Song: Thinking Out Loud by Ed Sheeran

Epilogue: The irony of your existence is a hard slap in the face

"They say you don't marry the person you love, you marry the person you can't live without. That pretty much sums up how these two feel about each other."

My phone chimed. I'm outside. I looked at it and immediately stood up. I looked around my table at the eyes that followed me.

"I'll be right back."

"Can't you wait for your husband to finish his toast before you go to the bathroom?" Zahra asked with raised brows.

I rolled my eyes at her, "I said I'll be right back. Plus, I'm after him. This won't take long."

I started out the reception room, down the corridor and out the door as the breeze of this beautiful day hit me. I looked around until something black among the green caught my eye.

I smiled as I crossed my arms and looked up at the sky. "You always had a thing for shadows whether day or night."

"And you always had a thing for looking beautiful."

I turned towards where he had emerged from behind the huge plant. "Hello Jayden."

He came and hugged me, "Hi Charvi."

"How are the kids?" I asked him.

"Wait until I get some."

I laughed at his facial expression and choice of words. At the age of 31, Jayden still had no plans to get married and have children. But hey, he still had a long life ahead of him. He could change his mind.

"Now in all seriousness, how are the kids?" He asked me.

"Maybe you should come inside and ask Zane."

Jay frowned lightly, "You know he-"

I cut him off, "That was a long time ago."

When I first entered college, I met up with Jayden again. Turns out the company his Dad owned was in the same state as the one where Wren, Zane and I went to college. Albeit my family didn't really approve of Jayden, I told them I liked him and they should respect my decision. For Zane, it was a bit harder than that. Especially when once, Jayden tried to kiss me. He apologized right after and said it was an all in the moment thing and I forgave him. Zane found out and was very pissed at him. They got into a fight and after that Jayden didn't want to come between Zane and I. I told him everything was okay, but he won't listen.

He scrunched his face up at the memory, and then sat down on the step. He was dressed in a tuxedo. I couldn't sit beside him because my dress didn't give me permission for that.

"You were planning to come to the wedding, weren't you?"

"Yeah. Well I changed my mind."

"Then unchange it. You know I don't like keeping secrets from my friends. I don't like keeping secrets from Zane."

He looked up at me. "Then just don't be my friend anymore."

"God Jay! I don't want to choose. Don't do that."

Just then my phone chimed, I looked at it. 

Zahra: Your husband is rounding up. Get in here.

I turned to Jayden, "I'd really like to see you inside."

And I walked back into the reception room just in time to hear Zane's last words. His eyes were on me as I entered, but I just smiled at him.

"And to finish up, here's one of my favorite Oscar Wilde quotes: 'The man who says his wife can't take a joke forgets that she took him'." He raised his glass, "To Wren and Avery."

"To Wren and Avery!" Was chorused with laughter bouncing off from the room walls.

I settled back in my seat as he came to sit beside me. He kissed my temple. "You missed the whole thing."

"I know. I'm sorry."

"Why?"

"And now to call on the maid of honor for her toast!"

Although I was the maid of honor, Avery chose her younger sister as the toastmaster which was okay by me. And now to give my toast.

I rose from my seat and walked to the stage. Once I had climbed, I smiled at the audience. My family for years.

I picked up the microphone and held it, trying my hardest to ignore the annoying and blinding light, "Those who know me would know that, there must be a little speech before I make a toast."

There were light chuckles in the crowd.

"I'm Charvi Rivers, the maid of honor obviously. I am a friend to some of you. I'm related to some of you. I'm married to one of you," I sent a smile Zane's way. "And some of you, I don't know you at all, but tonight's not about me. It's about my two friends who found love after going through so much trouble, Wren and Avery."

I smiled at the happy couple before continuing, "I met Avery in college. Apart from being friends with Zane and Wren, I felt pretty lonely because they weren't in most of my classes. I didn't bother making friends because I've never been good at it. And then one day, this girl with crazy, wild, red hair knocks on my door and asks, 'Have you ever used a toothbrush on your hair?'."

