[Author's Note: Hello Sky High Fandom! I know it's literally been three years and four days since I updated this, but I felt I should add to this, because this is probably my longest running story right now. I'm so sorry for the delay. I suck as a human. But yay, five new chapters (if anybody still reads this)!]
-Cora's Point of View-
After Warren and I put Emma to bed, he walked me back to my bedroom. He gave me a strong hug and I just kind of smiled into his shoulder. He meant it. He meant every word that came out of his mouth.
He wanted to be a father to my child.
I was happy, but at the same time, this could end badly. Very badly. Maybe. Or maybe he'd be an awesome dad until I found a guy I could love.
Warren let me go and walked back to the spare bedroom.
Wait. A guy I could love? No way. My whole brain was screaming, 'Do you even remember Dean?!' Yes, I did, actually. Every time I saw his daughter. Well, my daughter. He just helped make her. I gave birth to her. I raised her. Except for the last couple months, but who was counting those? I wasn't.
I sighed, realizing there was no way I was going back to sleep.
About six o'clock, I quietly crept out of my bedroom. Magenta and Layla were passed out in the bed. I carefully descended the stairs, side stepping the squeaky one, third from the bottom.
When I reached the kitchen, I made a pot of coffee and sat at the table as I waited for the brew. I was on my second cup of coffee when Aunt Rose came in. She was always more awake in the mornings than I was. So when she saw me sitting there, alert, she just looked at me sadly.
"Rough night, child?" She asked, although she already knew the answer.
"Yeah, well, you know how it is." I said, taking a sip of the liquid I had colored blonde with milk and sugar.
Aunt Rose nodded as she poured herself a cup and sat down across from me. "You don't believe him?" She asked, already having skimmed my mind.
I bit my bottom lip a little bit before I said anything. "I don't know. I mean, I want to. But it's hard to keep those kinds of promises. I mean, if he ended up with a girlfriend that hated the fact he was taking care of me, and he kind of just left, ya know, I couldn't blame him. But I don't know how I would handle that."
Aunt Rose just nodded. "Maybe it'll get better." She said, and a nightmare from the previous night flashed into my mind.
"Or it'll get worse." I said, taking another sip of coffee.
Aunt Rose just nodded. She never really sugar coated it for you. She wasn't mean about it, thankfully. But she was always honest and to the point.
I was on my third cup of coffee before I heard footsteps on the stairs. Warren came around the corner. Emma was lying on her stomach on his shoulder like she was a flying.
"Good morning." He said, flipping her off his shoulder and into his arms. Momentarily, my mom instinct kicked in and I was scared. But she just giggled as Warren set her in the high chair.
"What's the word you were telling me earlier?" Warren asked her, tickling her cheek. "Tell mommy."
She turned to me and I was definitely skeptical as she opened her mouth. "Super!" I raised my eyebrow at Warren. "You taught her 'super'?" I asked.
He shook his head. "She was crying in her crib, so I picked her up and she just kept saying it. So I put her on my shoulder like a super hero." Warren said with a hint of a smile, as he went to the coffee pot.
"Momma super?" Emma asked and all three of us looked at her.
I just kind of smiled. "No, baby. Momma's not a super. Dada is a super." I said, pointing to Warren. He just smiled, turning around to pour the brown liquid into his cup.
Aunt Rose smiled at me as Warren sat on the other side of Emma. "It's about time you found a man that's good with kids."
I felt the fire in my cheeks at her statement. "He's just doing it for Emma, Aunt Rose." I said, getting up as Emma asked for food. I took out the box of cheerios from the cupboard and poured some of the tray for her.
"And I only go to church for Conway O'Hara." Aunt Rose said, shaking her head at the mention of the red headed Irishman she had eyes for.
"No. But that's the main reason you go." I said with a smile as I returned to my seat next to Emma.
"But, not the only." She said with a smile, sipping on her black coffee.
I shook my head at her. "Dada super?" Emma asked, reaching for Warren. Warren gave her his finger and she was ecstatic. "Yeah, baby girl. Dada super." He smiled.
By the time Warren was on his second cup, and I was on my fourth, Ethan, Zach, and Layla were up. Aunt Rose watched Emma as Warren and I went upstairs to wake up Will and Magenta.
"Don't roast that blanket. Grandma Blair gave that to Aunt Rose." I told him seriously. He smiled, but gave me a nod as he went into the spare bedroom. I went into my room and politely woke up Magenta.
She nodded, climbing out of bed. "What the hell! Warren!" Will called and I heard the pyro's laugh from up the hall.
