Epilogue: Mathew
Five years later, my sister and Big Luke had gotten married (he goes by Jon Luke professionally). Big Luke had started his business like he wanted. Bulldog Kinetics and Rifleworks it's called. Brittany had gotten a job as a waitress at a local diner but had to quit because she had gotten pregnant with their first child. It was a small, uneventful life but it worked. They bought a house not too far from my dad's house but it wasn't nearly as nice. I could walk from my high school to their place and hang out.
Brandon had graduated from the University of Oregon on a track scholarship. He got a job as a teacher at Westview High School, staying in the Portland area. He had also found a love for football. He saw a game on TV and wouldn't stop yelling at the television set with all of these trick plays and ideas. He then went to the AD at Westview and volunteered to coach. A few years as a running back coach, he eventually made his way to Offensive Coordinator. He just seemed to come alive on the sidelines. He had a picture of him giving the what-for to a player a head taller than him. He looked like a crazy man as he yelled at this player on the sidelines.
Of course, he swayed Dasha into dating him, somehow. The two of them moved out to Eugene where the University of Oregon is located. She worked full-time and paid rent on a single-bedroom apartment that Brandon would visit every night. Technically, he resided on campus, but I guess guys with gunshot scars is kind of a turn-on for Dasha. Even though she was there to watch him die when he got that scar. Brandon has been trying to save up for a nice, big rock for her left hand.
David never stopped looking for trouble. He moved to California and got a four year law degree and later became the top sniper for L.A.P.D. SWAT. While every other sniper on the force was using the famed M24 bolt-action rifle, David is the only one that uses the M110. And yes, it's the same one he used on the Strike Team. It took him a little bit to get used to the whole legal aspects of the job where as he didn't really need that during the war. He had some pretty crazy stories to tell; tales of dealing with drunks late at night when he was a regular uniformed officer to high stakes hostage negotiations as a SWAT sniper.
I'm now sixteen and somewhat of the sports star at West High in Billings. I know that the name is awfully close to Westview but it's called that because it's located in west-Billings. I play baseball and football. I had started at quarterback for the last two years, JV and then Varsity. I was in a relationship of my own with a girl named Esmeralda. We had been seeing each other since freshman year; high school sweethearts if you will.
At the moment, I had just parked my 1988 Ford Mustang GT in the driveway of my sister's house. I was dead tired after practice and school before that. I walked in, sat down on the couch after saying hello to my sister who was in the kitchen and flipped on the TV.
What? You think I'm just going to fill you in with everybody's lives and end the story right there? Fuck no! This is my opportunity to tell a story and I'm taking it! So suck it, Bitches! (OK, maybe that was a little uncalled for)
Big Luke hadn't gotten home yet from work and Brittany was in the kitchen doing dishes. Her baby was getting close to its due date and she really shouldn't have been standing. I got bored on the couch and walked into the kitchen. She was leaning up against the counter with her hands in the sink.
"Here, let me do that," I offered.
"Thanks, but I got it," she told me.
"No, Britt. Let me do it," I said again, this time shifting her aside and picking up a plate to wash.
She thanked me and sat down at the dining table. She was rubbing her forehead as if she had a headache.
"You alright?" I asked, still working on the dishes.
"Yeah, I'm just not feeling too well," she replied in a small voice.
"You excited for the baby to come here in a couple weeks?" I asked, trying to make small talk.
She stood up from the chair and got this look on her face.
"Uh oh," I translated.
"Yeah, get Jon Luke on the phone," she told me.
I reached into my pocket and dialed Bulldog's number. I held the phone to my ear and waited. All I got was his receptionist's desk.
"Bulldog Kinetics and Rifleworks. This is Christy. How may I help you?" asked the receptionist, Christy.
"Hey, Christy. It's Matt. Can you put Jon Luke on the phone?" I asked in return. I was a regular face at the shop so she knew me well.
"You actually just missed him. He just stepped out to go demo something for a client," she informed me.
"OK, never mind then. I'll give him a call on his cell phone," I told her and hung up.
I dialed KATE's number and she answered promptly.
"Hello, Mathew. Would you like to speak with Jon Luke?" she asked.
"Yes, please."
Several seconds later and many foot-taps later, I heard Big Luke's voice. "Hey, Matt. What's happening, little dude?"
"Hey, Brittany's water just broke. She's going into labor," I told him as Brittany took a seat back down in the chair and started breathing heavily. "You're going to want to hurry up and get here."
"Damn it. This is terrible timing," he said under his breath.
"Well, I'm not the one that got my sister pregnant!" I told him, biting my thumb nail as I was nervous.
