At the same time, though, he knew that she would want the baby properly looked after and what Carried had said about his dad and Hook not really knowing a whole lot about babies definitely was causing him to waver.
"I'll just take her upstairs for you so you can stay right here
with Lona and look after her, okay?" Carrie said gently. She really,
really didn't want to do this to Elmer. She knew that she was taking
advantage of his feelings for Lona terribly as well as his current confused
state in thinking that the baby was his child but she didn't see what other
choice she had. "Come on, Elmer. I'm sure you want some time alone with
Lona and I'll bring the baby back as soon as one of the doctors says that
it's okay. I promise." Saying that, that definitely caused a pain to run
across Carrie, knowing that once she left the room, Elmer wasn't going to
see the baby again. She slowly stood, though, and started for the door.
It had to be done and the faster the better.
Carrie's movement was enough to snap Elmer out of his indecision
about what he should do. Okay, so his dad and Hook weren't experts with
babies but he was sure that they knew enough that they wouldn't miss any
major problems. Emma was fine! And the idea of letting his little girl
out of his sight.... No, he definitely wasn't going to be doing that, not
after how close he had come to losing her. "Carrie, let me have her back
now." Elmer said firmly as he moved into Carrie's path, blocking her from
the door. "I really appreciate you trying to help like this but I think my
dad and Hook know enough that they wouldn't have missed anything serious.
Emma's fine. Maybe we can get someone to come down to double check later
or something but for right now, she belongs down here with me and her
mother." As he spoke, he reached out and before Carrie could do anything,
he had gathered Emma back into his arms once more. He let out a soft
mental sigh as he cuddled the baby close once more. He knew that Carrie
was just trying to help him and Lona out and he really appreciated it but
being separated from their daughter just wasn't the way to go.
Okay, this definitely wasn't going well. Carrie felt fear wash over her as Elmer removed the baby from her grasp. What was she going to do now? As long as she had been holding onto the baby, she had felt vaguely comfortable that she could handle things and fix the situation but now with Elmer taking the baby back.... She looked from Elmer to the doorway, hoping for Sonny to return with Louis to help but there was nothing. What in the world was she going to do? She couldn't just leave Elmer here with the baby in order to search for help, not in his current mental condition. She was too afraid of what might happen if he was left alone.
"Carrie?" Elmer really hoped that he hadn't upset her by just
taking the baby away. It wasn't like she understood how close he had come
to losing both the band Lona, after all and why he was reluctant now to be
separated from either of them. "Listen, if you really want to help
out...." What would they need that he could send Carrie to get? He wanted
to let her know that he appreciated her concern and wasn't brushing her off
entirely. "You know, you could go and get some more baby stuff for me.
That would really be a big help. My dad didn't really know what we needed
when they finally got in here. We're kind of short on diapers and things
like that." Diapers. Elmer didn't think he had ever even touched one of
those things before. He really, really hoped they came with some sort of
instructions.
Diapers. Okay, that gave Carrie an idea for how to get the baby back and out of there. "Hey, Elmer, listen, why don't you let me deal with that for now, okay? Do you really want to have to worry about it? I'll just run her upstairs and get the stuff. It won't take long and you won't have to deal with it." Surely that would work. From what she had seen with her older brothers, diapers were the last thing that any man ever wanted to think about.
Elmer rolled his eyes. Honestly, it was getting a little annoying that Carrie kept trying to take the baby away from him. How dumb did she really think that he was? If he could father a baby, he knew that he could manage to look after it just fine as well. He just needed a bit of practice with some things, was all. "Carrie, no. I'm going to have to learn sometime, you know." He shook his head as he looked at her. It was no wonder that Lona thought he was such an idiot if this was the way that Carrie acted in response to him around Lona. Who knows what she might have done to convince Lona he was stupid. Maybe he could ask that anteater for advice on diapers? He knew his father wouldn't know.
"Elmer, come on. Do you really want to hassle with diapers, now"
Carrie said, forcing herself to let out a slight laugh, despite her current
concerns. Honestly, did Elmer expect her to believe that he was interested
in learning how to deal with diapers? He was a guy, after all, and a
rather immature one at that.
"Are you trying to get me in trouble with Lona?" Elmer replied with a pointed look at Carrie. "How hard could it be? Why don't you go get them now, okay?"
This definitely wasn't going well. Carrie knew that she was never going to get Elmer to hand over the baby at this point and she didn't know how long she could stay down here without making him suspicious. She edged away from him and over to Lona's side, looking down with concern at her friend. Lona definitely looked very ill. "Elmer, how long has it been since someone looked at her?"
"She's fine. She's just tired from the baby." Elmer felt a bit of worry wash over him as he moved to stand by Carrie. He forced that away firmly, though. Worry now wouldn't help the situation and besides, his dad and Hook had both said that Lona was going to be fine. He settled down into his seat once more, adjusting his hold on the baby so that he could cuddle her securely with one arm and use the other hand to hold Lona's hand in his.
"Has she been awake at all?" Carrie asked gently. She couldn't believe that Hook and Chris had just left Lona down here with only Elmer to care for her. How desperate could they be for some make out time, after all?
"Long enough to feed the baby and for us to decide on her name"
Elmer wasn't going to bring up the personal stuff they had discussed, the
things concerning their relationship, with anyone.
Feeding the baby? Lona had.... Carrie shook her head slightly.
Was Elmer imagining that part? She knew he definitely had a fertile
imagination, after all. She really hoped that he had been. She didn't
want to think of what might happen if Lona had actually woke up for a brief
time and Elmer had convinced her that the baby was actually theirs. She
would be so hurt when she found out the truth.
"Listen, Elmer, I'm going to go and call someone to bring down some
stuff, okay? Lona probably needs some fresh clothes too, don't you think"
Carrie told him. I'll just be right in the other room. You just stay
there with her and the baby." She hated to get more people involved but
she didn't see what other choice she had at this point. Something had to
be done fast before this situation ended up getting even worse than it
already was.