Epilogue

It was different for all of them, and the onset of those differences were both rapid and stark.

For Vicky, living with a man brought back memories, both good and bad. What made her adjustment more palatable was Terry’s attitude. That frame of mind made it clear that he felt incredibly lucky to have Vicky in his life in a more stable, committed manner. He was still the gruff, serious police sergeant, but the tenderness he displayed when he held Vicky in his arms made her feel like a queen. She still worked and she still flirted with customers at the diner, but that was just for the sake of better tips. She was fulfilled in a way that gave her confidence and she was easily identifiable as a strong woman who was in control of her situation.

Terry’s peers noticed the change in him almost instantly. They had known he had managed to find a serious girlfriend, and he got some jocular ribbing about being careful not to get pussy-whipped, but when she moved in with him he got stronger, not weaker. He was a little more careful, too. He had something to lose, now. Now he went home to a woman who was like a tiger in bed, who left him weak and panting after he spent hours loving the sounds of her orgasms.

The changes were a bit more tumultuous for Bobby and Mai Li. The house seemed emptier, which, of course, it was. That meant, though, that they had more privacy, which could be used for such young-minded pursuits as walking around the house like nudists, and making love anywhere the mood struck them.

The mood struck them a lot. They couldn’t go on a honeymoon, but it felt like they were already on one, in a sense. They weren’t even married, yet, but it still felt like they were. It wasn’t unusual for them to strain against each other in a torrid, sexual embrace three or four times a day.

Mai Li still insisted he study and work out. Ted apologized for not getting back to them and said the lawyer had approved the gym membership. After that Mai Li took him to the gym every other day. As happens in most cases where someone has a regular schedule of stressing his body, Bobby not only got used to it, but began to crave it. If they missed a day at the gym he felt antsy.

He began to run more in the therapy pool and then with her, only very short distances, at first, but five blocks became six and then eight, until he could run a mile. By the time the wedding she had planned took place he was up to two miles, though that seemed to be a plateau he couldn’t break through.

The wedding seemed like a fairy tale ceremony to Mai Li, even though there was no big venue and their guest list was only thirty-seven people long. Among the guests were two of his doctors and three nurses who had cared for him as he slept and then during that very tough time right after he woke up. Her parents came, as did her siblings. They had met her groom already and had spent three days visiting the young couple in “their house.” They liked Bobby and if they had any reservations, they didn’t voice them. They trusted their daughter. Their grandchild-to-be was a little disconcerting, but facts were facts and both had always imagined Mai Li would produce offspring. Mai Li’s sister served as her maid of honor and one of her brothers stood up with Bobby as a groomsman.

Mai Li wore a lavender dress that almost, but not quite, hid the gentle swell of her abdomen, which now held their four-month old fetus. Bobby wore a suit, the first one he’d ever owned. It was a wedding present from Terry, and was intended to be used later during job interviews.

Bobby finished up his GED, which was awarded a month before he got married. Another reason they couldn’t go on a honeymoon was because Bobby had a job interview scheduled for the day after the ceremony.

As was expected, most employers shied away from hiring someone who might have a seizure at any given moment on the job. Bobby went to more than fifteen job interviews and got so depressed about the rejection he kept getting that he eventually stopped applying. They were getting by all right with Vicky still paying the rent, and Mai Li’s salary, covering everything else but at some point somebody was going to arrive at the conclusion that Bobby had recovered enough that he no longer needed a live-in physical therapist. There were also concerns that someone would object to a wife being paid as a physical therapist to her own husband. In either case, his trust fund would no longer pay her salary and she’d have to find another job somewhere, herself. On the other hand, Ted wasn’t in a hurry to cut off the money. He was one of the guests at the wedding and he liked this scrappy little Asian woman and the brave patient she married. If any auditors started snooping around he might have to do something, but until then he wasn’t going to worry. She was performing the task she’d been hired to perform and, besides, it was Bobby’s money anyway, or would be in a couple of years.

In fact, it was Ted, after Bobby got rejected in job interviews so much, who suggested that Bobby go to college, since the rules of disbursement in his trust fund included “educational costs.” That rather wide-open line item could be interpreted in many ways and Ted interpreted it to mean Bobby’s trust fund could pay for college courses, which would include tuition, books and a stipend for living expenses. Vicky suggested he start out with the online course to get a certificate as a bookkeeper. She had taken that course, which was why she was working at The Breakdown. He enjoyed working with numbers and eventually went on to take accounting courses, eventually becoming a CPA. He worked from home, which also saved some expense.

By the time that happened, though, he and his wife were now pregnant with their second child and didn’t really need to work because Bobby was twenty-two and a multi-millionaire. His seizure rate had declined, in terms of grand mal episodes, and his focal seizures were down to just two or three per week. He’d be on medication for the rest of his life, but the meds were doing a good job.

Neither Mai Li nor Bobby went crazy with the money once it was released. They bought a new house, large enough for the four children Mai Li said she now wanted to have. Rather than move the old therapy pool, they had a new one installed in an addition to the new house so it could be used in all weather and could be kept clean more easily. Both of them worked out in the pool, and it was often a place where they got naked and made love. That didn’t change that radically as the children grew up. It was normal for Mommy and Daddy to swim naked, and the kids could also use the pool naked, as long as either Mommy or Daddy was there to supervise. It wasn’t until Jasmine, their first daughter, began growing pubic hair that she became body-conscious and insisted that nudity be better managed. It was also Jasmine, among all the children, who, when she found out about it, was scandalized by the fact that her mother had married her father after only knowing him for a little over two months. That seemed like a ludicrously short time to Jasmine, who was seventeen and had gone through at least seven or eight boyfriends who had lasted at least two months, but none of whom she’d even become intimate with, much less wanted to marry.

“What’s your point?” asked Mai Li. “We love each other and the marriage has lasted. Are you saying I should have waited ... that I could have done better?”

“No, I guess not,” admitted Jasmine, who loved her father almost as much as she loved her mother. “It just seems like you rushed into things, that’s all.”

“I did,” sighed Mai Li. She reduced her voice to a whisper and leaned toward her daughter. “It was his enormous penis that did it. I just couldn’t resist him. He’s a fabulous lover, you know.”