The Spell - Family Ties Ch. 05 - Epilogue

All characters are over the age of 18.

Clark had been nervous about returning to the job in his nude state.

The office could be a bit of a macho place sometimes and having the boss walk around naked all the time certainly left him open for teasing with some of his workforce,

But to his sigh of relief, the teasing was minimal, which might have been attributable to the fact that it was extremely evident that he was now hooking up with a cancer-free Rashida,

Many a bet was settled that day.

Aaron personally took home a twenty that day.

Things became slightly more uncomfortable when it came time to deal with customers,

Many eyes widened when a customer walked through the front door to find a naked Rashida waiting by the front desk, and they were even more surprised when it came time to discuss business with her naked boss.

That wasn't even the worst part, apparently, nudies prefer to patronize what they prefer to be nudie businesses,

It took three days for them to be permanently perceived as a nudie business, from that moment forward, every new customer who walked through the front door, called in or sent an email was a nudie.

Clark almost began to become depressed by this fact before Rashida pointed out that their requests for quotes from new customers had doubled since last week, which seemed to lighten his mood greatly.

He took out an ad in the local paper advertising them as now 'Nudie Friendly' to capitalize on their newfound reputation,

It wasn't long after that, sensing where the company was going, more and more people began showing up nude to work, each receiving a big celebratory hug from Rashida upon entering the door.

A couple of people began to feel uncomfortable in the increasingly naked environment and turned in their resignations, luckily no one who quit was a long-time employee so their loss was not felt too deeply in a social sense.

By Friday the only person left with any clothes on was the young customer service rep Ali, who very clearly enjoyed the nudity even if she was not brave enough to join in herself,

It didn't take Rashida longer than the lunch break to inspire courage in her and eventually, her clothes were thrown in the dumpster out back with everyone else's.

With such a busy week for Clark, Aaron was mostly left to finish the fence-building job alone during the week, the posts were already in the ground so it was just a matter of nailing up the boards in between, a job Aaron could do on his own with minimal complications,

He didn't see Maddie the whole week, the only evidence he had she existed was the shifting of curtains and shadows from inside the house,

Then came the best part of his day, Chloe got off work about the same time Aaron did, and in a pretty close by part of town, so she would stop by at the end of the day to give him a lift home.

They never made it home within the first fifteen minutes of the trip actually, usually stopping along the way at a hidden beach, a far-off grassy meadow or even in the back seat parked on some obscure dirt row to intimately memorize each other's bodies.

Aaron was never questioned why he was so late coming home at the end of the day, Rashida and Clark were usually later than him coming home, taking even more time after work to do much the same thing.

On the Saturday after Clark, Rashida and Aaron had come to work naked Clark finally had a free moment to help with the fence job, but at that point, the job was already completed, all that was left was to clean up and return the materials to the office.

"Aaron, son," Clark marvelled as the two loaded wooden planks onto the back truck, "I'm very impressed with what you've done here,"

"It's just a fence," Aaron shrugged off, "Not particularly complex, just did what you taught me,"

"Do you know how hard it is to teach some of these guys how to build something even half as good as this?" Clark said, "I swear it can be like herding cats sometimes."

They were interrupted by Clark's phone ringing from the front seat,

"Hello?" He answered, "Oh hey Rashida what's up,"

Aaron couldn't notice Clark's smile when he heard Rashida's voice,

"No, Aaron and I are just cleaning up that fence job," he explained, "We just have to swing by the office first before we get back home,"

He paused to listen to her response,

"Yeah that sounds great," he agreed, "All right, see you then... love you too,"

It was only after hanging up that he noticed Aaron staring at him with a stoic expression on his face.

"Hey look I know you and I've never talked about-," Clark began before being interrupted,

"I'm gonna say something," Aaron interrupted, "And I'm just gonna leave it there, and that's gonna be the last word said on the matter, I'm really happy for the two of you, I hope it lasts, I hope you make each other very happy, but..."

