EPILOGUE II

EPILOGUE II
Emilia's POV

Sebastian pulled into the driveway, and I noticed that every window of our little bungalow glowed with warm light that got lost under the afternoon sun.
I stepped down slowly from the car and moved to unstrap Jnr in the back seat. I was leading Jnr to the door when Sebastian walked up behind me. Before I knew what he was up to, I was already lifted from the floor and into his arms. He steered me to his broad chest and grinned down at me as I made a little gasp of surprise. And while Jnr walked up the porch behind us by himself, he carried me up.
He stood on the porch for a moment and leaned his head down and dropped a kiss to my forehead, then to my nose, while I giggled excitedly beneath him. My heart thudded against my chest as my mind ticked on, wondering what he was scheming.
Before I could beg him to save me from the suspense, he kicked the door open gently with his foot, carrying me in.
At the same time, the room blared like a train as voices screamed, “Happy Anniversary!” they cried in unison.
I looked around to see Mom, Aaron, Nathan, Brian, and Gabby, who was looking as chubby as ever. Hugging Gabby close was her husband, Luke. Aaron held his girlfriend, Riley, by the waist, and so did Nathan. His girlfriend, who is also my colleague at work, Natasha Brice, hung her head on his broad shoulders while beaming at me. Brian was the only one without a partner. He chose to be an unrepentant playboy, and even though he is older than me, I have come to adopt him as my third baby, after Sebastian and Jnr, before he takes my mom to an early grave with his problems.
There were also our neighbors, the Rosewoods and the James, and a couple of our friends and colleagues too. At the center of the room stood a tall white cake, frosted with delicate roses.
“Happy Anniversary,” everyone cried again, blowing the confetti on us as Sebastain walked me further into the room, to the cake. My heart warmed at the sight and the love around us. I covered my mouth with my hands, smothering my gasps of joy.
I looked up to Sebastian again as he still held me to his chest. “You know you shouldn't have and…” My eyes narrowed on him. “...how is today our anniversary?”
“Technically, we got married in my world, but today makes it a year that we signed our marriage certificate in this world, so technically also, today is also our anniversary day.”
I nodded my head in understanding of the logic, and I grinned up at him. “Perhaps you are right?” I teased in a cheeky tone, and I leaned up in his arms to kiss him directly on the lips.
He sucked on my lips, and I did his too, tasting and relishing every bit of their tenderness on mine. I pulled away when his tongue began to explore my mouth, and more giggles erupted in the room.
He dropped me down to my feet and cradled me to his chest in a heavy hug. “But you could have just told me this, Sebastian.” I said. “I almost had a brain tumor trying to find out what you were planning."
“And that would defeat the purpose of a surprise.” He answered.
The cheers and giggles went on around the room, and I pulled from him before I was completely consumed by his warmth.
“We have guests, Sebastian.” I scolded slightly when he attempted to pull me back, and I ran fast to the room, to everyone.
I went to Mom first. Jnr was in her arms. I pinched his cheek in retaliation for keeping this from me.
“Ouch, Mummy,” he cried playfully, snuggling into his grandma's shoulders.
“Happy anniversary, my princess.” Mom smiled at me.
“Thanks, Mom,” I replied, pulling her and squeezing her in a hug.
Then I moved to Aaron, thanking him for coming. But he didn't let me hug him. He just ruffled my hair, as if to let me know that though I was married, I was very much his little sister.
Nathan did the same, but Brian hugged me, beaming like a ten-year-old as he squeezed me in his bigger body. I had to knee him in the stomach to let me go.
“I am coming for revenge,” he cried, grabbing his stomach as I moved from him to Gabby.
“Happy anniversary, girl.” Gabby chimed like a bell, bouncing excitedly on her chubby feet. She squeezed me in her large arms, almost breaking down my bones, before I moved to her husband, Luke, Riley, Natasha, and everyone else.
After greeting everyone and thanking them for coming, Sebastian grabbed me, holding me from the back and by the waist to his body as we moved to cut the cake. And I loved every bit of it, loved the warmth of him around me, his love and care. Loved the fact that fate took pity on us and made everything work out well in the end.
I don't know what I’ll do without him. The whole room counted down in unison for us to cut the cake, and once we did. He spun me around and planted his lips hard on mine again. He kisses me with every inch of his soul, while laughter and music carry through around us.
