Just One Year(78)

“If you hadn’t been greatly allergic to Catlin Jenner, I would’ve never met my girl, Teagan. We wouldn’t be in England right now planning a future together. She wouldn’t have found her long-lost sister, and I might never have tasted s’mores or Hot Cheetos in my life. You, Bo Cheng, and your allergies are magical, my friend. You’ve changed our world.”

The next thing we heard was…a click.

My mouth dropped. “Did Bo Cheng just fucking hang up on us?”

Caleb snorted. “It seems he did.”





EPILOGUE




* * *



CALEB




The Carrolls gathered around the computer screen while Shelley spoke to Emma on Skype.

“I’m trying to get my parents to come to England next summer. Then we can finally meet!”

Maura leaned over her shoulder and chimed in. “It’s not definite yet. But it’s very likely, sweetie. We can’t wait to meet you.”

Emma jumped up and down in her seat. “Yay! I’m so excited!”

Stuart peeked out from behind Emma in the background. “Would love to see you all here.”

Not only had my wife’s little sister gained an older sibling, it seemed the entire Carroll family had accepted Emma as one of their own. They’d often Skype with her, even when they weren’t Skyping with us. And Emma seemed overjoyed to have an adopted American family.

Emma also spent quite a bit of time at home with us in Stratford whenever Stuart had plans. My mother had really taken to her. Given that she had my sister’s name, I knew spending time with Emma was also healing for Mum. It was all very cosmic. I’d always known Teagan and I were meant to be together, but finding Emma made it seem so much bigger than that—bigger than us—like all of this was meant to happen in exactly the way it had.

Teagan and I were in the midst of our first visit back to Boston together since getting married almost a year ago. A couple of weeks after our engagement at the cottage in Nottingham, Teagan and I had a small civil ceremony with just my mother, Stuart, and Emma in attendance. Teagan wore a single flower in her long, flowing hair and a simple white dress. I’d borrowed a suit from my uncle, which happened to fit. It wasn’t the fanciest of affairs, but it hadn’t needed to be. Stuart had connected the Carrolls in live via his computer so they could watch the entire thing from the US.

We’d spent the weeks after the wedding dealing with the paperwork that would allow Teagan to stay in the UK as my wife. Between finding Emma and getting married, the past year had been a whirlwind in the best possible way.

Things were better than ever, but certainly not perfect. My relationship with my father remained estranged, although when I’d brought Teagan to meet him at my uncle’s house after we were married, he’d been at least cordial to her. Mum had remained strong and hadn’t taken my father back. It seemed for the time being his drinking was under control, but without living under the same roof with him, we couldn’t be completely sure.

I’d been doing well since my days in rehab, but I recognized my need to continue therapy. So I’d gone back to seeing someone every other week. In fact, having that consistent outlet and seeing all of the good that was possible because of it helped me decide on a career. I’d changed my major to psychology and hoped to become a counselor myself.

Teagan would finally be starting her last year of school once we returned to England. Her plan was to continue working at the flower shop while she finished off her marine biology degree at my university. Even though she helped Mum a bit with the rent, she hadn’t had to spend all of the money from the ring Maura gave her, so she’d put the remainder of it in the bank to use toward school. Hopefully, after graduation she’d find a suitable job reasonably close to home. Yes, we still lived with my mother, but we were saving up for our own place. As Teagan had originally proposed, we’d opted to forego the big wedding in Boston in order to use that money toward our future house. We were thinking of possibly settling closer to Brighton, near Emma and Stuart. So many decisions to make, but we’d be making them together.

As nice as it was to be back in the Carrolls’ house in Brookline, we got so much attention here that I missed my alone time with Teagan. Her family had missed her so much, they wanted to spend every waking minute with us. Back home, my mother kept her distance, even in our small house.

After we hung up from the family Skype call with Emma, Maura announced, “Dinner’s in ten, guys.”

I whispered in Teagan’s ear, “We actually have ten minutes alone? Let’s escape.” Pulling her by the hand, I led her down to the basement, where we’d been sleeping.

“Ten minutes isn’t that much time,” she said.

“I assure you, ten minutes is all I’ll need.” I winked. “Maybe five.”

Anytime Teagan and I were alone together downstairs, it made me feel nostalgic. Our lives had changed so much since the days we used to study in this room together. If you’d asked me then if I ever believed Teagan would be living in England with me, I would’ve thought you were crazy. But if you’d asked me whether I thought we would end up together someday, somehow the answer would have been yes. I hadn’t known how that was going to happen, but when I left Boston, I knew in my heart it wasn’t the end.