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"I thought I'd find you here."
Emma looked up at Sean from her seat on the sidewalk. She had been there almost two hours. After Sean had stormed out of the party, she had left also to get way from the barrage of questions Manny and her mother had begun to hurl at her.
Sean sat down beside her and looked straight ahead through the same window she had been gazing in for over an hour and a half she had been sitting there.
"How did you find me?" she asked softly.
"Had a hunch." he answered. "Ever since you thought you were pregnant, I don't know, you've been different. Every time we pass by here you stop and look in. And when I got back to your house and Simpson said you took off, I just thought it was a good place to start."
Emma glanced back to the store. It was a little boutique that specialized in clothing and furniture for kids. The front window was decorated with the theme of 'Baby's First Christmas.' She had felt a pull toward it ever since she realized that she wasn't pregnant.
"It just makes me feel better I guess." she told him, looking in the darkened window. The store was closed, but the display was still partially illuminated, showing the white crib furnished with holiday themed linens.
"Em, I know you were upset when you found out you weren't pregnant, but you said yourself you weren't ready."
Tears started to well up in Emma's eyes. "I know. And I'm not, but Sean, for a while there I thought that there was this life inside of me. A real little person." She looked up at him and his heart broke at the heartache he saw in her face.
Sean took her hand slowly so she would have time to stop him if she wanted to. Given the rather volatile nature of their last conversation, he didn't want to chance upsetting her.
She let him take hold of her hand and he entwined his fingers around hers.
"What's this really about?"
She sighed deeply, trying to let the sadness out. "Sean, if I ask you something do you promise to tell me the truth?"
"Like you even have to ask." he said.
"Sorry, but I just don't want you to get angry."
Sean nodded. He had given up trying to figure out Emma's logic, but if she wanted him to promise, he would. "Okay, I promise."
Emma began rubbing her left hand over Sean's that was still holding her right. "Sean, you know I love you, don't you?"
"Yeah."
She ignored his abrupt answer. Sean wasn't big into talking about his feelings, so she accepted it.
"And I know you love me," she said, "but we're still so young. Do you ever worry that there's a chance we won't make it?"
"Honestly? No, I don't." he told her.
"Never?" she stared at him with just a touch of disbelief in her eyes.
"Nope. I love you Emma. I've lived my life without you, and it's not as good as it is when you're in it. I don't plan on letting you go if I can help it."
She snuggled closer to him and laid her head on his shoulder, letting some of his warmth seep into her to help fight the chilly December air.
"Do you ever think that?" he asked quietly after a few moments.
"Not really. I mean, I know the odds are against us, with our age and everything … but I can't imagine a future without you."
Sean removed his hand from hers and wrapped his arms around her, bringing her body closer against his. Her forehead was now pressed against his neck and she breathed in the familiar Sean scent that she loved so much.
"Okay then. That's a good thing." he whispered. "So what's wrong?"
"Every now and then," she confessed, "I imagine what if something happens to tear us apart. And when I thought I was pregnant, it just made it not seem as terrible."
"Did you think the baby would keep us together if something happened?"
"No, I just thought it would be easier if I had a little piece of you with me. In case the of the worst." she said.
"Oh."
"I know it's stupid," she started, but he cut her off.
"No, it's not stupid," he said. "It just shows me again how much you want us to stay together. And that's amazing to me." He kissed her forehead tenderly and she snuggled further into his embrace.
"So what was that little freak out about?" Sean asked, thinking back o the party.
"I hate the fact that you kept something as big as getting arrested from me." she replied. "I get why you did it, but it still hurts."
"I'm sorry. I just didn't want you to think any less of me."
Emma pulled away and looked him in the eyes, raising her hands to cup his cheeks. "Nothing could ever do that."
"Then why were you so angry?" he asked doubtfully. "And you avoided me all day. Are you having second thoughts?" Sean looked down at the ground, not wanting to see her face if it turned out he was right.
Emma jerked backwards, staring at him in disbelief before standing up in front of him. "How could you ever think that?"
Sean stood to face her. His face had taken on an hard expression that she recognized immediately. And just as she thought, Sean's words were angry, bitter.
"I think that because of the way you're reacting."
"Did I say anything to you last night that would make you think I was having second thoughts?" she demanded.
"You were upset." he said.
"Because you kept something really huge from me." she defended.
"And now you're acting like I was trying to hurt you on purpose." Sean accused.
She realized he was right, and threw her arms around him. "I'm sorry."
Sean wrapped his arms around her waist, rubbing her back and burying his nose in her hair. "I love you." he whispered, pulling back to kiss her nose to make her giggle.
"Me too." She stepped back and held a hand out to him. "Now that that's settled, it's preset time."
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Spike began to rush over to Emma when she and Sean walked in the door, but Emma shook her head, trying to convey that everything was okay. Spike took one look at Sean's arm around Emma's shoulder and both of their hands tightly clasped, she knew they had managed to work through whatever they had been fighting over.
"Okay, me first." Emma said, going over to the tree and pulling Sean's present out. Taking his hand, she pulled him over to the staircase and sat down.
Sean eyed the box warily. Emma laughed at his expression. "Just open it.'