Will came out of the bedroom and the bottom of his shirt was singed. Will just glared at Magenta and I as he stormed into the bathroom, slamming and locking the door behind him.
"You saved the blanket though, right?" I asked Warren as he came out of the bedroom with a smirk.
"Warren!" I said, heading towards the bedroom when he grabbed my arm. "I saved the blanket, Young. Geez." He said, pulling me towards the stairs Magenta had already gone down. "You're not funny." I commented.
"You say that now." He said as we walked into the dining room. Aunt Rose was in the kitchen, so seeing Emma happy with Layla, I went to help Aunt Rose. Half an hour, and twenty pancakes later, we were sitting at the dining room table, eating breakfast.
Will had single handedly put away seven pancakes. Zach came in a close second with six. I just gapped at them. I had never seen anybody eat this much. "You guys just blew my mind." I said, picking up mine and Warren's plate as Will's phone sounded itself.
After a few minutes of talking, he hung up and informed us that his mom and dad were coming to pick up Ethan, Zach, and Magenta, and he and Layla would be driving back to Maxville with Warren, Emma, and me.
When Will's parents got there, there were of course introductions to Aunt Rose and Emma. Then Josie explained how I was going to be staying in Maxville with them. I knew Aunt Rose wanted to know what was going on, but she barely read my mind in depth.
She just skimmed over what I was thinking about at that moment. I'd all but forgotten I was moving in with the Stronghold's. When Josie told this to Aunt Rose, she just turned to me, with that 'mom' look.
"I spaced, ok? I'm not sure if you're aware or not, but I kind of had a hectic day yesterday, with almost dying and all." I said, trying to defend myself.
She just shook her head, as if that was no excuse. I stuck my tongue out at her when she turned back around.
After all the arrangements had been made, Josie and Steve took off with Zach, Ethan, and Magenta. I went to gather up Emma's things, as Aunt Rose would be sending us off soon.
I began packing up Emma's things when Layla came in to help me. "That's a pretty ring. Where did you get it?" Layla asked as the guys came into the room to help load things into the car.
I blushed, seeing Warren out of the corner of my eye. "Emma's dad gave it to me as a promise ring." I said quietly.
Layla instantly went into full-fledged apology mode. Begging forgiveness and everything.
"Layla." I told her to keep her from continuing the rant I wasn't even listening to. "Shut up. It's ok. I just found it in my old jewelry box and thought it looked cool."
She nodded her head franticly and I looked over at Warren, as if asking for help. "Don't look at me. You're the one that told her." Warren said, holding his hands up in defense.
"You're supposed to help me with things like this." I murmured to myself, packing a box up.
I saw Layla and Will share a glance. "Ok, what'd we miss?" Will asked, as I continued to pack the box with clothes and toys. I glanced at Warren who just gave me a smile. I glared at him, thinking of an excuse for our exchange. However, I didn't have to think hard.
"We came to an agreement and we'll tell you, when it involves you." He told them. My turn to smile. Will and Layla's turn to look confused. Yep, mission accomplished. With only a few minor delays, we got the car loaded.
Aunt Rose gave me a tearful good bye and I told her I'd write her letters, since I had broken the cell phone the 'Agency' had given me yesterday. I didn't want them tracking me around.
She nodded and we set off. As Warren was the only one with a legal driver's license, he drove us back to Maxville. Will and Layla sat in the back with Emma in her car seat. She loved car rides. I hadn't been able to take her on many, but she loved watching the cars and houses pass us by.
It took us about an hour and a half to get back to Maxville. We dropped Layla off first, Will promising to talk to her the next day at school. Then Warren drove us to Will's house. Josie already had removed everything from my apartment and terminated my lease.
Warren and Will helped carry the boxes up to the spare bedroom, that was now Emma's and my bedroom. After they unloaded the boxes, I just looked around the room, Emma on my hip. I'd never really been in one place for too long. I was actually kind of confused on the process.
Josie came in to tell me Warren was leaving. I followed her down the stairs and into the front hall. Warren watched me come closer and I smiled at him. "Thank you for all your help. You're a true life saver."
He smirked at me. "Anytime, Young." He said and I held Emma out to him. He took her and gently bounced her in his arms. "Ok baby girl, I'll see you tomorrow after work." He said, kissing her cheek and handing her back. I smiled, helping her wave goodbye to Warren.
"Ok. Seriously. Explain." Will said, and I noticed Josie and Steve were watching me carefully.
I huffed. What was the point in lying now? "Warren told me that he wanted to be like, Emma's adopted father, since her real dad is dead and I obviously can't raise a kid on my own." I said in a rush.
