Chapter Four: I'm Still Waiting

On clearer days I can see the lights from my bedroom door,
On windy nights I can smell the lake as it drifts to me from the shore
The traffic lights silently change a thousand times a day
But I'm still waiting, yeah I'm still waiting

Emma

"I think we should go break the news to Joey," Craig said. We had just picked Danica up in my car.

"Now?" I asked. I wasn't sure if I was ready for it.

"It's as good a time as any."

"I guess so," I sighed. Turning the car around, I drove towards Craig's house. We drove the rest of the way in silence. I parked on the street, turned the car off, and sat. I couldn't get out of the car.

"It'll be okay; he'll understand," Craig told me, rubbing my back. I took a deep breath and forced a smile.

"Well, here goes nothing," I said. I got out and took Danica out of her car seat, holding her close to me. Then I followed Craig inside the house, praying that for some reason, Joey wouldn't be home.

Craig

As soon as I saw Joey sitting in the living room with Angela, I started freaking out. Maybe this wasn't the best time. He looked so happy and I knew he was going to be mad. I told Emma that he'd understand, but I wasn't really so sure.

"Uh…Joey," I said. He looked up and smiled.

"Hey Craig, what's up?" he asked. Emma was hiding somewhat behind me. Joey could see her, but not the baby. "Hi Emma, it's so nice to see you," he said. She nodded her head, but didn't say a word.

"Joey, we need to talk to you, in private." I gave him the most serious look I could muster up and swallowed the lump in my throat.

"Hey Angie, why don't you go upstairs and play?" Joey asked her.

"Can Emma come play too?" she asked, looking over at her. Emma cleared her throat before answering.

"Maybe later Angie. I need to talk to your dad."

"Okay, but don't forget!" Angela said before running up the stairs.

"What did you need to talk to me about?" Joey asked. "It looks serious."

"It is…" I trailed off. I started walking towards him and Emma followed. I moved slightly to the right, and then he saw her.

"Whose baby is that?" he asked Emma. I sat down on the couch and Emma sat next to me.

"She's…she's my daughter," she told him. Joey was shocked. I guess he didn't know what to say, but then he thought of something.

"I…I didn't know. How old is she?" he asked.

"She's five months," Emma told him.

"Who is her father? Is it that boyfriend, um, Oliver? The one that was on the news with you," he asked. Emma was having a hard time, so I stepped in.

"Joey…she's…she's our daughter," I explained.

"WHAT?" he yelled. Instantly, Danica started to cry, and so did Emma.

"This was a mistake," she said, standing up.

"Sit down Emma!" Joey yelled. Emma sat.

"Don't yell at her Joey!" I yelled at him.

"How did this happen to me?" Joey buried his head in his hands.

"I'm sorry," I told him. "I would have told you much sooner, but I just found out myself," I said.

"How could you keep something like that from him?" Joey stood up.

"I…" But Emma couldn't finish the sentence. She just sat there, tears streaming down her cheeks, cradling our daughter.

"She was scared Joey. And I don't blame her for it," I told him. "Please sit down and just talk to us."

"When did this happen?" he asked, sitting down. He was at least calm for the time being.

"Last summer," Emma spoke up. "Ashley had just left for London, and I…it was a mistake Joey. Please don't hate me for it," she cried.

"Emma, I don't hate you. I understand that people make mistakes." He sighed, and turned to me. "What are you two going to do now?" he asked. "You're getting married, right?" Both of us were shocked this time.

"No Joey, we're not." I figured I'd break it to him. I didn't want him yelling at Emma again.

"Why not?" he asked, starting to raise his voice a little. "This is your daughter that you're talking about."

"Please don't get mad again," I said. "We're not getting married because it wouldn't be right. We're not in love Joey," I tried to explain.

"Oh, so you're going to leave your daughter because you're in love with Manny? I know you have this crazy idea in your head that the two of you are getting married, but that is not going to work now. You have other priorities Craig," he lectured me.

"I'm in love with Oliver, not Craig," Emma spoke up.

"Emma, you have to do what's best for your baby. And having her father in her life is best for her," Joey told her.

"She has a father. Oliver has been there since before she was born. He is the father that she knows. Craig's going to be there too. We're just not getting married," she said.

