Chapter 286 Ivy's Story

Monday, January 30th, Evening

From across the table, Izzy told her story. Ivy listened enraptured to the congresswoman's way of talking about her life. It never entered her mind the City of Chicago's daughter would be having drinks with someone of lofty status. The surprising thing was the down to Earth nature of Izzy's taste and the almost matter-of-fact method of how she thought about her life.

"So, now I'm confused about your story," Ivy said, trying to add all the numbers together.

"How so?" Izzy asked, looking at Ivy.

"You implied your first son was by the guy in high school," Ivy said, trying to a clarification of information so she could connect the dots.

"It wasn't implied because he is," Izzy said, a serious tone settled into her voice.

"So, who was the basketball player in high school?" Ivy asked, still trying to connect the dots.

"Keith Scott," Izzy said, with a serious but confidently.

"So, you're telling me that your whole story was about…" Ivy said, making the only conclusion with the information on hand.

"Yes, my husband," Izzy said.

"Wow," Ivy said, understanding she did make the connection.

Izzy leaned forward and locked eyes with Izzy. "So, it's your turn to share," she said.

Ivy nodded and took a sip of her beer. Putting the pint glass down and made eye contact with each of the women at the table. Finally, she slid the beer to the side.

"It was Fourth of July, I couldn't leave the city, 'cause I had to work the next day. To kill time, and just to get out of my apartment, I went to a bar, well, you know," Ivy said, a bit nervous.

"A bar that caters to a specific clientele," Trin said.

"You could say that," Ivy said.

"Well, go on," Izzy said.

"You're not shocked?" Ivy asked.

"Izzy and I grew up in New York, and I went to college in the village. It would be Ashlyn that would be shocked," Trin said.

"Not hardly, remember I had a few teammates who are LGBTQ," Ashlyn said, "Including Kay."

"I was there with my friend Shauna, having a few drinks and waiting for the fireworks," Ivy said, and shrugged, "About a beer and a half in the door opened, and a few tall women came into the bar. The third one through the door was Kay," Ivy reached over for her beer and took a deep draught, "She looked so out of place, it was almost cute."

"Kay's always been a bit awkward," Ashlyn said.

"Well, she caught my eye. Eventually, she found herself in a quiet corner. I kept my eye on her, and my friend Shauna noticed that I kept looking over at Kay. I think we were three or five beers in when I noticed Kay doodling. Every so often, she would change the hand the pen was in and keep doodling," Ivy said.

"That sounds like Kay," Trin said.

"That changing of hands really caught me. Shauna encouraged me to go over and talk with Kay. So, I built up my courage, grabbed my drink, and went over to Kay. I took a seat across from her and introduced myself. We talked and got to know each other, and I got to see what she was doodling. Nothing happened that night," Ivy said and took another draught of her beer.

"Take your time," Izzy said.

Ivy put her glass down and grabbed a few French fries. "Over the next few months, we would bump into each other. Most of these times were at the bar; I think we went to other places as well. Sometimes around Halloween, we decided to go on an official date," Ivy said.

"A Halloween First Date?" Trin asked, "That sounds fun."

Ivy sighed, "Of course we ended up at the bar, and we met there, in fact. We dressed up; Halloween's always been my favorite time of the year. I went dressed like a, well, it's kind of cliché, but I went as a sexy gothic red riding hood. Kay went as well; I didn't get it; she said she custom was of someone called Lagertha," Ivy said, and shrugged, "We just clicked and been seeing each other since. Not much of a story."

"Nothing to be ashamed of, it's your story, and a good one at that," Izzy said.

"Thanks," Ivy said.

"Ahh! Young love, the tale as old as time, but like all things that shine, it too fades," Trin said.

"Trin, stop being so bitter," Ashlyn said.

"I'm not being bitter, just a realist," Trin said.

"I thought I heard y'all back here," a male voice boomed over their conversation.

Ivy looked over to see a tall, powerfully built ginger-haired man standing in the archway. He wore black firefighting pants held up with red suspenders, a light blue button-down shirt with the name Burke embroidered on it, and slung over his shoulder was some form of a leather strap.

"Hey Huck," Trin said and smiled at him as he walked over to the table.

Izzy got up and greeted Huck; he bent over because he was practically towering over her so that they could kiss each other's cheeks. "What are you doing over here?" Izzy asked.

"Getting dinner, and since we run the city, we could practically go anywhere," Huck Burke said.

"It's nice to see you," Izzy said.

"Same here," Huck said.

"I thought you were off tonight?" Ashlyn asked.

"I swapped for tonight," Huck said, "I wanted to make sure I could be there tomorrow."

"You know you didn't have to do it," Ashlyn said.

"To see my daughter play and two of my closest friends get honored, of course, I couldn't miss it," Huck said.

"The honor is no big deal," Ashlyn said as Izzy returned to her seat.

"Well, it is," Huck said, and looked over his shoulder, "It looks like our food is ready, so, I've got to go," he said and slipped away.

Once Huck was out of sight Ivy looked the table over. "Who was that?" she asked.

"Mine and Trin's brother-in-law," Izzy said.

"He's married to our sister Chase," Trin said.

"And he's the dad of my oldest daughter," Ashlyn said.

"What?" Wait a minute, did you just say what I thought you said?" Ivy said.

"Which would be?" Ashlyn asked.

"That that guy…" Ivy said.

"Huck," Ashlyn said.

"Huck? What type of name is Huck?" Ivy asked.

"A childhood nickname he never outgrew," Ashlyn said.

"But Huck, what's his real name?" Ivy asked.

"He'll kill me if I tell you, but it's James," Ashlyn said.

"Isn't your husband named James as well?" Ivy asked.

"Yes, strangely enough, he's named James as well," Ashlyn said.

"So, how does he end up being your brother-in-law?" Ivy asked and looked at Izzy and Trin, "And your baby daddy?" she asked, Ashlyn,

"He was my baby daddy first," Ashlyn said.

"I've got to hear his story," Ivy said, "Sounds so Maury."

"Well, Ash, that's all you," Trin said and laughed.

"As Trin said, it's up to me to tell that story since his story is largely mine," Ashlyn said and nodded a bit.