There were people clapping and laughter was erupting from the crowd. I looked around at all of them and then my eyes stopped at a figure on the back who was smiling and clapping for me. He entered.

I laughed along with the crowd. "Her hair was thick and full, and my dear friend Avery thought it was best to use a toothbrush to brush her hair, and then it got stuck," I turned to Avery who was laughing at herself, "She came to the nearest room because she needed help to get it out and her roommate wasn't there. I let her into my room where Wren was lying on my bed. She introduced herself as Avery and the moment he looked up, he said and I quote: The irony of your existence is a hard slap in the face."

Those who understood the deeper meaning laughed way harder than people who were just laughing because they could.

"And since then, Wren despised her and she did as well. It was one argument after another, one insult after another for two years straight. It got kind of frustrating for Zane and I because we were all friends. Those two were stuck together from day one. And once in our 2nd year, I accidentally locked the both them up in my room, when I was back, they were you know," I winked at the crowd and they erupted in laughter.

"The whole thing was a very funny experience actually. One I never plan to forget. And let me not just start on my relationship with Wren because we go way back and I'm sure Zane already did that. But I have one thing to tell him." I turned to Wren, "Love is blind. Marriage is the eye opener and since he was a wee bit blind when it came to picking someone he loved," I teased him, remembering our high school experience, "I'm glad she has finally opened your eyes." He sent me a smile as Avery leaned into him.

I raised up my glass, "To Wren and Avery- we all knew Wren had found the one when he started spending more time with Avery than he did playing his Xbox." I toasted with a little joke at the end.

"To Wren and Avery!" The crowd raised their glasses as they laughed at my weird sense of humor.

I handed the microphone to Aurora and went down the stage. I stopped at Wren and Avery's sweetheart table and gave them a big hug. 

"I love you guys."

Avery patted my back, "Char, you're embarrassing me."

I laughed and rolled my eyes at her, "In front of who? You're 28 and your husband is sitting right beside you."

She turned and smiled at Wren, "Husband. I like that word."

I snorted and left before they started kissing and went back to my seat. When I looked back to the spot I saw Jayden, he was gone. I frowned slightly, but the frown left once I reached my table and saw my husband's charming smile. 

He put his arm around me as I sat down, and whispered in my ear, "I think they loved you more than me, Cherry."

I smiled as I encircled my hand around his waist, "I'm glad you know. How do you plan to break that down to Zuri?"

He chuckled remembering the bet our kids made. "Zaiden would be glad to do it."

Zane proposed to me right after he graduated from college. I was really bummed because I had to go to medical school. Why does that have way more years than business? Anyways, he said he couldn't wait till I was completely done, so I married him at the age of 24. It was quite early but it's not like I was going to spend the rest of my life with anyone else.

"Now it's time for the father of the groom to give his speech!"

************************

Zahra threw off her heels and fell on the couch, "I'm hungry!!!!"

We all laughed at her. We being my friends. We all came to my house after the wedding party to just hang. It's been a while since we got together and I'm glad Wren and Avery's wedding did that for us. 

Xander was here with his pregnant wife, Mia. She wouldn't let me rest once that ring was on her finger. Mia Cooper this and Mia Cooper that. It's funny now, but at that time I just wanted to zip her mouth. Xander and I grew a little apart when I went off to college seeing as we went to different states. I only went to college with Zane and Wren- who already had their whole lives planned out together- because I didn't have a plan. I never checked out colleges and schools because I didn't know if I'd ever go, but there I was. I was so glad the day I got my admission, but I was sad that I was going to be so away from my best friend. It was easier when I went to medical school because then he had graduated and lived where I did.

