Epilogue

(The epilogue takes place 14 years and 5 months after Chapter 170)

Evan Pogdar looked out at his empire.

Yeah, right, he chuckled to himself.

Well, in a way, it sort of was. This was the Olympics, it was being held in the USA--New York City, to be precise--and Evan, as of the past year, was the president of the United States Olympic Committee. So, in a way, this was his big show. But he really didn't think of it that way--this show belonged to the athletes. Having been one, he knew that.

He was the very first president of the USOC to own an Olympic medal--a silver. Four years after Warren and Sophie had won the very first gold medal in ice dance, it had been repeated, but this time it was a one-two punch. Ryan Killen and Amy Lowell had won the gold. Evan and Courtney had won the silver. After that, Evan had decided to go into administration. He'd thought about the USFSA, but decided he wanted to work with more than figure skaters. It had been a rapid ascent to the top of the USOC totem pole.

Of course, he still had a soft spot for figure skaters. But he couldn't think of that now--considering the Olympics that he was about to preside over was the Summer Olympics!

He left his office and headed over to the Athlete's Village. Officials and stuff were also staying there, and he headed to the cafeteria, hoping Ilona was there. He quickly found her, and happily noted that she was chatting with some old friends.

"Warren! Sophie! How are you?"

"Evan!" Warren greeted him. "Hey, sit down."

"Don't mind if I do," he grinned. "You corrupting my daughter?"

"Oh, Daddy," Ilona sighed. "I'm already corrupt."

"Uh-huh," Evan grinned, looking upon Ilona with affection. He'd adopted the pretty 14-year-old 11 years ago, from one of those notorious Romanian orphanages. Ilona herself was part of Romania's large ethnic Hungarian minority--that's why Evan picked her, considering he was the grandchild of Hungarian immigrants. He saw her in an overcrowded, decrepit orphanage in Cluj, and immediately fell in love. They made a good team.

"So, you're doing double duty here, huh?" Evan teased Warren. "Daddy and Doctor."

"Yup. That's one of the great things about being a sports doctor--I get to go to all these Olympics. This is like the fourth straight I've been asked to help out at."

"Well, we'll get you for every one as long as I'm running the USOC."

"It's a deal. Just don't expect much from me this time at the swimming venue."

"No doubt," Evan laughed. "Betsy's in a ton of events, isn't she?"

"Yup. Let's see--the 200 and 400 free, the 200 and 400 IM, and the 200 fly. Oh, plus the 4x200 free relay," Warren confirmed.

"And she's the defending world champion in the two 400 meter events, and won a bronze in the 200 free, so she's got a good shot at some hardware," Sophie added.

"Of course, she'll have to go some distance to win more swimming medals that her honorary Aunt Sheila," Warren laughed.

"Too true," Evan agreed. "So how are your partners in crime at the practice, Doctors Carruthers and Bellamy?"

"Sheila and Kris are fine. Well, overworked without me there. We're going to have to find a fourth for the practice soon anyway." He grinned. "They're both pregnant."

"No shit!" Evan exclaimed.

"Yup. It's Sheila and Brendan's second, they have a little boy, he's three. But Kris and Tom have been trying for some time, this is their first. They're thrilled."

"I'll bet," Evan laughed.

"Well, that kid's at least going to be born into a normal family," Ilona teased.

"Oh, you love it and you know it," Evan teased back.

"Sure I do," Ilona volleyed. "Two fathers and two mothers telling me what to do!"

"Nobody tells you what to do," Evan returned. "Though I must admit, it's an interesting situation."

"How exactly has it worked?" Warren asked.

"Well, the house is huge. Ilona has her own bedroom. Courtney's two kids are sharing a bedroom, but that's going to change. Shawna's son has a bedroom. Matt and I share a bedroom, as do Shawna and Courtney, and then there's an extra. Courtney and Matt sometimes use that, but we're going to give it to the baby."

"So, who sleeps with who?" Sophia teased.

"Well, Matt sleeps with me and Courtney sleeps with Shawna. Except when Courtney's sleeping with Matt, which generally happens once or twice a week. Sometimes Shawna and I sleep together," he grinned. "Actually, we generally do sleep together--and by that I mean sleep, and cuddle--if Matt and Courtney are together. And we're just bi enough that we sometimes have sex--she's the only woman I'd ever be comfortable doing that with, but we do it occasionally. It's worked out amazingly well. Shawna and I got lucky. Having a relationship with a bi person can be difficult, especially for this long. It's 15 years for the two of them, 9 for Matt and I. But Matt and Courtney have someone to scratch the hetero itch with, and they do genuinely love each other. And you know how I feel about Shawna. "

"And it's worked for making babies," Warren grinned.

"Yes. Shawna's son is mine, you guys know that. Both of Courtney's are Matt's. Shawna and I are happy with the one. Courtney and Matt may have another. And then there's this one," he said, pointing at Ilona.

"The black sheep," Ilona laughed.

"The scourge of my existence," Evan joked, but it was plainly a joke. The affection between the two of them was palpable. "Still trying to figure out where she came from."

"Romania," Ilona deadpanned. "He doesn't understand me," she told Sophia and Warren. "Of course, in that house, who would? The babies are still too young, but, outside of them, I'm the straightest person in that whole place. All these bisexual and gay parents-and I'm as hetero as it gets."

"The boys are already gathering," Evan laughed.

"Already? They've been gathering since I was eleven. I'm damn near irresistible," Ilona joked.

"Yeah, yeah," Evan laughed. "Now, you guys, you have the four, right?"

"Right. Betsy is 17, Alicia will be 14 in November, Curt is 10, and Isabelle is 8," Warren said.

"I was so happy when the Red Sox acquired Curt Schilling, I didn't have to name a son Nomar," Sophia laughed.

"And are they--well, the two oldest anyway--definitely your kids?" Evan asked, grinning.

"Are they ever," Sophia laughed. "Betsy's very sexually active. Has been for a while. She has a boyfriend now, for the last six months. He's here, somewhere, we brought him with us. Prior to that, it was a different one every three weeks."

"Sounds like my kind of girl," Ilona interjected.

"Shaddap," Evan laughed.

Sophia laughed, then went on. "Anyway, Betsy's very careful and smart, but it was a wee bit worrisome. She had no problem with sex, but even she worried if she were capable of falling in love. This one--Aidan--turned out to be different, so she's very happy."

"Especially since the poor girl had Everlasting Love staring her in the face every day, and from her younger sister," Warren said.

"Alicia?" Evan asked.

"Yup," Warren confirmed. "You've met Ryan and Jessie's oldest, Seamus, right? Seamus and Alicia have been joined at the hip since they were toddlers. You ask them when they started going out, and they'll tell you, 'Oh, when we were two.' It's not really an exaggeration."

"I think they first kissed when they were, like, seven," Sophia said. "I know they were doing naked fondling at eleven. And, last year, two months before her thirteenth birthday, Alicia marched up to Warren and me and said, 'Seamus is taking my virginity on my birthday. Birth control pills, please?' And that was that."

"They spend weekends in one of our houses," Warren said, "together. We make them separate on school nights, but they're together on the weekend."

"That's amazing," Ilona said.