Nine years into the future...
Emma was doing great. She was studying to be a doctor at Washington, D.C., and she was still going out, very steadily, with J.T. She went home to see Lisa, Jack, Snake and her mom as often as she could. It was the end of the year, and Emma was taking her exams.
After a particularly hard exam in English, Emma lay down her pencil and leaned back to think. She thought she had done alright on all of her exams, but they were so time consuming. She hadn't gone out with J.T. in two weeks. Well, they met at a fast food restaurant on Sunday, but the rest of the time Emma locked herself in her room, studying. If she passed all her tests well, she only had three years of school left before she could begin working as a licensed doctor.
Looking at her watch, Emma jumped and grabbed her things. She was supposed to have met J.T. five minutes ago at the pizza place across the street. She grabbed her remaining items and threw them in her purse, then tore from the building. She got to the pizza place in two minutes flat, totally out of breath. Looking around she spotted J.T. standing by a gumball machine.
"Hey," she said, giving him a quick kiss. "I was in a really hard exam and it took forever. Ready to order?"
Emma started to walk over to the counter but J.T. grabbed her hand.
"Oh no," he said. "We are celebrating the end of your exams. I made reservations at The Plaza. So lets go. Fancy places like that don't like it when you're late."
Emma laughed as he dragged her to his car. He was always doing cute little things to surprise her. For her last birthday he rented a hot air balloon and they had a picnic as they floated over Washington. Goodness knows he had enough money to pay for it, too. J.T. had become a computer engineer and developed a new piece of software that saved everything on the computer, even if it crashed. He quickly became very rich. But, as Emma told him repeatedly, money meant nothing. She would have loved him even if he was broke.
J.T. and Emma drove along talking about her school for a while, and then they arrived at the plaza. It was a fancy restaurant, although they were not required to dress up too much. J.T. requested a private table outside overlooking the Whitehouse and they settled down to eat.
"So," J.T. said. "Are you excited to get home?"
"Oh, absolutely," Emma said. "I can't wait to see everyone. Most people will be done with college or just finishing up, so I hope all our friends will be there. Luckily my favorite person moved down to Washington with me."
J.T. smiled.
"I assume you mean me," he said.
"No, I meant my cat, Annabelle," Emma said jokingly.
J.T. and Emma talked about school for a little while longer. Once Emma graduated, she was going to definitely be a pediatrician. She loved being around little kids. Especially Lisa. Emma hadn't seen her in a while. She still didn't know that Emma was her real mother.
"So are you going to tell her this time?" J.T. asked.
"Yes," Emma nodded. "Me and mom talked it over, and we decided that ten is a good age to tell her. I just hope that she doesn't hate me."
"No one could hate you," J.T. said.
Emma and J.T. finished eating and then went to Emma's dorm to get her stuff. J.T. had already loaded his stuff into the trunk from his own apartment. They filled the car with gas and snacks and started the long drive back home.
Finally they drove up to Emma's house, and J.T. helped her to unload her things. He gave her a kiss and promised to come and take her around tomorrow at ten. After watching him drive off, Emma gathered her bags and walked up to the door. She hesitated a second to savor the good feeling of being home, and rang the doorbell. Spike opened the door.
"Emma!" she yelled. "Oh, my gosh you said you weren't coming until Sunday! I can't believe you're here! Oh here let me help you with your bags."
As Emma followed her mom into the house she sensed something was wrong. The house was too quiet, and her mom was a little too cheerful, like she had to force the happiness of seeing Emma. However, Emma tried to pretend that nothing was wrong. As she passed the living room she looked in and saw Lisa sitting on the couch.
"Lisa!" she said. "Hi! Come here and give me hug!"
Instead of doing that, Lisa glared at Emma, and then jumped up and stormed right past her as tears welled up in her eyes. Emma, confused and worried, looked at her mom for some clue as to what was going on.
"Oh, Emma," Spike said. "You shouldn't have found out right now. But...Lisa was going through some boxes in the basement earlier, and she found some things that she should not have found. She found her birth certificate. Emma, she knows you're her mom."
