The Parent Trap

DH Fanfic

Susan Mayer had now found herself in quite a predicament. Julie had been hiding her best friend from two years ago, Emma Taylor, in her room for the past three days secretly until Susan had walked in on Emma watching the third Lord of the Rings movie. Julie had just left for her dad's, ordering Emma to tell her why she was here. So far, Emma had remained silent and Susan had no idea what to say to her. Walking cautiously up to Julie's room, Susan opened up the door to find Emma staring sadly at a worn looking photograph. "You okay?"

Emma looked up, startled. "Mrs. Mayer!"

"Obviously not." Susan said sarcastically, sitting down next to her on Julie's bed. Emma quickly covered up the photograph. "I'm fine." she defended.

"Julie did tell you to tell me why you were here." Susan reminded her.

"I know. But I can't...because you're going to kill Julie."

"I can assure you that I won't kill Julie." Susan said with a smile.

Emma sighed and pulled the photo out from under the pillow. "These are my parents." she said quietly. "I just found out who my dad was and um..." Emma handed her the picture, biting her lip.

Susan took the photo from Emma and stared at the man in the photo, convinced that she was hallucinating. "No." Susan said in disbelief. Her mouth opened and closed multiple times in succession. "That-that's impossible. That can't be Mike. Maybe he has a..twin brother that was with your mom. He-he would have told me if he had a kid, I know it!"

Emma remained silent and Susan realized there was more to this little story. "That's the thing. Um, he-he doesn't know." Emma admitted.

"Oh." Susan said, biting her own lip. "Are you here to tell him?"

Emma looked downward. "I can't. He'll think I'm an idiot. Besides, he hasn't seen or heard from my mom since he left her. It'll make him angry at her for not at least trying to tell him."

Susan shook her head. "He's always wanted kids, he'll be excited. Maybe angry at first, but he'll love you."

"How do you know? You aren't his girlfriend anymore." Emma snapped.

Susan was taken aback and Emma quickly apologized. "I'm sorry. I just don't know how to tell him. Can you talk to him?"

"Em, we used to be involved. I don't want him getting the wrong idea." Susan lied.

"Maybe I should just leave." Emma said quietly.

"No, no, sweetie, I didn't mean that at all. I'll call him. Okay?"

Emma nodded as tears began to escape her eyes. Susan pulled her into a hug, murmuring reassurances in her ear. "He'll love you. I promise."

Emma sniffed and held onto Susan tighter, needing comfort and reassurance. Tears began to fall from Susan's eyes as well. Who was that man to put this sweet child through this?

Later that night, Emma had fallen asleep early and Susan was holding the phone reluctantly to her ear, listening to the other line ring insistently. "Hello?" a man's voice answered from the other end.

Susan's mouth opened and closed a few times without saying anything, remembering the wonderful horror of that voice.

"Hello?" the man asked again, sounding impatient.

"Mike?" she managed to squeak.

He seemed to recognize the sound of her voice immediately. "Susan! I'm so glad you called.. I really need to talk to you. Can I come over?"

"That might not be such a good idea." Susan stammered.

"Then why did you call?" he asked, trying to be discreet.

"There...um...there's someone here you need to see-talk to."

"Susan. I only want to talk to you. I love you so much, please don't give up on me."

Susan blinked back tears. "How am I supposed to trust you?"

Mike was silent and Susan heard a distant click, knowing the extension was being turned on. "Emma, say something."

There was no answer from her.

"Emma, I know you're on the extension. Say something." Susan ordered.

"Hello moto." Emma said with a small laugh.

Susan rolled her eyes. "Um, Susan? Did you just say hello moto?" Mike questioned, sounding amused.

Emma froze, still holding the extension. "I'm hanging up now. Emma, stay on the line." Susan commanded.

Emma heard the phone click and she swallowed as she realized who was on the line. "Say something." Susan hissed from the doorway.

Not comprehending that the extension was still in her hands, Emma started screaming, her lid flipped wide open. "What am I supposed to say! Hi, I'm you're illegitimate daughter you've never heard of!" The sound of a dial tone filled the room and Emma stared at the extension in shock.

