Tennessee Whiskey

Chapter 17-Epilogue-Evan

Chapter 17

Epilogue

Evan

It’s been five years since Mary and I got married and adopted Mia. She’s eight now and such a smart kid. We’ve since had two more little ones. Nate is three and Nala is three months old. Mary is still active at the mission and while Mia and Nate are playing in the backyard with Jane watching them, Mary is in her office with Nala in her bassinet. I knock on her office door before walking in. “Hey baby.” She says, as she stands up and I meet her beside her desk. “Hey babe. What are you working on?” I ask, looking over at the papers on her desk. She reaches over and grabs a few of the papers and hands them to me. “Real estate listings?” he asks. I move to her chair and sit down before pulling her into my lap. “I had an idea that I’m just toying with.” She tells me. “What is it?” I ask.

Nala starts crying and she moves to pick her up and heads to the couch and I follow her. Raising her shirt and unlatching her nursing bra before moving Nala and letting her latch on, she says “You know how popular the art classes are at the mission?” I nod and she says “I was thinking about expanding. All of my instructors are part time at the mission but I was thinking about setting up another studio away from the mission. There are so many artists that don’t have anywhere to express themselves.” She tells me. “You know, that might not be a bad idea.” I tell her. “Really?” she asks. “Yeah. I had a kid come through my courtroom not too long ago for tagging. It would be a great place to send these kids where they can have a healthy place to express themselves.” I tell her. “That would be a great idea. So you’d be okay if I started looking at places?” she asks. “Of course but is this something that’s going to be affiliated with the mission or your own thing?” I ask. “My own thing.” She tells me. “Okay. So, tomorrow we can call my old assistant, Jeremiah. He’s a real estate agent now and he’ll help you find a great place to set up.” I tell her and she kisses me, while still nursing our daughter.

After she nurses Nala, I see her looking down at our daughter and she sighs. “What is it?” I ask. “I just hate that she’s going to be our last one.” She tells me. “She doesn’t have to be.” I tell her. “Evan. After all the complications we had delivering Nala, I can’t put my body through that again.” She tells me. “I know and I wouldn’t ask you to, but we adopted Mia. When Nala gets a little older and you’re ready for another child, we can look into fostering and adopting.” I tell her. “I’d love that.” She tells me. I take Nala from her and hold her close to me.

We head out of the room and to the back yard with Nala and see Mia and Nate sitting in the grass, playing. “Did you know daddy is a superhero?” Mia asks and Nate shakes his head. “No he not. He got no cape.” Nate says. “He is. Just because he don’t have a cape. Daddy will always come get us cause he loves us.” She tells him and I see Mary tear up and hold Nala closer. I walk over to Mia and she hugs me tight. “Daddy, Mia said you superhero. Where you cape?” he asks. “Not all heroes wear capes. You see firefighters and cops are heroes too and they don’t wear capes.” I say and he seems to take that answer. “You good Princess?” I ask. “Yeah daddy.” She tells him before running off with Nate, further into the yard. “You’re still her hero.” Mary tells me as she walks up next to me. “I don’t want her to grow up. She’s going to stop looking at me as her hero.” I tell her. “No she won’t. Girls will always need their daddy.” She tells me. “I hope so.” I tell her before pulling her and Nala closer.

That night, we have the kids in bed and are sitting in the library again. This has been our routine the entire time we’ve known each other and I don’t see that changing. “You remember Leann? The young woman that Christopher’s neighbor brought to the mission a few years ago?” she asks and I nod. “She came to the mission today.” She tells me. “She okay?” I ask. “She is. She just graduated college and wants to give back to the mission. She got her degree in accounting so Izzy has her helping in our accounting department. She’s doing really well.” She tells me. “That’s great to hear. The mission does so much that most people don’t see.” I tell her. “It did so much for me.” She tells me. I take her hand and pull her into my lap. “It’s where I met you and our little girl.” I tell her. “It is. I can’t believe it’s been five years.” She says, reminiscing.

