Chapter 7: Don't you cry tonight
Emily was pissed. Margi had invited Damon and Darby over for dinner. She wasn't too bothered with Darby since her coach practically saw her 24-7. Emily had a sneaking suspicion that since the baby was due in only two weeks Darby wanted to make sure Emily had her return to gymnastics in her mind as much as possible. Having Damon over, on the other hand, bothered her immensely. Since their walk on the beach, Emily had carefully avoided any mention of adoption, despite Damon hinting at her to reconsider. But he was too sweet to express his opinion forcefully. That made Emily feel like crap because she knew how he'd become used to being a father but Emily knew that if she kept the baby she wouldn't be able to give gym everything. And that made her feel selfish and then she got mad at Damon for making her feel selfish. Emily rolled her eyes at her chain of thought: Chloe always said that Emily could think herself in circles.
"Well, thank you Margi that was delicious." Darby said a bit too loudly. It had been a very awkward meal, with lots of long silences, they'd become even worse when the kids left the table: the older ones putting the younger ones to bed before doing their homework.
"Yes it was great, thank you." Damon chimed in "wasn't it, Emily?"
Emily glared at him for making her seem like a petulant child. "Sure, but you know I'm kind of tired, so I might just do the dishes then head off to bed." Emily picked up Darby's plate, put it on her own and started to stand up.
"It's 7pm, M." Margi said knowingly: she wasn't going to get Emily out of what she'd planned for this evening that easily.
"Well you know me, I like my sleep."
"Uh huh, you like it in the morning but you haven't gone to bed a wink before 11 in months. Sit back down."
Emily gave her godmother a wry smile and sat. There was no point arguing with Margi: she made Sasha look like a fluffy teddy bear. Well, almost.
"I know it's been a rough ride for you all. Especially you two." She nodded at Emily and Damon. "But I think you all need to clear the air, there's no point tiptoeing around. So I've got someone who can help you decide what course of action to take."
Damon, Darby and Emily all shared a confused look. "Margi, what's going on?"
Margi smiled and was about to speak when the doorbell rang. "Wow Chloe wasn't lying when she said Summer was punctual." Margi murmured as she went to answer the door.
"Did she just say Summer? As in Summer van Horne?"
"Maybe, I have no idea why she would be here though. She seemed nice and all but we were never particularly close." Emily replied.
"Then I should probably go: I'm not exactly her favourite person." Darby said awkwardly.
"No stay, please? This is obviously something important and I need your support."
Darby's heart wrenched at how scared Emily seemed. She smiled at her gymnast and gripped her shoulder "I'll wait for you in the guest wing, fill me in when you find out what's going on."
Darby left to go around the back to the east wing of the house, and shortly afterwards Margi re-entered followed by Summer, who smiled shyly at Emily and Damon. Emily smiled back and waved coyly. She was thoroughly confused.
"Chloe rang me a couple of days ago and said that Summer wants to discuss something with you two. I'll leave you all to it then." Margi left the room, making Emily feel hopeless.
"Um have a seat Summer." Emily said awkwardly.
Summer sat, hands clasped in front of her. Damon and Emily took the couch opposite her. Emily instinctively reached for Damon's hand and Damon took her hand and twined her fingers with his.
"I would make a mundane remark or say a self evident truth but I'm no good at small talk." Summer said nervously "so I guess I'll cut to the chase, have you made a decision about adoption yet Emily?"
Emily was angry and she could tell by the way Damon's back stiffened that he was on guard too. Summer was normally quite blunt but this was bad, even for her. But although Chloe wasn't that strict, she'd always taught Emily to be polite, so much so that it was a habit.
"Um we're still mulling things over I guess Summer."
"Oh I see. Well I know this is intrusive and it's a huge bombshell to drop on the two of you at an emotional time, but if you do decide to put your baby up for adoption I would be honoured to adopt him or her. I am totally fine with an open adoption, you could see your child all you want and you could name them, I'd make sure you'd be involved. And I promise I won't force religion on him or her." Summer sounded so eager and desperate that Emily's heart wrenched. Summer would always love her child, that much was certain. And, thought the bitchy part of Emily's mind: if she could be patient with Lauren then she would be a good mother to just about everyone. Emily looked at Damon. She knew deep down that the idea of adoption freaked him out. Damon looked at Emily with tears in his eyes. And Emily was surprised to feel two tears escape down her cheeks.
"Can we talk about it for a moment alone Summer?" Emily said thickly.
Summer came over to hug the young brunette. "Take as much time as you need." She pressed a card with her contact details into Emily's hand, and pulled out a sleeve of tissues and gave them to Damon.
Emily gave a watery smile "you always were super organised."
XXX
Payson and Kelly had been at the gym 2 hours earlier than usual. The Rock's yearly ranking meet was coming up in a few weeks which would determine how each gymnast would rank at the Rock and also who would be going to nationals. Both Payson and Kelly were after the top spot, relentlessly practicing their routines over and over again. Kelly had tried to get a couple of snide remarks in to Payson, but Payson ignored her: so Kelly gave up. Kelly walked over to the water fountain to fill up her drink bottle and saw Payson trying to do the new amanar vault, but she kept falling at the end. Kelly walked over to her. "How's it going Keeler?"