"You couldn't have just said hello?" Susan sighed.

"What did you think it was going to be? I'd tell him and then we'd skip through the park eating ice cream? Come on."

"Well you could have said something besides that." Susan defended.

"Whatever. It doesn't matter anyway." Emma snapped.

"How can you say that?"

Emma shrugged and turned away from her. A loud knock sounded on the door downstairs and Susan ran down to answer it, knowing who it was. Watching the departing Susan in mounting fear, she shut the door to Julie's room and locked it. "Hey, Mrs. Mayer, can you bring me some popcorn!" she shouted, turning on the first movie she saw on the night stand.

Susan rolled her eyes as she heard Emma's demand and instead opened the door for Mike. "Hi." she said quietly.

Mike swallowed. "How long have you known?"

Susan checked her watch. "Twenty minutes."

Mike managed a weak smile. "Where is she?"

"Upstairs in Julie's room demanding popcorn. The door's locked."

"Don't you have a key?" Mike questioned irritably.

"I think Julie took it when she hid Zach in her room." Susan mused. "But I'm not really sure where it is now."

Mike sighed. "You can't find the key to your own daughter's room?"

"Hey, don't mock my parenting skills." Susan ordered. She reached a hand up to the top of her refrigerator and shouted "Eureka!" as she felt a key under the palm of her hand. She stood up on the counter so she could see the key more clearly. The second she had reached up to grab it, her foot slipped on the counter and she fell off with a small squeal. Mike ran over to her the second she hit the floor and sat down next to her, pulling her gently into his arms. "Are you okay?" he asked, worry evident in his gaze. Susan nodded weakly, her head falling onto his chest reluctantly. He began to stroke her hair softly. "Thanks." she murmured.

Mike turned Susan to face him and whispered back "Anytime." He leaned in and kissed her lips softly before helping her to her feet. Susan rubbed her lips self-consciously and pulled away from Mike. "Are you sure you're okay?" he questioned, touching her hair again. Susan nodded, handing Mike the key to Julie's room. He smiled at her and headed upstairs, Susan right behind him. He stopped outside Julie's room and handed the key to Susan silently. She knocked on the door and called "Emma, I'm going to give you one chance to open the door." She waited a few seconds before inserting the key into the lock and entering the room. "Are you okay?" Susan asked quietly.

"Not really." Emma replied sarcastically.

Susan sighed and sat down next to her, conscious of Mike in the doorway. "Are you going to be okay?"

"Maybe. I just really screwed things up is all. But..."

"But what?" Susan inquired.

"Julie told me why the two of you, you know, broke up."

"Oh, that." Susan said, feeling Mike's eyes boring into her back.

"I know what happened. The truth. And its not what you might think it is."

"Can we not talk about this now?" Susan injected, willing herself not to glance at Mike.

"He would do the same for you, you know." Emma remarked quietly.

"Excuse me?"

"Oh, um, nothing." Emma said quickly. "You don't want to talk about it, remember?"

"No, no. Go on. What do you mean, he would do the same for you?"

Emma shifted uncomfortably. "Um..."

"You wanted to tell me a minute ago."

"I lose resolve easily. Plus, your issues with trust are your business."

"Please?" Susan asked.

Emma bit her lip and turned towards the door. Seeing a shadow in the sliver of light coming from the doorway, she jumped and quickly said "Mrs. Mayer, there's someone watching us!"

Mike closed his eyes in disgust with himself. Susan got off Julie's bed and bit her lip. "Um, Emma, this is Mike Delfino."

A small attempt at speech came from Emma's lips, but it was unintelligible. "Who is he?" she lied, attempting a smile.

"Emma." Susan warned.

"What? I don't recall hearing that name before is all." Emma said, looking visibly nervous. She chanced another glance at the shadow. Susan followed her gaze. "Can you just talk to him?"

