Epilogue

NIKA’s Story

The transition had gone as well as anyone could have expected. Stephanie took over as CEO as of January 1st, 1998, and I FINALLY was able to return to my true love - programming. There were a few rough patches during the transition and subsequent expansion of the business, but the management team, with guidance from my ‘Kitchen Cabinet’, had preserved the «kami» of the company. None of the core team left, Bob Larson had come to terms with how I wanted to run the company, and the ship was sailing smoothly.

The Athena division was doing very well under Mario’s leadership, turning a small but consistent profit. Lone Star became EB Systems, and their offering, ‘Strictly Legal’ held only a tiny market share, one which Cindi and her team aggressively targeted for conversion. The shenanigans had cost NIKA her relationship with Volstead and Braun, but Ben van Hoek’s new firm was doing very well, and I’d gotten to know Jocelyn Mills and her family quite well.

Our main competition - Hastings Mill and Chickasaw Systems - were strong, and every deal was a major fight. We won more deals than we lost, but it got tougher every single day. If Stephanie hadn’t come on board, and begun to do serious business development, we could have easily fallen behind the competition. On the medical side, our focus on small practices kept us from direct competition with a company which was becoming the eight-hundred-pound gorilla - Epic Systems - which was a good thing, as they were taking hospitals and larger practices by storm.

Charlie’s consulting division, our on-site support teams, and our security team, were growing their parts of the business, but there were storm clouds on the horizon - the economy was sputtering along and all of us were concerned about a potential downturn. Elyse, Charlie, and Julia kept their fingers on the pulse, watching for any blips which might materialize in our workload.

Penny, who was probably the second happiest about my return to programming, had her baby, Stephen John Penfield, on January 8, 1998. She and Terry were doing well, and that made me very happy. I agreed to be the baby’s godfather, with Kara as godmother, though in a secular, as opposed to Orthodox, context.

Deborah and Krissy both managed to get pregnant and deliver bouncing baby boys - John and James. They’d gone the ‘artificial insemination’ route, and were integrating into the cousins lifestyle quite nicely, which gave their boys plenty of good role models and mentors, not to mention a gaggle of cousins who would certainly become lifelong friends.

When Deborah started her treatments, she and I had made love one last time, and with that, the books were closed on any kind of sexual intimacy with anyone at NIKA. Given the way society was changing, and given the number of new staff, the risks were simply too great. I worked with Bob, Deborah, and the Board to develop a policy which would apply to everyone in the future, including me, ensuring that we didn’t interfere in the freedom of the staff to become involved however they pleased, so long as it didn’t affect their work.

Dante had, finally, taken himself completely off the playing field. He kept in touch, and as I’d suspected, ‘Miss August’ went the way of the dodo once she was offered a role in a movie. It hadn’t taken Dante long to find a new companion and playmate, though this one wasn’t a Playmate. I was happy he was enjoying himself and staying out of my hair, and also out of Melissa’s, allowing M&M to prosper without interference.

And, finally, the hysteria over the Y2K bug, which brought us a ridiculous amount of business, turned out to be for naught when basically nothing broke, despite numerous Cassandras foretelling doom and gloom and the end of the world as we knew it. One particularly egregious Cassandra was an Orthodox priest’s wife - Frederica Matthews-Green. Father Basil had asked me to refute some of her outrageous claims, which she asserted were ‘backed by people at Microsoft and Apple’, and despite patient attempts to explain why she was mistaken, in the end, all I could do was work to help reassure his congregation that the economy was not going to completely collapse, nuclear plants were not going to melt down, and planes were not going to fall out of the sky.

Cirque du Steve

With seven kids, things were never boring at the house. The kids were growing and doing the normal things kids aged seven to twelve did. Jesse was on the cusp of puberty, and that was going to open a whole new set of adventures for the circus. And, in case that wasn’t enough, Matthew and Birgit would follow hot on his heels, with four more siblings joining them in quick succession.

