Chapter 21: Epilogue
February 13th, 2011
Margot Grant-Campbell pulled into her parent's driveway at their upscale suburban house in northern New Jersey. It was a very bright and early winter morning at 7:30am, but the trip they were going to be taking today required an early rise. She went up to the front steps, knocking on her parents' door.
"Margot!" Olivia immediately opened the door, answering louder than she probably should have for it being so early in the morning. She warmly embraced her oldest daughter before getting out of the hug, and looking straight at her. "Where is she?"
"Jeez mom, good to see you too," Margot joked.
Olivia ignored her comment, calling for Fitz, "Honey, Margot is here!"
Fitz came to the front to greet his oldest daughter as well, hugging and kissing her on the head.
"It's great to see you, sweetie. But where is she?" he repeated the same question.
Margot rolled her eyes, "you guys are both ridiculous. I swear I'm pretty sure the only reason you want me to visit is because of her."
"Not at all," Olivia insisted, but her heard went over Margot's shoulder immediately when she spotted Margot's husband, Ben, carrying the car seat out of the back of their minivan. "There she is!"
Ben walked up the steps to Olivia and Fitz, paying both his mother-in-law and father-in-law a proper greeting and stepped inside. Setting the car seat on the ground, Ben picked up his and Margot's daughter handing the tiny five-month-old infant to Fitz.
"You want to hang out with grandma and grandpa for a bit, hmm?" he hummed, giving her away. Fitz immediately coddled his tiny granddaughter in his arms, and allowed Olivia to hold her as well.
"Hi Ellie-bug," Fitz spoke in a baby voice.
"Dad, we're trying to limit baby talk. We read that it slows development."
Olivia laughed, "Well, that's just bullshit."
"MOM!"
"What? She can't understand it," Olivia said, turning her attention to Ellie and going back into a baby voice. "Can you? Say 'no I cannot.'"
Olivia looked back at her daughter, "oh my god, we forgot to tell you. Your dad and I combined our offices so we could put together a little playroom for her."
"Mom, dad, you didn't have to do that."
"Nope, we wanted to," Fitz replied.
"Like I said, you are both ridiculous," Margot shook her head, and let Fitz and Olivia take their granddaughter to the back playroom they had just set up specially for her.
"They put together a playroom for her," Ben chuckled. He couldn't help but laugh every time he saw how overly excited his wife's parents got when they brought Ellie over.
"I know," she said sheepishly. "They're enjoying the grandparent life. But I can't blame them. Being a grandparent is just like the fun parts of parenting. I am so looking forward to being a grandmother."
"You know you're only 28, right?" he laughed a little louder. They heard footsteps coming down the stairs.
"Hey sis, I thought I heard you. How's it going Ben?" Gerry came down giving his sister and brother-in-law a hug.
"How's it going Ger? How's Columbia?"
"Pretty good," he replied. He was in his final year of law school at Columbia where both of his parents went. Although he had his own place in the city near campus, knowing about the early morning departure, he opted for spending the weekend with his parents and two younger siblings before Margot, Ben, and Ellie arrived.
"Where's Ellie?" he asked, the question of where his niece was now triggered into his head.
"Mom and dad kidnapped her to the other room," Margot pointed.
"Figures," he threw his head slightly in laughter. "The playroom?"
"Yep."
"Yeah, they had me, Nate, and Syd put it together Friday night."
Margot shook her head some more, "thank you for doing that, but you guys didn't have to."
"Oh no," Gerry said, "We had to. They wouldn't let us leave the house for dinner until we did."
"Where are the twins?" asked Ben.
"Probably still asleep," Gerry answered. "That's what happens when you have all our college courses starting past 10am."
Olivia and Fitz's two youngest children were in their senior year of college. As with any college undergrads, their sleep scheduled differed from everyone else's.
"Not true, I am up," Sydney slowly came down the stairs, groggily rubbing her eyes and yawning. "It's Nathan you should be worrying about."
"Good to see you, sleeping beauty," Gerry joked.
"Shut it!" she snapped.
"Should we wake Nathan up?" Margot asked, looking at her siblings and husband for their input.
"NO! I'm up! I'm up!" they heard a voice coming from over the banister. A sleepy Nathan walked down the steps fully dressed for the day. "I woke up hearing mom and dad squeal over Ellie, and couldn't go back to sleep."
"Wow you're already ready to go," Margot observed of the habitually late Nathan. "You don't see this everyday. I'm impressed."
"Yeah, well it's also not everyday your 90-year-old grandpa gets married to his partner, so," Nathan shrugged.
"It's not everyday that gay marriage is legal," said Ben, thinking of how DC had only legalized same-sex marriage roughly a year ago, and how it still remained illegal in over half of the states in the US. "Bout damn time though."
The next hour Fitz and Olivia prepared and had breakfast with all of their kids, catching up since the last time they had all been together at Christmas. While they cleaned up, the others went to go get ready before beginning their journey to DC.
"So how do we want to do cars?" asked Fitz as they all stepped outside, seeing that they would have to take two cars with so many people.
"I call riding with Margot and Ben!" Sydney quickly raised his hand.
"Same!" added Nathan.
Olivia and Fitz looked at their middle son, eyeing him.
"I mean…welllll…they have a minivan…" Gerry began, throwing his hands up.
"Go ahead," Olivia smirked, and watched him go off with his other siblings into the car.
"Should we be offended that none of our kids want to hang out with us on a four-hour-long road trip?" she heard Fitz ask her.
