(Epilogue)

Saturday July 18, 1987

Elaine had decided to have a cookout for everyone, feeling that a nice day of all the families together was needed. It had been nearly a month since the events at the lake. Things were not quite normal yet, but the healing process was definitely happening among the kids and adults both. Everyone seemed to feel a sense of relief that there was no longer any secrets being kept.

John Cena's family had a private funeral for him and had decided to leave town for a few months to try and get themselves together. They felt they needed to get away from Walkerton for a bit and had even considered selling their house when they returned because the memories of John were just too strong.

Jey and Jimmy were both recovering nicely from their injuries. Jimmy's shoulder was coming along and he was soon going to start physical therapy. Jey had gotten the stitches out of his leg. Both of the boys were attending counseling once a week but were overall doing very well. Their family was planning to take a vacation before the boys left for college. They thought a trip out of the area would be good for their family.

Naomi had gotten her stitches out as well. She had spent a lot of time with Jimmy as his shoulder healed and she had also spent a lot of time with Chevonne; the girls finding they had a special bond having survived that night at the lake together.

Ted, Kristin, Brandi and Cody had supported all their friends during their recoveries. Ted and Cody were both still in therapy dealing with the loss of their brothers but were doing better. Ted had even managed to go into Brett's room again.

Randy was glad that he was finally back to eating regular food and was nearly back to normal physically. Over the past month, he and Chevonne had depended on each other a lot. Both were in counseling and spending a lot of time together. Even though the danger had passed, Chevonne still stayed the night with the Orton's when Judi had to work the nightshift at her second job. Everyone could see their sibling bond was as strong as ever.

Roman had also healed nicely from his injury. Seth and Dean had called him constantly over the past month and Roman appreciated their help. His family had experienced some guilt, feeling he wouldn't have been hurt had they not moved from California but Roman focused on moving past it rather than spending time debating the 'what ifs'.

Chevonne had been dealing with a lot of emotions having finally found out who her birth father was and that Bray Wyatt was her half-brother. She was in counseling twice a week. Roman had been a great comfort to her, making sure that she knew he wasn't going anywhere and that she had his entire support. He had even taken her to the library one day when she insisted on seeing what her birth father looked like. They had looked through the newspapers on microfilm from 1968 until they found articles about the commune fire. She had sat a few minutes not saying anything just looking at the picture in the paper of the article discussing the fire that had killed the preacher.

"Chevonne, are you okay? Maybe this wasn't such a good idea." Roman looked at her.

"No, all my life I wanted to see my birth father." She said.

"And how do you feel now that you see him?" Roman asked.

"I feel nothing. It is like looking at a stranger….he is a stranger." She said.

"So you're okay?" he asked.

"Oh yeah, I'm fine." She nodded. "When I see Bob, I feel such warmth and love inside. It really drives home what he told me in the hospital….that he is my dad."

Chevonne has also decided on a college major. She had decided to go into psychology and counseling figuring that after what she had been through, she could relate to others better. She hoped to someday be able to help others through their own rough situations and facing demons.

"Here Randy, carry this out into the back yard and see what your sister is into. I haven't seen her in about an hour." Elaine handed Randy a salad bowl.

"You got enough food mom?" Randy asked.

"Well we have a lot of people coming this afternoon." Elaine said. "Now go on, your father is lighting the grill."

Randy carried the bowl out onto the patio where his mom had a bunch of food setting on a table. He saw his dad fussing with the grill. He looked over and saw Chevonne sitting sideways in the hammock so it was like a swing. He walked over and sat down in the hammock with her.

"What are you writing?" Randy pointed to the notebook in her lap.

"The therapist felt I could get out some of my emotions towards Bray if I wrote him a letter." Chevonne said.

"Bray is dead." Randy frowned.

"Exactly, which means I will never get to face him in court or any other way of confronting him about what he did. My therapist thinks that by putting my feelings in a letter it will help express them and let them out some."

"Can I read it or is it private?" Randy asked.

"You can read it. I trust you." She handed him the notepad.

To Bray Wyatt,

There are so many things I would like to say to you that I am not sure where to begin. There is so much pain you have caused that there are times I still think it can't be real. But sadly it is real and I am having to learn to move past it. Thankfully, I have wonderful family and friends that are helping me as they try to make sense of things themselves.

I have learned that you were misled your entire life about the death of your father. But that does not excuse your actions. It was not your place to try to punish people for the sins you thought they committed. Because of you I lost two very dear friends and a friend I was enjoying getting to know better. And as horrible as Nikki was to me, she didn't deserve her fate either. You took away precious people from me and you tainted what should have been some of the happiest times of my life. And I am angry that you hurt my friends, my boyfriend and my brother.

And yes, Randy is my brother. You and I might have been created by the same man, but me and Randy have shared our lives and a family for most of my life…that is what it means to be real siblings. If you made different decisions and told me of our shared parent differently….we may have been able to been friends and grown to care about each other as siblings, but we will never know and that is solely your fault. But I refuse to grieve for what might have been and instead count my blessings for what I do have.