Payson rolled her eyes. "Please don't rub in the fact that you had the amanar nailed a year ago, you're two inches shorter than me and have had the luxury of not having your back broken and being out for months."
"Chill robot lady I just came over to say that if you run a fraction slower in your run up your momentum will be better suited to the 2 and a half twist and you will be less likely to fall on your dismount."
"Robot lady? That's the best insult you've got? No wonder Lauren always wastes you when you have insult wars."
"One Lauren does not waste me and two, just try it? I had exactly the same problem when I was learning it."
Payson rolled her eyes. "Well it's worth a try but if I land on my head I'm holding you responsible."
Kelly was slightly hurt that Payson still didn't quite treat her like a friend but she smiled anyway. "I'm glad you have so much faith in me."
Payson smirked at her and began to run- visualising her vault as she did so and trying not to rush the run in. Before she knew it she was flying through the air, her body weightless and twisting. Then suddenly she landed: on her feet, knees bent. Her hands flew up into the automatic salute. She beamed and ran over to Kelly, and to the surprise of both of them, hugged her. "Thanks Kelly!"
Kelly was happy. No one had ever genuinely hugged her before. "That was amazing Pay."
"I can do better."
"You are such a robot!"
"Like you aren't."
The girls laughed and went to chalk up. As they were doing so Lauren and Kaylie walked in. Lauren was yabbering away and Kaylie looked half asleep and annoyed that Lauren wouldn't shut up.
"Hey Payson" Lauren said, pointedly ignoring Kelly "is Summer here yet?"
"Oh is Barbie feeling insecure because her fake mummy hasn't called her this morning?" Kelly said.
"Shut it, at least my nose doesn't look like a pig snout!"
"That's the best you've got?"
"Well it's true." Lauren said vehemently. "So Payson, have you seen Summer?"
"No – she texted Mum to say she'd be out of town for a week or so."
"A whole week?"
"That's what she said." Payson said, trying not to roll her eyes. Lauren was wasting her valuable training time. "Look I need to go work on my vault."
"Yeah sure." Lauren said distractedly. She felt like someone had punched her in the stomach. Summer was going to be gone for a whole week and didn't bother to tell her. It looked like things really were over. She walked over to the beam and ran her hand along its smooth surface. Usually envisaging her routines made her feel alive and they could take her mind off anything, but not today. Angrily she punched the beam stormed out of practice.
XXX
"So what do you think?" Damon said after the two of them had been silent for a long while.
Emily looked at the person she considered her best friend and her soulmate. "I think it's perfect, but Damon I know you're not sure about adoption."
Damon pulled Emily into a hug. "My main problem was that I didn't want to be like my Dad. I didn't want my kid, our kid, to think their whole life that I'd abandoned him or her."
"Damon, you are nothing like your father."
"But I guess with Summer being there and letting us be involved it won't be bad. In fact, I think it's a good idea too."
Emily beamed "you're sure?"
"I will be. I just need time to process. But to be honest it's the best thing for everyone. I mean we might have money and dreams but we're not there yet. But Summer, she can over the baby a stable life and what's more it's her dream to have a kid."
"That's true, so we tell her yes?"
"We tell her yes."
Emily was quiet for a while, she snuggled into Damon's shoulder as she did so often and he put his arm around her and whispered in her ear "a penny for your thoughts, milady?"
"It's really happening. Our baby is going to have a stable life and I'm still going to the Olympics. I'm happy, but I feel kind of tired, and a bit sad too."
"Me too but this is better." Damon said, sure of himself.
"This is better." Emily agreed. She got to her feet, with some difficulty and went into the rec room where Margi and Summer were laughing hysterically. Emily smiled to see them: Margi hardly ever got any time to herself and it was nice to see this freer side of Summer. The two women saw Emily enter and they hurriedly got to their feet.
"Emily?" Summer asked quietly. It was only one word but that sentence conveyed so much.
Emily smiled, tears in her eyes. "Yes, Summer I, I would be honoured if you would adopt my child."
Summer's face held the biggest smile. "Oh Emily, I'm so humbled by this. I really am." She murmured as she went over to hug Emily. Margi walked over and hugged them both. She was so happy for her goddaughter. Damon came and joined them and he, Emily and Summer worked an adoption agreement. They would collectively choose the name, and Emily and Damon could see the baby as much as they wanted as long as they called first. And they would spend Christmas, Thanksgiving and birthdays together whenever possible. It wasn't official though. Emily and Damon would have to wait until the baby was born before they signed the parental rights over to Summer. Emily was dreading that. She knew it was best for everyone but she knew it would be one of the hardest days of her life.
