Epilogue- Happy Heart

This is it then, the last hurrah! Please take note of the date which I have bolded. The last chapter finished in January 2006.

Disclaimer: The song doesn't really match the email but I always planned to have this as the last song because it sums up how things ended up between Talia and Jack. It is not mine, it belongs to Andy Williams.

It’s my happy heart you hear

Singing loud and singing clear

And it’s all because you’re near

Me my love.

Take my happy heart away

Let me love you night and day

In your arms I want to stay

Oh my love.

Happy Heart- Andy Williams

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From: Jack Whitby

Sent: Tuesday, 30th June 2011 2:30 pm

To: Glenn Whitby

Subject: Update

Hello dad,

A lot of time has passed since I’ve tried this but some recent events have prompted me into taking another shot at getting in touch with you. I’m sorry you didn’t feel you could come to my graduation all those years ago, it was a good day and, despite what you might think, you were missed.

There is so much to cover here I’m kind of at a loss for where to start. I suppose I’ll stick to the basics for now. I know in that email I sent you previously I mentioned that I had applied to serve my internship at Preston and Wise Architecture. The day after graduation I found out that I got it and I’m now in my fourth year of working with them having been promoted to Assistant Junior Partner. I am the youngest architect they have ever employed in this position and I recently won the Young Australian Architect of the Year Award. I’m not telling you this to brag but rather because I hope that you will appreciate the hard work and dedication I put in to get where I am. Perhaps in the back of your mind you might even be proud of what your son has accomplished.

I consider my status at work to be a major achievement but I’m not so arrogant to imagine that I’d have made it on my own. I know you brought me up to think that steps in life should be undertaken alone with only yourself to rely on but I can’t believe that this philosophy has done either you or me any good. I’m not discounting your experiences I’m just trying to explain my own.

As I said in that email I sent you before, Talia Davenport has been instrumental in my success as I pride myself in being for her. We got together just before I left for England in January 2006. However, although we tried hard to make our relationship work, the distance combined with the opportunity offered to me to study a second year at Oxford prompted us to decide, towards the end of my first year away, that we were better off as friends. Yet, on my return to Australia in December 2007, it became apparent that neither of us had been happy with the split and we made the decision to get back together, a decision which I consider to be the best of my life. We rented a flat together the next year sharing with Matt Davenport and his girlfriend Kristin.

We lived in the university district a further two years until Talia finished her degree and began working at a legal aid agency. The agency takes on cases pro bono for those who can’t afford legal representation and Talia loves it there, despite how draining it can be. Her tenacious, occasionally confrontational, nature ensures she often gets what she wants and she’s such a formidable opponent in the courtroom it has often been joked that it’s a good thing she decided to use her powers for good instead of evil.

I’m not sure how I have ended up telling you so much about our jobs because the very purpose of this email is to explain how our careers have taken a backseat over the last few months. This is because, in the November of last year, Talia discovered she had fallen pregnant despite how careful we had always been. I can’t really explain how scared, confused, delighted and overwhelmed we were when we found out. It seemed like such awful timing as Talia had only been working for 10 months, I was still getting myself established at Preston and Wise and we had spent all our savings in buying our house. Still, our relationship was, and is, stable and loving and we knew that we could make a good life for our child even if it was earlier than we had anticipated.

We had our dark days when it all seemed too much but, from the first scan, a lot of those worries just faded away. This is odd considering that the scan should have increased our worries two-fold, after all we found out that Talia was carrying twins.

Three days ago Talia gave birth to your twin granddaughters. Georgie Paulina and Caitlin Elizabeth were born, and continue to be, whole and healthy and they, along with their trooper of a mother, are going to be released from hospital this afternoon. It has been their birth more than anything which has prompted me to attempt contact with you again after all these years. I don’t want my daughters to never know their grandfather or see the property I grew up on.

I can’t believe how lucky I’ve been, my life with Talia has turned out better than I could have ever imagined. My estrangement with you is the one black spot and I’d like to rectify that if I can. Understand that Talia and I aren’t asking anything of you, just that you get in touch. If you don’t feel that you can then I understand and I just want you to know that, despite everything, I’m happy.

Jack.

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Totally different I know and perhaps not the kind of epilogue you expected but the Mr Whitby plot line was never really conclusively dealt with and I wanted Jack to finally have his own voice in the story.

It is now officially done. Wow. I'm writing a new story which I hope some of you might give a go as well.

Everybody reading this has been an absolute star and I thank you all very much. Let's all now wave to Talia and Jack as they ride off merrily into the sunset...!

Cheers,

Jess/star123