Epilogue: 15 years later
“Mom!” Mitchell yelled at me from his bedroom as I walked by with another load of laundry. I rolled my eyes and walked back to his door. My tall, tan skinned, shirtless teenage child was lounged across his bed fiddling his fingers across his Xbox controller. “Yes?” I asked. “So, are we like gone all summer on this trip? Because I wanted to spend some time with Cali, but if we’re gone all summer I can’t. So I was just kind of thinking…maybe she could come along with us? Not for the whole time, but just maybe a week or two?” He threw me his most charming and convincing smile he could, but I couldn’t help but shoot him down.
“Honey, no. We’ve already talked about this. You cannot have your girlfriend come with us. It’s too much room as it is and you need to spend some time with the family. Besides, Monica and Jordan are coming, which means Owen and Audrey are coming.” I said. Luckily, Monica got pregnant with twins around the same time as my second pregnancy. Owen and Audrey are 15 years old, almost 16; so almost dead smack in the middle of Mitch and River. It worked out wonderful for us because we had a boy and a girl who could hang out and were around the same age.
“Oh sweet, Owen’s coming! You didn’t tell me that!” Mitch said, sounding a little more enthused about this trip than before. “Yeah, well now you know. But seriously, I don’t want to hear another thing about Cali coming on this trip. You already know my answer is going to be no. Your dad’s going to be coming with us as well.” With that said, I left him to his gaming.
Down the stairs and into mine and AJ’s bedroom, I sat the big laundry basket full of clothing and began unfolding the clothes into separate piles.
“Hey mom,” a voice came from my bedroom door. I looked over my shoulder to see River standing there. Her long, straight, blonde hair was down to about bellybutton length now. Her hazel eyes, just like her father’s, sparkled with a hint of makeup around them to really make them pop. “Yes,” I responded.
“What time are we leaving tomorrow? There’s this –” Before she could even finish, I sighed and shook my head. “Honey, I just got done talking to your brother about this. Nothing is going on tomorrow except for us four, plus Brady, going to the Bahamas. You guys should be excited!”
“Mom! Of course I’m excited! But I’m fifteen, I kind of want to be involved and be with my friends as much as possible. You know?” She said with a little shrug. That’s my girl, never wanting to start an argument, but also vocalizing what she wants. Just like her father. “Look, I understand that. I really do. But, this is supposed to be a family vacation. Owen and Audrey are coming! So you’ll have Audrey to hang out with. Plus you’ll get to see Victoria.” I said, trying to get some positivity into her. I still think it’s so weird that my mother and I had Victoria and Mitch around the same time. I mean, Victoria is technically River and Mitchell’s aunt. It happens all the time now, but still it’s hard for me to get used to it. River smiled and flashed those glimmering white teeth. “Alright, I’ll go finish packing.” She said with a kiss to my forehead.
She was getting so tall. She was around my height by now, maybe half an inch shorter. Since she was going to be a sophomore in High School next year, I totally understand that she wants a lot more friend time. However, this is a family vacation and it’s going to stay that way.
“Hun, do we want to go on a quick shopping trip before we leave, just in case we may need anything?” AJ walked out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around his waist, as he was dabbing his face with a washcloth. “No, we can buy anything down there if needed. Besides, Mom and Dad will help us with anything we need.” I said. AJ sighed. “I know, but I just hate relying on your parents all the time.” He wandered towards me and gave me a kiss. “You know what I mean?” I nodded.
“Brady’s coming with us.” I finally spoke after a moment of silence. AJ let out a frustrated sigh. “I figured as much. His son is living under our roof.” AJ turned and went back into the bathroom. I followed. “Babe, be nice, please? What he did was extremely hard and really great. He moved up here just so he could be involved in his son’s life as much as possible. He wants to visit home too.” I said.
“Oh, I’ll be nice. It’s him that needs to be nice. I’m not the problem.” AJ grumbled as he shaved the stubble off his face. “I’m going to be telling him the same thing as well. Technically, it’s his week to have Mitch anyways, so that’s why I invited him along with us. Just be courteous.” I smiled and pecked him on the cheek, then went back to packing.
It took us all the rest of the day to finish packing, but finally, it was done. The next morning we were all ready to head to the Bahamas. Mitchell’s girlfriend Cali came over for a little bit in the morning to say goodbye and then she left right before we did.
Brady showed up at the house around 6am and he piled into our car with the rest of us. Mitch and his dad had a great relationship. I was actually really impressed with how Brady handled this whole life. He was even good with River. She always thought highly of him and loved it when he’d come over.
We met up with Monica, Jordan, Audrey, and Owen at the airport. The flight arrangement turned out great! We all had seats next to one another. When we got to the Bahamas, we all decided to go out to eat. I called my mom and dad to come out and eat with us, but they were too busy so Victoria decided to come out instead. It was nice to see her and see how much she’s grown up. It was weird to think that my little sister was all grown up now. Just as old as my son: 17.
It was a nice little get together and then we were off to the condo rental that Monica and I found. It was a big condo that could fit both our families comfortably. AJ and I got one of the master bedrooms and Monica and Jordan got the other. The girls, River and Audrey, got the other bedroom with bunk beds and then the boys, Owen and Mitch, got stuck with the entertainment room couches; which we assumed they wouldn’t mind. Even though Monica and I could pretty much guarantee that our children thought of one another as cousins, we still are extremely careful when it comes to situations like these. We know teenagers all too well. Brady, luckily, decided to stay with his mom and sister during the trip. His sister still has yet to fully recover from that horrible accident, so he wanted to be with her as much as he could while he was down here.
Once everyone got settled in, we took a vote and decided that, for a little change, AJ and Jordan were going to be in charge of dinner. Monica and I lay out on the patio and took in the warm sun. I do miss the Bahamian weather.
River and Audrey came out to lay with us, complaining about how white they are. Then they began bickering about who is the whitest between the two. Owen and Mitch took a football out and began playing pass along the beachfront that the condo owned.
Brady finally showed up right when dinner was ready. He said that he had a nice meet up with his family and his sister is doing a lot better now, but she’s never going to be fully the same again. He wanted Mitch to go see his aunt and mom before we leave, but he’s not going to push it hard upon him. However, I was. I wanted Mitch to experience Brady’s family just as much as mine. After all, Brady is his dad. Mitch won’t have a problem with it. He’s a pretty easy going guy.
After a nice dinner, we all gathered along the beach for a huge picture all together. Monica, Jordan, Owen, Audrey, River, Mitch, Brady, AJ, and I all gathered up in the goofiest, silliest, cutest group photo ever. Then we began playing in the waves and sand as the sun set. I even cracked out my surfboard and began catching a few waves, but they weren’t all that big where we were at.
Finally, we all settled down to watch the last few minutes of the sun in the sky. I looked around at the people surrounding me and smiled. My beautiful daughter to my right; my grown up son standing by the water, looking so much like his father; my handsome husband to my left, holding me tight and smiling brightly; my best friend since preschool days and the father to my son stood by the door way, throwing his mischievous smirk in my direction; my two great friends from high school stand side by side, holding hands and smiling brightly at their two wonderful children. Right at this moment, I could not think of a better scenario. I guess I did get my happy ending after all.
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Well that was it! I hope you guys enjoyed Amber's journey!(: Please check out some of my other books as well! Thank you for sticking with me and please leave comments! I would like to see how you guys thought of either the ending or the books in general! <3