He paused to accentuate his point,

"If you ever hurt her," Aaron continued, "I will hunt you down to the ends of the earth and kick your ass."

"Sure you will pal," Clark smiled, patting Aaron on the shoulder,

"I'll really do it," Aaron insisted as Clark went to pick up the toolbox,

"I said I believe you," Clark assured him,

"Yeah, but in the same way you said you'd believe me when I was six and insisted I was gonna be the first man on Mars," Aaron argued.

"You might still do that," Clark teased, "That title's still up for grabs,"

"You really don't believe I could kick your ass," Aaron said, "Dude I push you right and you throw out your back,"

"I didn't say..." Clark paused, "Wait are you calling me old?"

"You are old," Aaron stated,

"I'm barely forty," Clark argued,

"Yeah, that's old," Aaron nodded,

"Alright, in twenty years I want you to remember this conversation," Clark ordered, "Until then sweep for nails while I get Maddie to sign the paperwork, then we'll go find a parking lot to duke it out in and a couple of bums to bet on it."

"Whatever you say, Grandpa," Aaron teased, pulling the large magnetic bar they use to find nails in the grass out of the truck bed as Clark searched for the paperwork in the glove box,

Aaron watched out of the corner of his eye as Clark walked up to the door and knocked, secretly hoping to catch another glimpse of Maddie and her loosely tied robe.

He was doomed to be disappointed however as Maddie came out in a fancy yet modest sundress,

"I thought I saw more of you two out there," She remarked, checking out Clark for a moment and even sneaking a peak over at Aaron, "The fence looks great anything I need to sign?"

Clark managed to keep his composure as Maddie signed the papers, he did however notice her hands shaking as she scribbled down her signature,

"Hold on," Maddie said as Clark was about to leave, "I have a check for you, it's in the kitchen give me a sec,"

She disappeared back into the house leaving Clark on the port,

"Billing will be happy with that," Aaron remarked as he tossed the collected jar of nails and magnetic bar into the back seat,

"He might not notice," Clark said, "Roger's been kind of distracted lately,"

"Wonder why?" Aaron said semi-sarcastically, walking up to the porch to wait next to him.

"We just gotta give him a little patience," Clark assured him, "Look at you and me and how long it took us to get used to the..."

Clark's voice trailed off as Maddie stepped back out onto the porch sans sundress, now revealing every single perfect curve she had let remain hidden when her robe fell open.

"Here's your check," she smiled, holding up the slip of paper with a still shaking hand,

"Oh... uh," Clark stammered collecting himself, "Thank you,"

He reached out to accept the check, careful not to touch her skin out of common etiquette,

Before he could pull his hand away Maddie grabbed it and deliberately shook it,

"You guys did great work, thank you so much," she said with a winning smile,

"Actually it was Aaron here who did most of the work," Clark informed her,

"Well thank you, Aaron," Maddie said, letting go of Clark's hand and pulling Aaron in a quick hug, leaving no doubt she was infected,

"Well, you both have a good day," Maddie said, stepping back inside and closing the door suspiciously quickly.

"Was that ever part of one of your 'rodeo'?" Aaron asked, still in shock,

"Nope," Clark admitted, "Let's go home,"

"Good idea," Aaron said before the two immediately stepped off the porch and marched towards the truck.

As the two made one last sweep before leaving Maddie's husband pulled into the driveway and climbed out of his car, looking like he was boiling in his three-piece suit under the midnight sun,

"Looks good guys," He said, loosening his tie as he walked up his porch, "You get your check?"

"Yes..." Clark said hesitantly, "Your wife made sure we had it,"

"Good," he sighed, wiping his brow, "I tell ya, you guys have the right idea in this weather, hotter than the business end of a volcano out here, you boys have a good night, alright?"

"You two sir," Clark said, trying his best to keep his composure over the thought of what was waiting in that house,

Once he had entered his house Aaron and Clark hurriedly finished their sweep and pulled out of the driveway before Maddie's husband could come out swinging.