"Craig, if you're not marrying Emma, then you're not marrying Manny. I won't let you make another mistake," he told me.

"Joey, you can't tell me who to marry! Manny is the love of my life," I said. Great, now my eyes were getting all teary.

"Manny is not the mother of your child!" Joey yelled at me.

"She was at one time!" It just slipped out. I can't believe I said it. Even though it's been almost four years, I haven't forgotten about my first baby. The one I wanted just as much as I want Danica.

"What are you talking about?" Then I lost it. I don't know why it happened.

"I would have a four year old son or daughter right now if she hadn't gotten the abortion! Would you have told me to marry her then, when I was fifteen?" I yelled. "Manny is the mother of my first child, even though that baby died. She is my first and only true love, and you can't take that away from me!"

Joey looked mad. For a minute, I thought he was going to hit me like my dad used to. He got really close to me and had tears in his eyes. But the thing he said next wasn't to me.

"Emma, can you excuse us?" he asked her, in a really calm voice. Without a word, Emma stood up and walked out of the house. I turned to face Joey, full of fear.

Emma

I sat down on the steps outside the door. I couldn't leave him now. It's all my fault that this is happening. Now Joey knows about Manny, and I've probably gotten Craig into all kinds of trouble.

"Emma? What's wrong?" I looked up to see Brooklyn standing there, holding Maddox by the hand.

"Oh, hi," I said, wiping my face off. "Craig and I just told his step dad about Danica," I told her.

"How'd he take it?"

"He wants us to get married. And now he's found out about Manny's abortion. He asked to talk to Craig alone," I explained.

"Oh. I'm sorry," she said.

"Don't worry about it. What are you up to?" I asked her. She looked happy. I'm glad that she was able to work things out with Oliver before he got shot.

"Nothing really. Mad and I just got back from the park."

"When Craig comes out, I have to bring him back to my house to get his truck, and then I'm going to go see Oliver. Do you guys want to come?" I asked her.

"Sure. I'll go get Maddox's car seat," she said, turning to go into her house. She didn't come back for ten more minutes, and Craig still wasn't out. I was holding Maddox on my lap along with Danica while Brooklyn put his car seat into my car. Then I heard the door behind me opening and Craig stepped out. It looked like he had been crying.

"You okay?" I asked him. I stood up and handed Danica to him, still holding Maddox.

"Yeah. Joey was pretty understanding. He just told me all this stuff about how I can go to him for anything, and we had like a father/son kinda bonding moment. Well, stepfather/son really. I have to go talk to Manny now though. I've put it off for too long," he explained.

"Okay. I'll drop you off at my house to get the truck. Brooklyn and I are going to the hospital." I put Dani in her car seat. Brooklyn got climbed into the backseat, wedging herself between Danica and Maddox's car seats.

When we got back to my house, I got out and hugged Craig.

"Thanks for everything today," I told him. "Let me know how it goes with Manny."

"Thanks to you too Em. I'm sorry you had to see Joey flip out like that. And let me know how Oliver is doing."

Brooklyn got out of the backseat and got in the front. I watched Craig get in his truck and drive away before I got back into my own car and made my way to the hospital.

If my hand could block the sun,
Would we ever wake up?
If I turned back all these clocks
Would that be time enough?

A/N: Okay, I don't know if on the show Joey knew about Manny's pregnancy and abortion…but for this story, I'm going to say that he didn't. So now he does…but anyway, the date is still September 29th. I'm gonna say that around now it's like 2 in the afternoon. The song is "Torches" by Rise Against and they own it. Hope you liked this chapter. For some reason, fanfiction wasn't sending me my reviews through my email, but it's working now.

TemporaryxInsanity: At the end of chapter 3, Craig says "Don't forget, I'll be here for you." And Emma says "I won't" meaning she won't forget.

sexybaby: What won't send you an email? I'll help if I can!

Knocky7: I'm glad you like it. When you're writing an actual review, you can click the box that says Add Story to my Story Alert List, it will email you every time I submit a new chapter. That way, you don't have to look everyday.

Libby: Thanks for your review, it was nice. And I'm updating now, only because I've written the next two chapters already. I got a whole bunch of ideas yesterday for things that will happen in the future.