Here is another part to the story. Enjoy!!!!!
"So, you'll be okay here until I'm finished with work?" Emily asked Hannah. Hannah was sitting on the couch in Emily's apartment. It was lucky that Emily had an apartment with two bedrooms, so her sister could move right in.
"I'm fifteen, I can handle myself alone. We can catch up later" Hannah said flipping through tv channels.
"You're sure?" Emily asked, still not convinced. She had barely showed Hannah the apartment. Could she trust a fifteen year old to stay home alone in a new place, and not get into any trouble?
"I'll be fine. Would you stop worrying and get to work. We don't need you to get fired. Then we'd have a problem"
"Okay then. You know where the food is. And you got my cell phone number. Call me if you need me" Emily said putting on her jacket and grabbing her keys. She left Hannah sitting on the couch, watching tv.
Emily walked back into her office, to see Matt, Frank, and Duff all working on paperwork. That was a sight she had never thought she would see. She knew that she had to tell Matt about the Hannah situation. But how would he react? This is a huge change. Will he stick around and deal with it? Or will it be too much? He doesn't even know the story about Emily's family problems. That will difficult to explain. And if he does stay, how will he deal with a fifteen year old running around her apartment? It's not like Emily could go to Matt's place and leave Hannah alone. All these scenarios and many more were playing in her head, but they were stopped by Cheryl's voice.
"Hello Emily. You're back sooner than I expected. Have you finished all your family stuff?" Cheryl asked. Things are only just beginning, Emily thought. Apparently that showed on her face, because Cheryl noticed.
"Lets talk in my office" Cheryl said leading the way. Emily walked behind her, trying her best to not be seen by Matt. She couldn't explain this to him, yet.
"So, I take it things have not been worked out" Cheryl said sitting down in a chair next to Emily.
"Not exactly" Emily said solemnly. She just changed her entire life without thinking. Things were no where near being worked out.
"Like I said, I don't want to meddle. But you seemed a little, what's the right word? Frazzled" Cheryl said.
"It's stuff with my sister" Emily said.
"Can I get a little more background information then stuff with your sister?" Cheryl asked. Emily knew that she needed to tell Matt that her sister would be living with her. So, maybe doing a test run on Cheryl's reaction wouldn't be so bad. Besides, she knows Matt, possibly better then Emily.
"Um, I don't know where to start" Emily said.
"Start anywhere"
Emily froze up. She had never really told anyone this out loud before, led alone her boss. The hardest part was saying it. Before Emily could say anything Lia walked in.
"Oh, sorry" Lia said moving to leave.
"Lia wait! I need a few opinions on this" Emily said motioning Lia to come back into the room. It might be less intimidating with one of her best friends in the room. Emily prepared herself to tell Lia and Cheryl everything.
Emily had just told Lia and Cheryl the whole story. And now they were all sitting in silence. The two women hadn't said a word since Emily had finished her story.
"Well?" Emily asked nervously.
"I don't know what to say" Lia said looking down. The look on Lia's face was what Emily was afraid of. The shock, the speechlessness. This was not what she had signed up for.
"You have to tell Matt" Cheryl finally said.
"You really think that he can deal with all of this?" Emily asked.
"I told you before, you can trust him" Cheryl said.
"That was before you knew all of this" Emily said getting up and pacing.
"He cares about you" Cheryl said.
"Enough to stick around?" Emily asked. Cheryl didn't say anything. Emily knew that Cheryl had no clue if Matt would stay.
"You'll never know until you try" Lia said.
"Yeah. Take the rest of the day off and talk to him" Cheryl said.
"I don't even know what to say" Emily confessed.
"Say what you said to us" Lia said.
"Yeah, go for a walk and tell him. And then maybe he can go back to your apartment and meet your sister" Cheryl said.
"If he stays" Emily said.
"Emily, who comes first. Matt or your sister?" Cheryl asked.
"I don't know. I really care about Matt. And I barely know my sister, but she is my sister. So, my sister" Emily said.
"Then if Matt can't see that, maybe he's not worth it" Cheryl said. Emily hoped that Matt would understand that her loyalty has to lie with her sister. But would he?