After a few moments of uncomfortable silence, Aaron finally spoke up,

"I'll give you and mom the evening alone," he said, "I'll be with Chloe,"

"Good idea," Clark nodded, pressing his cold bottle of water against his forehead.

***

As the first week came to a close it was followed by the first month, and with the following months, the leaves began to change colour as the seasons changed to fall.

And with the fall came the necessity to move on with life,

When he began the summer Aaron had no intention of actually attending the college he had been accepted into, with his mother's cancer came the necessity to stay behind and take care of her.

But his world had changed a lot in the past few weeks, now his mom was better than ever, finally having the endurance to go back to work full time while spending the evenings in her garden or swimming in the backyard pool.

Her hair had even come back, it wasn't at the length it used to be but at least she had a full head full of it once again, not to mention another region she had let grow out.

But finally assured that his mother was okay Aaron had allowed himself to get excited for college, excitement that only grew when he learned that Chloe would be going to a school only a few blocks away and that meant that they could find a place to rent together much to her father's disapproval.

So on the day it was finally time to pack up the truck and move out, Chloe's father would walk across the street and take Aaron by the hand, nearly breaking all the bones in his fingers as he calmly explained every gruesome thing he would do to him if he didn't do right by his daughter, before throwing the bag he was carrying for her into Chloe's arms and marching back to his house.

"That means he likes you," Chloe assured him before explaining that her last boyfriend suddenly went missing after the first time she had invited them over for dinner,

It was unclear if she was kidding or not.

"Thanks for letting us use your truck Clark," She said, taking the bag from her boyfriend and tossing it in the flatbed of the vehicle,

"You kidding," Clark said as he lifted one of Aaron's bags right next to the others, "Rashida and I have been waiting for this boy to go to college for years,"

"Don't act so excited old man," Aaron smiled back,

Chloe laughed.

"Oh shit," she remembered, "I forgot my laptop, kinda need that, don't I?"

Both men couldn't help but enjoy the view as she ran back across the street to her house,

"Hey, you know I'm kidding right?" Clark said, his tone growing immediately more serious, "Your mom's gonna miss you like hell,"

"I'll be around," Aaron assured him, "My building doesn't have a washing machine so I'll be coming back pretty often,"

"Aaron, son," Clark said, "You're naked,"

Aaron had to pause for a moment and look down at his body to remind himself.

He was kind of shocked he had forgotten, shocked that all it took was three months of being infected to forget more than two decades of modesty.

"Oh shit you're right," Aaron remarked, "Well I guess I'm coming back for free food,"

"Whatever gets you in the door," Clark smiled, "Hey speaking of which where is your mom?"

"Probably having a moment," Aaron figured, "I'll go find her."

He tossed one last bag in the truck before jogging into the house to find his mother, eventually finding her sitting on the stripped bed in his empty room,

While the door was open she looked to be lost in thought so he gently knocked on the frame, her head snapping towards him when she heard the noise.

It was hard to put a finger on what her face was expressing,

Part of him expected her to be crying, simply due to how many times he had seen it happen in movies, but her eyes were as dry as ever. They were however as wide as plates, and her face incredibly pale.

In short, she looked about ready to throw up,

"Is everything okay?" Aaron asked,

"Oh yeah," Rashida nodded, composing herself, "I'm fine,"

Aaron noticed the phone in her hand and how unusually tightly she was gripping it,

"Who were you talking to?" Aaron asked, sitting in the desk chair across from her.

"I..." she trailed off before shaking her shoulders to psych herself up, "I just got off the phone with my doctor, he had the results from my checkup last Wednesday,"

"Was it good news?" Aaron asked, the blood rushing from his face when he connected her expression to the news she had just received, "The cancer's back... isn't it."

Rashida took a deep breath as Aaron braced himself for the worst,

"No, that's not it," she denied, "Apparently I'm the 'picture of health', his words in-fact,"

Aaron allowed himself to breathe once again,

"Then what is it?" Aaron said, unable to stop himself from smiling.

