Emily bit her lip as she led her boyfriend back into the living room, her mother cleaning up the dinner they all had eaten. Derek hadn't come back to the house, and Aaron and Nova had gone to bed without their goodnight kisses from him.
"You ok, Em?"
The fifteen year old looked to her boyfriend that sat down beside her. "Yeah, I'm fine." She did her best to smile when he squeezed her hand. "I'm just worried."
Drew nodded, his arm wrapping around the younger girl's shoulders before he pressed a kiss to her pale cheek. "I know."
Emily laid her head on the blonde's shoulder, her tears hitting the older teens shirt. "He hates me."
"Em, he doesn't hate you. He's just upset, and you can understand that, right?"
The brunette's head shot up. "He hates me, Drew! He stormed out and he's not coming back! He can't even look at me, Drew. How can you not see that as hate?"
Drew took his upset girlfriend into a hug, kissing her dark hair as she held tight onto his shoulders. "You're his daughter. He doesn't want to think that you've already lost something that means so much to someone." He pulled back just enough to wipe her tears. "He's going to be mad and he's going to be standoffish, that's obvious. You just have to give it time."
Emily smiled gently to the older boy before nodding. "Yeah, ok." She sniffled before pulling away from Drew, her hands latching onto his. "Would you get mad if I asked you something?"
The blond moved his girlfriend's dark hair behind her ear. "Not at all."
"Can you leave?"
Drew's eyes widened. "What?"
Emily quickly shook her head. "I'm sorry, it's not like I want you to go. But I want my dad to come back and he might if you leave." She chewed nervously on her bottom lip. "I'm sorry."
Drew quickly shook his head, leaning in to press his lips against her cheek. "No, that's ok." He stood from his seat, letting the younger girl lead him out the front door. He turned back to her once they were outside and pulled her to him, kissing her fully on the lips. "I'll see you later, ok?"
The fifteen year old smiled wide before she nodded, watching as her boyfriend walked away.
Jennifer watched as her foster daughter came back into the house, and she quickly waved her over to the couch. "Come on over."
Emily did her best not to groan at the words as she lazily walked back into the living room, plopping down onto the couch beside the blond. "Yeah?"
"I want to continue our little convo."
Emily's eyes widened. "Why?"
Jennifer shrugged her shoulders. "I would like to know something. Ok?"
The brunette took a deep breath before she looked up into her foster mother's eyes. "Ok."
The mother of three stared softly down at the teenager, her chin sitting on her closed fist, her elbow on the back of the couch. "Who was it?"
Emily played it cool, her eyes staying glued to the older woman's. "Who was who?"
"Who was the boy you lost your virginity to, Emily?"
The brunette licked at her drying bottom lip, her eyes shamefully flickering down to her lap. "In our last foster home, the father of the house had a lot of friends over a lot of the time. This one guy, Charlie, he was twenty-five and kept complimenting me; calling me beautiful and touching my arm and stuffed." The fifteen year old shrugged. "He followed me to my room once and we did it."
Jennifer let out a sigh. "Emily, that's considered rape."
Emily's head popped up. "He didn't rape me, Jennifer. I did it because I wanted to."
"He was eleven years older than you Emily, and you were under eighteen. In the eyes of the law, that is rape."
Emily's eyes filled with tears, disbelief filling her as she shook her head violently from side to side. "No, no! I wasn't raped. I wasn't! No!"
Jennifer quickly pulled the teenager into a hug, gently cooing in her ear as she cried into her shoulder. "Ok, it's ok. Just calm down Emily, ok? I need you to calm down."
...
Emily quietly walked into the dining room, being woken up at one in the morning by rattling cabinets in the kitchen. She bit her lip, looking at her foster father sitting at the dining room table, glass of watering sitting in front of him. "Daddy?"
Derek didn't even look up from the wood of the table.
The brunette's eyes stung with tears as she took a step into the room. "When did you get home?"
The father of three cleared his throat. "A minute ago."
She bit her lip, sitting slowly down beside her foster father in a vacant chair. "Where'd you go?"
Derek paused before slowly turning his head, looking to the teenager with dull eyes. "Sat outside under the oak tree in the front yard."
Emily's eyes widened. "You were here the whole time?"
"Yeah."
Emily felt her tears well in her eyes, nervously reaching out to touch her father's clasped hands. "Daddy I'm really sorry."
Derek slowly shook his head, taking one of his hands to lay over the brunette's. "Don't say sorry, ok? I just needed to think for a while."
Emily let out a small cry. "I don't want you to hate me."
The dark man looked to his daughter with soft eyes before pulling her into a hug. "Baby girl, I might not agree with your choices, but I could never hate you. I love you, Em. Know that."
The teenager nodded hastily into her foster father's shirt, hugging him as tight as he could. "I love you too daddy."
...
Jennifer stifled a yawn as she carried her foster son down the stairs, his tired head lying on her shoulder. "What do you want for breakfast, little man?"
Aaron copied the blonde's yawn. "Cereal."
The mother of three chuckled, her eyes softening as she stopped short in front of the dining room entrance. There sat a sleeping Emily at her favorite seat at the table, wrapped up in the arms of her dozing father.
Jennifer felt a smile spread over her face.
Their family had finally come together.
