Youth Transformed

Epilogue

Five and a half years later.......

Pann

"Put your sister down, Matthew, or so help me, I will call for your father! She is not an invading country bent on ruling our house as a dictatorship! Where do you even hear these words?" I ask my youngest son.

"Uncle Heif calls Aunt Karmony his little dictator, so I figured it was something bad, because he carries Aunt Karmony away whenever he says it," Matthew shrugs his shoulders at me.

Hmm... seems it's time to have a talk with Uncle Heif, and maybe Aunt Karmony. But surely, he's not hauling her around now, she's eight months pregnant with their second child. Little Michael is just three and tries his best to keep up with my boys, but often ends up playing with our daughter, Oriana.

"Daddy's home!" Joven announces and Oriana runs to her dad, for a pick up and swing around the room in his arms.

"Were you a good girl?" Joven asks our daughter, she just turned four years old, and came as quite a shock, as we had just had the twins.

Joven gives me a kiss on the cheek, and tickles Oriana's belly. Just like I knew it would be, he's just the best dad ever! Of course, having his parents nearby is a big help.

"Did you stop by and see Mark on the way home?" I ask Joven, as I turn to start making supper.

"Yes, he's learning, and adapting to the new therapist. He used his iPad to request to stay and play, so I told the therapist I'd be by later to pick him up."

My birthing in Dewstone had gone uneventful, and I delivered our twin boys right before the sunset. Joven sat with me from the window of the doctor's room, holding our newborn sons, watching the ceremony. Heif and Karmony had shown up right before the twins entered the world, their clothes hastily put on, as their buttons were ill-matched, and their hair was sticking out in all directions. They left not long after that, having fixed themselves in the doctor's bathroom, with much giggling coming from the closed door. They finished their evening ceremony, with Heif giving her a beautiful GOLD wedding ring.

It was about seven months after the boys had been born, that we discovered

1. I was pregnant again!

2. Michael made it safely to Michigan and

3. Our youngest son was mentally delayed.

Testing followed, assessments, and so many forms to fill out about his development, that it would make my head spin. Finally, blood work was performed, and the results came back... a day I will never forget....

"Your youngest son has 'Fragile X Syndrome,' it's a hereditary chromosome disorder. He is mentally impaired," Dr. Woolsly had said, as Joven and I sat in his office holding our sons.

If I close my eyes... I can remember with every detail, my last Christmas with my parents, the day I met Joven, our wedding, the ceremony at the Sacred Cave, the birth of our sons on Summer Solstice and this — the day the doctor told me my son was impaired and may never reach past the mental age of ten. I can describe what I was wearing, what Joven was wearing and how the room was decorated.

It's like your world tilts off its axis, and you know... you just know your world will never be the same.

I cried and cried, while Joven kept this goofy grin in place. He had us drop off the boys to his parents and then took me to UpAbove for a walk.

I'd asked him why he wasn't crying.... Taking my hands, he had me sit by the fountain and took his hands in mine. He kissed my cheek and then explained how EVERYONE is a blessing in Dewstone, there is NO "normal" or "not normal." Having our sons born on Summer Solstice was a huge blessing, but so was this diagnosis.

He gave me story after story, of all the extra special kids in Dewstone. Our son would be loved for who he is, not what he should be. He was a gift and will forever be with us, and that life just got a whole lot sweeter!

Five and half years later, and I'm happy to say............. our youngest son has taught me to slow down and enjoy life, give without thinking, love freely, show happiness always, and that everyone needs a helping hand in life. He's non-verbal and Autistic, and absolutely perfect! After school, each day, he gets more therapy time and is his happiest playing near the other kids. Not always with the kids, he's satisfied to just sit near them and observe. He's a goofy little guy, and perfectly made.... for us!

"Daddy, daddy, "Oriana's voice brings me back to the present, "guess what Matthew did today?" in true sibling love, she loves ratting her brothers out.

"What's that Kitten?" Joven asks our daughter.

"Matthew went on a field trip to UpAbove City Park, and he said he met the girl he's going to marry!"

Joven and I look at each other, and then start laughing.

"I don't doubt that for one minute, Kitten, girls by the fountains are the prettiest!"

The End

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Author's note: WOW! The adventure comes to an end, or does it? What started out two years ago, through tears, frustration at times and the most supportive husband; taking us through fantastical places with an under-fountain civilization, an almost magical story of love, devotion and redemption has found its happy ending. I leave here on this page a record of all i dreamed that snowy night so long ago.  It's meant so much to me that you came along this odyssey. As always i leave my thanks and hope you will enjoy newest book set in Texas, "Join My Pieces"!  All my love, and some sore typing fingers, A. Parks

ps. The Dewstone Series is available for rent or buy your own copy at Amazon and Kindle.