Chapter Eighteen: Obvious Heart
A/N: Sorry for the huge delay; writer's block is a pain in my ass! I'm sorry if these last few chapters aren't really that good…I'm having such a hard time writing them and I don't know why. Hope you like it, please review!
The week flew by, and before she knew it, Manny was at the airport to pick her husband and kids up. During the week, she found a building for her adoption agency that was ten minutes away from their new house in New York. She even convinced two people besides Emma to come work at the new office. She hired three people to take their places, and would find a few more people for the new office.
Jimmy emailed her pictures of the new house, and the best part was that the house had wheelchair ramps and a downstairs bedroom for Jonathan. And it was only a block away from Paige's house.
"Mommy!" Lily yelled as she ran to Manny. They hugged for a minute, and then Manny hugged everyone else.
"I missed you all so much," Manny told them. "Especially my darling husband," she said, turning to Jimmy and kissing him.
"Where's Bella?" Jimmy asked.
"Emma offered to watch her for the day so that we could all go out for lunch and to the movies after," Manny explained. They set off for The Dot for lunch.
Emma was sitting on the couch, rocking Isabella to sleep when the doorbell rang. She put the baby in her playpen and slowly made her way to the door, feeling a little worried. She wasn't sure who would be coming by the house. She opened the door a crack, saw that it was Chris, and let out a sigh of relief. She opened the door the rest of the way and let him in.
"Manny's not here," she said, crossing her arms over her chest. She was still irritated with Chris about the kiss he shared with her best friend who was married. She also felt a hint of jealousy, but couldn't understand why.
"Actually, I came here to see you. I knew Manny would be getting Jimmy and the kids from the airport," Chris explained. Emma was confused.
"What would you need to see me for?" she asked him.
"I thought maybe we could talk. There are some things I need to get off my chest, and I thought this would be as good a time as any."
"Um, sure," Emma replied, leading Chris over to the couch. She went over to the playpen to take Bella out, but Chris stopped her.
"Let me get her. You should sit down and rest," he said, leaning down to pick the baby up. Emma sat down on the couch, but protested.
"I'm pregnant; not sick," she said coldly. Isabella started to cry, and Emma reached for her. Chris ignored her and rocked the baby and stroked her cheek, trying to get her to sleep. Within the next minute, Bella was fast asleep in his arms. "How'd you get so good with kids?" Emma asked, a little rudely.
"I do have three of my own you know," he retorted.
"Not like you were there for them when they were little," she blurted out. When she saw Chris' face fall, she instantly regretted saying it. "Sorry…" she whispered.
"No, you're right. I was a terrible father, but I'm trying to make up for it now," he said. "I've also been volunteering at the orphanage downtown. I like to go there and try to make a difference in those children's lives. I even thought of adopting one of the older kids, but I knew I should get everything worked out with my kids first," he explained to her with a faraway look in his eyes.
"That's really sweet of you," Emma said, warming up to him a little. "But what did you want to talk about?" she asked, full of curiosity.
"Well…this is hard for me to say. First of all, I want to apologize for kissing Manny. I have already said sorry to her, but I feel the need to apologize to you. I know that wasn't something you enjoyed walking in on, and I'm sorry."
"Thanks, that means a lot," Emma said gratefully. Then Chris continued.
"Part of the reason I kissed her was to see if we still had something. I realized that day that she really loves Jimmy and isn't going to leave him for anyone, especially not me. But I was also seeing if I could forget about someone that I've developed feelings for." He stopped talking for a minute, and Emma had a confused look on her face, so he tried to explain further. "Ever since I brought myself back into Manny's life, and into the kids' lives, I've found myself developing feelings for someone else. It was hard because I was still in love with Manny, but the further her and I grew apart, the closer I felt to this other woman."
"And who is this other woman?" Emma asked. Chris answered her by kissing her. Like Manny, Emma was unable to resist, and she fell into his kiss. When Chris pulled away, Emma just sat there with a stunned look on her face. She blinked a few times and came back to her senses. "Me?" was all she could say.
"Yeah," he replied, looking away from her and down at Isabella instead.
"Chris, I…" Emma started to say, but she didn't finish the sentence.
"I get it Emma. You don't like me, and that's okay. I guess I just…" but Emma cut him off before he could finish.
