EPILOGUE

 

Two months later

 

 

The wedding fountain finally lived up to its name when Kiki and Trace were married standing in front of it on a bright February day, the spectacular antique fountain that had spilled out the waters of life for well over one hundred years. Now, the fountain itself was living again, a symbol of all things that continued on. The symbol of those starting a new life together.

With only close family as witnesses – Bill and Sylvia Delohr, Jim Delohr, Jesse and his wife, Shaun and Rick Rocklin, Trace’s son Alex, and the still-giggling Esme and Embry Conrad, Kiki and Trace said their vows to the gentle sounds of the fountain that had come to mean so much to them. It was where they first met and now where they swore to be true to each other for the rest of their lives. They promised to love, honor, and cherish one other until the end of time as Stanley milled around their feet, participating as best a dog could.

When the wedding officiant gave his final blessing, Trace kissed his new wife for the first time as Jesse and Shaun whistled and hooted, causing Trace and Kiki to break down into laughter. But it didn’t matter; everything about this day was full of joy and laughter, and a new life for two people who had been so very lost before finding one another. A new day, and a new chapter, had finally begun for Trace and Kiki Rocklin.

Later that night, after the guests had left and Embry, Esme, and Alex were up in the finished attic coming to know each other now that they were siblings, Kiki and Trace sat out on the dark front porch, watching the fountain in the moonlight, pondering the very busy day and watching Stanley mill around in the darkness.

Kiki sat on Trace’s lap as he gently rocked her back and forth on the new patio rocker. In fact, nearly everything was new now at The Wedding Fountain venue and they’d already booked two weddings. The kitchen, the last thing to be remodeled, was nearly finished and the rest of the house shined like a new penny. It was a time of change and excitement as Austin Glen’s old house began to live a new life as well.

“What’s on the agenda for tomorrow?” Trace asked his wife, kissing her cheek. “Alex has got to fly back to Chicago in a couple of days so I was thinking we should take the kids somewhere and bond as a family. I know our kids are adults, but they should still get to know each other.”

Kiki nodded. “I haven’t really thought about it but you’re right,” she said, watching Stanley sniff around the fountain. “I’ve been so consumed thinking about our wedding and the two weddings we have booked next weekend that I haven’t thought about much else.”

Trace grinned, giving her a hug. “It’s about to start,” he said. “You wanted to turn this into a wedding venue. Now you’ve got it.”

Kiki lifted her eyebrows with some irony. “Be careful what you wish for, right?”

“Something like that.”

“Are you sure you can help me and work for your dad at the same time?”

He poo-pooed her. “Piece of cake,” he said. “Jesse has no life. You know he’ll help, too.”

Kiki snorted. “There you go again, volunteering your brother for stuff he has no say in.”

Trace shrugged. “Well, he doesn’t have a life.”

“He’s got a wife and two kids!”

Trace suddenly looked at his watch. “Speaking of kids, we’d better go get working on having some of our own,” he said, a mischievous grin on his face. “Ready to retire for the evening, Mrs. Rocklin?”

Kiki laughed and climbed off his lap. “Uh oh,” she said. “Are you going to start that old song and dance again?”

He stood up from the chair, stretching his big body out. “I sure am,” he said. “The melody, the harmony, and everything else.”

Kiki continued to laugh as she put her hands over her ears. “We have three grown children between us,” she reminded him yet again. The having-children conversation had been a running gag between them for the past month, only Trace was fairly serious about it. “Do we really want to start over with kids of our own? I’m not getting any younger, you know.”

He whistled low for the dog, who left the fountain and trotted over in his direction. “Look,” he said, pointing to the mutt. “All I have is Bullfrog. He’s our only child and he’s really ugly. I would like to have some better-looking children with you. You’re only thirty-nine years old. I don’t know why you think you’re too old to have more children.”

Kiki couldn’t stop laughing. “Because I am too old.”

He wouldn’t let up. “Just one? Just one so I don’t have to go the rest of my life giving all of my attention to that fat dog?”

She tried to push him away but he wouldn’t budge. Trace swooped down and scooped her up into his muscular arms, carrying his giggling wife into the house as the dog followed, and continued up into their bedroom where he shut Stanley out for the night. For what he was about to do, he didn’t want an audience. Undeterred, Stanley went to find his cozy-comfy bed in the kitchen as on the floor over his head, Kiki and Trace experienced the physical pleasures of their marriage.

It was pleasure that would come to fruition. Ten months and two days after their wedding day, Trace got his wish. After fifteen hours of labor, Kiki gave birth to a nine-pound baby boy and Trace wept when the doctor put the squirming infant into his arms. Gazing into his son’s red and angry face, he called him by his name - Austin, after the man who’d built the house he was conceived in.

Agua de la Vida.

For Trace and Kiki, the waters of the wedding fountain had blessed them all because life, as they knew it, continued on with a new generation.

Austin Richard Rocklin, and his parents, all had great lives ahead of them.

 

 

*** THE END ***