset.

I know we still have a lot of years ahead of us, but I can only hope that the next forty years together don't have the same frenetic pace that the first forty did. I want to relax and enjoy our time together, see our kids grow up, fall in love and watch them get married. If we're fortunate, they won't have any of the challenges we had.

But right now I have to go. Amy just came into the room wearing a short, almost transparent robe. As I looked up at her, she opened it up, showing nothing underneath. My wife smiles at me, shakes her body at me, the good bits moving about very enticingly. Then she just turned around, walking away slowly, laughing.

The growl from my throat tells her I'm coming after her. Even now, this woman knows how to get my motor running.

So good fortune to you all. See your challenges as opportunities and hold onto your love like your life depends on it because I know that if I didn't hold onto Amy with everything I had, this story would have had a very different ending.

[:::: Fin ::::]

[:::: Authors Ending Note :::: ]

Thank you, everyone, for reading 'The Nuclear Family' this story started as something I wanted to do in one instalment, not the multi-part series it turned into. I enjoyed looking at the family drama in this one. What drew me to it was that my family doesn't have the explosive nature this one does, but several of my friends did. The first time I heard one family have a go at each other around the dinner table, I wanted to shrink away. But afterwards, my friend and his Mum and Dad explained that they were just their family and that because they fought didn't mean they didn't love each other. When I applied that to my own broken family relationship with my sisters and mother, this story was the result.

At the end of the tale, you will notice that I didn't go full burn on everyone, this was on purpose, and I wanted to explore what it would be like for a partial reconciliation as opposed to full forgiveness. You will notice that in the final scene with Robbie and Georgia, he never hugs or touches her. I want to think that forgiveness doesn't mean friendship, and I hope I explained that enough in the story. I also gave more forgiveness and reconciliation between Robbie and Joanna. Why? As someone who is estranged from members of my own immediate family, I see that should I reconcile with them, I don't think I would ever be close to them again, much like Robbie's view with Joanna, but that doesn't mean I wouldn't forgive them when it comes down to it.

Robbie's father, Brad Sr, was always a trip downhill. I wanted to see him fall deeper into the pit each time he interacted with Robbie. At first, I don't think he hated his son, but every time Robbie refused to go the way he wanted, Brad Sr became more and more bitter until that final fight.

Brad Jr was always the cliché idiot in my mind. He was as stupid and arrogant in the first scene as when he ended up as an alcoholic in the final scene.

As for Robbie, Initially, I wasn't going to take him down the path of a fighter. However, as I wrote him, I had a picture of a friend who went through a massive separation due to his wife stepping out on him last year. He worked with his hands but was also great at the booked and was trained in Maui Thai, so I wrote him after my friend. I know that the fight scenes went a little over the top, and after watching a few MMA fights to try and get some correct moves in the story, I understand that I missed a few things. Sorry about that; suspend your belief for me and enjoy the story.

In closing, I want to thank my amazing editing team again, miket0422, Larry & Wayne. You are fantastic and helped me structure and iron out mistakes I always miss.

So what's next on the agenda? I've got a few other stories drafted I need to polish. "She's Cheating on You", "Bed and Breakfast", and "On the Streets" are an edit away from being released. I've also drafted some shorter stories like "Abandoned Rage" and "The Sound of Silence" that I want to work on.

Lastly, I am about halfway through my next series, "Swings and Roundabouts", so there is a little on my plate, in addition to the usual real-life of running a couple of companies and raising a family.

As always, I enjoy seeing your comments. I like constructive comments that help me improve my writing and storytelling, insults, meh, if that's your way, it's cool, but don't expect me to reply. I've noticed a lot of negative comments so far, and I must admit I expect that to continue with this story ends. If you tell me that you love the story; well, happy to chat about my reasons thinking behind some of the characters, and like all authors, I love fan mail 😉.

Lastly, thank you for taking the time to read "The Nuclear Family", and I look forward to seeing you in the next story.

John Other