"It's not that. Not at all. Ever since Manny and I met you in grade eleven, I was a little jealous of Manny. For a little while, I even hoped you would break up so that maybe we could have a chance. But then she got pregnant, and I knew I could never get in between you two. Then you really hurt her by leaving, and I found myself forced to be mad at you. After all this time, I think I still like you, and I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not." Chris stared at her, completely awestruck. He never thought that Emma liked him.
"Wow, uh…I never thought you had any feelings for me at all. Actually, come to think of it, I thought you always hated me," he told her.
"I never hated you. I just had to pretend like I didn't have any feelings for you so that Manny wouldn't get mad. She is my best friend," Emma left the explanation at that. She left out the part that she couldn't bear to have her heart broken again, especially from another guy named Chris. Before Chris could reply, Emma leaned forward and kissed him this time. She had just put her tongue in his mouth when the front door opened.
"Um, wow…" Manny said. Emma and Chris jumped apart. "Sorry to interrupt, but I'm just gonna go put my daughter in her crib," Manny said, taking Bella from Chris. Jimmy and the kids walked in and saw the couch's occupants looking embarrassed.
"Hi guys," Jimmy said, waving.
"Everyone, let's give Auntie Emma and Chris some time alone. Daddy and I will help you unpack your clothes, okay?" Manny suggested. Everyone followed her upstairs, with Jimmy carrying Jonathan, leaving Emma and Chris alone in silence.
"How was that for awkward?" Chris said, breaching the silence that lingered between them. Emma let out a nervous laugh, but then closed her mouth. "Maybe I should go?" he said it in the form of a question rather than a suggestion. Emma nodded her head. Chris stood up to go, and Emma got up to walk him to the door. Right before he left, he turned around and quickly kissed her on the cheek. "Um, give me a call later, when things settle down a bit." Emma nodded her head once again and watched him leave.
"I just didn't see you two as a couple, that's all," Manny said. The kids and Jimmy were asleep because of their long flight and busy day. Manny and Emma were out in the pool.
"So you're not mad at me?" Emma asked, eyes pleading.
"No, I'm not mad. Don't you think you're being a bit hypocritical though?" Manny asked, raising an eyebrow.
"What do you mean by that?" Emma asked, clearly confused.
"Well, just a week ago, you were lecturing me on kissing someone while I was married…and that's what you just did tonight. I mean, what's JT gonna do when he finds out?" she explained. Emma bit her bottom lip. She had completely forgotten about JT.
"Actually Manny, we're not even married. He beat me, remember? And now he's up in some institution somewhere, trying to stop being an alcoholic!" Emma started to get angry.
"He's up in that institution because he's trying to get better for you. And you're pregnant with his baby! Doesn't that mean anything to you?" Manny asked, becoming distraught with Emma's actions.
"You have kids by different fathers, and one of them isn't even yours! You're 25 and you already have four of them! And you want to lecture me on my one child that I'm going to have?" Emma said, rolling her eyes. She stood up and walked up the steps, out of the pool.
"That's real mature Em. Taking a shot at my kids like that. Getting pregnant at a young age was a mistake, but I don't regret it. I got two beautiful children out of it. And I raised Jonathan because his mother was killed and his father was in prison. Sorry if I wanted to give him a life. And as for Isabella, she is a symbol of my love with Jimmy. I'm not ashamed of any of my children, and you shouldn't be using them against me. I'm only trying to help you!" Manny yelled.
"Well, go help someone else!" Emma turned her back on Manny, but Manny jumped out of the pool and ran inside. Emma felt a little guilty, but she was also furious. She stormed into the house after Manny, to find her in tears on the couch.
"If you can't appreciate what I've done for you, then you can get out of my house!" Manny yelled.
"Fine, I will." Emma glared at her, grabbed her keys off the end table, and left, slamming the door shut behind her. A few seconds later, she heard Emma's car peeling out of the driveway. Lily appeared at the top of the stairs, rubbing her eyes.
"Mom, what was all that noise?" she asked.
"Oh it was nothing sweetheart. I had the TV up too loud," Manny lied. She didn't want to worry her. "Let's get you to bed." Manny walked up the stairs and tucked Lily in, kissing her on top of her head. She went to her bedroom, changed into pajamas, and lay down next to Jimmy. She was angry with Emma, but afraid that something might happen to her. Getting out of bed, she grabbed her cell phone and went into the bathroom, careful not to wake her husband. She dialed Emma's cell, but realized that she could hear it ringing. She followed the sound to Emma's bedroom, where she found the phone in the middle of the bed. Manny sighed and went back to bed, hoping that her friend would be okay.
