Story 2.3: The Book by Lu
AU: Emerald's Universe (inc. ATF, which was created by Mog)
Emerald's Universe created by me.
Rating: PG
Type: Gen
Main Characters: Ezra, Emerald
Notes: Inspired by a book I read at the start of the year.
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Two weeks after Ezra broke his leg, the recovering man sat in the living room. He was using the laptop that JD had let him borrow, while Emerald was playing with her toys inside her secure playpen, so Ezra could keep an eye on her while he recovered. The man had his crutches nearby so he could use them to get over to his baby daughter if she needed him.
Chris and Buck had gone to work and left Ezra to manage on his own, although their housekeeper was there doing the housework. She had gone to the stores for a while, after being persuaded that Ezra could manage okay without her for an hour or so.
Ezra watched Emerald for a while until the laptop bleeped to signal that it was ready. Then the man started up the dial-up internet programme, and waited for it to connect.
Emerald chose this moment to start crying loudly and Ezra rushed to pick up his crutches and hobbled over to the child. He carefully bent down to pick her up and found that she needed a clean diaper. He carried her to a clear patch of carpet and reached for her changing mat that was rolled up nearby. He rolled it out then proceeded to change her diaper, after taking all the necessary supplies out of the bag.
He secured the sides of the cloth diaper with a safety pin, and lifted Emerald into the air. The child giggled and Ezra grinned; that task wasn't too difficult.
Ezra hobbled over to the playpen and put the struggling child back in, then she happily crawled to some plastic toys and started playing again.
Ezra returned to the sofa, glad to rest again - his leg was starting to hurt. The man picked up the laptop and rested it on his lap. Then he looked at the clock in the bottom right-hand corner of the screen and realised that his order would never be dispatched today if he didn't place it soon. He was certain that the books that he required would be dispatched within 24 hours. Ezra navigated around the online store and finally placed the order, glad that he could buy the whole trilogy of books at once and they were usually dispatched within 1 day.
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"Ezra, there's a cardboard package for you," said Chris Larabee, as he carried that day's mail into the kitchen the next morning.
"Thank you, Mr. Larabee. I certainly won't be bored today," said Ezra as he accepted the package and tore it open.
"Good thing you've got me to help with Emerald then. Mrs Potter has plenty to do as it is and you shouldn't be moving on your leg too much, so I was happy for the excuse to have a day off."
"Thank you, Chris. Your assistance will be most appreciated," said Ezra as he admired the illustration on the front of the first book in the trilogy.
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As Ezra lay propped up on his bed reading, while Emerald was sleeping in her crib opposite the man's bed, Ezra's cellphone, that lay on the bedside cabinet, started ringing.
Ezra frowned and quickly slipped the bookmark in the book, then rested it on the cabinet before he grabbed the phone. "Hello?" he said into it.
"Ezra, darling? I heard you had an accident," said the woman on the other end.
"Mother!" said Ezra, shocked to finally hear from her after more than a few months of silence. "Yes, I did have an accident, but I am recovering now, thanks to everyone's assistance."
"Is there something else you wish to tell me about?" asked Maude, who knew there was something that Ezra hadn't told her of.
"I have acquired something very precious which I had no previous knowledge of, Mother. Perhaps if you were to visit here when I am fully recovered, you might find out to what I am alluding."
"I do wish you wouldn't talk in riddles and just tell me what I want to know."
"Mother, what I was hinting toward is that I am now the proud father of a beautiful baby daughter and I would be pleased for you to meet her in the future," said Ezra.
"I'm a grandmother?" asked Maude, the tone of her voice indicating her shock.
"Yes, Mother. I would rather discuss this further upon your visit; I have things I need to get back to today." Ezra looked at the interesting picture on the cover of his book, which he was eager to return to. Some of the characters in the story had begun a journey and Ezra needed to find out what happened next to them.
"Very well, Ezra. Please call me when you are fully recovered so that I can visit your child and you. Goodbye for now," said Maude and hung up before Ezra could say goodbye to her.