"Hey, listen. My wife's going into labor right now. So, I need you to finish demoing that rifle for me," I heard him say to someone who was not far away.
"You got it. I'm sure they'll understand," the person replied.
I heard the person step away and KATE's door close.
"I'm on my way. I'll be there as soon as I can," he said and I heard KATE's engine roar to life. "Try to get her to calm down."
I hung up and slipped my phone in my pocket. Then I walked over to Brittany.
"OK, let's go sit in the living room and wait for Big Luke to get here," I asked of her as I helped her up and we walked into the living.
"The go-bag is right there in the hall closet," she told me.
I walked over to the closet that she had pointed to and pulled out the black duffel bag. I walked back over and sat down next to her. She seemed to be in pain but I didn't know what to do. She always drug Big Luke to all of those birthing classes but she never filled me in on what I should do. OK, I thought to myself, Big Luke told me to try to keep her calm. So, let's try that.
"OK. Why did the chicken cross the road?" I tried.
"Mathew, you need to be comforting. Telling me a joke is not comforting," she told me, pausing as she was in pain again.
"OK, just trying to lighten the mood a little," I said under my breath. "It's all going to be alright. Jon Luke, your husband who loves you dearly, is on his way. He will take us to the hospital."
"That's better," she told me. "Oh my gods, I'm going to be a mother! I am having a baby!"
She didn't sound too happy about it, like she was regretting her decision to raise a family.
"Hey, you wanted this. Jon Luke and you both wanted this," I told her. "You can do this, Britt. Jon Luke and I are both going to be here for you."
Rex, her German Shepherd that Big Luke had given her as a birthday present a few years ago, walked up to her and rested his head on her knee. He did his best sick-puppy look to cheer her up.
"And Rex is here for you, too," I said and she chuckled a little.
That's when we heard tires squeal as KATE came to a stop outside the house. Then we heard a car door open but not close. Big Luke jogged up to the door and threw it open. If it was any other house and his wife or anyone he cared about was in danger, he would have opened the door with his foot. He walked in with this worried to death look on his face. Which for Big Luke only meant that he was scowling, but his eyes were wide like Holy shit! This is happening. . .This is really happening.
"OK, let's get moving," he said. "Matt, can you grab the bag and I'll help your sister."
I grabbed the duffel and stood up. Big Luke held Brittany's hand as he walked towards the door. I walked in front of him and opened the door.
"Rex, you be good boy," Big Luke told the dog who was sitting there in the middle of the living room floor, wagging his tail.
We walked out the door and I got in KATE's back seat. Big Luke helped his wife get into the shotgun seat and he ran around to the driver side. He got in and closed the door.
"Do you remember how to get to the hospital?" asked Brittany.
"You let me and KATE worry about the directions, you just relax and hang on," replied Big Luke as he shoved the Charger in first and took off down the road, laying two long black lines behind the tires.
We raced through the suburbs of Billings, drifting around corners and cutting off anybody in our way. If things couldn't be worse already, two cops saw us on Central and picked up the chase. Two cops later turned into six and the road really started to open up as people pulled over to the side.
"You know, maybe you should pull over. They could get me an ambulance," suggested Brittany.
"No ma'am!" replied Big Luke. "I can get you there faster than any ambulance. If you need something to help you calm down, KATE can put some music on?"
"OK, sure. KATE, play 'Drunk On You' by Luke Bryan," she ordered.
"Certainly," replied KATE and she started to play the song.
Brittany normally wasn't much of a Country fan but Big Luke always joked how she had a crush on Luke Bryan. Big Luke sang with the music as he drifted the Charger in and around traffic. It wasn't exactly a fast paced song so it didn't really fit with the way Big Luke was driving, but it did seem to calm my sister down a little bit.
"Pull over! Now!" ordered the police officers behind us through the PA systems in the cars.
"KATE, I want you to post a message across the rear window. Say that there is a woman on board who is in labor. Tell them that if they still don't believe me they can arrest me after we get to the hospital," Big Luke told his car as he pushed harder on the accelerator after shifting to the next gear.
The back window on the Charger blackened out and I saw printed, white text appear across the glass. Big Luke held the car steady so the police could read the message. KATE left out the part about going to the hospital where they could arrest Big Luke, he didn't seem to notice. Instead of believing him, the cops set up a road block down the road.
"Well, I guess we aren't getting any help from the cops," I said from the back seat.
Big Luke yanked on the parking break and drifted the Charger onto a cross street located right in front of the road block. He drifted the car the other direction and made a big circle around the block to avoid the police road block. He threw the car in the other direction to get back on the previous road we were on.
