Disclaimer: I own nothing Degrassi, except the character of Emily...
Hope you like...
"Hey, Emma? Phone for you! Line three!"
Emma smiled at her secretary and picked up her phone, pressing the third extension, and saying, "This is Emma Nelson."
"Oh, Emma. It's Mrs Hanson. I'm so sorry to disturb you at work."
Emma turned her full attention to the phone, instead of the computer screen in front of her. "Mrs. Hanson? Is Emily okay?"
"Oh, Emily is fine. It's just that I have a family emergency and I can't get in touch with Jayson. I need to be out of town for a few days. My husband just booked us a flight out and it's leaving in a few hours. Do you think you could come get Emily?" Jay's babysitter asked.
Emma was on her feet, grabbing her purse and coat. "No problem. I'll be there in a few minutes."
"Should I keep trying to get Jayson?"
Emma shook her head, tucking the phone in the crook of her neck, as she made her way around her small office, gathering up some work to take with her. "Don't worry about it, Mrs. Hanson. I'll come and get Emily right away."
Emma was actually excited at the thought of getting to see Emily. She arrived at Mrs. Hanson's house within the hour, after making a brief stop at her parents' house to pick up a car seat. Seeing Emily, reminded Emma that it had been way too long since she'd gotten to see or spend any time with her niece, and she missed the little girl terribly.
"Auntie Emmy!! I come with you?" she asked, holding her arms out to Emma, as she scooped her up and gave her a fierce hug.
"That's right, baby girl! You and I get to spend the whole day together!" Emma exclaimed. She turned her attention to Mrs. Hanson, who was holding Emily's bag and coat. "Is everything okay?"
The older lady smiled, ruffling Emily's dark locks, as she helped the girl into her small, pink coat. "My mother took a fall and will be out of commission for a while. I'm sure once we get there, we'll find someone to care for her over the next few weeks, but I need to be there right now. I feel so badly about this; leaving Jayson without so much as notice. I tried the shop again, but someone told me that he was still out. Will you tell him how sorry I am?"
Emma gave the lady a brief hug, and picked up Emily, along with all of her belongings. "Don't worry about a thing. Have a safe trip and if you could let Jay know when you'll be back, that'll be fine."
Emma had already secured Emily's car seat in the backseat of her vehicle, so she slung the little girl in, buckling her and pinching her nose, sending her into giggles. She got into the front seat and looked at her car keys. She still had the key to Jay's apartment on her ring; the one that Manny had given her so long ago. It had been forever since she'd used it, but now she was relieved she'd kept it. At least at the apartment, Emily would have all of her toys and Emma could keep her occupied until she got in touch with Jay.
Two hours later, Emma placed a sleepy girl down into her oak crib, sneaked out of her small, pink bedroom, and shut the door behind her. Emma looked down at her dressy clothes, covered in the lunch she had tried to serve to Emily. She gingerly touched her hair, making a face, as she realized that she had mashed potatoes quickly hardening in her hair.
Feeling exhausted, and dirty, Emma walked into the bathroom, investigating the look of herself in the large mirror. She tried to comb the mess out of her hair, with no luck. Emma sighed heavily, rolling up the sleeve of her white blouse, peering at her golden watch. It was only one o'clock and Emily would be down for at least an hour. Would it hurt to get herself cleaned up a bit?
Emma shed her clothing in lightning time, wrapping a towel around herself and tip-toeing quickly to the small storage room where Jay kept the washer and dryer. She threw her clothes into the washing machine, looked in on Emily, grabbed the monitor, and headed into the bathroom.
She hopped into the shower, letting the warm water run over her slender body. She smiled to herself seeing Emily's bath toys in a mesh sling that was suction-cupped to the wall of the shower. Emma tried to imagine Jay leaning over the bathtub, playing with Emily as she splashed around in the big, white tub. If Emily was anything like she was in her high chair, Emma guessed Jay probably got just as soaked as Emily herself!
She rinsed her hair and let herself indulge in a few more moments of warmth, as the water rushed over her. Finally, she turned off the shower, grabbed her towel and rubbed it through her soaking hair. Satisfied it was as dry as the towel would allow, she stepped from the shower, wrapping the towel around her body, fastening it over the swell of her breasts.
She picked up the monitor and put it to her ear, listening to make sure that Emily was still sleeping. Satisfied that Emily was still focused on her slumber, Emma left the bathroom, clad only in the fluffy, blue towel, to check on the progress of her clothes.
Before Emma made it to the storage room, she ran into Jay, who had just come in the door.
"Uh, hi," Emma stammered, trying to cover herself with her arms.
Jay couldn't help but stare, seeing Emma in that towel, hair dripping down her back. "Hi."
Emma, feeling especially self-conscious in her state of undress, asked, "What are you doing home?"
Jay thought the question was funny, given that this was his house, and laughed heartily. "Mrs. Hanson left a message at my work. She said she had to go out of town and that you'd picked up Emily. I was out all morning, but when I got back to work, I thought I'd come make sure everything was okay. I called, but there was no answer."
Emma swung her body around and pointed at the bathroom. "I was in the shower."
Jay smirked. He liked the idea of her being naked in his place. It somehow felt right. "Not that I'm complaining, but why are you in a towel?"