Jesse’s hockey career continued, and he, Mikey, and Nicole continued to play together. They did get invited to the tournament in Canada, but too many players and their families couldn’t afford the trip because of the trip to Russia, and even with Dima’s help, we were unable to raise sufficient funds for families to travel. Jesse’s team did win another invitational, in Grand Rapids, Michigan, which was some consolation. He continued to be very involved with church, and I’d agreed, at Father Basil’s request, to assist with a project to build a new church building on land they’d purchased.

Albert advanced to Webelos and then to Boy Scouts and was enjoying himself. He planned to follow through to Eagle Scout, in advance of attending the Naval Academy, if he could get an appointment. Matthew continued with drama and music, and had enjoyed major parts in several plays and musicals. Michael was a founding member of a new robotics club, and was thoroughly enjoying the experimentation. Stephie and Ashley had progressed in karate, and were well on their way towards eventual black belts, with Birgit just ahead of them.

Jessica was, to our annoyance, but as we’d expected, passed over for the Chief Attending role in the ER. I’d been tempted to intervene, but my father-in-law, Al Barton, had insisted I had to stay out of it. We’d had our one and only serious argument over Jessica’s treatment by the hospital administration but, in the end, he had convinced me to back down.

Kara, on the other hand, had been asked to be assistant department chair, which meant she was very likely going to be chair of the department when her boss retired. Her research into polymers was published in several peer-reviewed journals, and she was making quite a name for herself as an expert in the field. And she was still the PILF for every male student in Freshman chemistry, and probably some of the female ones, too!

Maria Cristina continued to flourish under the joint mentoring she received from Jessica, Kara, and me, and was making straight A’s as she worked to complete her undergraduate degree. She and I had worked hard to form a deep, intimate relationship which was second only to the one I had with my wives. She was becoming, truly, the long-term third we’d sought. And she, from time to time, fulfilled Kara’s fantasy of watching us make love.

Jennifer and Josie both continued in their successful careers - Josie working for the City of Evanston and Jennifer for M&M. Their relationship was strong, and as we’d agreed, they took primary charge of Jesse, who was developing into a fine young man under their guidance. Jennifer and I had some wonderful intimate moments, and our connection was still strong. We continually marveled at how, despite all the obstacles Fate had thrown our way, we’d managed to make Jesse and find a way to be together.

Samantha and Brian were a fixture at the house, joining us every Sunday for dinner with the extended family. Benjamin was growing like a weed, which was true of all the kids, and to my amusement, Brian and Samantha were talking about having a second baby. She had, finally, decided to break off contact with her dad, which I was sure was due to subtle, or perhaps not so subtle, pressure from Brian. I understood his point, but I wasn’t sure putting pressure on Samantha was wise.

Stephanie, Ed, and their kids practically lived at the house, as our families became very close. Jessica had finally come to terms with my history with Stephanie, and she and Stephanie had become friends. Their kids, my kids’ true cousins, were constant companions for my boys, and visited Elyse and our boys as often as they could.

Winter became very much a part of the family, despite officially being our domestic manager. She was enjoying Chicago and she and her boyfriend appeared to be on the way, eventually, to marriage. When that happened, we would, once again, as we had three times before, need to find someone new to help manage the household.

The dojo was prospering, and Will had come back from Japan having grown from boy to man in three short months. Part of it was the growth spurt he’d had while he was there, but a bigger part was his spiritual growth and his newfound mental discipline. Marcia was VERY happy to have him back, and I was reasonably sure they were on their way to a lifetime commitment.

Miyu developed into a very good student, and despite a few clashes, she followed my program to the letter, which included a joint visit to her parents to reconcile. She made excellent grades at UofC, and won several competitions. Misty continued to come to the dojo and watch, and I got the distinct impression she was biding her time until she was seventeen.

Liz and I began our long-term affair, and with permission from my wives, and after discussion with Maria Cristina, I spent the night with Liz about twice a month, and we had wonderful ‘adulting’ sessions, which seemed to help her keep proper focus on her studies at John Marshall Law School. She joined us at the house for our Rap Sessions which were working out very well, and gave me some hope for the youth of the future; not much, but some.