Lost & Found

The tale of a hesitant girl

When dinner was finished, Candace recruited Aiden to look at the furnace because it was making a 'terrible' sound. Emma protested right away, but Aiden insisted it wasn't a problem. As Piper and Emma cleared the table, Emma couldn't help but have a little chat with her sister.

"Why did you bring up his wife?" Emma asked her quietly.

"I dunno. It just slipped out," Piper said, looking at her big sister with vulnerable eyes.

"He's not ready to talk about her. He's told me on more than one occasion that he's not ready," Emma chastised her.

"I'm sorry. I didn't know," Piper told her, looking instantly apologetic.

"Please, just don't bring it up again," Emma sighed.

"I won't. I'm sorry. I know it's hard," Piper said, looking at her sister with the saddest eyes.

"It is hard," Emma said, clearing her throat to stifle the tears that were threatening.

"I'm really glad you two have each other, Em," Piper told her sincerely.

"Mm," Emma hummed, cleaning off the plates into the garbage.

"I really hope it helps you... you two grieving together, you know," Piper told her softly.

"Just... please," Emma hissed as her eyes welled with tears.

"I'm sorry," Piper breathed.

A moment later, their mother and Aiden walked back into the kitchen and Emma quickly moved in front of the sink, rinsing off the dishes so they wouldn't see the tears in her eyes.

Aiden was sharing a story about a winter when his parents' furnace quit working during the coldest days of the year and they were forced to stay with his sister Abby in her apartment for nearly a week before she could get someone to come out to fix it. Candace let out a howl of a laugh.

"Lord, help me if that happens. I don't think Piper would appreciate the three of us invading her space for that long," Candace exclaimed.

"No, I would not. I would probably pitch in for a hotel," Piper chimed in, causing her mother to laugh again.

"You hear that, Emma. Your sister wouldn't take us in if the furnace broke," her mom told her.

"Mm," Emma hummed in response, unable to turn around because she was in the middle of trying to rein in her emotions.

"You wouldn't take in this beautiful baby girl?" Candace said as she picked up her granddaughter.

"Oh, Lucy is more than welcome," Piper snickered.

"Oh, how nice of you," Candace said sarcastically.

Emma quietly began making Lucy her bottle, knowing it was about time to put her to bed. It was a good enough excuse not to be a part of their conversation. She felt awful that she was being antisocial while Aiden was there, but her mood was a bit off and she didn't know how to rectify it.

By the time she had the bottle of breast milk warmed, she felt okay enough to turn around and collect her daughter.

"I've uh, I should feed Lucy," Emma said, timidly looking up at Aiden before she reached for the baby out of her mother's arms.

"Oh, I can do that, honey," Candace told her.

"It's okay. I want to," Emma told her as she pulled Lucy out of her grandmother's arms and walked toward the kitchen door.

"Aiden, why don't you keep Emma company," she heard her mother tell him and it made her stomach turn with anticipation, but she wasn't sure why.

As Emma sat down on the couch, she looked up to see Aiden coming into the living room. She couldn't tell if he was happy or bored or completely over the whole night altogether, but he wasn't running away, so she wasn't going to push him away.