Chapter 10: Epilogue

I would like to say that Emily and I are happily married today. I know at least that I am. For the next three years after Megan was born, Emily and I stayed quite close. We took care of our daughter and still got our homework and chores done every night.

Liz and Mom helped so much with Megan as well. While we were in school, they took turns caring for her. This allowed us to finish with some very good grades.

When Megan was two years old, Heather graduated and went off to college on a full scholarship. When she called home, she didn't care how the rest of us were doing until she heard about her niece.

I graduated a year later and stayed around the farm to help my father. It was really the only life that I had ever known. I had little use for college. I was able to spend more time with my daughter and with Emily that way.

I was also able to finally talk Dad into getting a milking machine. We could do ten cows at a time rather than only two or three. This made the time to do milking go way down. Over the next three years, our dairy cows went from 25 to 65 in number. We were now selling our milk for a bit of a profit.

Emily had also done well in school and was offered a full scholarship to the same college that Heather was attending. When she left for college that fall, I was holding our daughter and crying. I tried to stay calm for Megan's sake, but I couldn't hold it in. Megan didn't want her mommy to leave.

For the next three years, we settled into a nice routine. Mom had moved into one of the upstairs bedrooms so she could care for Megan during the day when Liz was busy. She had an afternoon job at a factory in town and that helped bring just a bit more money into the house.

It was two years later when Heather came home with her college degree. She moved back into her old bedroom. She was able to start work at the local elementary school as a teacher. This was the same thing that Emily was going to be in two years. I guess that they were more alike than they wanted to admit to.

Things began to get strange from there.

Megan was now six years old and going to school. Her Aunt Heather would drive her back and forth since she taught there. This made my life easier and gave me one less thing to worry about.

I had gotten up early one morning and headed down to start the coffee. I was just going by my father's room when Mom came out and crashed into me.

"I'm sorry Rich. I didn't expect you there."

"No problem. Um Mom, why are you coming out of Dad's room at this time of the day?"

Mom was dressed in only her bathrobe that had fallen open in the collision. It was clear that she was not wearing anything else.

Dad and Liz came out before Mom was able to answer.

"Rich, I'm sorry that you found out this way. Let's got to the kitchen and talk about this over some coffee."

That morning, I found out that for the last year and a half, my mother had been spending the night with Dad and Liz. It seems that they were in love with each other.

"Let me get this straight, Mom has sex with Dad in front of Liz and she is ok with that?"

"Yes"

"And Mom has sex with Liz and Dad's fine with that too?"

"Right again."

"So all three of you love each other. Why doesn't Mom just move into your bedroom and stop the charade?

"We were trying to hide it from you and now Heather as well. We were not certain how you would handle things."

"As long as the three of you are fine with it, I will be too. It seems to make you all happy. I'm sure Heather would agree. Wouldn't you Heather?"

I had seen Heather standing outside the kitchen door through most of the explanation. I knew that she had heard everything.

"Oh my, I didn't know you where there Honey."

"It's ok Mom. I understand fully. I agree with Rich, if you three are fine with it that's all that matters to me. Laura should just move into your room and stop the sneaking around."

"What about Megan and Emily?"

"Megan is young. She'll handle it better than you think. Emily would probably surprise you."

From that day forward, Mom moved into Dad and Liz's room permanently. There was more than one time when I went down to the kitchen for a snack and could hear them going at it. I knew that they were a triad.

The real heartbreaker came during Emily's senior year to college. It was Christmas break. I had gotten Emily an engagement ring for Christmas. Heather had helped me pick it out for her. I was looking forward to seeing the look on her eyes. I never did see that look.

Emily arrived three days before the holiday. I had just come in from the barn when I ran into Heather. She had just gotten home about an hour before and met me at the door.

"You gave her the ring already?"

"What are you talking about?"

"When I got home, I saw an engagement ring on Emily's hand. I thought that you weren't going to give it to her until Christmas morning?"

"I was and I still haven't. I barely had time to give her a hug before I headed down to the barn."

"Oh my God. You better find out what's going on."

I had been able to take a shower and get cleaned up before dinner. I finally got a chance to talk to Emily. I stopped and gave her a hug before talking. It was actually a reason to grab her hand and 'accidentally' find the ring.

"Emily, what's this you're wearing?"

"Oh that. That's nothing Honey."

"It looks to me to be an engagement ring. What's going on?"

"Well um, can we talk about this later?"

I looked over to Heather and Liz who had just walked in. Heather actually dragged her mother in the room to hear this.

"No. Now is as good a time as any. Are you engaged to someone else?"

She refused to look me in the eye. She looked down at the floor and nodded.

"What happened to us? We were going to get married after you finished college. Suddenly I'm not good enough for you."

"I'm sorry Richie, I..."

"Don't you dare 'Richie' me. How could you do this to Megan and I?"

"I'm sorry, I was just so lonely..."

I just left the room. When I got to Heather, I stopped and very clearly told her;

"Could you take care of Megan for me? Don't let her alone with whoever that is over there. Give me a call when it leaves."

Liz yelled for me, "No Rich, don't leave. This is your home and Megan will want you here for the holiday."

"I know. But I no longer can stay under the same roof as Emily. Keep her out of my room. I no longer share it with her."