To Color Your Life

Emily leaned back in her chair, catching the warm currents of air in her palm. They had already left the city limits, and now there was a flat road in front of them, running beyond the horizon.

"Have you been to Vegas before?" Justin asked, switching the frequency on the old radio.

"No, it's my first time. Are you sure we'll get there in this car? It's quite far from here." Emily liked the car that Mr. Pitcher gave them, saying, 'I drove your grandmother on it, now let my grandson drive you.' But this car was already many years old.

"Don't worry, all the details are new here. Grandpa was looking after it like a real car maniac," Justin reassured her and patted the panel, "But the new stereo system was never installed. Let's listen to the radio. Well, or a phone. You can use your playlist if you want."

Emily narrowed her eyes, either from the rays of the sun in her eyes or from her husband's hundred-megawatt smile. She felt so good that she wanted to shout about it to the whole world.

She unfastened her belt, turned on the camera on the phone, opened the glove compartment, and stuck her phone in there.

"What are you doing?" Justin asked surprised, watching his wife's strange behavior.

"It's a secret." Emily glanced at the resulting photo, giggled, and tucked the phone back into her pocket.

This intrigued the man even more.

"Hey, there are no secrets between a wife and a husband!"

The girl smiled mysteriously, pretending to think about whether to confess or not. Then she took out her phone, opened the last picture, and showed it to Justin.

The man's eyes widened. "What is it?"

"When my grandmother saw this car yesterday, she told me, as a big secret, that when she was young she left a secret message for Arthur in the glove compartment. She was sure the note had fallen off long ago, but no. It's still out there!"

Evans whistled and laughed, "Wow! Just don't try to show it to my grandfather, he will immediately take this car back, cover it with a glass dome and brick it up in a bunker under the protection of laser beams!"

"Ahaha, where did you get it? He wouldn't do it."

"If I received such a message from you, I would do just that!"

Emily moved closer to her husband, "You don't have to do this. I can say it right now," she leaned into the man's ear and whispered what had been written on a piece of paper pasted inside the glove compartment more than fifty years ago.

"Damn, can we stay at the nearest motel?" Justin grabbed her into an armful with one hand and kissed her quickly.

"I don't mind," Emily winked and returned to her seat so as not to distract her husband from the road. "By the way, did you see the postcard that Melonie drew for us?"

"Yeah," Justin nodded and broke into a satisfied smile like a cat eating too much milk. "I liked this idea. Let's stop at a motel and just work on it."

Emily rolled her eyes, "Justin, but this is wrong! Your niece is about to marry your son, who hasn't even been born yet! Jacob said he would think about this proposal!"

"Why is it wrong? Great idea! Moreover, if Melonie said that there will be a boy, then there will be a boy. Our Mel is an unusual child. She has some kind of gift. Trust me."

Emily had nothing against the girl, Melonie was like an angel. It was impossible not to love her. And the less she wanted to destroy the childhood dream. But it's better to clarify everything right away so that later there will be no problems.

"Justin," she said in a stern voice, "I understand your attitude towards this child, but it's impossible. She is your brother's daughter, your niece. Such marriages are not permitted. This is incest! Because of this, almost all the royal families of Europe degenerated in their time!"

Evans said nothing. He looked at his wife, then at the road, then again at his wife.

"You don't know..." he gasped.

"I don't know what?" Emily frowned.

Justin tapped himself on the forehead, "God, you don't know! I didn't even think about it!"

"Justin Evans, can you tell me what you are about to tell me in a normal way?! What don't I know?"

The man laughed, reached out and ruffled the girl's hair. "Jacob is not Melonie's biological father."

"What?!" Emily wondered. "What do you mean he is not?" She threw off her husband's hand and automatically began to correct her hair. 

"When Jacob and Melissa met, she had already been pregnant."

Emily opened and closed her mouth, not knowing what to say. She already thought that this family would not be able to surprise her, but she was wrong again.

Justin noticed his wife's confusion. Yes, you don't find out such details every day.

"He married a girl who was pregnant from another man?" Emily remembered with what adoration Jacob treats his daughter and wife and felt even more respect for him.

"Yes, there is a complicated story, but, as you can see, it ended with a happy ending. The truth is not for everyone," Evans chuckled with unconcealed malice.

It seems like he remembered those who were unlucky with a happy ending.

He felt his wife's gaze on his temple, like the scope of a sniper rifle. If he ends the conversation at this, then she will definitely shoot him.

"Okay, okay, I'll tell you if you ask that, Mrs. Evans." After all, the nearest motel is still an hour's drive away.

"I am all ears!" Emily exclaimed with anticipation.

Justin smiled. "It happened about four years ago. I just returned back to America from Europe and decided to open the Pharaoh magazine..."

____

"Dear Emily,

Hi. I don't know how the newlywed vow should start. To tell you a secret, I've always been weak at writing essays. Even the one you are reading now is the fifteenth or seventeenth in a row.

At first, I wanted to write my promises, but when I reread it, I thought, "What is this nonsense?" My grandfather once told me that the best decision in a relationship is not to impose your expectations on a person. I can promise you a lot, but I won't. Not because I don't want to, but because I understand that words and deeds are different things.

You know, in my life there were many words and deeds for which I am now ashamed. But I accept them because those mistakes became bricks, albeit crooked and wretched, from which my path to myself began.

I still have a lot to do, but I have gone through much more than I could have imagined at the very beginning.

I know you sometimes feel like you're stumped. That you are not worthy of anything bigger. Doubt and fear will convince you to stay where you are. This is fine. This is how the human brain works: it is afraid of changes because it does not know what they will lead to.

And if one day you notice such doubts behind yourself - just rush into battle without a single hint of hesitation. Your light, your victory is out there, beyond your fear.

Emily, life is not a rough draft. Every minute of your time is priceless and irrevocable to spend it on worries. Trust me, I know what I'm talking about. It is never known if tomorrow will come.

Therefore, Emily, I am asking you to live every day like the last. Believe in yourself, shine, fly. Go ahead, boldly spreading your wings. Evaluate every thought, every word, every action - whether it is your decision or not, it moves you forward or pulls you to the bottom.

Don't be afraid to make mistakes, to fall. Don't think about what others will say about you. This is your life, live it to the fullest. You can see this world only with your own eyes, so fill it with those colors, people and events that you want to see.

After many years have passed, when your face is wrinkled, it will still be beautiful. When you will be sitting in the garden of your house, and behind your back you will hear the laughter of your grandchildren. When the lenses in your glasses are so thick that they press on your nose and slide off when reading romance novels. Then, many years later, I wish you would take my old flabby hand and say,

"Thank you for being there all these years, Justin."

I love you, Emily Hayes. You are the brightest color of my life. Be happy.

Your shameless first-comer,

Justin Evans."

___VOLUME 1 THE END ___