Epilogue
“You’re choking me” my big brother whined.
“Oh, quit being such a pussy” I said as I loosened Freddy’s bow tie. “There” I stepped back and admired him in his Tuxedo. “Wow, you look good” I said, then added, “well, you know… for you.”
“Big words coming from someone who looks like a bunch of Disney Princess just puked all over her” Freddy said with a laugh.
“I’m only wearing this because Maggie’s my best friend and she picked it out. But hey, she’s marrying you, so her taste is questionable at best” I said with a playful scoff. Freddy playfully punched my shoulder, then pulled me in for a hug. My big brother was the most important person in my life, we had an amazing family, but life started out a little rough for us and no matter what, Freddy was there for me.
“Thanks for bein’ here, Izz” my big brother whispered in my ear.
“Like I’d miss it, dipshit” I whispered back. He just squeezed me harder.
Just then the door to the green room at the church flung open and a voice quietly said, “Get a room already” then followed up with, “You know I’m fine with you two being hetero, but you are brother and sister… so… um Ewwwww.” It was my little brother Ali.
“ALI!!!!” I screamed in Freddy’s ear before letting him go and running over to hug my baby brother. “I was so afraid you weren’t gonna make it.”
“Me? Nah. I would’ve walked from New York to be here if I had to.” Ali was studying drama at Julliard; he was a quiet storm. In real life he didn’t say much, he just observed everything with a smile on his face, but on stage, the dude was a presence to be reckoned with, transforming into whatever character he portrayed; my baby brother was gonna be famous someday. I was soooo proud of him. He was supposed to have been home a couple of days earlier, but there were issues with the TSA system that had basically shut down the airport, so, he’d been sitting at JFK for a day’s waiting to fly out.
“What the hell are you wearing?” I asked mockingly as I looked him up and down.
“It matches that ugly ass dress!” Ali shot back with a grin as he checked his look in the mirror. He was wearing a black tux with a bowtie and cummerbund that was like a vomit of color matching my hideous dress (ugh, Maggie was truly the only person in the world I would ever wear this for). “I love Mags, Fred, but I seriously question her taste” Ali joked. He was immaculate! Every detail about him polished, his boyfriend Barret was the same way… I swear those two were so… so GAY! They made our dads look like lesbians.
Anyway, I had missed the hell outta him. I snuck up behind him as he primped in the full-length mirror, wrapped my arms around him, and rested my chin on his shoulder. Freddy came up from behind and did the same to me. “I miss you guys” I said sandwiched between my two brothers.
“Ali! When did you get in?!” My grandmother said with excitement as she burst into the room. “My god, the color scheme is hideous, what was Maggie thinking?” She added as she fixed Ali’s bowtie, then brushed the wrinkles out of my dress.
“I think she did it to annoy Aunt Gina, she hates it.” I shot back making Grandma Kelly snicker. Then she started barking out commands about when and where we had to line up for the ceremony, in what order, and how to walk down the aisle properly.
“I saw Barret outside. Is Ali in here?” My Dad Zach asked as he entered the room with my other Dad at his side. The tiny room was filling up fast.
“I’m right here” Ali answered. My two dads rushed over to their baby boy and hugged the hell outta him, no one had seen him in months. Ever since he moved to New York he’d been kind of scarce, we only saw him on holidays and special occasions, or if we ventured to New York to see him in his latest project. I still lived in Wilmington, but had my own place close to the fire station I worked out of. Freddy (and Teddy) had gone to school in Milwaukee but moved back home after graduation. He and Maggie (my best friend) reconnected and started dating (yeah, he kinda stole my best friend, but it was worth it to see the two of them happy).
“Did you boys leave Barret out there alone?” Grandma Kelly asked.
“He’s with Dad and Grandpa West” Daddy Zach answered.
“Well, I’m gonna go say hello. I haven’t seen him since Christmas” Grandma Kelly said. Then she was gone, and it was just the five of us; me, my two brothers, and our dads. Daddy Sach and Daddy Zeff (as we called ‘em at home) adopted the three of us when we were young…. It’s a long story, but in summary, we hit the frigging family jackpot! The five of us were tight.
“You were supposed to text us when you landed” Daddy Zeff said, still hugging Ali.
“Sorry, we were moving fast to get here on time. We stopped off at the house to drop our stuff in the attic room, changed, then zoomed over here.” My parents still lived in the old farmhouse we grew up in. Over the years they added another bedroom in the attic, and a great room onto the back to give us more space… we all loved that house, it was home.
“I’m just glad you made it” Freddy said. The five of us talked over each other, bickered, hugged, primped, and caught up. It was like we all still lived in the old farm house together. We just picked up where we left off… like we always did. After some overdue family time, we went outside and mingled as the guests started to arrive.
