Chapter 1 Emerson
Chapter 1: Hello, Goodbye
"One last head count before we leave guys!" Our mother Amber yelled. I supposed with eight kids a head count was necessary when traveling cross-country. She usually went oldest to youngest so I had three people before me. Our family went as follows.
"Jameson"
"Alex and Carter"
"Emerson"
"Taylor"
"Alison"
"Lilly"
"Brady"
Jameson was oldest at 22, then the twins Alex and Carter who were 19, then me at 17, Taylor at 15, Alison at 13, Lilly at 8, and Brady at 5. After everyone chorused back their here's I went back in to grab the last of Mia's things and check on her in her pack-and-play. Mia was my three month old daughter. I got pregnant at 16 by my then boyfriend, Adam, who turned out to be a dead beat dad. Needless to say my parents were furious until they came around to the fact that I was having a child whether they liked it or not. Now they were the best grandparents to Mia and I knew she would be spoiled rotten.
I picked up my daughter and covered her in feather light kisses over her face. She was the perfect blend of her father and I. Mia had my jet black wavy hair and freckles on her cheeks and her father's deep cerulean blue eyes and lighter skin tone. I was 5'2 waifish with light tanned skin, the underside of my black hair was dyed cobalt blue, and I had light freckles that dusted my cheeks and the bridge of my nose. While my daughter had her father's blue eyes, I had light green. I was half Cherokee Indian and half French American. My father was full blood Native American and my mother was bilingual in French and English. We all were fluent as a result.
We were currently getting ready to move from our sunny home in Orlando, Florida to rainy Forks, Washington where our dad would take over the trauma center at Forks General Hospital working side by side with the world renowned Dr. Carlisle Cullen. It was a great pay raise for my dad, despite Forks being a small town. My mom would be taking over the French teaching position at the local high school. Go Spartans.
I buckled Mia into her car seat between Lilly and Brady. We all piled into the minivan. Dad driving, mom in the passenger seat, Brady, Mia, Lilly in the middle, me, Taylor, and Alison in the row behind them, and Jameson, Alex, and Carter in the very back. I set Mia's diaper bag under my feet and set in for a long ride.
By our last stop in Port Angeles before we reached Forks all of us were ready to kill each other. Lilly got car sick, Taylor and Alison fought the whole way over the one IPod because one of them forget to grab hers out of the box in the U-Haul behind us, Alex and Carter were loud and obnoxious (as per usual) and Jameson was getting irate because Mia had been screaming the whole way. I wanted to pull my hair out when I got out to change Mia's diaper and grab something to drink. My mom came up with a sympathetic smile, "I'll go take care of this princess and you go grab something for yourself sweetheart." I smiled gratefully and made my way into the gas station we had stopped at. I was busy piling my hair into a bun on the top of my head when I ran straight into another body. I stumbled slightly and heard a female voice mumble, "Are you okay?" I looked up and saw four long scars. They were the first thing you noticed when you looked at this woman, they started at her hair line on the left side and went down her face and ended at her left wrist. She tried to smile but the scars caused her to only be able to lift the right side of her mouth so it looked more like a grimace. But she had the kindest brown eyes, dark espresso skin and shiny straight black hair. I shook myself out of my thoughts and took her outreached hand to pull myself up from where I fell on impact. "It's okay, I wasn't paying attention. It's been a long day." She laughed and nodded, "I know what you mean. I'm with my cousin and some friends to shop for baby clothes." It was then that I noticed her belly, it was huge. She had to be at least seven months pregnant. I smiled; being pregnant with Mia had been amazing. "How far along are you?"
She rubbed her stomach lovingly and tilted her head, "This week makes eight months. I'm looking forward to meeting my baby boy."
"So you're having a boy? Have you picked out a name yet?" We had moved out of the door way and were talking on the sidewalk by the ice. She bobbed her head excitedly, "We're naming him Eli, after my husband's family. I'm Emily." She flashed me her modest ring proudly. I was jealous, she got to go through her pregnancy with a loving husband when I had to go through mine alone. I wasn't bitter or anything. "I'm Emerson…" Just then Taylor came over with Mia propped onto her hip. Mia's face was scrunched up and she was whimpering. "I tried to keep her quiet and entertained. But I think she's just fussy from the car ride. I thought she might want you." I held my arms out to cradle Mia with ease. Luckily enough, motherhood had come fairly easy to me. I think it had something to do with taking care of all my younger siblings. As soon as I had her cradled in the nook of my left arm she buried her face in my side and her face relaxed. "Thank Tay, I got it from here."
Emily eyed Mia softly, "Is she yours?" I nodded and smoothed down her hair that was starting to curl on top of her head, "Yes this is Mia, she just turned three months."
"She's perfect." I smiled and thanked her. Soon another girl who looked similar to Emily came over, "Hey Em, Paul just texted me and said that we need to get back so we can get the food ready for the bonfire tonight."
"It was nice meeting you Emerson!" Emily waved goodbye. I went in to grab a coffee and water before we headed back onto the road. When I was buckling up Mia my mom came over, "I wonder what happened to that poor girls face." I had no clue but it looked like a bear had ravaged her. "She's still beautiful."