Raising Donna

Hailey vs. Emmy

It felt like an eternity. Donna being switched from one cousin to another to hold. Nonetheless she enjoyed all the attention, tickling, kissing from everyone. Especially Riley who entertained her by playing dolls. In Isabella's room, I was changing her diaper as she looked around mesmerized. Izzy's room was quite cute. It successfully distracted her so I could get her dressed. I picked her up and carried the bag downstairs. At the entrance, Aunt Lana was greeting someone. Karlie walked past and hugged Emmy. "Hey, what's the occasion?" She joked, referring to a big tray of food. Emma chuckled. "Aunt Malorie called me to bring chicken parmesan because she knows...." She trailed off. Donna began playing with my hair. I smirked. "You're better at cooking it." I finished. She smirked kindly before handing Karlie the tray. "How are you Hails?" She asked, side-hugging me. I hugged back. "I'm good. You?" I asked. We parted. Emma didn't get a chance to speak once her attention was on Donna. She mumbled gibberish while looking between me and her. I was really expecting a sweet smile with amounts of tickling but instead she cleared her throat awkwardly. "Umm Hails, who's this little baby?" She asked. I shifted her in my grasp and smiled. "My daughter Donna." I spoke confidently. She looked at me in total shock. "D-d-daughter? Please tell me I heard correctly, you have a daughter? Since when?" She asked. I almost spoke until Uncle Miles came and greeted her. Emma smiled sweetly, yet passing a shocked glance my way. Out of all my cousins, I was actually expecting Emma to be happy about this. She practically cared for us since we were little. Almost like the motherly cousin figure. Her reaction to meeting Donna felt somewhat off. "I have to go greet everyone else. Nice seeing you H. Congrats on your little daughter." She said nonchalantly before walking past to the living room. I looked at her weirdly as Donna babbled. What is up with her? Wouldn't she had been happy about this? Or even proud I decided to adopt?

In the basement, I was playfully bouncing Donna on my lap which made her smile. Beside me was Mason that played peek-a-boo with her. Everyone else continued their chatter and games since they've shown their total affection for Donna. Joy smiled. "Her dress is so cute!" She complimented. I stopped bouncing and sat her down. "You can thank Karlie for that." I joked. Isabella chuckled. Amelie playfully scoffed. "Don't tell me Sharpay got her that." She joked. The girls laughed. I smiled amusedly. "Yup. She helped me shop so many stuff for her. Even bottles." I mentioned. KJ fake frowned. "You brought her and not us? The betrayal is real." He joked. Mason rolled his eyes. "What would you know anything about babies?" He asked annoyedly. Joy snickered. "Simple. He was the baby." She added. The girls playfully oohed while the twins and Luke chuckled. KJ silently glared. Mason smiled. "May I?" He asked. I chuckled and handed Donna to her. He laughed, blowing raspberries on her belly repeatedly. She started giggling. Peter looked up from his phone. "Did anyone else came? The only ones who hadn't is—He was cut off by that very person I saw. "Already here!" Emma sing-songed and walked downstairs. Riley was in her grasp. "Emmy's here!" She squealed. Everyone greeted her including the girls hugged her. That sweet smile she gave them. I successfully hid a frown because I imagined she'd do that with Donna. "How are you all?" She asked sweetly. "We're good!/great!/I beaten my high score on Mario Kart!" They replied in unison. She couldn't help but giggle. Riley got off her arms and smiled. "Emmy, have you met our great-niece Donna?" She asked. Way to blow off the glacier Riles. Emma stared at me and Donna tensely. "Yes, I have. She's wonderful." She said nonchalantly. I mentally scoffed. Mason held her by the back while padding an empty spot. "Go ahead, sit here. You wanna hold her?" He asked. She nodded her head no before sitting between himself and Bria. Now she doesn't want to hold her. She's always held Riley since she was her size. Peter groaned. "Did you bring anything? I'm starving." He rather begged. Emma smirked. "Chicken parmesan." She simply said.