Emma felt her cheeks go crimson under Jay's stare. "I was feeding Emily lunch and she basically doused me in it. I put my clothes in the washing machine and thought I'd have a shower while she was napping. I was just going to put my clothes in the dryer."
Jay nodded his head. "How about you do that and I'll get you something else to wear? Unless you wanna stay in the towel?"
Emma gave him a sarcastic look and headed into the storage room. Jay peeked into Emily's room, happy she was sleeping soundly and hoping she would stay that way for a while. He closed the door to Emily's bedroom over, sauntering into his room, to find Emma something to wear. He found a t-shirt that would probably swim on her, but decided that wouldn't be any better than the towel. So he settled for the never-worn brown housecoat Manny had given him their first Christmas together. Jay was not the housecoat sort of guy, so it remained hanging on the back of the closet door, completely brand new.
He met Emma in the hallway, handing her the robe. "Never worn, so don't worry."
Emma smiled, shyly, shutting the bathroom door behind her, as she began to change into the robe. She combed her long hair back from her face, smoothing it out, before putting on the robe. She lifted the collar, smelling it and smiling; it smelled like Jay, even though he said it had never been worn.
Emma tried to steady her breath, as she peered at her reflection in the bathroom mirror. She hadn't been alone with Jay since that night, when they had lain together in his bed, close to doing something they both would have regretted. And now... Now things were so very different.
"So, thanks for picking up Emily today," Jay said, his back to Emma, digging into the back of his refrigerator, as Emma entered the kitchen. He straightened, holding an apple, closing the door of the fridge. He looked at Emma, clad in his robe, and wondered why it never looked that good on him.
"It's no big deal. I was actually glad to get to spend some time with her," Emma admitted. "I can't believe how much she's talking!"
Jay smiled. "You say that like it's a good thing! She's a non-stop babbler. Two nights ago, she woke up at, like, three in the morning, and just started talking to herself. It went on for almost an hour! I went into work the next day like a zombie!"
Emma smiled at him, drawing the tie around her waist a bit tighter. "And that hair! It's gotten so long!"
Jay shook his head, taking a bite of his red apple. He chewed and swallowed, before confessing, "I am totally out of my element with the whole hair thing. I can do the ponytail, but that's as technical as I get."
"Barrettes are great in that department!" Emma suggested. "You don't need any kind of hair skill to work them. I can pick some up for you."
Jay leaned back against the counter, happy to have her here and hoping the moment wouldn't end too quickly. "Thanks."
Emma looked at the ceiling, wishing her clothes were dry so she could get out of Jay's robe.
"So how have you been?" Jay asked, hoisting himself up onto the counter. He dangled his legs back and forth, reminding Emma of Jack, who loved to do the same thing in his kitchen at home. In a lot of ways, Jay was still juvenile, but then one couldn't forget that he was raising Emily all by himself and doing a great job of it.
Emma nodded her head. "Fine. You?"
"Busy."
Suddenly Jay couldn't think of a thing to say. He wanted to tell Emma everything, but didn't know where to start. He wanted her to know how well his business was doing and that he knew how to cook four different vegetarian dishes. He wanted to tell her that he vacuumed his apartment once a week and taught Emily to put her toys away when she was done playing with them. He held back from telling her that he'd finally gotten rid of Manny's things, donating them to the Goodwill, and that it had broken his heart to do it, but he felt better afterwards. And most of all, he wanted to tell her that he missed her in his life every single day since she'd left his apartment all those months ago.
But he didn't.
As the buzzer went off on the dryer, and Emma went to go get changed, Jay clenched his fists, angry at himself for being so scared of his own emotions. He hopped down from the counter top, turning and banging his head off the cupboard door.
"That's completely counter-productive," Emma commented, surprising Jay.
Jay turned to face Emma, finding her dressed for success in her white blouse and short, black skirt. She looked so professional and yet you couldn't help but notice her undeniable sex appeal. He tried to steady his breath.
"I should probably get going," Emma said, grabbing her coat and purse from the back of one of the chairs. "Tell Emily that we'll plan another girls' day soon."
Jay nodded his head and followed her to the door. Say something, you idiot! She's gonna leave and you have no idea when you'll see her again! Say something! Say anything!
"I wanted to say sorry about Sean," Jay blurted. Why would you bring up his name?
Emma didn't know if Jay knew about her breakup with Sean, but hearing him say that told her he obviously did. She looked down at her hand, her ring finger bare. Even though she knew Sean had done the right thing, she still missed him.
"Thanks. It was for the best."
Jay pursed his lips tightly. "I don't know if he told you or not, but he came by before he left. He wanted to sort of patch things up. I guess he didn't want to leave town with bad blood between us."
"That's good. I'm glad you two worked things out."
Jay stared at her. "Well we talked, so I guess that's a start."
Emma smiled up at him. "Anyway, I have to go."
"Okay, well, thanks again for watching Emily."
Emma grabbed the bronze knob of the door handle and opened the door slightly. She stepped forward, to walk through it, when she felt Jay's hand on her wrist.
"Emily and I would like you to come over for dinner this weekend," he offered.
Emma stopped and turned to face Jay. "Really?"
Jay smirked. "Well it was more of Emily's idea than mine, but she's the princess, so she usually gets what she wants. Will you come?"
Emma's smile widened. "How could I say no to the princess?"
Story will be wrapping up soon, so keep reading. And, as promised, there will be some of that Jemma lovin' we so desperately need! Please review!