NAYER

Chapter Two-Connections

I sat leaned against the railing to the back porch. How could I be so stupid? How could I think someone like Mike would like me?

I heard the door opening. Joey and Jessie stepped out.

"You okay, Emma?" Jess asked concerned.

He and Joey stood on either side of me.

"I guess so. I was just stupid to think Mike would actually want to marry me," I snorted as I wiped my eyes with the back of my hands.

"You're not the stupid one…Mike is," Joey said, softly.

I smiled.

"That was really a cowardly thing to do…have your girlfriend call your fiancé and tell her that the wedding and engagement is off," Jess said, angrily.

"Not to mention cold," Joey added.

"Well, I hope her dress gets caught in the car door and it drags her several feet," I muttered.

"That's the spirit!" Jess said.

I laughed.

Jess put a hand on my shoulder and winked at Joey before heading into the house. Before Joey could open his mouth, Danny came out of the house.

"Are you feeling better, Emma?"

I could see Joey's expression. I remembered what Becky told me earlier.

"Yes, thank you," I said, softly and clasped my hands behind my back. "Joey was just about to show me some of his routines."

"Oh…okay. I'll see you later then?" Danny said.

I could see he was disappointed.

"Absolutely. I'm staying in the same house," I grinned.

Danny grinned back and headed back into the house.

"Well, are you going to show me your work?" I asked, grinning.

Joey grinned.

"Well blow me down!" he said in Popeye's voice.

I laughed.

"That's great! What else do you have?" I asked, eagerly.

"Oooh, I hate that rabbit," he continued in Yosemite Sam's voice.

I laughed again.

"You're great!"

Joey blushed.

"Thanks,"

"I hope you get that show. I would definitely come and see you," I said, softly as I put a hand on his arm before turning around and heading back into the house.

After dinner we all sat in the living room and watched TV. I was sitting on the couch in between Jess and Michelle, and Becky. D.J was sitting on the chair, Stephanie was sitting on the other chair and Joey was sitting on the armrest of the chair next to D.J.

"Emma? Can you sing for us?" Michelle asked, eagerly turning to me.

"I don't think Emma's up to it right now," Becky said, gently.

"It's okay, Becky. It'll help," I said, softly. "What would you like to hear everyone?"

"I don't know…what songs do you know?" Stephanie mused.

"I know a lot," I said, laughing.

Then, I remembered a song that I always loved.

"Ah yes, I got one," I said.

Everyone was attentive and listening intently.

"Somewhere there's a river…looking for a stream.

Somewhere there's a dreamer…looking for a dream.

Somewhere there's a drifter…trying to find his way

Somewhere someone's waiting to hear somebody say…

I believe in you. I can't even count the ways that ii believe in you.

And all want to do is help you to believe in you.

Somewhere someone's reaching trying to grab that rein.

Somewhere there's a silent voice…learning how to sing.

Some of us can't move ahead…we're paralyzed with fear

And everybody's listening…cause we all need to hear…

I believe in you…I can't even count the ways that I believe in you

And I want to do is help you to…believe in you.

I will hold you up…I will help you stand.

I will comfort you when you need a friend.

I will be the voice that's calling out,"

I repeated the chorus of "I believe in you…"

My voice was high and clear. When I was done, everyone cheered.

"Wow! You've got a great voice!" Stephanie cried.

"Yeah! It's beautiful!" D.J added eagerly.

"I can't believe mom shunned you," Becky said, shaking her head.

"Neither could I," I said, quietly. "But then again, mom always disliked show business. Have you spoken with mom lately?"

"Yeah. A couple of weeks ago, Niki and Alex had a mild case of the flu. I called mom after that to see what she thought after we called the doctor," Becky said.

"Did she ask about me?" I asked, hopefully.

"Technically," Becky said, slowly.

"Technically?" I asked, tilting my head.

"Yeah. She asked if I had heard from Emma Donaldson lately," Becky said, quietly.

I nodded.

"That's just cold," Stephanie said.

"I know honey, but…" Becky began.

