Epilogue

My sister has a vivid imagination. She still swears that's why she ever agreed to do anything sexual with me in the first place. She says she closed her eyes and imagined us doing what Vlad was suggesting, and all she could see was a warm, sunny place where she didn't have to be afraid, and could try out some things she was intensely curious about.

I have often wondered if that was the only true thing Vlad ever told us ... that in Russia, this attitude about trying things with someone you know already loves you is more acceptable than it is here.

Anyway, she had no problem whatsoever adopting Aunt Maureen's idea of a possible future for us as her own. In fact, ten minutes after she heard about it, she was making plans with Aunt Maureen about how to make it all happen.

I'm making it sound like it was all sweetness and light. That was not the case. Addison wanted to stay at the ranch, and finish school there. Aunt Maureen wanted no part of that, insisting that her sister needed to help raise the baby, not her. I think some of the terror childbirth had caused in her remained, hanging around in Maureen's brain, and the thought of the horrible unknown of having a tiny, helpless baby in the house, and that she might have to be responsible for that tiny, helpless thing's health while Addie was at school, just scared her to death.

That part was out of our hands anyway, which became clear when our parents arrived, having driven straight through, without stopping for anything except food and gas, changing drivers every four or five hours while one slept and the other drove. While they hadn't been in favor of the making of this baby, once he was out into the big, wide, world, he instantly had two loving, doting grandparents.

And my mother made it crystal clear that her grandson and his mother were going back to Hastings, where her daughter was going to finish high school.

About that, both parents were firm. The rest of the "plan", however, fascinated them as much as it fascinated Addie and me.

I don't think either of them had ever envisioned me as a veterinarian, which was what Aunt Maureen's intentions were. As an alum from the school of veterinary medicine at the university, she had pull and access to programs in that field. She was correct in her belief that she could not only get me into the university, but that, if I declared a major in Biology and then went on into the vet school, I could get scholarships to help me with that plan.

Of course it wasn't as easy as just that. I had to take all kinds of tests, to see if I was well suited for that course of study. I had to sign papers that, if I changed my major or failed to complete it, required me to pay back the money. I had to maintain a 3.0 grade point average in all courses that were required for the degree, and a 3.5 grade point average in all other courses.

And then there was vet school, which was another four years of unbelievable hard work.

Of course, as an eighteen year old who suddenly has the hope of fulfilling his dreams on multiple levels, I had no idea how hard the suggested course of action would be. I suppose that's why teenagers reach so hard for the stars. They do look like they're not all that far away.

I'll be completely honest. If I had known then what I know now, I doubt I'd have been brave enough to try it. But three things got me through my college education.

The first, but not the most important, was the concept that I would own the ranch one day. The second was that, through it all, Addison never doubted that I could do my part. Every time we saw each other, she reminded me that what I was doing was for us, and our family, and that she loved me for making the sacrifices I believed I was making.

By far the most important, though, was that each summer I got to spend on the ranch with Addison and Bernie, as we commonly called him. Bernard was named after our ancestor, who spent his life creating the Broken B Ranch. And those months, where I finally got to be with her again, and catch up on everything that had been done while I was off in Minnesota, were what kept me going.

Meanwhile, Addison graduated from high school in Hastings, and went to Tech to start a business degree. Two years later she moved to the ranch for good, and finished her degree online. Actually, she never actually graduated. Basically she took the courses needed to understand how to run the business and invest for the future and things like that. And since Aunt Maureen had never done any of this, it was quite helpful. The Broken B stock had always been sought after, and she had two stallions people would pay to have their mares put with. She had never been what she would call "rich" but when Addison started applying what she learned in school, the books began to look a lot better.

It is difficult for me to describe this stage in our lives. For one thing, I was gone eight months out of the year, and what I was doing took every ounce of concentration I owned to get through. In one sense, it was good I didn't have a family with me, because if I had, I'm not sure I could have pulled it off.

And I also have to admit that I didn't make it any easier on Addie. That's because every summer, and during the break every year between semesters, I went home to that feather bed, and tried to make up for all those nights I had to sleep alone.

And that didn't help because my sister never went on the pill.

And by the time I graduated as a doctor of veterinary medicine (with emphasis on large animals) I had visited two more children on the poor girl.

I don't know whether it was because everybody knew how hard I was working, or because they finally threw up their hands and gave up, but our parents, while they frowned about us having more babies, never flagged at accepting them into the family. They did draw aside, when Addie admitted to them she was pregnant for the second time, with Vanessa. Their question was, "We know the first time worked out ... but are you sure you want to go on this way?"

Our answer, though disapproved of, was accepted. What else could they do? Our children, who now consisted of Bernie, Vanessa, and Jordan, were spoiled rotten by their grandma and grandpa. Their other "Grandma", who they addressed as "Granny Maw", was over her fright about having babies around, and had become thoroughly embroiled in raising them.

But I want to make it crystal clear here that neither Addison nor I were happy while we were separated. Had we been normal people who got married and then did all this, we might have ended up in divorce. But we didn't think about it like that. She was my sister. She'd always be my sister, and nothing could ever change that. And it was the same for me. We couldn't get divorced. That word didn't even make sense when it came to our relationship. And I knew there could never be another woman for me, while she was convinced that no other man would ever lie in that bed, or any other, with her. And while that sounds like a positive thing, it only made the separation more painful for both of us.

So when I finally got back to the ranch, there was practically an orgy of relief and relaxation. Not that everything went smoothly.

When children are raised in a matriarchy, with a mother and two grandmothers doing the vast majority of all child rearing, the children can tend to view men as "those odd people who show up once in a while and say and do interesting things." They all obeyed their grandfather, for the most part, but it was the women who called the shots.

They knew who I was, of course. True, when I'd been gone for a semester, and suddenly came back, they were confused about things for a little while. But they knew who "Daddy" was. And they knew they had to do what Daddy told them to, but I'll be honest. That was because Mommy insisted they do what Daddy said.