Like Quicksilver, everyone except Mason and Bria raced up the stairs to go eat. Joy was carrying Riley since she'd get bumped into. Emma looked between us weirdly. "Aren't you guys hungry?" She asked. Bria scoffed. "Nope." She blurted. Mason nodded sheepishly. "I actually ate on the way here." He added. Throughout the time being here and introducing Donna to them, I hadn't really thought of food. "How about you Hails?" She asked. I nodded my head no. "Lost my appetite." I told her. She hummed. Donna started fussing. Mason looked at her in awe while padding her back. I smirked, opening her travel bag. "Someone hasn't." I said. I pulled out applesauce and her empty milk bottle. "Will you please fill—Mason cut me off. "Needn't ask sweetie." He said, giving me Donna and taking the bottle upstairs to fill with milk. The awkward silence between me and Emma echoed. We've never been silent toward each other. Everything was always, 'how's life?', 'take my advice' or 'when? Maybe I'll drop by.' Now this is quite unexpected. I bounced Donna and kissed her cheeks. She let out a giggle. Bria looked at her in awe. "Can I take pictures?" She asked. I nodded. She carefully snapped a picture of Donna smiling. Emma cleared her throat abruptly. "Hailey, ummm....when did you have Donna? I seem to have missed what happened." She asked. Have Donna? I—oh. I nodded my head no while feeding her spoonfuls. "I adopted her this week." Is all I spoke. Her jaw immediately dropped. "What?!" She blurted in shock. Bria instantly jumped. "Em, what the hell—She cut her off. "You adopted her? Why haven't I heard about any of this? You planned to become a mom after so long of being 'content' with your life and not wanting this for a while?" She asked in a disbelief tone. I rolled my eyes. "Uh yeah, I was tired of people discussing me like I'll be pushing babies any second now but the choice to adopt Donna was my choice. Not anyone else's." I said in a serious tone. Emma fake smiled. "Oh, I should be grateful then? You're only younger, Hailey. There's so much more to being a mom than bottles and toys—I cut her off. "Yes, I'm fully aware. Thanks to growing up seeing a new baby every year, becoming a parent isn't lost on me. There's a lot of experts up there doing their job and could guide me through the first year with Donna. I don't need your advice, Emmy. You're not a parent." I sassed. Bria covered her mouth in attempt not to chuckle. Emma's attention diverted to Donna. She was distracted with Riley's Baby alive doll. "What's that?" She asked. We shared confusion. "What do you mean?" I asked. She pointed to her hair. I looked at her weirdly. "That's her hair, why?" I asked. Emma scrunched up her nose in disgust. "At least get a child who looks like the experts. None of us got red in our hair which will confuse people. Wasn't there tons of kids who have dark or brown hair?" She spoke rudely. My eyes widened. My daughter is beautiful no matter what hair color she got. Bria growled. "Em, are you kidding me?" She growled. Emma shrugged. "What? You know people can tell us apart. The Campbells are a dark-brown hair clan, if they see her hair, they're not gonna believe she's a Campbell." She told me. I growled angrily. "Since when it matters to you what people think about our family? Donna doesn't have to dye her hair to be part of the family. When I said I don't need your advice, I don't. Not when it's complete shit right now. Nobody has to do anything to be accepted into their family, themselves are enough. Donna's already a gem in this family and she is my gem. Her natural-born hair is also a gem that doesn't need to change color. I expected kindness, support and loving advice from you, Emma. But I don't really want it right now so leave." I snapped. Her jaw dropped before she went back upstairs. Donna began to fuss so I got up and bounced her in my grasp. Bria hadn't moved from her shock state. "Whoa, didn't see this coming." She muttered. Mason returned with her bottle. "Sorry I'm late, Luke's spastic butt spilled the milk—He paused seeing the tensioned silence. "Did I miss anything?" He asked weirdly. I smiled sadly and sat down to give Donna her milk. Bria got off the couch. "You know? I'm going to grab a bite." She spoke while going upstairs. Mason sat beside me and noticed I deeply frowned. "What happened?" Is all he asked. Tears fill my eyes. A lump formed in my throat. "Emma—she's so damn mean!" I choked. He laid my head on his shoulder and rubbed my back comfortingly.