Page 73 of Classroom Confessions

EPILOGUE: REBECCA

Three years later

If my smile stretched any wider, I’d start looking like a cartoon character. I couldn’t help it. This was it, one of the most important moments of my life.

“Mama, wook.” Emma stood on her tiptoes and pointed ahead.

“Yes, sweetheart. I see the bookshop.” I picked up my baby girl and cradled her close. “That’s where we’re going.”

“Yay!” Ryan shouted from behind me, safe in Ethan’s arms. His voice trilled higher than the birds flitting across the sky.

Fingers danced over the back of my arm. “Are you nervous?” Cole moved beside me, his presence helping to part a group coming toward us. We all smiled and nodded at each other in passing.

I waited until they were out of earshot before I spoke. “A little. It’s a lot to take in.”

Giving birth to Emma and Ryan was the main highlight of my life. I loved them so much it hurt.

It had taken us three months from the time of my story going viral for us to make a decision about marriage and moving in together. A gold ring glinted on my finger and on the finger of each of the three men walking with me.

“Dean Scott said he might even come by.” Ethan spoke from behind me. He carried Ryan while David rolled my suitcase of supplies.

Nerves fluttered and danced. “He didn’t have to do that.”

“I think he feels bad for how he reacted.” Cole angled a look toward Emma. “You know.”

I remembered. That day in his office when I’d told him I absolutely would not be transferring school was scorched into my mind. He’d gone red-faced and spluttering. I’d calmly explained that I was more than willing to swap to online classes with new professors, but I would be staying in California and continuing my relationship with my professors. Mine. God, I loved admitting that. In two more years, I’d have my creative writing degree like I’d always wanted. I’d had to cut back my college classes to take care of the twins, but I didn’t mind. At this point, the degree mattered less than before. It was the accomplishment of it that I craved.

My heels clacked on the sidewalk, followed by the rumble from the suitcase wheels.

David whistled. “Holy…” He trailed off and cleared his throat. We’d been a little more cautious with our cursing since Ryan shouted “fuck” in the middle of dinner last week. “Rebecca, have you seen the line?”

“No.” I looked up from wiping Emma’s face. She’d picked up the habit of rubbing everything over her lips after seeing me put on lipstick, and in the few minutes I’d let her walk, she’d found her way into the bag of snacks and smeared pretzel salt over her mouth. My next step faltered as I caught my first look at the far corner of the bookshop.

People stretched in a double line that started at the door, stretched past the neighboring shop, and disappeared around the corner.

“How many people is that?” I almost stopped walking, but Cole’s hand on the small of my back propelled me forward. I could do this. I’d been working on overcoming my shyness in crowds.

Ethan made airplane noises with Ryan and zoomed him up beside my face. “Does it matter? You’re ready for this. Your publisher helped you prep. You know all the things you need to know. You’re amazing. Your book is phenomenal.”

“You’re a bestselling author,” David chimed in. “You hit number one on release day. This is the result of your fandom coming together.”

I’d never expected it to happen like this. Never in a million years.

Emma pinched the lapel of my business jacket and puckered her lips. “Books?”

“Yes, sweetie. You’ll get to look at the books.” I couldn’t do this without them. All of them. My publisher had been more than happy to accommodate my requests. After my first serial novel went insane online, I’d gotten so many offers that I’d been overwhelmed. Things like this did not happen in real life. I mean, they did to some people. But people like me? The nobodies? Never.

But it had happened and I’d been riding the high for three years now.

“Imagine what it will look like next year.” Ethan moved ahead of us, bouncing Ryan on his hip. We’d never bothered with paternity tests. No one cared. We all fell in love with our children throughout my pregnancy, and the minute they were born, we became parents. They were all fathers, and they treated the roles with respect. Smoothing his tie, Ethan smirked at me, one side of his mouth pulled upward in my favorite grin. “It’s book launch day, first book signing, and you said you had an idea for the next book. If none of that makes you smile, then take a look at this face and try to frown.” He walked backward, crossed his eyes, and stuck out his tongue.

Ryan tried to mimic the look and ended up laughing so hard he fell into Ethan’s chest. Ethan caught him with one hand and zoomed him around like an airplane again.

He’d changed so much since the twins were born. He was still gruff and growly, but he wore his heart on his sleeve when it came to the kids. Maybe he wanted to compensate for his own shitty childhood. I’d let him give me his backstory as he wanted without pushing, and from what little he’d admitted, there was no wonder he’d hesitated about being a father.

A cheer went up from the crowd. A year ago, when my first book released, I would have ducked my head. Now, I raised it higher and waved. The noise grew so loud that Emma clapped her hands over her ears. Everyone awwed and lowered their volume.

The bookshop owner, a dear woman I’d become friends with in the last two years, greeted me at the door. “Table’s all set up. It’s in the corner like you asked. Right beside the kids’ corner.”

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