Zahra and Kai on the other hand already got married in college. They said they wanted to tie the knot immediately and there was no point in wasting time. As you can already guess, it was Zahra's idea. They didn't have children yet, they wanted to enjoy life to the fullest. Again, Zahra's idea. At first, they got into an argument about it because Kai said he wanted kids, but she finished the argument up with this line: "You're not the one who's going to have a fetus growing inside you, so instead grow a pair." I was there that day and I had asked her what him growing a pair had to do with anything and she said it didn't and that was why she said it. So he would ponder about what she said and stop talking.

Jordan was a professional footballer and he had been very busy with his life that he recently just asked Leyla to marry him. I remember all those times that she'd come meet me, fussing about Jordan being gone for days and her wondering if he still wanted to be with her. At that time, they took a break and she decided to focus on her internship. About a year later, a magnetic force had them both driving to each other's houses on a rainy day.

Axel was here with his model fiancée. Not Serena Davis if you were assuming that. She's not here and Zane told me that she's not even sure she's into boys anymore. Her kissing a girl at one of her photo shoots was all over the news a few months ago. I never talked to her about it because she was more of Zane's friend than she was mine. Axel and I on the other hand got a bit closer when I graduated from medical school. That's when I met his fiancée, Sierra. They'd been engaged for about 2 years now, but still weren't married. It's either they were waiting for the best time or one was waiting for the other to back out.

Kai slumped on the couch and put Zahra's legs on top of his own, "You've gotta stop screaming, the twins are sleeping."

All of them had settled down in the large sitting room of the house Zane surprised me with when I got out of medical school. I went into the game room to see Xavier, Xander's 16 year old younger brother. I asked him to babysit the twins. And he told me they were sleeping, but here they were, playing games with Xavier and eating left over cake.

I cleared my throat as I crossed my arms. The three of them looked up.

"Sleeping huh?"

He shrugged as he put his plate of cake down, "I don't see why they have to sleep. It's like 5pm."

"I explained this to you before. You know how their 3rd birthday party was yesterday. They had birthday jitters and stayed awake all night and now you're just fueling them up on leftover cake."

I looked around him to see them. Once Zaiden and I's eyes locked, he fell on the couch and pretended to sleep and started fake snoring really loudly. I rolled my eyes at him, a smile playing at the edge of my lips.

"Hey mommy." Zuri greeted. "Zaiden is just faking." She said as she sat on his back and started bouncing up and down.

He sat up and yawned. "Mommy!!" He whined. "Zuri woke me up!"

I heard laughter from behind me and I turned as Zane walked into the room and ran towards Zuri. He picked her up and spun her around. I smiled at them as she giggled hysterically.

Zaiden came up to me and tapped my leg. I looked down at him, "Yes sweetie?"

He grabbed my hand and dragged me down, then he whispered, "Daddy lost, didn't he?"

I smiled at him as I nodded. "He's trying to break it to her gently."

Zaiden ran and grabbed Zuri's plate of cake. She stared at him as he joined her cake to his, "What are you doing?"

He smiled deviously. "Daddy lost so I'm getting your cake." 

I laughed. Zane was right when he said Zaiden would be glad to tell Zuri.

Zuri's face dropped as she turned to Zane, "You lost?"

Zane laughed nervously as he scratched the back of his head, "You see the thing is..."

Zane was cut off by Zaiden who started dancing around them and singing, "You lost. You lost. You lost." He turned to me. "Mummy come join me." He continued dancing around them. "You lost." I laughed and went to join him as we started dancing and singing around them.

"Really mommy?" Zuri asked.

Zane rolled his eyes at us. "Let's go Zuri. Daddy is going to buy you some ice cream."

Zaiden and I froze to the spot as we complained at the same time. "That's not fair."

"It's pity ice cream for losers." Zane told me as he and Zuri started backing out of the room.

Then Zuri started singing, "We lost. We lost. We lost." And Zane joined in. And they dashed out of the room. Zaiden and I turned to look at each other and we started chasing them.

*********************

The doorbell rang.

"I'm not getting it!" Zane and I said at the same time.

