The Publisher

17. Harry

Emma and I stood there for a few moments, looking at each other. She had cut her hair short, it was above her shoulders. She was wearing jeans and a tan blouse. Allison looked so old, her brown hair in a curly mess on top of her head with eyes like mine. She smiled when she saw me and I could see the beginnings of teeth. She wore a white dress with orange and pink flowers on it with a matching white headband.

"Hi Harry." Emma said softly, her accent thicker than ever. I blinked hard. My mind was a complete blank.

"I know you probably hate me and I would too, but I just wanted to say that I got my head on straight now and I am truly, deeply sorry. What I did was wrong and terrible to you and Allison and I will be forever guilty. What I really wanted to say was that I am so sorry. I am so, so sorry." She said all of this in a rush of breath and then stood there blinking hard. I stood there in silence, just looking at her. She stared back and then nodded.

"I should have known this would happen." She flashed a rueful smile. "I'm sorry." She turned and started walking away.

"Wait!" I called out. She stopped and turned back around. "Why don't you come in?" if she was disappointed she hid it well.

"Okay." I let her in and we went into the living room. She put Allison on the floor. Allison started crawling around and Bella came in.

"You got a dog!" Emma said with a smile, she reached out a hand with petted Bella. Bella rolled right over and let Emma pet her stomach. Like master, like dog, I thought.

"She's adorable." Emma said, looking at me, still smiling.

"Yeah well, I needed something to distract me since my fiancé left and all." I said, finding my voice. Emma stopped petting Bella and put her hand in her lap. She looked at me and bit her lip.

"I'm sorry. I handled the situation wrong. I'm sorry." I could see the guilt in her eyes and how much she wanted me to forgive her. I stayed silent, staring at her. Allison crawled into the other room. Emma got up and picked her up and carried her back. She sat down and placed Allison on her lap.

"She's in her exploring stage." She explained. "It usually means she'll either crawl away from me as fast as she can or try to eat whatever she can." I smiled. Allison turned and looked at me. She cocked her head to the side.

"That's daddy." Emma whispered to Allison, smiling at me. "Can you wave to Daddy?" Allison raised her arm and waved her little hand at me. Emma beamed proudly and I realized just how much I missed my little girl. I took a deep breath.

"I need a couple days to think about this." I said. Emma looked at me, her face serious. "It's a bit mad, all of this." Emma nodded.

"And I want to have Allison for a couple days. I haven't seen her in 2 months after all."  I said, not trying to hide my dig.

"I-Okay." It was strange to see Emma bite her tounge instead of speaking her mind; she looked as though she was trying to swallow a golf ball. She must really want this to work. I wasn't sure how I felt about all of this yet.

She went out to her car to get Allison's things while I picked her up.

"Hi Ally." I said brightly. Allison looked at me. 'You're not my mother' was written clearly on her face. Emma came back with a couple bags and explained to me what was in each. Then she looked around and took a shaky breath.

"Okay then. I guess I better go. See you in a couple days?"

"Yeah, I'll let you know when I've made up my mind." I said.  Emma kissed Allison goodbye. I followed her out to the car and watched her get in. She rolled down the window.

"Just...be careful okay? This is the first time I've left her alone with someone for more than a couple hours."

"I promise." I said. She nodded and then back out of the driveway and drove away.

"Well Allison Anne, what would you like to do?" I asked. Allison began to cry.

"I know," I murmured as I tried to quiet her. "I miss her already too."