Dear Doc ( MC No limits Book 4)

Chapter 25

Doc

Epilogue

One month later
"You don't have to worry, Piper. The kids will like you, I promise," I said to the little nervous girl as she stood in front of the car.
"How can you be sure?" she asked me.

"Because you're a No Limits kid," I replied, laughing, to which she looked from me to Drew.
"I'm here too," Drew said encouragingly as she hugged Piper.

"School is a whole new important thing in your life. You can already read and write, honey... You don't need to be afraid," Emily encouraged her.

"But what if they don't like me?" Piper asked nervously.
"Then I'll make them like you," Drew said, to which Duke laughed.

"That's the spirit," he said with a grin.
"Listen, Kid..." Duke began, whereupon Piper turned to him. "They'll love you, I promise, and if they don't, then Uncle Duke will come over," he added with a laugh.
Piper nodded and looked from me to her mother.

"Ready?" Emily asked her, to which Piper shook her head. She came to me, and I knelt down to hug her.
"Wish me luck," she said quietly.
"Good luck, darling," I said just as quietly.

I watched them get into Emily's car and buckle up their seatbelts.

"I hope you can manage on your own today. I won't be coming back right away," Emily said as she turned to me, and I pulled her into a hug.
"I'll be fine, baby," I answered her as I kissed her.

When I opened the door to the car for her, she smiled at me and got in. The shiny ring on her hand that showed that we were getting married soon was a huge reward for all these years. But the tattoo she wore was just for me.
Doc's Girl was on her back. And she was my girl... my ol' lady and my whole life.
Storm worked on it for a long time, and she wore it proudly. And Ink found a spot where he immortalized Emily and Piper's names on me.

"Daddy's getting sentimental," Duke said, laughing as I waved after them.

"Shut up, Duke... What are you doing here so early?" I asked, laughing as he lightly elbowed me.

"Speaking of sentimental daddy, Wrath called, it's obviously starting," Duke told me.

"Alice is having the baby?" I asked excitedly. "Yeah... a little earlier than expected, but the little man is obviously in a hurry," Duke added.

We looked at the Ol' Ladies who were hurriedly packing their things into Ivy's car to drive to the hospital. They had balloons and flowers with them, and their excitement was clearly visible.

"I should tell Emily," I said, to which Duke laughed.

"The women are better connected than the FBI. You don't think she already knows?" he asked, laughing.
I shook my head and grinned; they were indeed a great support for each other. The solidarity between the old ladies was great, and we admired our girls who stuck together so much.

"It's gotten pretty quiet," Duke said as he lit his cigarette.
"It's been a good month, Duke... Nothing happened," I replied, laughing.
"Yeah, I'm just used to something always happening," he told me, laughing.
"I have to work, Duke... that's the stuff that adults do," I told him, laughing as I walked back to the house and he grinned.

A lot has changed since Emily and Piper were with me. Not only is my house filled with laughter and love, but my entire life.
I was happy and found the peace that I was looking for so much in the two girls who made me happier every day. The community was hugely supportive and stood up for Emily. She could have easily lost her job, but Tom owed the No Limits to save his son, so Emily continued to be the therapist for the community.

She gave up her old life and sold everything to stay here with us. When she wasn't giving therapy, she helped me in the clinic, and to be honest, I needed help. For a long time, I took care of everything myself, with help from Evelyn, but now it was much easier.

Her friendship with the women became huge after she accepted all the changes. She still was their therapist but a friend first. When we had to tell Piper that Roger was dead, the girl was heartbroken. She cried for days and was inconsolable, but Roger seemed to have even thought about it.
"Grandpa told me that one day he would go to heaven to look after me from there," I remembered her words. He is, I am sure of that.

The day seemed to be going well, the appointments I had until lunchtime were completed quickly, and I sat on the front porch as I finished my work.

"Are you sure you don't want me to come with you?" Ace asked me as I got on my motorcycle to do what I should have done long ago.

"No... I have to do this alone," I answered him, to which he nodded. "Also, Alice is going to have her child. Uncle Ace has to show up at the hospital," I added, to which he nodded with a smile.

The drive to the cemetery where Harper was buried seemed like the longest journey of my life. I parked my bike and walked the path to his grave. When I stood in front of it, my heart was beating like crazy. Thomas Harper stood on his gravestone... I gulped and saluted the gravestone.

The memories of our time together came flooding back, and I wiped my tears before kneeling down.
"I'm sorry, Thomas... I wanted to help you... but I couldn't," I said quietly.

"He knows that," I heard a familiar voice to which I turned.
Dylan was standing there, and next to him were all my other SEAL brothers.

"How did you know I was here?" I asked, confused as they all looked at me.

"Your girl called me," Dylan replied as he looked behind me.

When I turned around, Emily was standing a little further from the grave on the path and looked at me tenderly. I kept putting this visit on hold and told Emily that I finally wanted to do it today... I just thought she had forgotten and had other commitments to do...

"You found a good woman Ryan" Dylan said as he knelt next to me.
"I know," I answered him.
"I'm proud of you for coming here brother" he added to which I looked at him.

"I should have come here earlier" I said sadly with tears in my eyes.
"You're here now," I heard Masters say and I looked at him.

We stood up and were silent for a while, each of us thinking about our fallen brother.
We all saluted together, our brotherhood clearly evident as we stood next to each other.
I thought I could do this alone,but I was thankful Emily called them.
After some time she came to us and put flowers on Harper's grave like I put on her father's grave when we go there.

I just looked at her, words were unnecessary and she hugged me as I was grateful for her support. We talked about Harper and she listened to us. All the stories we proudly told and remembered him made us emotional.And she understood it.
I don't know how long we stood there, but as we walked back to our vehicles our group was deep in thought.

"Are we going?" Dylan asked and I looked at him.
" Where?" I asked confused.

"Duke invited us to a party...he's getting a nephew," Masters said.

"The baby is on the way" Emily added smiling to which I nodded knowingly.
I smiled at Dukes behavior,he was just searching for a new opportunity to have a Biker Party.And the birth of Wrath and Alice Kid is just right to get shit faced,as he would say.

"Yeah...let's go we have an hour drive" I said to them.
The boys got into their cars and Emily went to the car she drove over.

"Thank you," I said to her quietly as I stood next to the car.
She took my face in her hands and kissed me sensitively.
"I love you" she said to me.
"I fucking love you too" I replied as I hugged her.

"Come on, get on the bike," Masters shouted as he opened the window smiling.

"Let's go" I shouted and I heard a hooyaa from everyone.
I put my helmet on and drove ahead followed by everyone.

Life is too short to live in the past. I will carry Harper in my heart forever... but I had to move on. For Emily... for Piper... for my brothers... And for me.
It means not forgetting what happened...It is the conscious choice to choose joy and inner peace instead of pain.
And I've found it now.