Epilogue
Eighteen months Later
“Let’s go, dammit!” I yell up the stairs of the new digs, to my wife. We moved to a new house a few months ago that sat right on the Harbor. The windows that line the back of the house, reflect the rare sunset as it bounces off the water casting a purple haze on the walls.
I watch as Axe runs down the steps before jumping into my arms and planting a kiss on my cheek. “What’s up boy? She coming or what?” I ask, still using ASL, though his hearing has improved greatly, he still struggles.
We toyed with the idea of putting him in a school for the hearing impaired, but decided that we didn’t see him as disabled, we weren’t putting that stamp on him either. He was in first grade and one of the brightest in his class.
“Yes, she says dammit in a minute.” He says, not signing and I laugh at the boldness.
“Axe is starting to swear thanks to you.” I yell up the stairs again.
“Can we take the Lam?” He asks like he always does.
“Mom will make us take her Escalade.” I say with a sigh. I hear the squeaking of a newborn baby and look at my feet seeing my angel baby squirming. I bend and lift the car seat over my arm, lifting the blanket and staring at my precious girl. “Rylie Roo.” I sing to her, trying to keep her calm.
Her little eyes don’t open, but she twists and stretches in response to my voice. I cherish those sounds or her little cries. I missed so much from Axe that I relished it with Rylie. Jen was still on maternity leave, but I steal this kiddo from her so she can rest. I do it for Jen, but mainly I am selfish and want to bond early with my daughter. So much so, that Jen keeps threatening to go back to the shop and work since I don’t share.
I share when she tells me that because I love having us all here together and I am not ready for summer to end, school start as well as our tour… I just want to soak up the love.
Rylie is two weeks old today and in a blink of an eye she will be eighteen. I want every minute I can with my children. I yell for Jen again, and in about five minutes, Me, the big and the little were going to bounce. She was being blessed tonight, seeing she is the star of the show she can’t be late.
“Dammit Jen-” I yell, but stop when I see black heels step by step down the stairs. I still get blown away by her beauty and that she’s ours. Me and my kids need her as much as she needs us.
I whistle low as I eye her body and every curve as she takes the stairs. It has been too long since I had my dick in her and seeing her dressed in the simple black dress, with pearls right over her ample tits? Fuck me.
“You wearing those pearls to fuck with me?” I ask knowing my wife playing innocent is hot as shit simply because I know she is one nasty get down girl.
“It’s symbolic.” She says, her eyes lighting up at the idea of teasing me. She comes in close and whispers in my ear. “When we get home, you can take this pearl necklace off and give me another one.”
Holy shit!
“Deal, Red.” I smack her ass as we carry all the shit one needs for a newborn to the car. I think of the whirlwind that is my wife. We waited about six months before we eloped in Vegas with all our friends and family. I had six surgeries on my hand and months of physical therapy to have full movement in it. I didn’t stop playing though, I stayed at it and learned to play with what I had until I had full function again. My stab wound healed after a few weeks, my stomach muscles took longer though and the two recoveries sucked.
But, they were worth it. I saved her that night and it did wonders for the ego.
“Shame called and said to tell you he has the bracelet.” She says, referring to the little bracelet he and Cassa bought her. They were worried it wouldn’t be here in time.
“He is too excited over this Godfather shit. He keeps acting like he’s Marlon Brando.”
She laughs at that. “Bright is the same way. She wanted to throw this extravagant party in her honor. The socialite in her comes out in party planning.”
We make small talk as we head to the church. All of our people come into view as we pull in the parking lot.
“Tay!” Axe cheers as he bounds from the car and into Tayla’s arms. I watch them together, seeing this amazing bond between them. It’s hard to think who we were a few years ago or to think of the hell we went through.
Now days, Tay was back in the fold and still our PR rep. After the accident, she took over and steamrolled anyone who got in her way. There was a lot of press and stories after the attack and when Spencer went to trial. Tay was a master and handled it with a grace none of us possess.
She and Noah are not close by anyone’s standards, but they can finally be civil and in one another’s life for the sake of everyone else. She and I were always a dynamic team when it came to business and that didn’t change with Lexington Cherry either.
I lift Rylie’s car seat from the car and say hello to everyone as Carrie and Cassa steal Rylie from the seat.
The girls all shuffle inside as we hang out here in the lot chatting about nothing. I look to Shame, who is my oldest friend and there was no better choice to be Rylie’s Godfather. He and Cassa were approved to adopt Ella’s brother Mateo when he was three months old. Both kids were thriving and happy and Cassa was content as a mother. Shame was overjoyed knowing he gave her the world he promised.
Cassa and Jen had become extremely close after the attack. Cassa was there for her in a way none of us could be. She had been through enough dark shit to rile us all, and Cass was a master of shining bright through it.
Carrie was another confidant for Jen, having experienced rape. She referred her to a therapist she saw when she first met Chad and Jen went often at first and now as needed.
I look to Chad, who still carries the empty sadness of losing Harvey last month after a long fight with cancer. That loss was another heavy blow to us as he was Gramps to us all. Chad and Carrie wanted a big family and with the loss of Harvey it amped it. Last week they informed us that there would be a third Blake in the family. He had said he wanted his kids to never feel like they were alone when he and Carrie died one day. He suffers a loss that is profound since Harvey was all he had growing up.
We all have been there for him in this, Shame once again being the muscle that carries the burden. Shame like chad was an only child and has buried both parents. He understood the pain of being left alone.
I support his decision to build a big family, a strong one that is tight knit like we are.
Noah, well he is Noah. He plays guitar, tattoos, spoils his loves and chills. It is his way of life. He relishes Bright with affection and delivers her every need. She had now become a decent sized chain for the Brew with twenty stores spanning from Seattle to Los Angela’s. They spoil our kids knowing neither want their own. They married about a year ago in a ridiculous and opulent extravaganza that Noah promised her. The party was the shit though, Bright knew how to celebrate.
Raleigh was her Man of Honor and all the girls in some designer name of pink dresses. We guys were in Noah’s line. No Best man, just us in black tuxedos, pink ties and chucks.
I never thought I would wear pink shoes, but leave it to one of these girls to make that happen.
Raleigh had finally decided to use his gift with the gays and opened a safe haven in Seattle. We all invested in the mansion and helped get the best support in the house and Raleigh did what he did best. He helped these people find a place and a purpose in a world that still thought that gay was a choice.
He busted his ass helping people who were banished like him. He spent hours counseling them and helping them build lives of their own in the community. He couldn’t save them all though and over the last year he lost four friends to suicide… he remembers them and holds them close to his heart and they are what force him to work harder and save lives.
The kid is on a mission to save lives and change them. We as a band and our brand backed him, so did countless others. Lexington and I played a benefit show over Gay Pride weekend and packed the stadium. Lex is a hit with the guys, both gay and straight and her voice brought a ton of support.
Raleigh was nominated for a humanitarian award this spring, for his work in the gay community.
Everyone was where they should be. We had some hard shit hit us in life, some things we didn’t think we could survive, but we did and it was because of the support we have for each other.
This is my family. Tattooed, pierced, foul mouthed, bitchy and the bold. What can I say, we are thick as thieves?
The End