Epilogue
Carla had a baby girl. She named her Harlow Luella. Apparently Harlow means “protector of the people.” It would take awhile for Mary Louise to not instantly think of the actress Jean Harlow. When Carla first mentioned the name, all Mary Louise could picture was a screaming baby with bleach blonde curls and drawn on eyebrows. Mary Louise couldn’t deny that she was disappointed about not being considered as a name sake, but then Carla informed her that Luella was a familiar form of Louise, which meant “famous warrior.” So she kind of had a namesake. A famous warrior who was a protector of the people seemed like an awful lot to lay on a wriggling little 7 pound, 8 ounce baby girl, but she’d have time to grow into it.
It was a season of final endings and new beginnings. Carla had offered Spencer the option of giving up his parental rights, to which he heartily agreed. Carla would never deny Harlow the opportunity to some day meet her biological father, but for now they would be taking on the world alone. Dan’s son, Brian, had also introduced Carla to one of his college buddies and for the first time Mary Louise could remember, Carla was attracted to someone available and kind and “normal,” whatever that meant. Mary Louise didn’t get that anxious feeling in her soul when he came by to pick Carla up for a coffee date.
Mary Louise and Dan continued to date. Neither of them were in a hurry to do anything more than enjoy each other’s company. Dan floated the idea of a European River Cruise out to Mary Louise (no pun intended) and she was seriously considering it. It was the perfect time. Carla had had the baby, and construction on The Pickledome had just started. They wouldn’t be needing her services for a while yet.
The Demons of Dublin were going back to Cork. Now that the truth of their origins were known Beverly grieved the fact that they could have been known as the Cork Suckers rather than the Demons of Dublin, but the sting was taken out when she and Dottie, finally, beat the young gentlemen in a match that almost (but not quite) rivaled the intensity and crowd of the Beverly/Mary Louise vs. Lloyd/Ted match.
The wins for Beverly just kept on coming. Lloyd continued to stalk her at the Y, but one fine day she got to slap him with a copy of a restraining order hot off the presses. He was still glaring at her when she spotted Charles just over his shoulder. She motioned for Charles to come over, and after first looking over his shoulder and then reluctantly inching his way toward them she said, “Lloyd, I’d like you to meet Charles. Charles, Lloyd.” She smacked a ball into Lloyd’s hand and said, “A dictator is neither a dick, nor a tater. But I think you two both know which you are. Talk amongst yourselves."
She turned to Mary Louise, Dottie, and Joanne and said, “There, I feel better.”
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