There really are no words to explain the pain you, Rowan and Harper have caused me and the people I care about. But I need to heal. I can't carry hurt and anger with me forever. You did and it destroyed you. You are beyond the reaches of earthly justice so I am trusting God to do with you as He sees fit, that will be enough for me.

Chevonne Williamson

"What do you think?" she asked.

"I am still not sure I understand writing to a dead man, but at least you seem to be focusing on positive things." Randy said.

"I do feel a little better. I know that Bray wanted to take you away from Papa and me too. It was important to me that he 'know' he didn't do that." She said.

"Why don't you put this away for now? Today is supposed to be a fun day. Besides, dad is about to blow up the deck fighting with the grill." Randy hugged her.

"I will. I wanna freshen up before Roman gets here." She kissed his cheek and took off into the house.

Randy chuckled watching her go. He decided to see if he could help his dad with the grill.

An hour later everyone was gathered in the Orton's back yard eating a large meal and enjoying being together. The adults were once again amazed at how well the kids seemed to help each other cope and were glad that the kids had each other.

"I heard Roman has decided to start community college in the fall. Is he sure about this?" Fatu asked Sika.

"I don't know. Chevonne decided to take a semester of community college before going to college in Atlanta. Said she didn't feel ready to leave the area quite yet. Roman said he wanted to stay with her. He was going to red shirt so he can still play football next year. We tried but there is no talking him out of this." Sika sighed.

"Young love gone to his head?" Dusty asked.

"More like he is thinking with the wrong head." Sika sighed.

"I wouldn't be so quick to say that. We don't know what Roman is feeling. He may be trying to deal with things we don't know about." Ted Sr. said.

"I am sure it will work out. As long as he gets his education, I will be happy." Mrs. Reigns said.

"I am thinking of going back to school myself." Judi said.

"Really?" Mrs. Rhodes asked.

"I have been giving it a lot of thought. Chevonne will be in college and more independent and I am still young enough that I could finish my nursing degree." She said.

"I think that is a wonderful idea." Mrs. Reigns said.

"Randy has decided to go to college closer to home. At least for his freshman year. He says he may transfer later." Elaine said. "He says he wants to be closer so he can come home more often."

"How has Chevonne been holding up?" Fatu asked Bob.

"She is getting better. She still has the occasional nightmare but she has been sticking with her counseling. I have to say that boyfriend of her's gained a lot of points with me by being so good to her through all this. He really showed me what a good kid he is." Bob said.

"Thank you. But Randy is a good kid too. Roman tells me all the time how close Randy and Chevonne are." Sika said.

At the second picnic table the kids were laughing and enjoying their meal. They even had agreed to go to the drive-in that night as a group.

"I noticed you framed one of the pictures of us with Seth and Dean." Roman said to his girlfriend.

"I wanted to. I really like those guys. And it was so nice of them to call and check on me a few times the past month." She smiled.

"I think Seth is calling hoping to talk to Mama Judi." Randy snickered.

"Oh you're hysterical." She rolled her eyes.

"I think 'Predator' is still playing at the drive in." Cody said.

"I dunno, Carl Weathers without Stallone….is that even allowed?" Teddy laughed.

"Has to be better than that stupid 'Ernest Goes to Camp' Brandi dragged me to see." Cody said.

"Like you two actually saw 15 minutes of that whole movie." Kristin laughed.

"I want to see that new Patrick Swayze movie coming out soon." Naomi said.

"I know, he looks so cute in the advertisements for it." Chevonne said.

"Wait a minute….it is a dancing movie. Aren't you the same person that rants against 'Footloose'?" Jey laughed.

"That is a separate issue." Chevonne said.

"You know, we only have about a month left together. Then we'll all be headed off to college." Jimmy said.

They were all silent for a moment.

"We'll always be friends. Besides, think of all the adventures this will lead to." Cody said.

"Besides, you know Teddy and Kristin will be getting engaged soon." Jey smiled.

"We will?" Ted raised an eyebrow.

"I say they will be one of those get engaged at holiday break during junior year of college couples." Brandi giggled.

"Naomi and Jimmy will probably get engaged after college." Cody said.

"And you and Brandi getting engaged when?" Naomi raised an eyebrow at him.

"Can we not talk about weddings? Papa hears this he will explode." Chevonne said.

"Fine, we'll remind you that you said that when Roman hits one knee at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium." Jey snickered.

"How did I get dragged into this?" Roman nearly choked on his soda.

"Enough about that…what about the movies tonight?" Chevonne redirected the conversation.

"We'll load up on snacks and take some blankets and pillows." Randy said.

"It will be fun, we need to hang out as much as possible over the next month." Kristin said.

"We will." Jimmy smiled.

"But honestly, after all we've been through…nothing is tearing us apart." Jey smiled.

Author's Note- Thank you to everyone who has read/reviewed/followed/favorited this story. This story has come to an end but I have a new story that will be starting very soon and I hope everyone takes a chance and reads that one as well.