He left me breathless with his kisses before he pulled away, and I was smiling like a fool when he did, just as I was panting for breath. He grabbed my hand and my waist then and began swaying me to the music, showing me steps he had just picked up. Everyone grabbed their partners or chose a new one and joined us in dancing on the makeshift dance floor—the large space between our sofas. Only Mom didn't join in. She was too busy with her grandson to indulge. She cradled him to her chest as she climbed up the stairs, taking him to his room.
Evening crawled by slowly on us, and by then, everyone was already leaving for their homes, one after another. Sebastian and I hugged and saw off Gabby and her husband, Aaron and Riley, and Nathan and his girlfriend. Brian stayed behind as he was going to take Mom home. He was the mummy’s boy. He still lived with Mom, though he was already in his thirties.
We walked back into the house, and Sebastian held me from behind again as we climbed up the stairs to fetch Mom in Jnr’s room. We pushed the door to the room.
I had expected to find Jnr in Mom’s lap as they shared some grandma and grandson moments together, but the sight I saw left me cold. My fingers trembled on the equally cold steel of the doorknob.
Sebastian dropped my waist, standing upright behind me, his eyes trained above my head as mine also locked in on the room.
Mom sat on Jnr's small bed, frozen to a spot like an effigy, her face impassive, her eyes locked in space like her mind was trapped inside of her. Jnr just stared at us, his tiny eyes darkened, and his face tightened in a sorry look, as if he was fully aware of what he has just done, aware he had just hypnotized his grandma.
I dragged my gaze to Sebastian. My heart thudded hard against my chest, beating a low ominous rhythm to my ears. My chin trembled as I asked, my voice strained. “What will happen to our Sebastian? You told me with the hypnotism comes the madness. Will our son go mad too?”
“No!” Sebastian said, his voice sounding very sure, but the twitch in his eyes said otherwise. “Even if I have to give my life to do it, I will protect our son from darkness.” He added.
He side-swept me then and walked to release Mom from her hypnotism. At the same time, I went for Jnr, snatching him from the bed and fast into my arms. I carried him fast from the room, my legs moving like wheels, as if the darkness existed in the room itself and not inside of him.
I charged into the corridor and almost collided with Brian. I jolted back, startled. My brain felt like it was fried for that moment. It took every ounce of self-control in me not to scream, even though my eyes had done all the screaming, bouncing off in my head continuously like a ball in motion.
Brian’s bored eyes crossed for a moment, searching my face. I sighed hard, letting a load of calm flush into my chest and soothe the chaos in me, then I forced a smile up at Brian while pressing Jnr down so he rested his head on my chest.
Brian searched my face for another second. He wanted to comment about my fright. His lips moved, but thankfully, he stopped in time and instead went for a sigh.
“A strange woman just came, Emilia, and she asked to give you this as your wedding anniversary gift, but she said to tell you that it is specifically for Jnr, though.” He said as he unwrapped a large box-like gift in his hands.
I wanted to scold him for why he would unwrap my gifts, but I stopped, cold shivers drilling down my core as my gaze fell on the book, my eyes stretching fast on my forehead. It was the same book, the same thick hard cover, and old, brown pages. Only now, the title was different. It was no longer the "Duke of Duchester." It was the "Empress of Cindralock," and as the usual subtitle, it had the same words, "the story that writes itself."
I looked sharply at Brian. "Where is this woman?" I demanded, my chin trembling, making my voice shaky.
He traced my face slowly, seeming shocked at my reaction. "She is gone," he said. "She left just after she handed the gift to me. She just said to tell you that Jnr will need the gift once he turns ten."
"No, he won't," Sebastain yelled. It was then that I realized he had crawled to my back and listened to everything. His eyes, thick with so much fire, also lingered on the book, recognizing it.
"Why," Mom and Brian echoed in unison.
"Because we are going to be burning the book." He declared, and he snatched the book from Brian's hands, marching away with it, his whole body trembling with determination.
We all followed eagerly behind him, running with him to the kitchen, where he snatched a lighter from the cabinet. He flicked the lighter on and steered the fire to the book, to the hardcover, and even to the individual pages. But surprisingly, the book wouldn't burn. There was no burning smell, no fire crawling onto the pages and burning them off, no ashes, just nothing. The book remained intact no matter how much he tried to burn it.

THE END
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