“I love you.” I tell her feeling tears run down my cheeks.
“I know.” She says smugly and curls back into me.
Everything clicks into place. All the pieces that were scattered before are now solid.
“Bro?”
Both Emmett and Adri stand up and part and I see a very tired and very sad Vin. His eyes are boring into mine and I can feel the sadness radiating off of him.
“Are you okay?” I ask him.
“No, I haven’t been okay.” He shakes his head, “but I am better now.”
I don’t get a chance to continue to speak to him because my doctor comes in with a stern look on his face.
“Travis Greene, coma patient due to an overdose of Vicodin.” He looks up from the paper in his hands. “We were almost ready to prepare for your funeral.”
“Are you fucking serious?!” Ember exclaims as she rushes at the doctor, “you watch your motherfucking mouth!” Vin grabs her before she can touch the doctor but she’s definitely put the fear of God into him.
He clears his throat, “you will have to be placed in a mandatory thirty-day program.” His eyes slide to Ember as she glares at him from the circle of Vin’s arms. “You have been placed on suicide watch and we can’t release you before those thirty days are up.”
“Like fuck you wont!” Ember screams.
“Wait,” I hold my hand up, “I want to stay and participate in the program.”
“I’ll go prepare a room in that ward.” The doctor leaves in a hurry, giving a wide berth around Ember.
“Travis,” Ember breaks away easily from Vin, just proving she let him stop her. “We can take care of you at home. We miss you. We love you.”
“I know, I’m sorry I did this to you guys, but my problems are deep and I need help to heal. I can’t do it by myself and I need professional help.” I smile as she comes over and crawls up in the bed beside me.
“I missed you.” She begins to cry. It’s rare that Ember cries and it’s breaking my heart that I did this to them. I’m ashamed that I tried to take the easy way out. I should have fought my demons and continued to want to live.
I pull her in against my chest and kiss the top of her head, “I need to be better for my family and for my… relationship.”
“Your throuple.” She mutters.
“My what?” I ask.
“Throuple. A three person couple.”
So, it looks like Emmett told everyone. I’m not mad, if anything I’m relieved it’s out. I begin to laugh and she looks up at me through wet lashes and laughs with me.
“Thanks for putting Sonja in the family’s crypt.”
“She was family, it’s where she belonged.” Her answer is simple and straight from her heart, just like everything Ember ever says or does.
32
9 Months Later…
“Is his speech long? Because it’s as hot as a cougar looking for a good time out here.” Emmett groans from his seat beside me.
“Just be happy you managed to graduate, Shit for Brains, and listen to your boyfriend’s Valedictorian speech.” I growl at him, I’m always a hair’s breadth away from smacking him.
“It’s long, by the way.” Adri whispers between our heads from the row behind us.
“Ugh…” Emmett whines and drops lower in his seat. I’m gonna smack her, too.
“Drink this and shut the fuck up.” Vin grits out from between his teeth and slaps a flask to Emmett’s chest.
Yeah, the graduation ceremony is supposed to be seated alphabetically but we pretty much do as we please without much resistance. So, we decided to all sit together. Now I regret that decision as I watch my twin slugging back on what I know is potent whiskey. Fucking Vin.
This speech really is fucking long though, and the fucking heat is messing with the curls I tamed earlier. As Travis drones on about being successful in life and all that jazz, I lean forward and snatch the flask from Vin. We decided to put Emmett between us because he’s like an unruly child sometimes.
Carm should be here somewhere with Trent, and Travis has a cousin that came from Ukraine to watch him graduate. Emmett, Adri, and Travis took a trip about six months ago to find his family in Ukraine. He found out his grandmother had passed but he gained a couple Aunts and Uncles and a whole slew of cousins. Once the results of the autopsy for Sonja came back, it was determined she was indeed murdered by Christina. Not only did the knife have Christina's prints, her blood was also under Sonja's nails. Travis felt he needed to find his family and confess everything. His new path in life is to live lighter and not hold everything inside.
“Did he have a fucking Red Bull for breakfast?” Vin mutters as Travis’ speech carries on.
“No more Red Bull in the house.” I retort and take a swig out of the flask.
“Ha!” Emmett slaps his knee, “you fuckers feel my pain now.”
“Give me some of that.” Adri snakes her hand between us motioning for the flask.
Emmett grabs onto it before I can give her the flask and kisses her palm. They’re cute, I’ll admit. She smiles and it grows wider as she finally gets the flask.
Adri has permanently moved in with us and we are all finally together under one roof. It feels right and exactly how it’s supposed to be. Funny thing? Her parents haven’t even checked in with her in almost a year. Not that she cares, but I do. They’ve been added to my list of people to look into. Something feels off more than them buying a baby from Talia.
People begin to clap and whistle and the four of us look at each other and stand in unison to clap and cheer for Travis. Not that we heard much but we love him anyways.
“He really