Emma was doing great. She was studying to be a doctor at Washington, D.C., and she was still going out, very steadily, with J.T. She went home to see Lisa, Jack, Snake and her mom as often as she could. It was the end of the year, and Emma was taking her exams.
After a particularly hard exam in English, Emma lay down her pencil and leaned back to think. She thought she had done alright on all of her exams, but they were so time consuming. She hadn't gone out with J.T. in two weeks. Well, they met at a fast food restaurant on Sunday, but the rest of the time Emma locked herself in her room, studying. If she passed all her tests well, she only had three years of school left before she could begin working as a licensed doctor.
Looking at her watch, Emma jumped and grabbed her things. She was supposed to have met J.T. five minutes ago at the pizza place across the street. She grabbed her remaining items and threw them in her purse, then tore from the building. She got to the pizza place in two minutes flat, totally out of breath. Looking around she spotted J.T. standing by a gumball machine.
"Hey," she said, giving him a quick kiss. "I was in a really hard exam and it took forever. Ready to order?"
Emma started to walk over to the counter but J.T. grabbed her hand.
"Oh no," he said. "We are celebrating the end of your exams. I made reservations at The Plaza. So lets go. Fancy places like that don't like it when you're late."
Emma laughed as he dragged her to his car. He was always doing cute little things to surprise her. For her last birthday he rented a hot air balloon and they had a picnic as they floated over Washington. Goodness knows he had enough money to pay for it, too. J.T. had become a computer engineer and developed a new piece of software that saved everything on the computer, even if it crashed. He quickly became very rich. But, as Emma told him repeatedly, money meant nothing. She would have loved him even if he was broke.
J.T. and Emma drove along talking about her school for a while, and then they arrived at the plaza. It was a fancy restaurant, although they were not required to dress up too much. J.T. requested a private table outside overlooking the Whitehouse and they settled down to eat.
"So," J.T. said. "Are you excited to get home?"
"Oh, absolutely," Emma said. "I can't wait to see everyone. Most people will be done with college or just finishing up, so I hope all our friends will be there. Luckily my favorite person moved down to Washington with me."
J.T. smiled.
"I assume you mean me," he said.
"No, I meant my cat, Annabelle," Emma said jokingly.
J.T. and Emma talked about school for a little while longer. Once Emma graduated, she was going to definitely be a pediatrician. She loved being around little kids. Especially Lisa. Emma hadn't seen her in a while. She still didn't know that Emma was her real mother.
"So are you going to tell her this time?" J.T. asked.
"Yes," Emma nodded. "Me and mom talked it over, and we decided that ten is a good age to tell her. I just hope that she doesn't hate me."
"No one could hate you," J.T. said.
Emma and J.T. finished eating and then went to Emma's dorm to get her stuff. J.T. had already loaded his stuff into the trunk from his own apartment. They filled the car with gas and snacks and started the long drive back home.
Finally they drove up to Emma's house, and J.T. helped her to unload her things. He gave her a kiss and promised to come and take her around tomorrow at ten. After watching him drive off, Emma gathered her bags and walked up to the door. She hesitated a second to savor the good feeling of being home, and rang the doorbell. Spike opened the door.
"Emma!" she yelled. "Oh, my gosh you said you weren't coming until Sunday! I can't believe you're here! Oh here let me help you with your bags."
As Emma followed her mom into the house she sensed something was wrong. The house was too quiet, and her mom was a little too cheerful, like she had to force the happiness of seeing Emma. However, Emma tried to pretend that nothing was wrong. As she passed the living room she looked in and saw Lisa sitting on the couch.
"Lisa!" she said. "Hi! Come here and give me hug!"
Instead of doing that, Lisa glared at Emma, and then jumped up and stormed right past her as tears welled up in her eyes. Emma, confused and worried, looked at her mom for some clue as to what was going on.
"Oh, Emma," Spike said. "You shouldn't have found out right now. But...Lisa was going through some boxes in the basement earlier, and she found some things that she should not have found. She found her birth certificate. Emma, she knows you're her mom."