Our big day was finally here. All our family and friends were gathered to see me and Maggie get married. I grew up in a kinda untraditional family situation. We had two dads, a bunch of grandparents, about a million guncles, uncles, aunts, and cousins, and of course, my biological mother, Karen. “You look so handsome” she said as she straightened my already straight bowtie. Okay, total sidebar here… what is it with people straightening bowties? I never wore bowties, but it was my wedding day, and I swear that every person I saw straightened that flipping thing… and by the way, it was never crooked when I checked it in the mirror. Anyway… I hadn’t seen my mom in about a year. She was just a kid when she had me and Izzy, then our biological father took off and left her to deal with us. She did some stupid shit over the years and was always in trouble; in and out of jail, on and off probation until me and Izzy were teenagers. She loved us, but she kept messin’ up, and frankly she had no idea how to do the right thing by us. Our dads did their best to help us have a relationship with her, but they always put our wellbeing first, which meant there were a few years where we weren’t allowed to see her. There were also a few where we didn’t want to see her, but to her credit she finally got her shit together. She moved to Chicago several years ago, married a great guy, Ralph, and started a new life. Over the years we mended fences (then tore them down, then mended them, then drove through them with a tank, then mended them again… this was life with my mother), but no matter what happened, we knew she loved us, and we never stopped loving her. When all was said and done, we ended up in a good place and I was happy she made it down for the wedding.
So, I mentioned I had a huge, collected family, well, one of my cousins was Teddy, he was also my best friend… and my best man. We were adopted at about the same time; he was adopted by my dads’ best friends (Uncle Brody and Uncle Max), and we grew up across the street from each other. We were best friends all through school, soccer teammates for over almost two decades, we even shared a flat in college at UWM.
The poor guy went through some rough shit a couple of years ago. Like I said, we were both adopted, but our situations were different. I knew where I came from and had a (sometimes rocky as hell) relationship with my biological mother, but Teddy had no clue about his roots. He was abandoned as a baby, floated around the foster system for a while, then got adopted by Uncle Brody and Uncle Max. He had a great childhood, but when we were teenagers, he started wondering about his bio parents and went on a mission to find them. He spent years trying to track them down and kept coming up empty. Well, when we were in college, he got this DNA test that listed possible relatives. He followed a bunch of leads and finally discovered who his parents were. His mother died right after he was born, but his father was still alive and lived in Illinois, less than two hours from campus. One Spring break we jumped into my old Jetta and went to track the guy down. We got to this big house in the suburbs of Chicago where he supposedly lived, and parked in front of it. We just sat in the car talking for like an hour while Teddy tried to get up the courage to knock on the door. Well, we were lost in conversation when the guy knocked on the passenger window, holy shit… he looked like future Teddy! Seriously, it was him in like 20 years!!! Well long story short, Teddy told the guy that he was his son and the guy basically told him to fuck off… I’m actually saying it a lot nicer than he did. That really fucked Teddy up. He pretty much stayed drunk for the rest of the semester, and didn’t give a shit about anything; he was in a bad place.
That summer when we went back home to North Carolina, I told my dads’ what happened… I didn’t want to narc on my best friend, but he needed help and I was in way over my head. My dad, Seth is a psychologist and he helped him big time. I mean seriously helped him. The two of them met several times a week, and by the end of the summer, Teddy had told his dad’s all about what happened with his father. As always, his dads and our entire village (that’s how we all refer to our collected family) helped him come to grips with it. The unconditional love helped him deal with the rejection of his biological father; by the time we went back to school that fall, Teddy was Teddy again and got his life back on track; he buckled down and made up for wasted time. He was closer to his family than ever, calling them several times a day and going home every chance he got.
After graduation, we both moved back home to North Carolina. I took a job as a social worker, funny thing is… it was Ms. Elkin’s old job. Ms. Elkin was one of my heroes. She was there when Izzy and I were babies and our mom was in and out of jail. She always made sure we were safe and had what we needed. She eventually placed us in the best permanent home possible, with our dads; She did the same for Ali and Teddy too. She stood up for us in court when the judge tried to inject his narrow-minded views of family into our adoption. She was the reason we were a family and I was proud to take her place.
Teddy went to work with his dad at the candle company in downtown Wilmington, taking over marketing and sales. The two of us started hanging out with my sister and Maggie… like all the time. It was no surprise that they knew the best bars and clubs.
Izzy became a fulltime firefighter (I dare you to call her a fireman to her face) and started working weird hours so she wasn’t around as much. Then Teddy met Ana, a media sales rep from Raleigh, and started spending all his time with her. So, with Izzy and Teddy preoccupied, that left me and Maggie. We started hanging out more and she went from my sister’s best friend to my best friend, to my soulmate. And now, we were about to walk down the aisle with our collected family… our village… there to support us.