Will's eyes went wide. "Warren's your baby-daddy?" Steve smacked Will upside the head, giving him the 'shut up' look. Will quietly apologized, rubbing his head. How bad would that hurt? Dad with super strength whacks you on the head? Let's talk about 'ouch.'
"Well, when you say it like that, it sounds bad." I said, looking down at Emma. "He told me she needed a father figure. I never thought about it before, but I think he's right."
Josie smiled at me kindly. "Every girl needs a decent role model, why not you and Warren?" She said, looking over at Steve, who nodded.
Will still looked flabbergasted. "Warren? A dad? Have you met him?"
"He's better with kids then you are. Emma just looks at you and she cries." I threw back at him. Somehow, his mouth hung open more than it already was.
"Go, children. Go clean up before dinner. We're having baked pasta and salad." Josie said, shooing us up the stairs.
"Emma, baby, you wanna see Uncle Will?" I asked her and she cuddled closer to me. "See." I said, sticking my tongue out at him. He kind of just rolled his eyes. "Oh. Hey. You wanna hear the new word that she says?" I asked him seriously.
He paused half way up the stairs and turned to me. With a little coaxing, Emma proudly said, 'Super!' Will just smiled. "She's gonna be a little you."
"But I don't have powers." I said, walking with him up the stairs.
"Then how does your aunt?" Will asked, curiously.
"Both my grandparents were supers with normal jobs. My aunt and mom got powers, too. But I don't have any." I told him, setting Emma down on the changing table Warren had set up for me before he left.
"How do you know?" He asked, handing me a diaper from the box I had yet to unpack.
His question shocked me a little. "What do you mean?" I asked him, carefully paying attention to the dirty diaper as I threw it in the trash can beside the table.
"I didn't get my powers until I had already been at Sky High for almost two weeks." He said, leaning on the wall.
I looked at him for a moment, before going on to re-dress Emma. "Well, I mean, I've never tried to do anything spectacular. My mom went inactive after I turned five. My dad was always upset she was a super, since he wasn't."
"Well, I have this book from Hero History. Yes, it's a real class I take." He said, answering my raised eyebrow. I shrugged it off as he continued. "It's called 'The Powers Encyclopedia.' It's supposed to index all known powers and a few that only one or two people in history have had."
I picked Emma back up, thinking about it for a minute. "Ok. Sure, I'll look over it with you." I told him as we walked back down stairs together.
"It's possible you have a power, but because you never had the right trigger, it never showed up." Will said and went on to explain the whole incident that happened in his cafeteria in Freshmen year.
"Warren tried to light you on fire?" I asked, eyes wide.
He nodded with a stupid grin on his face. "Oh, he wanted to barbeque me so bad. It's kind of a funny story now." Will said his realization out loud.
"I don't find it humorous that the man that wants to take care of my child likes to light people on fire." I said.
Will gave a chuckle. "Warren wouldn't hurt Emma if it would save his life." He said, leading me into the dining table in the kitchen. Emma's high chair was set up at the table now, so I set her down.
Steve, Josie, and Will grabbed their food while I gave Emma a little pit of cooked pasta without the sauce to eat. Josie looked over at me with a look of admiration. "I remember the new mom habits." She told me, dishing my food for me.
We had quiet conversation for a while. Steve and Will were wrapped up in strategies to defeat this game called 'Save the Citizen.' Apparently it was like public school football, in the sense of the popular/stronger kids got to participate more than the less popular/weaker kids. And apparently it was very painful.
I was glad I didn't have to do it. I was helping Josie with the dishes when all the sudden, a scream broke out through the house. I all but ran to Emma's chair. She was staring out the window, screaming louder than I ever heard. I pulled her out of the high chair and as soon as I turned her away from the window, she calmed down a little.
Then my eyes followed out the window. "Who is that?" I asked, pointing a finger towards the fence. Towards the back end of the fence near the side gate, stood a man in black.
I could only tell it was a man because of his height. He had to be three inches taller than Steve. He wore black pants held up by a black belt and silver belt buckle, a black shirt tucked in, and an old duster-looking jacket. His head was covered by a black Western style hat and a bandana covered his face.
He scared me. Not because of his looks. But from the second I saw him, I knew bad things were going to happen. I knew something bad was in the near future.
"Where?" Steve and Josie almost said at the same time. I looked at them as they looked out the window, then back to the spot near the fence.
"H-he's gone." I said, holding Emma closer. She was still whimpering, but she had stopped crying. Steve and Will left out the back door, telling Josie to lock it behind them.