Emily and Matt were walking around the city, in a silence. Matt didn't know what was going on with Emily, she just said that she needed to take a walk. And Cheryl let them off early. Which she never does. Something is up.
"Hey Em?"
"Yeah?" Emily asked looking down at the sidewalk.
"What's going on?" Matt asked.
"What do you mean?" Emily asked playing dumb.
"Well, you had an all day "DA meeting", Cheryl let us off of work early, and you haven't said a word since we left the office" Matt explained. Emily just stayed silent.
"Em, what's wrong?" Matt asked. Emily finally looked up at him. His eyes were so caring, how could he not understand? She needed to tell him. It was now or never, before she loses her nerve.
"I think I made a huge mistake" Emily said already choking on her words.
"Em, what are you talking about?" Matt asked while he stopped walking and turned Emily towards him. She said nothing.
"Emily. Come on. You can tell me" he said stroking her hair.
"It's a long and confusing story" Emily said.
"We don't have work. I've got the time" Matt said holding her hand, which was shaking a little.
"Okay. Don't say I didn't warn you" Emily said taking a deep breath. Matt started getting worried about what she was going to say. What did she do?
"I am the new guardian of my little sister" Emily quickly said.
"What?" Matt asked, thinking that he didn't hear correctly. Emily never mentioned a sister.
"I'm the new guardian of my sister. Not officially yet. There's a lot of paperwork to be done. But then I will be" Emily trying to avoid eye contact with Matt again.
"Um, I didn't know you had a sister" Matt said. What he really wanted to know was, why on earth would she take in her sister? Why couldn't her parents do that. Then he remembered that she never mentioned her parents.
"Yeah, a fifteen year old sister. We don't talk. Or we didn't talk. But she showed up today, she needed a place to stay, and somehow I ended up agreeing to being her guardian" Emily said still avoiding eye contact. Matt was very confused. Had she even thought about what he thought about this? He didn't want to say that. She looked fragile enough, he didn't need to make it any worse. So, he decided to go gentle with her.
"Why does she need to move in with you?" Matt tried to ask casually, it was a bad attempt.
"My parents aren't around to take her in" Emily said.
"What happened?" Matt asked.
"I'll give you the short version. My dad died when Hannah, my sister, was little. And my mom is really screwed up, so she abandoned Hannah. I'm her only family, so I said I'd take her in" Emily said in a calm voice.
"What happened with your mom?" Matt asked. He didn't want to make Emily upset, but whatever her mother did, it just changed Emily's life forever.
"After my dad died, she started drinking, a lot. And after that, she stayed out at bars all night. And even brought strangers home. I got fed up and left the first chance I could. That left Hannah with my mom. I guess she just got over the maternal thing and left" Emily said now on the verge of tears. Matt knew there was more, something that she wasn't telling him.
"Emily, what else is there?" he asked gently.
"I abandoned her" Emily said now with tears streaming down her face.
"What are you talking about?" Matt asked.
"I left Hannah to deal with Mom on her own. I abandoned her. And now, because I'm trying to make it up to Hannah, you're gonna abandon me" Emily barely got out. She was crying, taking sharp breaths, and trying to wipe the tears out of her eyes. Matt could not believe what he just heard. She thinks that he'll leave her. Matt pulled Emily into a tight hug.
"I'm not abandoning you. Em, I'm right here. I'm staying here" Matt said rubbing her back.
"No, Matt. It's too much" Emily said choking on tears.
"You're worth it. It'll all be okay. I'll help you through it" Matt said.
"Matt, I can't ask you to go through this" Emily said in between tears.
"Em, I'd to anything for you. I love you" Matt said stroking her hair. He had never told her that. But now it was what she needed to here, and it was true. He did love her. And he would do anything for her.
"I love you too" she whispered kissing him. Emily couldn't believe that Matt wasn't going to leave her. That Matt would deal with her sister, just to be with her. Then she was back on the topic of her sister. What if she couldn't take care of her sister? What if her life will just go into a downward spiral? Matt sensed her worries.
"It'll all work out" he said kissing her forehead. Emily just collapsed into his arms. The truth was, Matt didn't know if things were going to work out. But he knew that he would be there to see Emily through it. He would never abandon her.
This is really cheesy, but it's what I wrote. I have a few more chapters coming later. Review!!!!!!!!!