Chapter 16
Emily's POV
I sat in my office that morning looking at the picture of my family that I kept hidden in my desk drawer. I was fifteen when the picture was taken. Fifteen was a good age. Sure, my mom and I haven't gotten along since I was six, but she didn't hate me.
The tears began to flow again, but I didn't notice until I heard a knock on the door.
"Come in," I said, trying to keep the sob out of my voice.
"Hey, Em," Robbie greeted me with a smile, but quickly faded to a frown. "What's wrong? Herb said you were looking for me."
"Umm yeah, I did," I replied, dabbing at my eyes with the edge of my sleeve. "Look, I just wanted to say sorry about the whole pregnancy thing. It was wrong of me to not say anything to you."
"No harm, no foul, right?" Robbie said uneasily.
"So…you're not mad?" I asked, finally making eye contact with him.
"Well, yeah, a little," he admitted, sounding hurt. "I mean, what if you'd actually had the baby. Would I have ever found out?"
"I don't…Robbie, I don't know," I told him. "I guess I just never really thought it all the way through."
"You were good at that," I heard him mutter under his breath.
"Hey, I had no one, Robbie," I spat out. "I was completely alone. My family ignored me, didn't want a thing to do with me. My mother had me transfer schools just so I wouldn't tarnish her perfect reputation."
"You had me!" he yelled. "You did, but you threw that away. And over what? Some hook up with O'Callahan that lasted three days."
"Leave Jack out of it," I said, fresh tears threatening to fall. "He didn't get me pregnant. You did."
"Yeah, and you never told me. That's what this comes down to."
"Yes, and I was wrong to not tell you. But you have to understand that I didn't know what to do."
"Oh, come on, Emily. You're a smart girl. Don't give me that bullshit that you didn't know what to do."
"I'm done with this," I said. "I surrender. You win, you're right. I just, I can't do this anymore. Please just leave."
"I'm not leaving just like that, Emily," Robbie stated, not budging from his spot near the door. "We have resolved nothing."
"And we're not going to," I replied. "It doesn't even matter anymore, Rob. What happened, happened. We can't change that, and we obviously can't get over this."
"Just say you would have told me I had a kid," Robbie asked.
"Is that all you want to hear?" I questioned. "Fine, I would have told you."
"Then why didn't you?" he whispered.
"Not this again. Please, I can't keep going in circles with you. It's getting us nowhere."
"Fine. I hope you and Jack have a great life together," Robbie said, slamming the door behind him.
Jack's POV
I, for one, was not looking forward to meeting Emily's family. What would they think of me? What would I think of them? What do you say to people who have completely alienated the girl you love?
"Hey Jack, you wanna drive?" Emma asked a bit absentmindedly as we walked to her car.
"Excuse me?" I said with a laugh. "Miss No One Who Isn't Me May Drive My Car, is gonna let me drive her car? Are you feeling okay?"
"I'm fine," she replied, throwing the keys at me. "Just drive."
"Yes, ma'am," I muttered, climbing behind the wheel.
We drove in relative silence, save for a few directions on when and where to turn. Every so often I caught a glimpse of Emma. She looked worn out as she stared out the side window. When I reached out to hold her hand, she pulled away and made some comment about keeping my eyes on the road.
"This is it," Emily stated, pointing at a large white house. This house was not plain by any means. This was a family that had a nice bank account.
"Wow. It's…big," I replied in awe. "Ever get lost in there?"
"Not that I recall, but I've tried my damnedest to block out most of my childhood," Emily replied, walking to the front door.
"Gonna ring the bell?" I asked as we just kind of stood there on the stoop.
"Ya know, I've been thinking about this," she rambled. "We should really just go home. I mean, I don't want to be here and by the end of the night, you'll be ready to kill me and throw my body in a ditch for bringing you here. So we should just save time and go home."
"Too late," a woman said after opening the door. I guess it was her mother. This lady looked like she got whacked with the grumpy stick. "Well, don't just stand there, Emily. Come inside."
"But it's such a nice night," Emily started.
"Inside. Now," her mother ordered.
Once inside, Mrs. Morrison took our coats and directed us to the living room.
"Hey Daddy," Emily said uneasily. "I'd like you to meet Jack O'Callahan. He's playing hockey for Team USA."
"A hockey player? Again?" the other guy in the room scoffed.
"What a way to make a first impression, Josh," Emily shot back.
"Jack, it's great to meet you," Mr. Morrison said, shaking my hand. "How's Herb treating you boys?"
"He's tough, but he knows what he's doing," I replied.
"How's the exhibition schedule going?" her father inquired. "Emmy was telling me that you guys have a pretty rigorous game schedule."
"Well, Norway sucked, but Thief River was pretty fun," I said with a laugh. "We won and then had to push a plane."
"You did what?" Mrs. Morrison asked, aghast at the thought.
"Well, we kinda sorta hit…a moose," Emily told her.
"You hit a moose? With an airplane?" her dad questioned. "You don't hear that everyday."
"Yeah, and it was raining and cold and Jack was soaked when he got back inside. And, of course, he had to hug up on the girlfriend, thus soaking her," Emily said with a small laugh.
At least she finally smiled.
"So, I hear Rob McClanahan is on the team," Josh spoke up. "That must be awkward, Em."
And the smile disappeared.
"No, it's actually not," Emily said evenly. "I hear you got married to a girl. That must be…awkward."
"Children!" Mr. Morrison yelled, glaring at his son. "Dinner ready yet, Mary?"
"Yes, let's eat," she replied indignantly.
"I can't believe you never told me you and your dad still talk," I said to Emily, getting into the car.
"Yeah, well, he's still nice to me," she muttered, handing me the keys again.
"Talk to your brother, other than to insinuate his marriage is a sham because he's actually gay?" I questioned.
"No, but my dad said that I wasn't invited due to my mother's suggestion," she explained. "Although, the McClanahan's were invited. I don't know why. When Robbie and I dated, they hated his family."
"To get back at you possibly?" I suggested. "Why didn't Mac tell you about it?"
"We aren't exactly talking at this point, what with your big mouth blabbing about the pregnancy," Emily shot back.
"I'm sorry," I murmured, holding her hand.
"We got into a fight earlier today," she confessed. "Made Hiroshima look like a square dance."
"That bad, huh?"
"Root canals are more fun," she muttered.
"Talk to your mom any?"
"Fought would be a more accurate description," Emily replied. "She doesn't like you. I may have said something I shouldn't have."
"What did you say?" I asked, getting nervous.
"Well, she was rambling about how Jack isn't a name, more like an action performed on a car to get a tire off," she said. "And then, I may have said that we're getting married."
"Does that mean you're accepting my proposal, Miss Morrison?" I asked, hopefully.
"Yeah, I am," she replied, her eyes clouding up with tears. "And then she…she said that she would try to be in town, but made no promises. How do you say that? You're only daughter says she's getting married, and that's the response. That isn't normal."
I was trying so hard to not smile, but I couldn't help it. She actually accepted my marriage proposal.
"Baby, if she's gonna be like that, I don't think I want her there," I told her.
"I don't think I do either," she whispered.