“I want to stay in New York and be on Broadway, I love live theater” my boyfriend Barret explained to my grandparents who were giving him the third degree about what he wanted to do with his life after graduation. My grandmother was driving the interrogation, she was an overbearing control freak who drove us all insane (so much drama). I flipping loved her! She accepted all of us kids unconditionally, as her own, and was always there for us (adopted or biological made no difference to her).
I wasn’t even two years old when my dads, adopted me. My mom died leaving me without a home or family. Thanks to Ms. Elkin it wasn’t long before I became a Westin-Hall; I was so young that it was really the only life I’ve ever known. I loved my family, I loved who I was, and I loved my name (I kept it as my stage name too). I was so contented that I never really even thought about my biological family. Yeah, I looked different from my siblings, Izzy and Freddy were biologically related and looked alike. I definitely looked different, but I was good with that because they never made me feel different; we were siblings. Freddy was always my protector, he treated me just like he treated his natural sister. And Izzy… she teased the crap out of me but always had my back. I remember when I was about thirteen and just realizing that I was gay, some bigger kid bullied me… Izzy kicked his ass!!! In her words “nobody picks on my brother but me.” She got suspended from school for two days for that, but my parents didn’t punish her, they understood. Our family always stuck together.
When I turned eighteen, my dads sat me down and told me about my biological parents. They had met my father before my adoption was finalized; he had given them an envelope to give me when I asked about my roots (which I never really did), or when I became an adult. The envelope contained pictures of my parents, baby pictures of me, a family health history, and a letter from my father explaining how my mother had died, and why he couldn’t take me. I felt for my father, but I also felt that things worked out exactly as they were supposed to. So, I guess that makes my story unique compared to a lot of other adopted kids.
Freddy and Izzy had always tried hard to have a relationship with their biological mother and always seemed to get burned (Karen was kind of crazy). Teddy wanted to be wanted by his biological father so bad that when he was rejected it broke his soul… man that was hard to watch, but our village rallied around and helped him through it. Teddy’s twin sisters, Abbi, and Olli, had an open relationship with their mother. She sent them birthday cards and they met up with her every couple of years. Me? I was Ali Westin-Hall. My dads were Zach and Seth. My siblings were Freddy and Izzy. I had an uncountable number of relatives and people who loved me. That was more than enough for me; I knew exactly where I came from. An old farmhouse just outside of Wilmington North Carolina; that was home.
Anyway, I looked over at Barret still being interrogated by the grandparents, and watched in admiration as he just leaned into it. I loved that guy! We met at an audition for some shitty play off Broadway a couple of years ago (waaaaaaay off Broadway… like it might as well have been in Brooklyn). I got the lead; he got the main supporting role. I liked him right away. I’m not shy, I just never really talk to people, I kind of take stuff in… I love people watching. Then there’s Barret, every human being is his very best friend. He came up to me while I was waiting to audition and introduced himself, then we started making up back stories for all the people waiting to audition. He had me cackling out loud, there was an instant connection.
He’s outgoing, full of life, and a hot little muscle Asian (my guncles drool over him at family events and he loves it). We’re probably the only two gay guys around that don’t have interesting coming out stories. Barret claims his parents always knew he was gay and just never cared (his parents are awesome by the way… they live in Connecticut and come to every single show either of us are in no matter how minor or shitty the part). As for me, I came home from school at about thirteen years old with my friend Roger, introduced him as my boyfriend and no one cared or even reacted (although I’m sure my dads’ talked about it later). Like I said, I’m Ali Westin-Hall, that’s all that ever mattered to my family.
“There’s my Baba Ghanoush and his little egg roll” Auntie Mo squealed as he came over to us. “I was so scared you boys wouldn’t make it. Don’t you both look so…. so… Broadway fabulous!” Auntie Mo (AKA Mauricio) was one of Daddy Zeff’s old friends from Phoenix, he was probably the most flaming of all the guys in our collected family, but I loved the hell out of him, and he loved the hell out of all of us. He had an arm around Barret as he talked with us out on the church steps for a while before Grandma Kelly started wrangling the crowd to move inside the church to start the wedding.
Who in the hell would’ve thought that Freddy and Maggie would end up together. “You treat her right or we’ll kick your ass” I whispered to my son as me and Seth walked him down the aisle.
“You don’t scare me” Freddy said with a chuckle, “but Uncle Dylan F’ing terrifies me, and he said the same thing, so don’t sweat it.” The three of us quietly chuckled as we walked down the aisle.