"She should be happy she has a daughter!" Stephanie continued angrily. "Not many people have that!"

With that, she slid off the chair and flew up the stairs.

I was shocked.

"I think I'd better go see what's wrong," Danny said as he stood up.

"Can I come too?" I asked.

"Sure," Danny said, smiling.

I stood up and gave Joey a smile before following Danny up the stairs.

BECKY.

I saw Emma give Joey a smile before heading up the stairs after Danny. I looked over at Joey and broke into a huge grin.

"I think she likes you," I said.

"Neh," Joey said, shaking his head.

"Joey, we're not blind, man," Jessie said. "She likes you!"

"Why?" Joey asked. "She a beautiful woman. She could have anyone she wanted."

"Joey, she just had her heart ripped out by her fiancé. She could use someone to make her laugh right now…plus, she deserves someone nice like you," I said, softly and gently.

"She definitely likes you, Joey," D.J added grinning too.

"She's pretty Joey! Ask her out!" Michelle piped up.

D.J, Jessie and I laughed.

"I don't think this is the right time. I think I should give her some time," Joey said, slowly.

"Man, all those hours of watching cartoons is really starting to take its toll on your brain," Jessie said.

"What do you mean?" Joey asked.

Jessie got up and went over to Joey. He smacked him up the back of the head.

"Just what I thought…instead of rattling in there, there's no noise…which means your brain turned to mush,"

We laughed, even Joey.

EMMA.

Stephanie was sitting on her bed staring at the floor when Danny and I entered the room. She was sharing the room with Michelle. Apparently D.J had her own room…Michelle's old room.

"Steph? What's wrong?" Danny asked, sitting beside Stephanie. I stood by the door, not really wanting to intrude.

"Emma's mother should be happy she has two daughters! What would happen if something happened to her? There'd be no one around to take care of them! She'd regret everything!" Stephanie said.

"I know honey, but Mrs. Donaldson has different beliefs," Danny said, gently.

"Steph? If I may," I said, politely.

"Sure," Danny said, as he stood up.

I went over and sat next to Stephanie.

"Steph, just because my mother doesn't approve of what I am doing, doesn't mean I don't love her or mean that she doesn't love me. She's just…bitter, I guess you could say," I said, gently.

"I never knew my mother…I would give anything to have known her," Stephanie said, quietly.

"I know…but it's okay. I've got good news," I said, brightly. "Now that my fiancé dumped me, I'm thinking of moving here."

Stephanie brightened.

"Really?"

"Really," I grinned.

"That's great!" Stephanie cried happily as she hugged me.

I hugged her back.

"Are you sure?" Danny asked.

"I'm positive. I don't have any family really. You guys certainly made me feel welcomed," I grinned.

Danny grinned back.

"Come on…let's get back down stairs,"

We got up and headed down the stairs.

When we arrived downstairs, everyone looked up.

"Is everything okay?" Becky asked looking from Danny, to me to Stephanie.

"Everything's okay," Danny smiled as he sat back down.

"Good," Becky said, grinning.

"What other songs do you know, Emma?" Michelle asked, cheerfully.

"Well, I know a really good one for Christmas," I grinned putting my face close to hers. "But I'll save it for Christmas time."

Michelle grinned.

"I bet you know awesome dance moves," D.J said.

I frowned.

"Does the Funky Chicken count?"

Everyone laughed.

"Seriously, I know a routine to the Christmas song, but that's about it,"

"When Christmas time rolls around you have to show me," D.J said eagerly.

"I'd love to," I grinned.

"Me too?" Stephanie said.

"Absolutely…you too Michelle," I added.

"Jess? Why don't you show Emma your recording studio?" Becky suggested.

"It's in the basement," Jess said. "That means I'll have to move and go down stairs."

"Wow…you catch on so fast," Becky grinned playfully smacking Jessie on the arm.

"Sure. Come on," Jess said, getting up. "Joey? You coming?"

"Yeah," Joey said, brightly.

"Mind if I come?" Danny asked.

