EPILOGUE
Six Months Later
“I’m so happy to be celebrating the completion of your project and your Master’s Degree,” Professor James tells our class.
We’re at dinner, and Stacy is beside me.
“I really like how you added in the app stuff,” Stacy Peterson tells me, chewing a bit too loudly on her salad. “That’s what got us more investors, I think.”
That and the fact that my boyfriend is a billionaire and got his billionaire buddies to donate money, I think, but I don’t say it.
Even though Stacy is still annoying, I get along with her a lot better these days. Among many other things, Wade has taught me not to judge a book by its cover. Not everyone is what they seem to be on the surface.
Once I got to know Stacy and talked to her about her motivations and goals, I realized she wasn’t in this class just because she was hot for teacher. Sure, I think, as I see her batting her eyes in his direction, that’s definitely part of it. But she also has a real desire to help her community— all parts of it, rich and poor. And for that she is a better person than I started off being, before Wade came back into my life and changed me for the better.
“Congratulations, Emily,” Charity says, in her sing-songy voice. Her blond curls bounce up and down as she bobs her head. She is so friggin’ cute.
She turned five years old not too long ago, and she and I get along great. Wade is certainly a good father who, with the help of her mother, has raised her to be charming, witty and kind.
“Why thank you, Charity,” I tell her, and then Wade raises his wine glass to me.
“To our future,” he says. “And our past.”
“Cheers.”
Our glasses clink and we smile at each other.
“Well, I’m going to head out,” Professor James announces. “But thank you all for the hard work you’ve put into this program. It’s been the most successful one yet, in terms of its launch, and now we just have to do the hard work of running it.”
I’m going to be the Director, and I’m so excited. Even though it means leaving the cushy job I’ve had at Covington Enterprises for the past six months. It’s okay, though, since I can go there any time I miss it— since I happen to be dating the founder.
One by one, my classmates get up to leave. Some are going to Effex, a popular night club downtown, to celebrate the end of the semester and of our entire graduate program. But Wade and I have Charity to take care of, and there’s nothing else I’d rather be doing right now than that.
Next week, she’ll go to her mother’s for the summer and Wade and I will be free to do all the partying we desire. But we’ll probably just take advantage of the opportunity to have a lot of sex, which is all I really want to do. As I see him wink at me, I know the feeling is mutual. Charity’s a great kid, but Wade and I could use some one on one time.
Soon, it’s just Wade and Charity and I at the table and I’ve said goodbye to all my classmates who have left. Charity is a notoriously slow eater, her latest hobby being mixing all her food together in the middle of her plate and then separating it back out again along the edges, according to type: vegetables, which she says are “yucky,” potatoes, which are “yummy,” and meat, which is “A-okay.”
But as Wade clears his throat and looks at me with a gleam in his eye, it begins to dawn on me that Charity’s crazy toddler eating habits aren’t the only reason we’re still sitting her.
“Emily,” he says, that handsome dimple of his appearing when he smiles. “I have had the best six months with you, after five long years of being a part. I want to make sure we’re never apart again.”
“Hey!” Charity says, a similar dimple appearing in her cheek. Like father, like daughter. “I’ve had a good six months too!”
“Yes you have, honey,” Wade says, smiling at her now. “And that’s why I want you to be a part of this.”
He turns his gaze back to me.
“Emily, I’ve already talked to your dad on the phone but I want to make sure I have Charity’s blessing too. Because I want us to be a family.”
“Oh, my God,” I practically shriek, tears welling up in my eyes. “Oh, my God.”
Is this really happening? Six months ago I thought he was out of my life for good and now he’s proposing to me. Talk about second chances. Life is certainly full of twists and turns.
“I couldn’t be the man I am today without either of you,” Wade says. “And I want to spend the rest of my life pampering my two princesses.”
He stands up and walks over to me, and then gets down on one knee. Some other restaurant guests are beginning to notice, as they smile and point in our direction. He’s holding up a small box with a very large ring inside.
“Emily Jane Mason, I let you go once but I will never do that again. Will you do me the honor of becoming my wife? And Charity’s step- mother?”
“Yes!” I exclaim, as he stands back up. I throw my arms around him and openly cry tears of joy. “Yes, yes, a thousand times yes.”
He picks my feet off the ground and swings me around.
“She said yes!” he announces to the other guests at the restaurants, as if there had been any doubt about what my answer had been. It’s cute though. And I love him so much. “She said yes, she said yes, she said yes.”
“Hey!” Charity cries out again, looking up at us. “What about me?”
“Come here, you,” he says, picking her up as well. Now he’s swinging us both around. And this is the best day of my life. I know that now that Wade and Charity are guaranteed to be in it forever, it’s only going to keep getting better from here.
THE END.
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