After we had lost the cops back at the road block, Big Luke turned on the hospital's street and then the hospital's parking lot. He parked outside the front door to the ER and threw his door open and ran around to Brittany's side of the car. He helped her inside and I carried the bag.
"Scram, KATE," Big Luke told his car. "Lay low. We'll let you know when we're ready to go home. Probably tomorrow."
We rushed into the lobby and Big Luke ushered Brittany over to a corner where they could hide from any cops relatively well if the need arose. I walked up to the front desk and grabbed a clip board with a check-in sheet on it. I walked back over to the couple and sat down. After questioning Brittany for a few minutes, a few nurses came out with a wheelchair and asked that she go with them.
"OK, Bo. This is the part neither of us want to happen but it has to. I'll see you in a few minutes, OK?" Big Luke asked Brittany who had started to cry.
She just nodded and Big Luke kissed her before he helped her into the wheelchair. Big Luke watched as they wheeled her away and then quickly zoomed through all the paperwork with me. He was worried sick, he kept interrupting me as I read off each question, telling me the answer before I could even finish reading him the question. It was frustrating as all Hell, but I understood.
Several hours later, Big Luke could be seen in the birthing room wearing a blue nurses uniform with a sign on his back that read DAD in white letters. He had a blue bag thing on his head and a nurses mask on his face. He was kneeling down next to Brittany who they had changed into a hospital gown and was screaming at the top of her lungs as she pushed.
I wasn't allowed in the room but I could look through the window where I pressed my face against the glass. The door was open and I could hear everything that was said but there were so many people talking at once that it was hard to understand anything. I guess at one point, something went wrong and two shorter female nurses tried to escort Big Luke out of the room.
"Oh, it's going to take more than that just to get me out of here," he said, chuckling behind the mask at the two nurses, still grasping Brittany's hand.
That's when I noticed six male nurses who were much bigger than the two already in the room walk down the hallway towards the room. One of them had a hand-held taser, not the kind that shoot the prongs out and shock the target but the kind that one stabs the target and delivers the jolt. They walked into the room and Big Luke's smile left his face when he saw the taser.
"Well, that's a little better," he said. "You better be fixin' to use that stun-gun because I still ain't leaving."
The guy with the taser came at Big Luke but he caught the guys wrist and put him face first on the floor. The guy dropped the taser and Big Luke smashed it with his foot. It took the rest of the guys to grab a hold of Big Luke's arms and legs and haul him out of the room into the hallway with me. Big Luke didn't go quietly, yelling so much profanity that there was no way you could show it on television. They shoved him in a chair and slammed the door behind them before they left. At least, two of the guys left. The other four (not including the guy that Big Luke had face-planted onto the ground) stayed out in front of the door as guards.
"This is a load of horse shit!" Big Luke yelled at the nurse/guards.
"I'm sorry, sir, but we are only doing this for the safety of your child and your wife," said one of the guards.
"It better be," Big Luke stood up from the chair and pressed his face against the glass like I was a few seconds ago.
"What's going on in there?" I asked.
"Somethings wrong with the baby. They wouldn't tell me anything," he responded as he yanked the mask and the hair thing off his head. He rubbed his left hand. "Damn. Your sister has a pretty good grip. She squeezed the fuck out of my hand."
I heard footsteps coming down the hallway and I looked. Four police officers were walking towards us, their eyes dead set on Big Luke. Big Luke didn't seem to notice or care for that matter, he was too focused on his wife through the glass.
"Hey, uh. . . Big Luke?" I asked.
"I know. I can hear their shoes. They sound like cop shoes," he replied, not taking his eyes off of Brittany.
The cops came up behind Big Luke and one started to fish out his handcuffs.
"Sir, we had the lady at the front desk ID you as the man who was driving the black 68' Charger earlier. We are going to have to take you into custody," he informed Big Luke.
"I bet you are. Just, can you do me a favor before you do that and let me witness the birth of my child?" Big Luke asked, his face still pressed against the window.
"Sure, but we are going to need to take you away right after," the cop answered.
"Thanks a bunch, guys," Big Luke said. "You got any kids? If you don't mind me askin'."
"Yeah, got three of them," the officer said. The others all nodded their heads like they were also fathers and understood what Big Luke was going through. "Is it a boy or a girl? Or do you not know yet?"
"It's a baby girl," Big Luke responded. "At least, that's what the ultrasound told us."
"You wanted a son?" one of the other officers asked.
"It was my first choice but I'm happy either way. It's just that, I can relate with a dude better, you know?" Big Luke responded.
"Yeah, my daughter is sixteen. I have to scare the piss out of her boyfriend all the time," said a different police officer.
