Page 78 of Nova

Epilogue

Nova

"What the hell you sittin' over here sulkin' about brother?" Riggs takes a seat next to me at the bar. The whole family is here getting ready to head to Piper's graduation. The women are upstairs fussing over my daughter now, helping her get ready.

"I'm not sulkin'," I grumble.

Riggs calls me out on my lie with a look. He knows better.

"Fine. My baby is growin' up too damn fast. It seems like just yesterday I was walkin' her into school on her first day of kindergarten. Now she's graduating high school. Not only that, she's officially an adult."

It's true. Piper turned eighteen four days ago. This evening after her graduation, the whole family is heading to Pop's to celebrate her finishing high school and her birthday. I asked her a couple of days before her birthday what she wanted, and I wasn't surprised by her answer when she said she wanted to do something with just her family. But that's Piper. To her, family is everything. While most kids her age want to hang out with friends and see what trouble they can get into, my little girl is happy hanging with her old man, Gampy, and her uncles.

"She decide what to do about college?" my brother asks.

"Not really. I've been laying off her about it. Don't want to stress her out or say too much to sway her decision. Piper knows I want her close, but I don't want her feeling like she has to base her decision on what will make me happy."

"My niece likes being around her family too much. I'll bet money she'll stick close to home."

"Fuck, I hope so, brother. But I'll support her either way."

I take a pull of my beer when Riggs asks another question. "Where does Piper stand with her mom?"

"I asked her if she wanted to invite Madison to her graduation, but she said she wasn't ready for that yet. When it comes to her mom, she's not all the way there. Hell, she's not even halfway there, but she's trying. It's going to take time."

Riggs and I are quiet for a minute before he speaks again. "What the fuck is takin' those women so long? Swear to Christ."

I chuckle. "Beats me. Those women have been getting ready since seven o'clock this mornin'. Promise took Piper to Sadie's to get her hair and nails done. Then she informed me they were goin' shoppin' for a new dress and shoes." I shake my head. "Don't see why women need new clothes and shoes for every occasion."

"Beats the hell out of me, man. I stopped tryin' to figure women out a long damn time ago."

The sound of the clubhouse door opening draws mine and Riggs' attention. I turn on my stool to see Kiwi, Fender, and Everest strolling in. Behind them is Wick, Tequila, and Sydney.

"Hey, brother. When did you all get back in town?" I ask Wick as he and Tequila sidle up to the bar. They took Sydney to Nevada to see her mom. They've been gone almost a week.

"Got back last night. You know we wouldn't miss Piper graduating, man."

"Speaking of," Tequila cuts in, "Where is she? Doesn't the ceremony start in an hour?" She looks down at her watch.

"Piper's upstairs with the women gettin' ready." I turn to Sydney, who is standing close to Tequila. "Hey, darlin'. Why don't you go upstairs and see what the ladies are doin'? While you're at it, see if you can rile them up. We need to hit the road."

"Okay." Sydney giggles and takes off up the stairs.

An hour and a half later,all my brothers and I are sitting outside on the bleachers while we wait for Piper's name to be called so she can walk across the makeshift stage on the football field and accept her diploma. Promise is tucked in close to my side with a massive smile on her face. Her friends, London, Sadie, and Ruby, are here too.

"Look," Promise taps my thigh. "Piper is up next. This is so exciting."

I grin at how giddy my woman is for my little girl.

"Piper LeBlanc!" the principal calls out over the loudspeaker. And as my little girl makes her way across the stage, the whole first row of the bleaches stands and cheers. "Fuck, yeah, baby girl!" I cup my hands over my mouth and shout.

"Whoo-hoo!" This comes from beside me, where Promise is jumping up and down.

"That's our girl!" Riggs, Pop, Wick, Kiwi, Everest and Fender all shout in unison. We get a few disgruntled looks from some of the folks in the crowd, but my brothers and I don't give a damn.

I watch my daughter shake the principal's hand and accept her diploma. Piper turns toward her family, wearing a prideful smile on her face. She raises her diploma in the air with one hand, then gives us devil horns, and shouts, "Hell, yeah! I did it, Daddy!"

Her show of celebration causes all of us to roar with laughter.

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