Alec and his wife Heather were eventually accepted by the brothers, and Abby. They soon had one son and were expecting a daughter not long after Jared was born. Andy and Aaron, as their mother called it, “finally grew up briefly enough to let some poor soul marry them, and give them children� and so Abby, sparked by what looked to be a flurry of cousins, spoke excitedly to Ian about having the children play night games with their cousins during the holidays.

Ian’s appearance at the Summer Olympics was his last swim on that grand of a stage. Ever interview he gave asked if he would be at the next Summer Olympics, and always replied “As a fan, with Abby, to cheer on Michael, and to give my two older kids a glimpse of what I did, I guess.�

Abby did get a job with the government, and it was to protect Ian from any immediate threats, be it fan-girl, who would most likely attack Abby instead, or actual threat and to report any long-term threats that may be hazardous to him. At this assignment, Abby indignantly refused it, but seeing as she would get to be at home, she accepted this assignment.

Abby and Ian set up a home in Hawaii because Abby did not want to live in New England, where she was guaranteed to be pale, and Ian didn’t want to live in Australia, just because it was becoming easier and easier for people to find out where he lived. They decided to be civil and pick a place that would be somewhere close to the middle and they ended up on Hawaii.

Michael, who was a big fan of travelling, always visited Abby and ended up ditching her to play with Melissa and Jason. Ian would always ask him, loftily, when he would settle down, to which Michael would always respond that he had just one more OG in him. And by OG, he meant Olympic Game.

The Thorpes eventually had four children, the last being a little girl named Maggie.

The oldest daughter, Melissa was always captivated by the swimming events her father took her to, and began swimming soon after she started school, and it was learned she had the same allergy to the chlorinated water her father did. She eventually overcame it by middle school, and by high school, there were news reports that another Thorpedo was smashing records�faster than her father ever saw.

Jason, their son, was interested in swimming, but found the tough love of hockey to be his forte. He pleaded with his mom to begin hockey and started once he started school. By the time he was nine, he wasn’t afraid of doing a fullbody check to his uncle Alec, who was nearly twice his size. And often, it ended in injury�on Alec’s part.

Jared went into the water as well, but not as a swimmer, but for water polo. He did swimming along with Melissa but got bored with swimming laps and was much more fond of hockey, but not to the point of insanity, as Jason was. So, instead, he did water polo, a violent game in itself, but completely different from hockey.

Finally, Maggie surrounded by sportsmen, joined the game a little late, starting soccer way into middle school. She was much more interested in the arts and music, and ditched soccer for the stage. She became her sibling’s #1 super fan and attended every single one of their games, meets, events, what have you.

And so, another Olympics came and went, and this time, Abby and Ian stayed home, just to reminisce one whirlwind summer that completely changed them.

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