"Um, Danny? I need your help with the twins," Becky said, quickly.

I threw her a relieved and grateful expression. She winked.

"Okay. No problem," Danny said, brightly.

Truthfully, I started to like Joey. Joey and I followed Jess into the kitchen and down stairs.

We headed down another shorter staircase then hit the basement. Against the wall was tons of recording machines, a keyboard, and a microphone.

"How's your band doing?" I asked, scanning the entire basement.

"Not bad. You're looking at it," Jessie said, grinning.

I looked at him startled.

"You're doing it solo? When did this happen?"

"Since the band got tired of Jessie talking to his hair before each rehearsal," Joey said.

I covered my mouth with my hand and tried to cover a snort and laugh. Jessie narrowed his eyes at Joey.

"Quiet you," Jess shot back good-naturedly. "The band is still together…it's just on hiatus. I bought all of this equipment."

"Wow," I said in awe.

"This used to be my old room…but now I'm upstairs across from D.J's room," Joey said.

"Yes…and he is able to burp himself too," Jessie replied.

I laughed. "That's a good thing! If he starts relying on other people to burp himself, it's not good,"

Jess leaned close. "See, the trouble starts when he needs help wiping himself,"

I burst out laughing again. I looked at Joey. He was getting embarrassed. He shifted his weight onto his left foot.

"Okay…enough teasing Joey," I said, as I stopped laughing. I put a hand on Joey's arm.

"He watches cartoons," Jessie said.

"So do I," I admitted grinning.

Suddenly, Joey seemed annoyed.

"Are you trying to embarrass me in front of Emma?"

Jessie looked at him startled.

"No…just talking with her…that's okay right?"

"Not when you're trying to embarrass me," Joey said, angrily.

Jessie stood up and stood in front of Joey.

"I'm just telling her the truth," Jess said.

I stepped in between them and held my hands out trying to keep them apart.

"Guys…stop. I don't care who watches cartoons. I watch them too!" I said.

Jess was silent and then turned to his recording equipment.

"Come on Joey. Can you show me your room?" I asked, brightly.

Joey was still glaring at Jessie, but then snapped out of it.

"Huh? Sure,"

We began heading up stairs.

He had tons of stuff from cartoons and posters of hockey players on the wall.

"Wow…you've got a lot of stuff!" I said, sitting on the edge of his bed and looking around at the entire room.

"Yeah," Joey said, softly. "My dad was in the army. We moved around a lot."

"That's hard," I said. "I can imagine how lonely it got."

"It was…but then I got into doing comedy," Joey said, leaning against his dresser.

"Does your dad know you're doing comedy?" I asked.

"Yeah, but he didn't approve at first…then, one time when I did a show with Wayne Newton, he saw that what I did made people feel good. I like making people laugh," Joey said.

"Sounds like we've got a lot in common," I said, quietly. "My mother doesn't approve of me singing. But yet she liked Becky going on television. Go figure."

Joey's expression turned sympathetic.

"Sometimes it takes a bit for someone to come around," he offered.

I nodded and stared at the carpet.

"Are you sure you're okay about Mike?" Joey asked, concerned.

I shrugged.

"I just thought that maybe he was the one for me…I guess I was naive,"

"You had no way of knowing,"

"I should've seen the first sign. We were out on a date one time. Some hot looking girl in a tight red leather dress comes into the restaurant where we were. He starts flirting with her right in front of me. Do you know what he introduced me as?" I asked.

Joey shook his head.

"His sister. Can you believe it?"

Joey looked appalled.

"I should've taken that first sign that he was a jerk," I sighed. "Oh well. I'm glad I found out now before we had gotten married."

Joey nodded.

I checked my watch.

"Oh boy. It's getting late. I'm tired. I'll see you in the morning. Have a good night, okay?" I said, getting up.

Joey smiled.

"Good-night,"

He opened the door for me and held it open for me as I left.

"Thanks,"

I entered D.J's room and changed into a pair of pajamas. Shortly, everyone had gone to bed. I fell asleep with a smile on my face.