Emma shrugged. "I don't know him. I withhold judgement." She glanced at Mike again before turning back to Susan. "If you insist." She crossed her arms and leaned back on the bed.

Susan gave Mike a pained glance before leaving the room. Mike crossed the room and sat down in a chair across from Emma. An uncomfortable silence lingered. "Did-did you ever find out what happened to my mom?" Emma asked.

Mike looked at the ground. "She-she's been dead thirteen years."

"Oh." Emma said quietly, looking at the floor. She blinked before staring at the ceiling, cursing Susan under her breath.

"What was that?" Mike inquired.

Emma looked back down with a start. "Oh! Nothing, sorry." She stared at the floor again. "So, um, how are you?"

"I'm not the priority here." Mike said, going over to the bed and sitting down next to her. He touched her hair gently. "Are you okay?"

Emma looked confused. "I'm fine. I have no life, but you know...I survive." She blinked back tears. "Do you know how she died?"

Mike looked away again. "We're not exactly sure. Her body was stuffed into a toy chest...she was dismembered."

Emma couldn't hold her tears back any longer and began sobbing quietly. Mike pulled her into his arms and let her cry. "I'm sorry." she sobbed. "I-I just never knew her. I kept hoping she was alive, just so I could see her."

Mike stroked Emma's hair and murmured "Its okay. You can cry...you have every right to. You've been through more than any teenager should."

Emma sniffed. "I'm so stupid, crying over someone I didn't even know."

"I understand." Mike said, touching her hair again. "So how do you know Susan?"

"Oh, Julie and I went to the same school. I think I came here once while you two were dating...but I'm not sure."

"How do you like her?" Mike asked suddenly.

"Who, Susan?"

Mike nodded and Emma laughed. "You want my approval?" She smiled. "I really like her. I don't know her all that well but...she's been really nice to me since I've been here. Especially considering everything that's happened."

Mike smiled, thinking of Susan. "Um, M-Mr. Delfino?" Emma questioned.

"At least call me Mike." he said, smiling at her.

"Are you okay?"

"Oh, I'm fine. I just... I love her. So much."

"I can tell. That's impressive, actually, considering I've known you five minutes."

Mike rolled his eyes at her and got into the more pressing question on his mind. "Where have you been living all this time?"

"Pine Avenue." Emma answered automatically. "My mom was renting a room there, and when she never came back from this bar she had gone to, I just stayed where I was. I always hoped she'd come back."

Mike stared at her for a long time before speaking again. "So you don't know Noah, or Kendra?"

"No, but I assume they're family members."

"You assume correctly." Mike sighed. "Your mom's sister, and your mom's father."

"Oh." Emma said, looking thoughtful.

"So if you've been on Pine Avenue all this time, how did you know that I was your father?" Mike had to ask.

Emma grinned. "A little thing I like to call the Internet."

"You can find that stuff on the Internet?"

"Well, I had some clues. When you were a subject in that lady's murder, your picture was in the paper. I already had a picture of my mom and a guy who looked like you, so I asked my adopted parents some questions. They spilled that you were the father, so I came here."

Mike raised his eyebrows skeptically. "That's it?"

"What were you expecting, a war story?" Emma said, slightly annoyed.

Mike wisely decided not to respond. "So, um, I'm going to sleep now." Emma said, chancing a nervous glance at him.

Mike quickly stood up. "How about breakfast tomorrow? There's still a lot we need to talk about."

Emma smiled. "Breakfast sounds...great."

"Alright. So...I'll see you tomorrow morning then."

"See you then." she said, still smiling.

Mike smiled at her once before leaving the room and heading back downstairs. Susan immediately accosted him. "How's it go?" she asked nervously.

Mike shrugged. "All the details are still a little vague."

"Details?"

"You know, stuff like where she's been, stuff about her mom."

"Oh. Was she the blonde woman in the picture?"

Mike nodded. Susan wracked her brain for something else to talk about, but Mike beat her to it. "Deirdre has a lot to do with what happened."

Susan raised her eyebrows, trying desperately not to look interested.