We were all seated in the sitting room after Zane and I put Zaiden and Zuri to bed. And Xavier already went home. So it was just me, my friends and my husband. I don't think I'd ever get tired of saying that.

"But you two live here." Xander pointed out.

"So?" I shrugged.

"Well I'm not getting it." Mia said.

And that's how the choruses of my lazy friends echoed throughout the table. I groaned and sat up. "I'll get it."

I started towards the door, and stopped in front of my dog. All he did these days was lie down on the floor. It could be that he's old, but I hope he wasn't sick.

I ruffled his fur. "Do you want some more snacks Zion?"

He put his paw over my hand and let out a small bark.

"I guess that's a yes." 

I quickly refilled his bowl with some dog snacks and headed to the door. I opened it, and Jayden turned to face me.

"I was starting to think Zane saw me through the window and ban you from letting me in." He joked.

I snorted. "He can't ban me from anything even if he tries. And he dare not try."

Jay laughed. "I'm not even surprised."

"What are you doing here Jay? You left the party without so much as a goodbye."

"I changed my mind."

"Well have you unchanged it?"

He nodded and smiled. 

"Good cos I wasn't letting you go before they heard the truth. I hate sneaking around."

I grabbed him and dragged him in. He waved at Zion. "Hi Zion." Zion just barked in response.

"You never told me what Zane's father said about the dog's name."

I laughed at the memory of the human Zion's face turning as red and hot as a steam pot when I called the dog Zion in front of him. "He was not very happy about that."

"Would you be?"

I didn't answer because we had gotten to the sitting room. All eyes turned to us and Zane's eyes were shooting daggers at Jay.

"I guess we've not had a proper introduction." I smiled at all my friends and started pointing at them. "Xander. Mia. Zahra. Kai. Leyla. Jordan. Axel. Sierra. Wren. Avery. And Zane. Meet Jayden."

"We've met him before." Xander replied.

I shook my head. "You met Jayden, Jaxon's brother. This is Jayden, my friend."

Saying Jaxon's name again sent chills through my body. It had been 11 years already. Jaxon was going to be released next year since his time was 12 years for all the things he did. I'm not bothered. I am an adult now, not some scared little girl. And also, I'm sure he learnt his lesson.

"What's the difference?" Zahra asked.

"The difference is; the time you met him wasn't the best time and you all judged him without getting to know him. It's not fair. Jayden is nice and kind and has done a lot for me. You of all people, Zane, should know that." I sent Zane a pointed stare but he was busy shooting glares at Jay.

"He didn't seem very kind when he-"

Jay cut him off. "I'm sorry. It was a long time ago and I didn't know what I was doing then. I didn't mean to cause trouble."

He did cause a lot of trouble between Zane and I. We fought for days because of him. But when there are good times, there are hell-invoked times.

Zane just continued glaring at him.

"Zane we are more mature than this. We want people to rise above our mistakes, why can't we do the same?"

I walked up to Zane and made him look at me by holding his face. "Please. For me..."

He grumbled a bit and kissed my lips. "Fine." I threw my arms around me in a hug.

When I released him, I grabbed Jay's hand and pushed him so he fell on the couch. And then I stood in front of all of them.

"I am so happy I met you guys. I want you to-"

I was cut off by the groans from them.

"What now?" I asked.

Zahra threw a people at me, "We're tired of your sob stories."

"Excuse me, but people actually enjoy them."

Zahra looked around. "Who enjoys Char's stories?"

None of them raised their hands. I turned to Zane with a mock glare and he just shrugged. I rushed up to him and started forcing his hand up.

Laughter erupted from my friends and I smiled. It feels so good to be home.

**********************

That's it! I hope the epilogue met your expectations and more. I hope you loved reading it as much as I loved writing it. 

I'm proud of myself for accomplishing this and I am grateful to all my supporters for being there with me.  

I can't believe I'm finally done!!!!

HERE'S TO BRUNY AND CHERRY!

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