A Happy Coincidence

Chapter 18: Epilogue

Epilogue

"When's Mom coming home?" Emily asks the moment she walks in the door from school.

I look at her, frowning.

"I don't know." I say. "She's in the city for work. I've got no idea."

She nods. "Alright."

"How was school?" I ask the kids.

"So boring." Ethan says. "I hate my Geometry teacher so much. When Mom sees my grades this semester, she's gonna ground me."

"What does your teacher do?" I ask. Emily starts digging through the cabinet for food.

"She literally doesn't care." Declan grumbles. "She just makes us read. She doesn't even give us tests. If I zone ut from the book, she fails us."

"What, you have her too?" I ask.

"Yes. God, this house would fall apart without Mom."

I roll my eyes.

"Speaking of Mom," Emily begins. "When is she coming home?"

I look at her.

"I already told you that I don't know. Her CEO is being flaky. She went to put him in his place."

"Can I ask you something?" Ethan asks.

"Yeah." I nod.

"When Mom hangs up on you, she always does that. She rarely stays on the phone to say goodbye...when she hangs up, do you get scared? I don't really remember everything that went down with Uncle Shaun and her, all I remember is Mom hung up and she was kidnapped."

I sigh.

"I know you really love her." he says quietly. "Do you get scared?"

I hesitate.

"Sometimes." I admit, nodding. "She knows though. She does a lot of things that worry me. You know your mother. She does whatever." I shrug.

"What would you do if Mom got hit by a car today?" Declan asks.

"See, even thinking about that makes me worry." I shake my head, picking up my cellphone.

Emily is so in love with how in love Carmen and I are. She obviously gets disgusted when we kiss, but she's seventeen years old. She can deal.

She's seventeen, Ethan is sixteen, Declan is fifteen, and the twins are twelve. They're still at school until the bus drops them off at four thirty.

Declan is a Freshmen at Southampton High School, Ethan is a Sophomore, and Emily is a Junior. Emily drives both of them to school.

"Are you gonna call her?" Declan asks.

I nod, dialing.

I put it on speaker.

It rings three times, and then it stops.

"Hey." She says.

"Hey." I reply. "What's up?"

"I'm working." She says.

She sounds stressed.

I don't say anything for a second.

"Do you want to talk about it?" I ask.

"What makes you think something's wrong?" she asks.

"Babe, we've been together for twenty one years, married for seventeen."