He peeled the paper off and lifted the lid off the box inside. She had knitted him a sweater, dark blue to ring out the almost gray like color of his eyes. She knew he was more a tee shirt kind of guy, but she wanted him to have something she had made especially for him.
"I love it." he told her, kissing her on the forehead.
"Hang on," she began rustling around in the tissue paper it had been wrapped in. She extracted another box, much smaller and held it out to him.
"Em, one is enough."
"Humor me here." she said.
He shook his head and opened it. "Tickets to the car show next month?"
She laughed at his shocked expression. "I knew you'd like it. And I'll go with you if you want to take me, but if not it's okay."
"How selfless of you." he said, an peeped around the wall to see if Spike was watching them. Once he saw that she wasn't, he kissed her sweetly. "Thank you."
She smiled at him warmly.
"And I would like you to go with me." he said, suppressing a laugh when her mouth dropped open slightly.
She clamped it shut quickly. "Fine. But I want major points for this."
"Deal. Now," he reached into the pocket of his jeans, "open yours."
Feeling like a little girl, Emma tore the silver paper away. There was a velvet jewelry box inside. Surprised, she glanced up at Sean to see him watching her impatiently. She opened the lid. Inside was a silver locket, heart shaped, and engraved with tiny roses.
"Sean, it's beautiful." she breathed. Throwing her arms around his neck, she placed sloppy kisses all over his face. "I love it."
He laughed as she hugged her back. "Manny deserves some of the credit. She helped me pick it out."
"I'll thank her later." she said, and opened the locket. She laughed.
"What?" he asked.
She held it up for him to see. On either side were tiny pictures of him, one from when they first started dating back in grade seven and what looked to be a very recent one.
"I didn't put those in there." he said, his face contorted in confusion.
Manny sauntered by the stairs, and hearing the conversation, spoke up. "I did. Figured I saved Em the trouble."
Emma laughed and Sean blushed.
"That's what you get for having me wrap it." Manny said as she walked away.
Still blushing, Sean put the necklace on her.
"You know, if you want to change those, I won't mind."
She shook her head emphatically. "Nope. They're staying."
"Okay."
He still sounded a bit embarrassed, and she wrapped her arms around him, nuzzling against his cheek. "Did I ever tell you that you're awfully cute when you get all flustered."
"Em …" The blush that had begun to subside flared up again and she giggled.
"About earlier," she said reluctantly, "do you forgive me?"
"There's nothing to forgive." he said and kissed her forehead.
"Well don't you two look cozy." Spike observed as she rounded the corner on her way to take Jack upstairs.
Sean tried to pull away, but Emma retained her hold on him.
"The party's about to break up," Spike told them. She made a distinct point of not mentioning the cuddling, per Emma's request. Spike genuinely liked Sean, and loved her daughter enough to stop interfering. Seeing them being able to work through the fight they'd had earlier showed that just may make it this time.
She adjusted Jack in her arms. "Will you two help Snake clean up and get everybody's coats?"
"Sure Mom." Emma said. She let go of Sean only to take hold of his hand and pull him toward the living room with her.
"What was that about?" Sean hissed.
"My mom's not going to pretend that we're not serious about each other anymore. She promised to respect what we have."
"Serious?"
She nodded, and kissed him just to show that no one was going to object.
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After everything was cleaned up, Emma sat down to watch a marathon of classic Christmas movies on television and insisted everybody join her. Manny escaped with the excuse that she was going to go see her parents. Sean and her parents weren't as fortunate.
"Okay, it's time for the aged to head up to bed." Snake announced when the second movie began. He and Spike went upstairs, making sure to tell Emma not to be upstairs too long.
Sean handed Emma a tissue. On screen George Bailey was contemplating jumping off a bridge and it always made her cry. He didn't understand why she would watch a movie that made her sad.
Emma sniffled and snuggled closer to Sean, her hand going to his knee.
He cleared his throat, adjusting in his seat and causing her hand to fall away.
"Sean?"
"Em, your parents are right upstairs." he said.
"They're in bed Sean."
"But they aren't asleep. And your mom made it very clear that she didn't want us to be alone together. It was rule number one, remember?"
"Sean," she took his hands in hers. "If they didn't trust us, they wouldn't have left us alone down here together. They know we're not going to have sex on the couch the second they leave the room."
"Emma." he hissed, looking over his shoulder at her mention of sex to make sure they hadn't been overheard.
"You're being paranoid." she groused, settling back against the couch to watch Mary attempt to get George to notice her.
"I just don't want to give them any reason not to trust us." he explained.
"Us?" she asked, her eyebrow raised, not looking away from the TV.
"Okay, me. I don't want them to think that I'm only after one thing, or that I'm trying to corrupt you or something like that.'
"Corrupt me?" she laughed.
His cheeks reddened. "I'm not exactly a parents' idea of the perfect boyfriend."
"But you're mine." she said sincerely.
He smiled at her, letting the mushiness of her words get the best of him.
"Come here." He held his arms out to her, and she snuggled against his chest. Dropping a kiss on top of her head, they settled in to watch the rest of the movie.
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A/N: Next chapter should be up tomorrow or the nest day.