We knew everyone on both sides of the aisle, I guess that’s the joy of your kid marrying the kid of close friends. Hell, the eight of us basically all parented our kids together. Me, Seth, Gina, Dylan, Brody, Max, Eli, and Riley had an even dozen between us. Three kids per family… we didn’t plan it that way, it just happened. Over the years we all vacationed together, ate pizza together on Friday nights, did all kinds of activities together on the weekends and over the summers. Our kids were all great friends and the parents all helped each other, whichever parent was closest was the one in charge and they all knew it. For the most part, we all agreed on how to raise our kids so things just naturally blended. We got to the altar, hugged our son, then took our seats in the front row.
Next the couples started to walk down the aisle, Teddy and Izzy were the best man and maid of honor, they walked down first. “God, Izzy is beautiful, she even makes that fugly dress look amazing” Seth whispered as we sat in the front pew.
“You aint got no taste, Darlin’” BA whispered from behind us, “Them dresses are gorgeous, I picked ‘em out my own damn self.” Seth and I both chuckled an apology just before DJ and Mercedes walked by followed by Ali and Olli, then Louis V. (V for Vuitton - Eli and Riley’s middle child) and Abbi, and lastly Huey G. (G for Givenchy - Eli and Riley’s youngest) walked the aisle with Gina and Dylan’s youngest Lindsey. Maggie and Freddy insisted that all their “siblings” be in the wedding. With all the kids were lined up on the altar (it was an amazing sight), the music stopped. Everyone turned to the back of the church as the string quartet up in the loft started playing ‘Here Comes The Bride.’
“Oh my god, she looks amazing” I muttered under my breath.
“Freddy better not f this up” Seth responded.
The beautiful bride made her was down the aisle on the white carpet with her father on one arm and her mother on the other. With all eyes on her, she took her time and soaked up the attention (as her and Izzy tended to do). When she finally made it to the altar, her parents turned her over to Freddy… the bride and groom just stared at each other adoringly, they really were perfect for each other and clearly in love.
Gina and Dylan stepped off the altar and walked over to me and Seth… the four of us congratulated ourselves on a job well done and ended with a hug.
The ceremony was beautiful with every minute detail tended to… of course it was! Between Gina, Seth, Kelly, and BA nothing was left to chance. At the end of it all, our eldest son was married to the woman of his dreams and our families became even more interwoven.
I could not believe how perfect everything was. I also could not believe that Freddy and Maggie were married. But there we were at the reception, with all our friends and family from North Carolina, Wisconsin, Phoenix, St Louis, and all points beyond there to witness the union. So many people, including so many of the villagers who had become a major part of our lives over the years.
The food was amazing (thanks to Colton), the atmosphere was loud and celebratory, and the toasts were flowing as we launched the happy couple into their new life. I was mingling with the crowd when a spoon clinked against a glass and Gina took the microphone. “Will the father of the bride, and the fathers of the groom please join me? And also, Max, Brody, Eli, and Riley, please.” We all joined her at the microphone, where she made a beautiful toast to the couple that ended it with, “Freddy and Maggie, I wanted to have all these folks up here with me because they all played a huge role in raising you both. We all watched you grow, helped you through every freaking illness imaginable, and were there for the good times and the bad. Now we lift our glasses in honor of your marriage… Seth, Zach, Dylan, anyone… anything to add?”
I took the mic and added, “Why don’t you all stand. Everyone in this room was part of these two kids becoming the amazing adults they are.” Gina nodded as the guests all stood and raised their glasses in a toast to the happy couple.
Looking out at all these amazing people in our lives, I couldn’t help BUT think about how it all started. When I walked into my dorm suite for the first time all those years ago and met the most beautiful, hottest (presumably straight), blonde jock, and the loud chick down the hall, I could never have imagined it would lead to this day. This life… this, this, this…perfect world that we created with the friends we made in college. But there we were, living the dream, and watching the next generation start their lives surrounded by so many people who loved them.
The moment was perfect. Well, almost… then we heard that familiar riff, and all our kids yelling a collective “hey!!!” The next thing I know, our entire family was on the floor dancing to the Romantics, ‘What I like About You.’ Now. Now, it was perfect.
The End (Of Seth’s Version)
Author’s note: Day-um! 160 chapters of The Village – that may be a GD record. This series may be done, but the story will live on in ‘Villagers’ coming soon. I appreciate all the comments, ratings, and emails; they keep me writing. I know a lot of you are too shy to comment, but if you've been with The Village for 160 Chapters, I hope you'll share your comments. I'd love to hear what you think of the epilogue, and, as always, your emails are greatly appreciated. THANK YOU ALL for inspiring me.
