"Becky, what does it say?" Emma asked, a little more forcefully since Becky seemed to be frozen.
She sat next to Emma, showing her the stick. The stick which had - very clearly - just one line.
"It's negative..." Emma whispered.
"You're not pregnant."
Emma's hand covered her mouth as she stood up, the relief overwhelming her and making her cry even more. She set the test down on the dresser and looked at Becky with a grin on her face.
"I'm not pregnant," she said.
Then, she heard the door open and Emma's head whipped around.
"Hey, just wanted to make sure you two were okay. You've been up here a while."
She hastily swiped the pregnancy test off of the dresser with her arm, kicking it underneath when she heard Tom's voice.
"We're fine."
"Am I missing something? Half an hour ago you were..." Tom trailed off, looking over to Becky, who stood up and slowly walked over to him.
"There was an issue, it's been resolved. All you need to know is that everything's gonna be fine," she said, kissing him on the cheek.
"Good. Do you guys wanna come back down and we can get lunch and watch something?"
"Emma?"
She nodded, smiling and following Tom and Becky down the stairs."Profess- Uh- Henry, are you okay? You've been cutting that pepper for five minutes and the pieces are so small they're going to practically be a powder if you go for much longer."
Henry sighed, "I'm just worried about Emma." He leaned against the counter. "You know, when she was in high school, she hated biology. I'm pretty sure she vandalised a desk her first day in my class," he laughed fondly, "But she would stay in my class after school even the year she wasn't in my class just because she didn't want to go home. Sometimes we would talk, I would help her with homework, or sometimes she would just sit and do her own thing. But, even though I was usually late home for the whole time she was in high school, I never minded. She's been like a daughter to me ever since then."
"Oh."
"I can't count the amount of times she came to my classroom in tears because she had gotten a bad grade, or someone had said something to her, or because her sister had overshadowed her achievements once again or whatever reason. The fact that she won't talk to me now..."
"You think it's something serious?"
"I can't think of any other reason for her being so distant."
"I'm sure she'll talk sooner or later."
"I hope you're right, Ted." He turned back to his chopping board and put the peppers into the pot before he took his anxiety out on them any more.
A few minutes later, as Ted was finishing chopping an onion and Henry was looking for something in the cupboard, Emma walked in with Tom and Becky waiting at the door.
"Emma-"
Quickly, she walked over and wrapped her arms around him. Surprised, he hugged her back and they just stayed like that for around a minute before she pulled away.
"Are you all right, Emma?" he asked her gently.
She nodded, "Yeah. Yeah, I will be."
"Good."
"We were just gonna get lunch and watch TV for a bit."
"Okay, dinner will be around five so just be here for then."
"Okay."
The three left and Henry turned back round and sighed, relieved.
"If there is even the slightest chance that Paul is alive, we are going to find him," he said, determination in his eyes.
"Well, if you need help with anything..."
"Thanks, Ted."
"As long as it's not cutting onions."
The two laughed as they went back to making the lasagne.
YOU ARE READING
Maybe After Tomorrow (Hatchetfield)
Fiksi PenggemarWhen Professor Hidgens discovers the aftermath of the events of Black Friday, he saves everybody he can in the very limited time he has. Unfortunately, this means being stuck in a house with Hatchetfield's most notorious self-described sleazeball an...