The next morning, we head into the kitchen. Mia heads for her chair and Nate heads to his and Jane is at the stove cooking. Mary has Nala snuggled against her in her baby wrap and Jane comes over to the kids and kisses their heads. “Good morning my babies.” She says. “Morning Grandma.” Mia says. “Mornin Gamma.” Nate says and she smiles. “And how’s our little one?” she asks as she walks over to Mary. “She’s good. Just ate and sleeping again.” She tells Jane.

We head out and Jane is watching all three kids. We go to the first listing to meet my old assistant and he’s there waiting on us. “Hey boss.” Jeremiah says and I laugh as we shake hands. “I’ve not been your boss in years. How have you been?” I ask. “I’ve been good. Melissa is due with our second next month.” He tells us. “That’s great to hear.” I tell him. He turns to Mary and says “So, Evan was telling me that you’re wanting to open an art studio. I assumed that you are looking for something to teach classes like the ones at the mission he was telling me about but I figured you’d also want something with enough space for exhibits too.” He tells her. “That’s correct.” She tells him. “Great. So, let’s head inside and I’ll show you around.” He says and we follow him inside.

After getting the tour, we head to lunch and I ask “What did you think?” She sits back in her chair and smiles. “I think that space is perfect. I could picture everything in there. There’s even a space for a daycare so that people can have a date night and we can hold children’s classes too.” She rattles on and I can’t help but smile. “Just let me know what you need.” I tell her and she smiles. “I love you.” She says. “I love you too baby. You know, you’ve come a long way since you first got to the mission.” I tell her. “I know. I still think about it. I was so scared but then I met Lori and Izzy. They became my best friends. Logan and Ashton became big brothers and you…you…I don’t know what I would have done without you.” She tells me. “You would have been fine but I know how you feel. I wasn’t in a good place when I met you. I was alone and tired. I kept letting my old demons stay on my shoulder. You gave me purpose.” I tell her. “You’re a judge, Evan. You had purpose.” She tells me. “No. I have a career. Not a purpose. But now, I have you and our kids and that’s more than enough purpose for me to know that I’m doing something right.” I tell her and she leans over and kisses me softly.

After lunch, we head home and see Jane sitting on the couch, feeding Nala while Mia and Nate play in the floor. “Look at my picture Gamma.” Nate says as he shows Jane his drawing. “That’s looks great Nate.” She tells him and he looks up and sees us. “Mommy!” he screams as he runs towards Mary and she scoops him up and hugs him close. Mia might be a daddy’s girl but Nate is a mommy’s boy. Mia rushes to me and hugs me around the waist and I lean down and kiss the top of her head. “Hey Princess. You helping Grandma with your brother and sister?” I ask and she nods her head yes.

We move to sit on the couch and watch our kids and I pull Mary closer, seeing Jane smile at us. “So how did your meeting go?” she asks. “Great. We found a place that’s perfect for art classes and even an area for exhibits. There’s even room for a daycare.” Mary tells Jane and I can hear how excited she is. “That’s great sweetheart. You’re going to do great.” She tells Mary and you see Mary smile. “Mommy’s happy.” Nate says as he comes over and crawls into her lap. “I am happy.” She tells him before kissing the top of his head.

After putting the kids to bed, we are sitting in the library. Mary is reading a book and I’m working on some papers for work. It’s hard to believe that we’ve come this far. It seems like a lifetime ago that I would spend my evenings sitting in this very library, alone, wishing I had what my best friends had. Wife, kids, family. Now, I have that. My wife and kids have become my everything and I can’t wait to bring more kids into our home and give them the chance that life gave me and Mary. “Are you okay baby?” Mary asks when she catches me watching her. “Absolutely perfect babe.” I tell her before pulling her into my side and feel her snuggle against me and can’t wait to see what our life will bring.