Epilogue

Time seemed to fly and soon it was time for Tara and Joshua's wedding. The
wedding was to be held the weekend after the graduation so both families could
come for the graduation then stay for the wedding. Neither wanted a big flashy
wedding and so it was held near a spot close to the college that Tara and
Joshua had come to love and which was the place where Joshua proposed to Tara.
Between Joshua's parents and myself we managed to arrange a honeymoon for the
two at a lodge on the pacific coast. Both had managed to find work and after a
week's honeymoon soon were happily living as husband and wife.

Tara managed to come home for a few days that year when Joshua was going to be
away on business. She told me that she and Joshua had never had sex until
their wedding night even though she'd told Joshua about what she'd done with
me. When she told him, Joshua was at first shocked, but once he realized that
the activities were instigated by Tara. He told her that that was in the past
and they would be starting new.

I worried about Ashley as she didn't seem to be interested in men – or for
that matter, women. She'd gone off to college and had earned a degree as a
Registered Nurse. She quickly landed a job he in our town and still lived at
home. In fact once Tara left for college, we'd virtually lived as man and wife
with Ashley in my bed every night. I don't remember exactly how we got on to
the topic but one evening I broached the matter of her not dating and she
astounded me with her reply. "Dad, why should I go and date other men when the
only man I ever want is sitting right across from me. If it were possible, I
would marry you."

I didn't say anything to her at that time, but I thought back to a couple of
conversations I'd had with my manager. Our company had been looking at opening
a new office about 200 miles away but hadn't been able to find the right
person to head it up. They'd asked me several times if I would consider doing
that and I'd not said 'no', but had not said 'yes' either.

The next morning when I went to work I asked if the company was still looking
for someone to open the office and when I was told they were I said that I
might be interested. That night, Ashley and I talked about the potential new
position. "If I took the position, we could publicly appear as man and wife.
Couples with a 20 year age difference are not unknown and with your last name
being the same as mine, everything would look like we were. What do you
think?"

Ashley looked at me with a wicked grin then hugged me tight. Suddenly she
stopped, backed up to look me right in the face. "Would that mean you could
get me pregnant and we could have a child?"

I hadn't even thought that far ahead but... "Hmm... I guess we could... if
that's what you want." I replied.

"Oh you bet I want a child by you. Oh yes! OH YES I SURE DO!!!" she said
smiling ever wider as she said it.

*****

We made the move and for the next few years we simply appeared as man and
wife. Ashley called Tara and talked to her and Tara was ecstatic. She told
Ashley that she'd hoped for a long time that this day would come. We agreed to
a 'wedding ceremony' a week before we left. Tara and Joshua, Helen and Harry,
Mabel and Paul were the only guests. Ashley and I simply held hands and
pledged our love to one another and vowed that our love would be forever.

After our move, Ashley found a job and for the next two years we both worked
and enjoyed living openly as husband and wife. One evening as we were relaxing
after a very enjoyable session of lovemaking, Ashley snuggled up to me and
whispered in my ear. "I quit taking my birth control pills last month and this
morning the 'stick' showed positive. Guess you're going to be a daddy again."
Then she looked at me with a loving smile.

*****

The baby, a girl, was born and named 'Peggy' after Ashley and Tara's mother.
Two years later another baby appeared, a boy this time and we named him
'William'. Our family is now complete so Ashley had convinced me to have a
vasectomy and today was the day for the 'snip'. We were lying in bed cuddling
that night when Ashley whispered in my ear "You're now ready to train Peggy –
in a few years that is."

End


I hope you've enjoyed my story. Comments are welcome: arcticfox549@gmail.com