It was a big day in the Diaz household. After over a year Carla was finally coming over. Emelia was beyond happy to see her again, Chris was nearly bouncing off the walls and Eddie, well Eddie was a big ball of anxiety. Wanting her big late birthday/reunion dinner to be perfect.
"What do you think? That's better, right?" Eddie says as he rearranged the couch pillows for the hundredth time. Emelia stifles her giggle at his antics.
"I think it looks exactly the same?" Ana says, Emelia nods in agreement.
"I just want everything to be perfect," Eddie says as he takes in the pillows once again. "It's been over a year."
"It's gonna be awesome." Chris says as a knock comes from the door. Emelia bounces on to her toes before following Chris to the front door.
"Carla!" Chris exclaims, going right in for a hug. Leaving Emelia to patiently wait for her own hug.
Her excitement gets the better of her and she jumps right in, Eddie joining in shortly after.
"Oh I missed my boys, and you, my beautiful young woman." Carla says when she pulled away, cupping her face to take her in. "Oh I've missed you."
Carla's arms remain around Emelia and Chris as she is introduced to Ana. Rubbing a hand up and down their shoulder until they surrounded the table.
"I need to hear everything." She says immediately. "How's May?"
"Good, really good." Emelia blushes. "She really wanted to come but Josh convinced her to cover a shift."
"And you mister, 1 year away from high school. What have you been up to?" Carla asks, opening Chris to go off on everything he has done in the past year. It takes up the rest of the meal but Emelia happily listens to every story.
"You prepared a lovely meal. I can help Eddie clean up." Carla tries when Ana begins taking away the plates but luckily Chris speaks up before she can peek into the kitchen.
"You can't go in the kitchen."
"That's right. We have some business to take care of." Anna gestures for Emelia to follow and she happily does.
Once in the kitchen she helps bring the cakes out of the fridge before piling the candles onto both cakes. One for each of the birthdays they missed. Pulling out the small gift from the top drawer, they head back into the kitchen.
"Surprise!" The three cheer.
"Happy birthday." Chris and Emelia say in unison. Placing the cakes right in front of Carla.
"But my birthday's in March."
"And we missed it twice."
"You got me two cakes."
"And this." Emelia hands her the gift.
"You guys are just too sweet." She shakes her head with a happy smile. Opening her gift to find a small decorated picture frame. "You are just trying to make me cry aren't you?"
"We just love you." Emelia says, coming around the table to hug her again.
"And I love you."
–
Simply hearing Charlie's story had Emelia's heart broken, she was happy to help Chris pick out a few toys to donate to him. But just like his sister, his heart was two sizes too big.
"Does he like video games? I have some old ones I don't play anymore." Chris asked Eddie and Carla to work through his toys as Emelia sorted all the books.
"Wow, someone's feeling generous." Ana says when she walks into Chris' room. "Hey, Eddie, Carla. Can I talk to you for a second?"
"Yeah." They both say with a confused stare. Emelia doesn't take much notice as a certain book catches her eye. 'Love you forever.' by Robert Munch. Emelia's baby book that she passed along to Chris when he was born.
"You remember this book Chris?" she holds it up.
Cherished memories fill Emelia as she runs her fingers over the front page. All the times she read it when he was little. He was 2 when she started, she would sit on the floor outside his crib and read until he fell asleep. Then he grew up and she continued to read it until he got sick of her. Which was pretty recently she thought sadly.
"We can't get rid of this one huh?" she asks.
He agreed with a shake of his head, joining her on the floor.
"You're a good kid Chris." She places the book back onto his shelf safely.
"Why are you being weird?" He asks with a funny look.
"I'm not being weird, I'm just saying this is a really nice thing you're doing." he points to the giant bag of toys he is happy to get rid of.
"Charlie is my friend." Is all he says.
–
"You're up early," Emelia says when she walks into the kitchen to find Eddie already dressed in his uniform.
"Yeah, there is something I need to deal with. Can you get Chris ready for school?" he asks, barely looking up from his phone.
"Yeah but is everything okay?" she asks.
"It will be. I love you." He says, stopping briefly to kiss the side of her head before rushing out the front door.
Emelia shakes her head at his antics before getting Chris up and out the door.
'Dad is acting weird. Can you fix him?' She messages Buck once she gets to school. It takes him longer than normal to answer and she can't help but feel something strange bubbling in her stomach.
'Also Carla came over and is super pissed you missed dinner'
'There is no saving you'
She waits through her first and second period for a message before fully panicking. Her legs bounce under her desk and she checks her phone every three seconds. It's not like Buck to not answer her. Even if it was a simple 'on a call.' He always made sure to answer, knowing how wrapped up in anxiety she could get he made the effort.
'Is the 118 on any big calls' she texts May instead. Knowing it's wrong to ask but she can't help the funny feeling in her stomach. May's contact immediately pops on her screen and her stomach drops.
Her thumbs hang over the answer button as she works a plan to get out of class. Her teacher beats her to it.
"Emelia, your father is here for you. You can bring your things."
Turns out she was right to panic.
YOU ARE READING
The Family We Choose
FanfictionHoping to give his daughter a fresh start, Eddie moves to LA. With Texas in their rearview mirrors, their journey with the 118 shows them what family is all about.
