Authors notes: Again, the XX in between lines means a change of scene.
Emma held her breath as she prepared to knock on Sean and Christine's hotel room door. She had successfully managed to avoid him the day before. She knew though she couldn't avoid him forever and hoped he wasn't too upset about her actions the day before.
Emma knocked and seconds later heard a voice from the other side. "Doors open." Sean hollered through the door.
Emma opened the door and walked in to see Christine on the bed engrossed in the TV and Sean packing up a couple things. "Sean? What's going on? You guys aren't leaving for good are you?" Emma asked concerned as she looked at the surroundings of the room. Everything was neat and tidy and looked as if they were getting ready to leave.
"No. We're not leaving." Sean said turning around to face her. He zipped up the backpack he had been packing for Christine. "I have to head back to Wasaga to pick something up today so I'm going to take Christine with me."
"You don't have to take her with you Sean. I can watch her for the day." Emma offered. She smiled at Sean but he did not return her smile.
"Thanks but no thanks. I have a couple of things to do in Wasaga while we're up there and it could be pretty late before we get back to Toronto." Sean said.
"Really Sean. I don't mind. Manny is going on a date with Spinner tonight and Jay will be working late again at the garage. I really didn't have anything else to do today anyway." Emma insisted.
Sean hesitated before finally answering. "Alright. You can take her for the day."
"You can pick her up at my apartment once you get back in town." Emma said. "We live over on 34 Georgetown Street in apartment 2."
Sean handed Emma the backpack and the two girls headed on their way hand in hand.
XX
"Thanks for the ice cream Mommy. It is so yummy." Christine stated as she licked her chocolate ice cream cone. Emma smiled and took a napkin wiping the excess ice cream off of Christine's face. It was the simple moments that Emma appreciated the most. Eating ice cream on a sunny day in the park with her daughter was priceless.
"What would you like to do next Chrissy?" Emma asked.
"It doesn't matter. As long as I'm with you." Christine said smiling up at Emma. She reached over and put her small arms around her mothers waste. "I love you Mommy."
A tear trickled Emma's cheek as she took in the words her daughter had just said to her. After a moment she was finally able to choke out a reply. "I love you too Christine. Forever and Always."
The two just sat there in silence watching the people walk by in the park. The silence was quickly interrupted by the ringing of Emma's cell phone.
"Hello?" Emma said quickly answering her phone.
"Hi Emma. This is Linda from the office. We're having a bit of an emergency with the Kohler case and we need you to come in immediately."
"But I'm on vacation." Emma argued.
"Mr. Simmons requested you come in personally. You're the expert on this case and we won't be able to resolve this issue without you." Linda commented.
Mr. Simmons was the lead partner of the law firm she worked for. Emma had only met him once or twice and might have spoken a total of 10 words to him since she started working there last year. If he personally requested her she knew she had to go in or her job would be on the line.
"I'll be there within in an hour Linda." Emma said closing her cell phone shut.
"Who was that mommy?" Christine asked.
"Change of plans Chrissy. How do you feel about spending some time with Jay?" Emma asked hoping not to disappoint her daughter.
XX
"Please Jay?" Emma asked giving him the puppy dog eyes. She knew he was unable to resist that look. "I'll come back as soon as I can."
"I'm not sure Em. I'm still kind of busy here. I don't know if Tony will let me leave early." Jay said wiping his grease stained hands on his coveralls. "Why don't you ask your mom or something?"
"Mom and Snake are busy today. Manny's got a date with Spinner so she can't watch Christine. I suppose I could call Sean and ask him to come back early but I'm trying to be a responsible parent. I need to prove to him that I can handle looking after my daughter for one day without calling him for help." Emma explained.
Jay knew this was important to Emma so he wouldn't let her down. "Okay. I'll look after her while you go to work on one condition."
"What's the condition?" Emma asked sceptically.
"You pay me for my services afterwards." Jay said seductively as he tried to bring his fiancee close and wrap his arms around her.
"JAY! You're going to get me dirty. I can't go into work with grease stains all over me." Emma protested.
Jay put his hands up in a surrender position and took a few steps back.
"Thanks Jay. I really appreciate this." Emma said softening and reached up to place a kiss on Jay's cheek. "I'll see you at home in a couple of hours."
XX
"So what kind of food do you eat?" Jay asked as he looked through the cupboards trying to figure out what to feed a four year old for supper. Jay was far from being a gourmet chef. Emma was usually the one who did all of the cooking.
"I like pop and chips and chocolate bars." Christine stated.
"I highly doubt you are allowed to eat those for supper." Jay said pulling out a box of Kraft Dinner out of the cupboard. "How about Jay's famous Mac & Cheese?"
Christine nodded and watched as Jay went to work making supper. Jay and Christine conversed casually. Jay could see a lot of Emma in Christine. He noticed she tilted her head the same way Emma did when she was waiting for a response to a question. The way her whole face lit up when she smiled was also the same.
Jay had never really been around small children before but was enjoying his time with Christine. In a couple of days he would go from Jay the fiancee to Jay the husband and Jay the step-father. Some guys would be scared but Jay wasn't. He was ready to accept any challenge that his new place in life gave him. He truly loved Emma and didn't want to let anything come between them.
Christine and Jay finished their supper and headed to the living room to watch a movie. Jay had picked up a couple at the video store and Christine decided on watching "Finding Nemo" first. Jay popped some popcorn and the pair got comfortable and quickly became engrossed in the movie.
XX
Emma opened the door to her apartment feeling guilty about being longer than she had expected at the office. She had hoped it would only take a few hours but once things finally wrapped up it was already dark outside. She hoped Jay wasn't too upset with her.
She entered the empty kitchen and heard the Television blaring from the living room. She quietly entered the living room and saw Christine and Jay both fast asleep on the couch. Christine's head was in Jay's lap and Jay was holding his head up with his arm which was on the arm rest of the couch. Emma couldn't help but smile at the scene before her. Christine and Jay looked so cute together.
Jay could sense someone else in the room and opened his eyes. "Hey Em." Jay said groggily.
"Sorry I woke you." Emma said sitting down beside him on the couch.
"It's alright. I must've just dozed off a few minutes ago. Christine fell asleep on me so I was kind of stuck here." Jay commented.
"You two looked adorable sleeping on the couch." Emma commented. "Seeing you like that has definitely shattered your bad boy image."
"Don't tell anyone. I have an image to uphold." Jay joked. Jay leaned over and kissed his fiancee passionately on the lips. She pulled away when she felt his tongue start to slip into her mouth.
"Jay!" Emma whispered. "We can't do this right now. Not with Christine right here."
"Alright. We'll save it for later."
As Emma started to get up she heard the buzzer to the apartment go off. "That must be Sean." Emma said aloud. Emma had been so busy that day that she had forgotten about the bad mood Sean seemed to be in earlier.
Jay slowly got up off the couch moving Christine's head from his lap and gently resting her head on a pillow. He headed into the kitchen to stand by Emma as she let Sean into the apartment.
Emma opened the door and there in front of her stood Sean with an unfamiliar brunette who appeared to be in her early twenties.
"Jess, I'd like you to meet Emma and Jay." Sean said being the first to speak. Emma stood there with a confused look on her face. She had never heard Sean speak about a "Jess" before. Who was this girl?
Jay did the polite thing and stuck out his hand to shake the girls. She seemed a tad bit nervous standing in front of the pair.
"Emma and Jay." Sean said. "I'd like you to meet Jess…..my girlfriend."
So did anyone see that coming? Sean has a girlfriend who he never mentioned to anyone since he arrived in Toronto. How will Emma react? You'll have to wait to find out when I post the next chapter.