Epilogue
Emerson
It’s a beautiful day, and everyone Twila and I care about is here.
Once we decided not to end our marriage, we planned this end-of-summer pool party to celebrate the new beginning with our friends and family.
Twila’s whole crew is here, as are Ritchie, Mason, and Stone.
My mom and Kennedy have been here for a few days already, enjoying the last of Kennedy’s break and exploring the area before she starts classes at the University of California in San Diego.
That’s right. I can now afford to send my baby sister to the school of her dreams. She’s going to be a doctor, and I couldn’t possibly be prouder of her than I am now. Plus, Mom is looking at houses in the area so she can be close to both of us.
Twila was able to pay off the debt accrued by her douchebag ex, and even better, we found out he went to jail for fraud after he tried the same scam on another woman and got caught. She somehow had proof it was him, and he’ll be rotting in prison for the next three years.
As for BingBang, Twila and I have officially retired our old accounts.
We are now known as “The GreeneHouse Effect,” and our content focuses on our lives as accidental newlyweds who ended up being soulmates.
We travel, go on local adventures, and start silly couples’ trends, as well as document our domestic lives.
The viewers are obsessed with us, and most of them have forgiven us for the charade that started all of this.
I look around the patio at all of our family and friends, and I’m sure life can’t get any better than this.
Well, maybe it can. Twila and I had the “baby” discussion last week, and we both agreed we want children…
eventually. Right now, though, we just want to have fun being together before we expand our family.
My gaze stops on Raven, whose arms are crossed over her chest as she frowns down at the cheeseburger on her plate.
I look to her left, where Linc sits two chairs down, and he’s staring at her with a thoughtful expression.
When his eyes flick my way, and he sees me watching him, he coughs and focuses on his own food.
I catch Twila’s eye and nod in their direction.
She shrugs and shakes her head. I might need to take Linc out for a beer and figure out what’s going on with him and Raven.
The contention between them has gotten worse since the day I first noticed it at the beach.
“Twila,” Joey calls out with a laugh, Dallas’ proximity and the margaritas we served obviously dulling her social anxiety, “did you ever tell Emerson the nickname you gave him in your phone?”
Twila narrows her eyes at her best friend as she shakes her head, and when she looks over at me, her expression is nothing but angelic. When we agreed to use nicknames, I put a lot of thought into giving her the name “Daisy.” And it just occurred to me that she never shared the name she chose.
“You never posted any screenshots of our text messages,” I tell my wife, the words laced with suspicion.
“It wasn’t intentional,” she says with an innocent expression. “I just never took any I wanted to post.”
“Lies!” Joey chirps with another laugh. “You sent me one and asked if you should post it.”
“Shut up, Josette,” Twila growls out of the corner of her mouth, but Joey’s on a roll.
“I’ve still got it,” she says, pulling out her phone.
Twila hops out of her seat and rounds the table, but Dallas runs interference, blocking her attempts to snatch Joey’s phone out of her hands.
A few seconds later, my phone chimes with an incoming text from Joey, causing Twila to desert her attempts to get to her bestie and turn her ninja moves on me.
I barely manage to hold her off while I get the text open, seeing a screenshot of a fake conversation we had back before we went to Las Vegas. I tap the photo to enlarge it so I can see the top, and my eyes widen.
“Oh, my God,” I say, laughing. “Are you a time traveler?”
Twila huffs and goes back to her seat, saying, “Maybe I am.”
“No, you’re not,” I say, grinning at her so widely, she can’t stop herself from smiling back at me. “That was some hardcore manifestation, right there.”
She rolls her eyes at me, but her smile remains as the others start demanding to be let in on the joke. I stand and hold my phone out, moving it from right to left so everyone can see the name at the top.
“Future Husband,” I say proudly. “Hit the nail on the head with that one, Daisy.”
She rolls her eyes again, but when they refocus on me, they’re shining with love and devotion. She mouths the words, “I love you,” and I mouth them back.
This is my life now. I’m the luckiest man on the planet, and I owe it to BingBang, tequila, and a few drunken bridesmaids.
And God, what a great life it is.
Thank you so much for reading The Emerson Effect! I really hope you enjoyed it, and if you would be so kind, I’d love it if you’d leave a review. Thank you so much!!
Don’t miss Raven and Linc’s story in The Missing Linc !