XXX
Chloe looked at her hot pink calendar. It was exactly one week before the date she had circled with her silver sharpie and covered with smiley faced stickers: Emily's due date. She grinned, now that the baby was going to be put up for adoption and Chloe would get to see her grandbaby as much as she wanted she was very excited. She finished packing the last of her leopard skin print tights (a girl could never have too many) into her suitcase. Then she realised something that made her heart sink: Chloe could easily drive over to LA but Brian needed special equipment to get him there. Equipment that Chloe didn't have. How could she have been so stupid to overlook something as important as this? She swore and kicked the coffee table, causing it to topple over and make the stack of magazines that had been on top of it cascade to the floor. She sighed and began to pick them up when the phone rang.
"Hello?" She said despondently.
"Ms Kmetko?" Payson said "Are you ok?"
"Oh Payson, honey I'm fine, how are you? How is your training going? Emily says you've been working hard."
"Not as hard as Emily by the sounds of things." Payson said politely. She really hoped that Emily could make a successful comeback. Although Emily had only been at the Rock a year she had left a big hole, she hoped that Emily would come to her senses soon and start to train there again once she was ready.
"Oh Emily's doing great." Chloe said "Did you have a particular reason for calling Pay?"
"Well Ms Kmetko, I was wondering if I could come to LA with you to be there when Emily has the baby?"
Chloe beamed. Payson had always been one of her favourite gymnasts. She'd made the effort with Emily when she'd first arrived at the Rock and she didn't seem to bother with all the mind games. She was also one of the only adolescents who respected her: she called Chloe Ms Keeler despite being told repeatedly that she like being called Chloe.
"Payson I would love to take you up, and I know Emily would like it: especially since it looks like Brian might not be able to make it over to LA."
"What? Why not?" Payson asked.
"Well I can't accommodate his wheelchair and his special bed and the cost of hiring the equipment or buying another car..." Chloe let her sentence trail off. She was embarrassed about her financial difficulty but she knew Payson would understand. Her family hadn't been doing too well either until she'd received her endorsement from the Healthy Nut Company and her more recent one, for the Body Shop.
"Ms Kemetko, tell me where I can buy this equipment."
"Oh Payson, no. Don't take this upon yourself: I know your family hasn't been doing too well lately. Don't waste your money on me."
Payson rolled her eyes. The Kmetkos were the most deserving family she'd ever met but they were so selfless. They contrasted so much with the Tanner and Cruz families. "Ms Kmetko – the Rock needs a new bus to get us to meets and things. And since Emily's going to come back better than ever, our bus is going to need equipment to accommodate Brian. I'm going to call Sasha now."
"Payson honey, Emily doesn't want to go back to the Rock."
"Not yet, but she will once I wear her down enough." The blonde girl said with her famous stubbornness.
"How are you going to explain the wheelchair things to Sasha?"
"Have you met the man? He couldn't care less about little details like that. I'll just get Mum to make the lists of costs and things and then confuse him till he signs."
Chloe chuckled, that was Sasha all right. "Fine, but I'm buying you an ice cream the next time I see you."
"I can't wait" Payson replied "goodbye Ms Kmetko" she hung up the phone and went into the kitchen to find her mother.
XXX
"Faster Emily!" Darby yelled at her protégée.
Emily felt like puking, she was covered in sweat, the baby inside her was kicking her like crazy. Emily was pretty sure her son or daughter was wondering why she was torturing him or her. And her leg muscles were screaming from the pedalling.
Darby marched over. "I said faster!" She said angrily and turned up the resistance on the bike. Emily grunted and gave Darby the evils: she was far too exhausted to say anything. But she was pretty sure Darby got the message.
Darby just grinned "you'll thank me for this later once you're standing on that podium."
"Not...likely." Emily managed to splutter.
After another half an hour of agony Darby said Emily's new favourite three words "and we're done."
Emily stopped abruptly and half toppled of the exercycle. "Water, please."
"Here, well done. You are a machine Miss Emily."
"And you're a slave driver."
"Why thank you."
"You really need to learn what a compliment is." Emily said teasingly to her coach. The two smiled at each other and Damon walked in.
"Wow you're red."
"And you're funny, real funny." Emily said good naturedly. "What brings you here?"
"Well this just came in the mail." Damon held out an envelope.
Emily took it and saw that the return address on the back was her SATs marking place. "Oh my God, I can't look at it. Damon you open it."
Damon grinned, and dramatically pulled a letter opener out of his back pocket. "Miss Emily Kmetko, your SAT overall score, if I could have a drumroll please..." Darby obliged by whacking her knees "is 2350 out of 2400."
"That's not funny."
"You're right it's fricken incredible. My girl's a champion and a genius." Damon said and Emily hugged him, she had tears in her eyes again. Life finally seemed to be working out in her favour for once.
A/N sorry this took a bit longer than usual to update, I've got exams, sigh but I'll try to keep updates as regular as possible. Thank you for your reviews on the last chapter. Hope you liked this one, please let me know what you though. Good bad indifferent, I don't mind =). Next chapter is the baby being born eep! That happened quickly. Ok I'll stop typing now – but review, please! It makes my week when you do.