"I don't know…I want to think that that means we're doing something right."
ooo
Fitz drove down the all-too familiar highway, noticing Olivia looking at him funny.
"What?"
"Nothing," she answered. "I was just thinking, I don't think we've done a road trip to DC with just you and me in a really long time – definitely before the kids."
"I think you're right."
"It just reminds me of old times," she added. "Like all the trips from Columbia back home."
"Well if you really wanted it to be like old times…I could…uh…play some Elton John and then spend the rest of the car ride shyly flirting while harboring my deep and intense emotions for you," he said sarcastically making Olivia laugh.
"Oh no, I'd much rather ride with my husband who isn't afraid to express those feelings," she said and leaned over to kiss him on the cheek and placing a hand on his inner thigh.
"Livvie," he moaned. "Don't distract me, or I might have to pull over."
She looked at him seductively, "then pull over."
ooo
Cyrus' new home was now a nice DC apartment in the downtown area. Once it was clear that Mellie and Olivia wouldn't be coming home nearly as often with houses and families of their own, Cyrus downsized and went back into the city, residing full time with James who moved with him. It worked out quite well, seeing as the most recent initiative in DC legalized same-sex marriage, while it still remained illegal and unrecognized in Virginia.
Fitz and Olivia arrived at the apartment about forty minutes later than the kids. Fitz and Olivia greeted a now-aging Cyrus, hugging him and congratulating him, and saying hello to James as well.
"Dad," she said, as she addressed him every night for over thirty years now. "It's good to see you. Are you ready?"
"Oh yeah. Once Mellie and Marcus come by, we'll head to the DC courthouse," Cyrus said in his now gravel voice which accompanied him through old age over the course of the last thirty years.
"What took you guys so long?" asked Sydney when her parents took a seat in the living room with everyone else.
"Oh, um, we had to turn back around. I realized I uh left my wallet back home," he lied, and mentally patted himself on the back, thinking it to be a clever cover.
"You're getting old pops," Nathan teased his dad.
"Not too old," Olivia chimed in, making Fitz smirk to himself.
They heard the doorbell ring and Olivia got up to let Mellie and her family in. She delightfully greeted Mellie and Marcus at the door along with her niece Mia, Mia's husband Will, and Mellie and Marcus' younger son Liam. The children said hi to their aunt, uncle, and cousins and talked for a little bit until James stood out of his seat.
"Well, I don't want to end your conversations and be pushy, but I've waited about thirty two years for this, so let's get this show on the road."
ooo
The wedding was small and intimate, taking place at the courthouse. This being his third wedding, and also being almost 90, Cyrus didn't want anything too big. He was perfectly content with just the idea of finally being able to marry James, and James felt the exact same way after waiting for over thirty years.
They had a civil servant officiate the courthouse ceremony in a private room of the courthouse that they were able to reserve for such occasions. With a few chairs in the room, everyone took a seat while James and Cyrus stood at the front with the civil servant who had granted them the marriage license.
"I heard you have vows that you would like to read?"
"Yes," James responded and opened a piece of paper he had carried with him. "Cy, it was over forty years that you first came into my life. I'll never forget when you first came into the room with your sharp, witted mind. I knew right away that that was a man I wanted to work with. Sure enough, we became partners – legal partners," James specified.
"The funny part was that I didn't even intend to go into law for the rest of my life, but I was willing to if that meant I'd be staying with you. Cyrus, we have been through a lot, through thick and through thin, but our love has always conquered through. Even with or without it being official on paper, I promise to continue loving you for as long as eternity will allow."
Cyrus dabbed his eyes slightly, muttering an "I love you too." He then reached into his pocket, pulling out the piece of paper on which he had written his vows.
"James, I'm going to be honest, never in my life did I think that I would have the chance or opportunity to be writing wedding vows to you. You are the light of my life, and no words could ever accurately express how much I love you, and how much this means to me to be able to spend the rest of our lives together. Growing up, I never thought I would ever have a family, because of the way that I am, the way I was born. Through life's complicated nature however, I have been blessed with two daughters, two sons, six grandchildren, a great grandchild," Cyrus smiled deeply.
He took a pause, staring at James before continuing, "and now I can say a wonderful husband who I will forever love and cherish."
The civil servant continued the quick pace of the wedding, "by the power vested in me by the government of the District of Columbia, I now pronounce you husbands together."
Cyrus and James kissed in celebration, while their family cheered. At long last, they were married. Fitz reached over, giving Olivia's hand a reassuring squeeze, noticing she had gotten misty-eyed. She leaned against him in her seat, feeling secure surrounded by family. She looked to Mellie, who had found happiness with Marcus, continuing their activist work. She looked at her oldest daughter who was just starting her family, and her other children who would one day be starting a family of their own. Lastly, she turned to Fitz; her best friend who she was lucky enough to have as her husband, her soul mate that she would spend the rest of her life with.
"I love you," she looked up at him and whispered loud enough for only him to hear.
"Madly?" he asked, interlocking his fingers with hers.
"Deeply."
And as they stepped out of the courthouse, holding their loved ones tighter, one thing became abundantly clear: that with the progress of love, the future would be brighter, and the future for them was here. For laws can't prevent love, as though it's defined by a limit. True love doesn't look at anyone's gender, creed, or race. But as we move forward in the world, minute-by-minute, with love we can make the world a better place. While the road to progress is not always straight; times may seem dark, backwards, or scary. We become focused on the roadblocks of fear and hate, but by spreading kindness and love, progress continues to carry. It's easy to lose hope when the loudness of hatred and violence runs ablaze, but in the end love and hope will always win, remember this always.