Disclaimer: I wish I owned Degrassi, but I don't :(
"Emma, you look great!" Spike commented, brushing a strand of Emma's newly coiffed hair out of her face. The short, straightened style looked good on Emma and gave her a sophisticated edge that made Spike want to hold her and never let her go. The fact that her baby was now a young woman, made Spike want to cry.
Emma smiled at her mother and gave her small frame a tight squeeze. "I like what you've done with the place," she commented, walking around the foreign space. "You must have put Snake to work every weekend."
Spike shrugged. "The salon had a good year so we decided to give the place a few minor improvements. We didn't touch your space though. That's exactly how you left it nine months ago."
Emma nodded her head. Snake and Jack came bounding through the back door, offering hugs and hellos to the returned member of their family. After all the small talk Emma could handle, she excused herself and let Snake help her carry her bags down to her room.
"You know your mom wanted to add on to the back of the house?" Snake asked. When Emma shook her head, he continued. "She thought you might like a main floor room. But seeing as how you come home so rarely now, we thought against it."
Emma sat down on her bed, immersed in the familiarity of her surroundings, and wondering why she suddenly felt so overwhelmed. She smiled up at Snake and offered, "I'm really sorry. Getting away for university has been something I really needed."
"I get that, Em. I also get that coming home for some holidays is good too."
Emma stood and gave her step-dad a big hug. "I'll do better next year, I promise. And just think, you have me for the next four months! You'll be wishing I'll leave by the end of the summer!"
"Never gonna happen, Emmalatta," he smiled, calling her by one of their pet names. "Um, I should warn you about something though."
Emma raised an eyebrow, just as the front doorbell rang. She put her index finger in the air and said, "Save that thought! I ran into Liberty at the gas station on my way home and told her to stop by. That's probably her."
Emma put on a light jog to the front door, grabbing the knob and turning. Emma had been excited to see Liberty and was interested in catching up with one of her oldest and closest friends. But it wasn't Liberty standing there. It was the last person she expected to see at her front door...
R&R!!