"Oh, she's not dating anyone, ever," replied Big Luke, chuckling to himself.
"Yeah, let me know how that works out for ya," replied the cop, laughing with Big Luke.
"Oh, here she comes," announced Big Luke, his eyes widening as he stared through the glass.
The cop with the cuffs walked up behind him and started to put the cuffs on his wrists. Big Luke was fully cuffed when all the police officers gathered around the glass to watch the baby come out. The nurses snipped the umbilical cord and handed the newborn to Brittany to hold for a minute.
"Awww!" exclaimed every man at the window as they stared at the new mother and her new child.
The cops stepped away from the window and huddled up for a minute. They talked real low so I couldn't tell what they were saying. They turned back towards us and the one cop started to un-cuff Big Luke who was still staring through the glass. Another one pulled out his ticket book and started to write a ticket.
"Sir, we have decided that we are just going to write you a ticket. We figured that you had a pretty good excuse for speeding yesterday," the cop told us.
Yesterday? How long were we here? We had to have been here for a long time because just then, I noticed that my stomach had been rumbling.
"You know, Officer, I have never been more happy to receive a speeding ticket in my life," said Big Luke turning around to accept the ticket. "Thank you."
"You're welcome," replied the police officer and they left.
The doctors eventually got the baby cleaned off and brought her out to Big Luke wrapped in a pink blanket. Him and I sat down and Big Luke held his baby girl. The doctor came out and squatted down in front of Big Luke.
"She was coming out feet first. That's why we needed you to leave the room. We were able to turn her around and fix the problem. Both your wife and your baby are safe. She is a healthy seven and a half pound baby girl. Congratulations, sir, you're now officially a father," the doctor informed us.
"Thanks, Doc," Big Luke replied. "And, uh. . . sorry for causing a big scene."
"We understand," replied the doctor who then left to give us a few moments.
Big Luke looked at his new baby girl, cradling the infant in his arms. Then he did something that I thought I would never see him do. He started crying, his tears dripping down on the baby's blanket. He didn't make any sounds, just spent time with his new daughter. He was so happy, it was overwhelming for him.
"She looks like her mother," he said, rocking the baby in his arms.
She did look like Brittany, she had the same eyes and similar facial features but she had no hair. We wouldn't know what color her hair would be for a while, I guess.
Then it hit me, I am a freaking uncle! My sister just had a baby, that means that I am an uncle! That is so cool!
"I can't believe I'm an uncle," I said, trying to contain my excitement.
"I can't believe that I'm a father," Big Luke replied. "Have you called your dad yet? He's going to want to see his granddaughter, I'm sure."
"No, not yet," I responded as I fished my phone out of my pocket.
I gave my dad a call and told him everything that just happened, about the baby, I mean. I left out the stuff with the cops and the nurses. He was a little pissed that nobody remembered to call him, but he was glad that Brittany and the baby were safe. Then the doctors came out and said that we could see Brittany and Big Luke and I walked in. Big Luke handed her their baby and he knelt down next to her.
"She's beautiful. Isn't she, Jon Luke?" whispered Brittany as she held their baby.
"We did so well," Big Luke told her.
He kissed her on the head as he wrapped his arm around her shoulder. I stood on the other side of the bed, watching as the two gawked over their newborn. Brittany looked at Big Luke who was still looking at the baby.
"Jon Luke, were you crying?" she asked him.
"Yeah, a little," he replied.
"I always knew that deep down under that sexy, rough exterior was a soft spot somewhere," she told him.
"I know. I got a soft spot for puppies and babies," Big Luke replied with a grin and kissed his wife again.
"Maybe Uncle Matt would like to hold his niece?" asked Brittany.
"I think Uncle Matt would like that a lot," I replied.
Big Luke took the baby from his wife gingerly and walked around to the other side of the bed. I was handed the baby and both Big Luke and Brittany coached me on how to hold her. Big Luke went as far as to position my arms so that I could support the baby correctly.
"How much was the speeding ticket for?" asked Brittany. "I saw the police officers give it to you."
"I don't know. I haven't even looked at it yet," Big Luke replied as he pulled out the ticket and read it. "A whopping ten dollars for doing about a hundred and ten over the speed limit." Big Luke smiled at the ticket. "I'm going to give them twenty for it, just because they were so cool about everything."
And this is where I will leave you. I knew that Big Luke and Brittany would live long and happy lives together, assuming Big Luke didn't get too many more speeding tickets. I knew that they would be great parents for their new baby girl. Assuming David didn't get too carried away with his job and Brandon didn't get an aneurysm from the stress of coaching high school football, they too would live long and happy lives.