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45: Coffee Shop Surprise

Emma

I was beyond grateful that Marvin wanted to work on the racecar. At certain times, with Marvin's instructions, I got to do certain things that I never knew needed to be done on a car. Most of it involved wiring. With my developing wiring skills, the radio was sounding better with each passing minute.

In the back of my mind, I kept thinking about how my daddy was proud of me. It still didn't make a lot of sense, as life felt really confusing right now. Honestly, it never really made much sense in the first place. Why did my own daddy have to die? Why did he have to get cancer?

And why was Jeremy so stuck on Hailey? Why did it seem like Hector was still interested in me all these years? The dude tried asking me to prom. If my daddy were actually alive, he could give some sort of advice. Instead of advice, all I got was that he was proud of me. And for all I know, that might have not been my daddy. It could've been in my head.

"Whoa!" Shouted Marvin as he dropped everything he was holding. "Dude!"

"What happened?" I asked hoping this surprise wasn't bad. I couldn't take another ounce of negativity.

"I got my thumb back!" He looked at other parts of his body. "Everything is back. No red spots. Nothing. Everything is good!"

For the next few minutes, Marvin couldn't think about the car. He was fascinated by the fact that none of his body parts weren't having any problems. Apparently, he also had trouble breathing. Not anymore. If I had known he had breathing troubles, I could've given him my inhaler. And after all his celebrating, all his joy went out the window once a ring went off in his pocket. My heart sunk once I saw him pull out one of those devices that Jeremy had the other night. So many thoughts went racing through my head. And of course, we could probably add all those questions to the list of confusing things.

"Melissa?" answered Marvin in great confusion and sadness as they began to exchange words. "What are you doing here?" My ears could barely gather what she was saying on the other end. "Where are you right now?" This couldn't be Jeremy's Melissa. Could it? Chills traveled down my spine. "Alright, I'm on my way. I'll be there soon."

Marvin hung up and put it back in his pocket. Yes, it was safe to say that this was indeed a phone. A phone with pictures, videos, and a weird thing called Facebook.

"Listen," he said in nervousness. "Uh, a friend needs me. I'll be back. Probably later tonight. Just stay here and we'll finish the car when we get back."

"No, I'm coming with." Wow. Did I actually say that? I actually took initiative?

"No Emma, you can't." Little did I realize how many nervous ticks he had. "A friend is in trouble. She needs my help. Alright? Can you just stay here while I'm gone?"

Just like that, I placed my hand over his mouth to get him quiet. "Shut up Marvin. I'm coming with you. You can't argue with that. Something tells me you probably don't know how to handle whatever situation this is alone."

Yes, he really couldn't argue at this point. Just like that, we took a walk to a nearby coffee shop. Neither of us said a word along the way. Marvin was likely trying to find a way to get rid of me.

...

Upon entering the coffee shop and finding our way to a table where our guest was, my jaw dropped and I forgot how to breathe for a second. My body stood there wanting to collapse to the ground. I had been right all along. This was in fact Jeremy's Melissa. Of course, since the last time I saw her, she was wearing a hoodie. I followed Marvin in taking a seat. It would take a while for me to say anything.

"You brought her here?" asked Melissa who clearly was hoping for only Marvin.

"You already met her?" asked Marvin in confusion. "How?"

"Long story. Don't want to talk about it right now."

Without another wasted second, she placed her phone on the table. This definitely looked like the phone that Jeremy had. Nothing could surprise me anymore. Maybe coming was a mistake.

"Alright Marvin, what the hell is going on? How the hell did the two of us get stuck in the past? These last few days, I have been wandering around with what I'm sure was amnesia. It wasn't until about an hour ago that I got my memory back. You have a lot of explaining to do." Melissa's voice was a mix of anger and fear. My heart felt great sorrow for her.

"Wait a second," Marvin answered. "How did you get stuck here in the past? It was only supposed to be me? Were you following me?"

My head began to hurt once I officially knew these two people were from the future. There wasn't any time wasted in ordering coffee for all of us as I put a pause on our reunion talk.

"Alright, I guess I followed you." Melissa took a sip of the coffee. "You were spending a lot of time with McButters and I guess it was just bothering me. Maybe I was a little jealous. I don't know."

"Hold on," I interrupted with a growing headache. "Let me get this straight. The two of you are from the future? If you guys are from the future, then those phones are also from the future. And Facebook is an actual thing. The phone that Jeremy found, was that actually your phone Melissa?" She responded with a yes. "And that means that Jeremy and Hailey actually do get married." Looking at the table, I had never felt more disappointed in my entire life.

"Sorry," apologized Marvin who patted me on the back. "It's the way things have to be. On the bright side, you yourself find someone and have a couple of kids."

"Wait a minute," my fist randomly hit the table. "How do you know that I end up having children? My heart felt a mix of emotions finding out that I would have a couple of kids, but all of this felt weird. It felt like I was in some kind of dream. "Who are you guys?"

Both Marvin and Melissa found themselves with a heavy sigh. I could now definitely understand why Marvin didn't want me to come with him. He did seem like a secretive person. Maybe I should've listened.

"You want me to tell her?" asked Marvin who put a spoon in his coffee.

"No," Melissa responded. "I guess I'm the one who probably should." She released another deep groan.

For a good moment, we all just sat there like idiots while I waited for Melissa to speak. What was she going to say? Would I like what she was about to share? Every part of my body began to tremble with anticipation of the news about to be shared.

"Emma," Melissa began while placing a palm on my hand. "You're my mother."

At this point, it felt like every bone in my body fell out of place. I couldn't decide whether to cry or laugh. Was this actually true? No, it couldn't be. But she was from the future. It was true. Was it? Making another fist, I banged it against the table a few times.

"No! It's not true! It's not! It can't be! Like hell it is." With that, I began laughing as tears rolled down my eyes. In the heat of the moment, I rushed out of the coffee shop unsure of where to run.

WOW! That's quite a plot twist! Thanks for reading! Remember to comment and vote.

What would you do if you met your child from the future?

Thoughts on Emma being Melissa's mom?

Any theories on what's going on?