“And now?” Kathy asked.
“Now we’ve lived together all that time. I saw him go from being a mostly naked boy to counseling presidents. If he gets too uppity, I know how to stop him.” She smiled. “To me, he’ll always be that worthless boy.”
“And you had children,” Elise said. “Alejandro was made to be a father.”
Olivia laughed. “I have to say that the boys took any hint of pomposity out of their father. One time Kit unexpectedly got caught in what was escalating into a desert war. He was freaking out because Tully was with him. Our son felt his father’s fear and threw up on him. An absolute gusher. It was so human, so normal, that everyone stopped screaming and started laughing. It was easier to negotiate with laughing men than with rage so the problems were solved. Kit said it should be named ‘Tully’s War.’” When she looked up, there were tears in her eyes—but they were tears of happiness.
Elise looked at Kathy. “How is Ray doing?”
“Last year he left Dad’s firm and started his own. He’s doing well.”
“Did he leave because of Cal?” Elise asked.
“I think so. Dad started spending time outside work with Cal, then when I gave him a grandson, Dad kind of became another person.” She took a breath. “He’s thinking about retiring.”
Olivia’s eyes widened. “You are going to head the agency, aren’t you?”
Kathy’s smile was slow. “I am. Dad’s been spending time with Mom and they’re so mad about our kids that...” Kathy trailed off and gave a shrug. “I’m happy. That’s the highest, most important thing I can say. I am happy.”
“Me too,” Olivia said.
“And me,” Elise said.
They smiled at each other, leaned back, and sipped their drinks. There wasn’t anything more they needed to say.
Epilogue
It was early morning and Olivia was lying in the bed. Kit had already gone downstairs.
She opened her eyes enough to see that it wasn’t quite daylight so she closed them again.
Only yesterday they’d returned from... From what? Their life experience? None of them were yet used to their new lives.
Last night at dinner Elise had teased Alejandro that Olivia’s sons were so gorgeous that she might trade him in. Alejandro was a sweet, gentle man who looked at his wife with so much love that it was almost embarrassing. He didn’t seem to be worried that she was going to run away.
Kit had insisted that everyone spend the night in Camden Hall. “It’s too big and empty now.” His voice was wistful.
Minutes later, Cal arrived with their two boys, Elise’s son and husband joined them, and within seconds they were running and yelling—and Kit was smiling happily.
Elise and Olivia were curious about Cal. He was a big man and even when he was silent, he commanded attention. When he spoke, his deep voice made people turn to him. Olivia could see why Kathy had once said that she was afraid of him.
“He’s a bit like Ray except without the thug element,” Elise said.
Olivia laughed. “Your son is climbing the curtain.”
Elise took off running, but Alejandro got there first and lifted the boy away.
After dinner, which the three women cooked together, they caught the kids and got them into the biggest tub in the house and washed hair and sweaty little bodies.
By the time they were done, Olivia was exhausted—but in a good way. Part of her missed her young body, but another part was so content with what she was now that she didn’t want for anything.
When Kit came to bed, he smelled of expensive whiskey and illegally imported cigars.
She snuggled into a spoon with him.
“I feel like I haven’t seen you in years,” he whispered. “And today I kept thinking of Uncle Freddy and Mr. Gates. Tomorrow, Alejandro and Diego and I are going over to Tattwell to work on the cemetery.” He chuckled. “Remember the first time I cleaned that place up? You—”
She turned in his arms to kiss him. “I remember you wore tiny shorts and absolutely nothing else.”
“Yeah?” He was kissing her face. “Did you like what you saw?”
“Of course not. You were just a worthless boy and I was on my way to becoming a Broadway star.”
“And you danced for me in a cabbage patch.” He slipped her nightgown off her shoulders.
They made love slowly. It didn’t have the fire of youth, but it held memories of a life together and of shared experiences. Most of all, it held a love that couldn’t be broken even across time. They fell asleep together, clasping each other tightly—as they had done for over forty years.
It was morning now and Olivia didn’t want to get out of bed. She wanted to snuggle under the covers and think about what she’d seen and felt in her three weeks in the past. The faces were so fresh in her mind and she wanted— She broke off as something moved against her leg. Did someone let a dog in the house?
She lifted the cover to see a sleeping child with his head toward the bottom of the bed.
When she flipped the coverlet back, to her surprise, the big bed was full of children. They ranged from three years down to a baby in a soggy diaper.
Olivia sat up in bed and tried to identify them. Elise’s boy, Kathy’s two. The blond head of Liam, her grandson. He and his dad must have arrived in the night. She thought a couple of them belonged to Diego.
Like puppies, the children began to stir and Olivia slid back down in the bed. They gravitated to the warmth of her, piling on her and on each other.
It’s my fantasy, she thought, the one she’d told Ray and Elise. Well, not really. But she could see the connection. She’d often dreamed of being woken up by kisses from “men” with different skin colors. This experience, however, wasn’t at all sexual—instead, it was simply full of happiness. These children weren’t men but they were all male and there was a lot of variation in skin color.
She could feel them beginning to wake up. “Whoever kisses me the most gets chocolate chip pancakes.”
In seconds, she was overrun with the biggest, wettest kisses ever given. Olivia laughed and hugged and asked for more.
And that’s how the parents found their children—all of them in bed with Olivia and kissing her. Cameras and cell phones flashed and beeped as the scene was recorded.
Later, everyone said that the photos were proof that Dr. Olivia Paget Montgomery was the happiest person on the planet.
She agreed with all her heart.
*