Ezra just shrugged, looked over at Emerald still sleeping, then picked up his book and opened it. He started to read about what happened to the voyagers next.
"Ezra, can I get you anything?" asked Chris Larabee walking into the room. Gloria Potter, their housekeeper, had gone to the grocery store, leaving Chris to look after things while she was out.
"At least thirty minutes of uninterrupted reading time would be ideal, Mr. Larabee," replied Ezra, sounding slightly agitated.
"I thought I heard a phone ring earlier," said Chris, sure that Emerald's crying wouldn't have annoyed Ezra.
"My mother called after finding out that I had suffered an unfortunate fall and she also had an idea that there was something she had yet to hear about from me," replied Ezra looking longingly at his book.
"You haven't told her about Emerald?" asked Chris, startled that the man hadn't told his mother about something so important.
"That's why I need to meet with her once I'm back on my feet permanently," said Ezra, slightly regretful that he had kept it from his mother.
"Are you sure I can't get you anything?" asked Chris.
"A glass of water would be refreshing, thank you, Chris," said Ezra and went back to reading his book as Chris left the room. A few minutes later, Ezra realised that his daughter had been quiet for rather a long time. He sat up in bed, put the bookmark in the book and placed the closed book on the bedside cabinet. Then he carefully hobbled over to his daughter, holding onto things as he went instead of using his crutches.
"Are you all right, dear?" he asked his daughter who lay peacefully in the crib. The baby continued to sleep and Ezra picked her up to check. Her breathing was perfectly regular and Ezra breathed a sigh of relief. The movement awoke the child, but with some gentle rocking from her father, she closed her eyes again and Ezra replaced the baby in the crib.
The man was about to hobble back to his bed and his thrilling book when Chris walked into the room carrying Ezra's glass of water. The blond moved the cellphone over slightly and placed the glass next to it on the cabinet.
"I was just concerned about my daughter's continued silence," explained Ezra when he received Larabee's glare for walking on his injured leg.
"You need to rest your leg a lot, Ezra - call me if you're worried about her again."
"I shall do, Chris."
Chris was about to leave the room when Emerald woke up and began to cry. The blond man picked her up and carried her out of the room, leaving Ezra in peace to rest his leg.
Ezra again picked up his book and started reading and for the next few hours he was uninterrupted except for Chris saying he was just taking Emerald for a stroll. In the afternoon after lunch he went back to reading his book. It was the sort of story where you didn't know what would happen next and it was hard to put down.
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Buck came into the Larabee-Wilmington-Standish household early, after picking up the boys from school. He'd finished writing up a report so he'd decided to leave early, having nothing else that needed doing that day.
JD ran upstairs to where Uncle Ezra's room was, as soon as the dark-haired boy got in the front door. He was eager to see his uncle. Wilmington, his foster-father ran after him, not wanting the boy to disrupt Ezra.
JD ran into Ezra's room without knocking on the closed bedroom door and jumped onto the southerner's bed, accidentally landing just on the side of Ezra's wounded leg.
"OW!" shouted Ezra in pain, grateful that his book still rested on his bed with the page marked.
"JD!" said Buck sternly, running into the room after hearing the shout.
JD hurriedly got off the bed; "I'm really sorry, Uncle Ezra; I forgots it was your bad leg. I wanted to see what you was reading because that picture on the front makes it look really good…"
"JD!" warned Buck, knowing that the child wouldn't stop talking if no-one interrupted him.
"JD, please refrain from jumping on my bed in future; then there's no chance of you jumping on my injured leg."
"What are you reading, Ezra?" asked Buck.
Ezra held up the book toward Buck. Buck saw that it was The Fellowship of the Ring - the first Lord of the Rings novel. "When you've finished that you can borrow the DVD if you like," said Buck, who had never bothered to read the book.
"Thank you Mr. Wilmington. I would be delighted to watch the movie," accepted Ezra.
"We'll leave you to it then," said Buck, turning JD toward the door.
That night when Ezra fell asleep he dreamt of hobbits and wizards.
The End