"Umm," she hesitated, Aaron reassured her by reaching over and squeezing her hand, "Doctor said my blood tests came back... I'm pregnant."

Aaron froze for a moment,

"Pregnant?" He said,

"Yes," Rashida confirmed,

"You're pregnant?" He reiterated,

"Yes," she repeated,

"You're-,"

"Yes!" She interrupted, "I'm pregnant, with child, knocked up,"

Aaron paused again,

"Aren't you too old to have another kid?" He said bluntly,

"How old do you think I am?" Rashida asked, making no effort to hide her offence.

"Okay, um..." Aaron stammered, "How do you feel?"

"I'm kinda freaking out, thanks for asking!" She snapped,

"Why?" Aaron questioned, "Isn't this just 'been there done that' for you?"

"Honey, no offence," she began, choosing her words carefully, "But the last time this happened it was kind of a disaster,"

"Okay, point taken," Aaron accepted, "But you're in a completely different space now, you don't have to worry about Grandpa and Grandma kicking you out, you already know everything that's going to happen, I'm gonna be right across town so you can call whenever you need help, and something tells me your employer will give you a pretty decent maternity package."

"Oh my god, Clark," Rashida realized, "How do I tell him? We never even discussed kids we've only been seeing each other for a few months,"

"Are you serious?" Aaron questioned, a little bit in disbelief, "Clark's the last thing you have to worry about right now, he helped you raise a kid that wasn't even his, he's downstairs in the driveway sweating like a pig moving that kid and his girlfriend across town out of nothing but the goodness of his heart, you think that's even a fraction of what he's gonna do for a kid that's his, not the mention the mother of that kid who he's been pinning for the last decade."

Rashida, with tears in her eyes, stood up and hugged her son,

"Everything's gonna work out Mom," Aaron assured her, "You can let yourself be excited about it... I know you want to,"

"I do," she nodded, smiling and wiping away the tears,

"And look on the bright side," he joked, "At least you won't have to buy this one clothes."

Rashida laughed as the two walked back downstairs and into the driveway,

"There you are," Clark said as the two walked out of the house, "You about ready to head out?"

He began to walk towards his keys which were resting on the porch railing before Aaron snatched them up and quickly paced to the driver's side door,

"Actually mom has something to tell you," Aaron said, "Don't you mom?"

He then turned to Chloe who had returned from her laptop and hissed at her, "Get in the car,"

"Aaron bud, what's this about?" Clark said, an eyebrow Ed raised at his behaviour,

"Get in the car Chlo," Aaron repeated, this time she complied, "You and Mom just have something to talk about, and it might take a while, so you two talk and we'll drop this stuff off and come back for the rest in an hour, okay?"

Rashida gave Aaron a rather dissatisfied look, almost as if saying, "Really, you're gonna just ditch me?"

"Don't worry Mom," he assured her, climbing into the driver's seat, "It'll be fine,"

That seemed to catch Clark's attention, no longer concerned by Aaron and Chloe driving away in his truck, he turned to Rashida with concern.

Aaron didn't hear when Rashida began talking as he was halfway down the block by then,

Only able to see them in his rearview mirror when he stopped a few houses away.

"What are you doing?" Chloe asked, following his gaze and looking through the mirror herself.

Rashida's body language was compact and closed off, carefully holding her arms to her body as she remained what she felt was a safe distance away,

Clark on the other hand looked patient and relaxed, before suddenly growing tense, likely at the moment Rashida said the word doctor.

She seemed to stammer on for about another minute before Clark took a step back, almost as if he had just been hit by a train,

Rashida continued to ramble on before Clark lunged at her and lifted her off the ground in a hug, spinning her around with an expression of unrestrained glee. Once she had turned to where Aaron could see her face once again he could see that her smile was now just as wide.

Satisfied with the outcome Aaron smiled, put the car in drive and pulled away, catching a final glimpse of the two kissing before turning the corner.

"What was that about?" Chloe asked, laughing at the magnificent grin on her boyfriend's face.