Another time, another place

Tears & shouts

 That night, in the waiting room, Emily was still anxious. Mavi was fine, she had just a little cut and her mum was now stable, but she couldn't relax, she felt so guilty... Suddenly, she saw Stephen and Cassandra arriving. They looked scared.

"Where's my daughter'", Cassandra asked with an alarming tone.
"She's in room 302. She's ok, just a little cut on her lip..."
Cassandra left without even hearing what Emily had to say.
"What happened, Emily?", Stephen wanted to know.
"I was playing with her and my brother called me, and he told me my mum had had a heart attack and I heard Mavi and... I'm so sorry..."
Stephen caressed Emily's right arm. "How's your mum? Is she ok?"
Emily shook her head in confusion. "I don't know, she's fine, I guess. I just... I... I was...", she could end the sentence, she bursted into tears.
"hey...", Stephen held her in his arms. "It's ok, Emily..."
"It's just... I thought I... was gonna lose her... and then Mavi...", she was crying her heart out.
"Em, it was an accident. It could have happened to anyone!", he said, smiling a little bit, trying to make her feel better.
"I know, but..."
"Besides, Mavi's fine, so what matters now is your mum."
Emily looked him in the eyes, with surprise and hope. "So you're not mad at me?"
He tapped her on her forehead slowly, kindly. "Of course not. Look, now I'm going to check on Mavi, but as soon as I can, I'm coming to see your mother, ok'"
Emily nodded. "Ok".
Stephen patted her on the head, and then left. Emily stood there, drying her tears, when she realised she should talk to Cassandra and say sorry. The elevator was occupied, so she took the stairs and, once she got to the room, she stopped at the door: someone was shouting inside.
"How on Earth did you think leaving Mavi with her was a good idea? She's 21, she's just a kid! A kid cannot take care of another kid!", Cassandra roared.
Stephen was calm. "You're overreacting. It's not like Mavi's seriously injured".
"But she could have been, don't you get it?", she replied out of her mind.
"It was an accident", Stephen kept on trying to convince his wife.
"She wasn't paying enough attention!"
At that moment, Stephen exploded. "Her mum had had a heart attack!Anyone in her situation would have forgotten about Mavi for a second!"
She shook her head. "No, I wouldn't."
"Because you're her mother".
"And she is only 21".
Stephen was getting desperate. "Yeah, but she's mature enough. I trust her."
"Well, I don't. Not anymore."
Stephen crossed his arms. "And what do you expect me to do?"
"I don't want Mavi near her ever again."
"You're just nervous now, tomorrow you'll see things from a different perspective and..:"
"I won't, Stephen", she claimed in a very serious tone.
There was a long silence between them. Emily realised then she had been holding her breath.
"Emily loves Mavi".
Cassandra answered immediately. "I'm sorry..:"
"You're not making any sense, Cassandra".
"Neither are you!", she screamed, making Mav cry. "Why do you defend her so much? Mavi's your daughter!"
Stephen carried Mavi and tried to calm her down. "Because she's not the one to blame here! She didn't do it on purpose! It was an accident!"
"Today's been a cut, but who knows what will be in the future..."
Stephen sighed. "You're exaggerating"
"And you are blind, Stephen."
"She's my friend. I'm not going to punish her for this. So I'm sorry if you don't want Mavi near Emily, but I do, and I'm his father too."
Cassandra murmured: "Ok...", and she left the room.
Emily saw Cassandra face to face. She didn't know what to do after everything she had heard, so she preferred to ignore it and say what she came to say.
"Cassandra, I'm sorry, I really am sorry."
Cassandra pretended a smile. "Yeah, ok...", and she went away.
The door was half opened, so Emily went in. Stephen was rocking Mavi.
"Did you hear everything?" he asked alarmed.
Emily nodded, with a sad smile.
"I'm sorry. Cassandra is just scared, she will change her mind tomorrow."
Emily would like to tell Stephen that his wife was right. That she should not be close to Mavi any longer. But she wasn't on the mood to have an argument with Stephen, so she simply nodded again. Suddenly, Stephen approached her, with Mavi still in his arms.
"Doyou want to hold her?" he said with a smile.
Emily took one or two steps back, kind of afraid. "No, I'm... Don't worry."
"Emily, carry her", he told her.
Emily came closer to them and very slowly, she carried Mavi and looked at her little eyes. She immediately smiled.
"My pricess... oh, look your lip..."
Stephen stared at them. Emily would be such an amazing mother, he was sure. Emily was pure gold.
"Better?", he asked.
She nodded, this time totally convinced. She could never be far from Mavi. She loved that child with all her heart. And Stephen knew it.
"I'm sorry your surprise dinner hasn't turned out well", Emily whispered.
Stephen sat on the sofa. "Why? We are definitely going to remember this anniversary", he joked.
"I'm serious", she said placing Mavi inside the crib.
"So am I".
They looked into each other's eyes for so long Emily though he could see through her. She finally avoided his eyes and changed the topic. "I've lost the bet. I've called my family and Colton and some other friends."
Stephen grinned. "So what?"
Emily seemed surprised. "So you win and you don't have to watch the film with me".
Stephen titled his head. "You know what? I was actually looking forward to watching that film. I'm curious, I want to know how we can seduce a muffin".
Emily laughed for the first time that night and he felt relieved by the sound of her laugh.
"Liar!"
"It's true! I don't think I can go on with my life without knowing that"
Emily felt extremely happy. "So you're coming with me anyway?"
He nodded. "Yes, I'm coming with you. Besides, you were doing really well with the bet".
"I was, indeed".
Then, Colton and her friend Karen stormed through the door. "Em! What's happened? How's your mum?"
She told them what had happened and they went to her room. Stephen waited till Cassandra returned to go to visit Emily's mum. Stephen and his wife were not in good terms, but at least they talked. It wasn't until early that morning, when they went home that they finally made peace. Mavi was sleeping and Cassandra was putting on her pyjamas when Stephen approached her behind her back and hugged her.
"I hate being like this with you", he murmured.
"Me too, Stephen."
She turned to look at him. "I'm sorry", she said caressing his cheek.
He kissed the plam of her hand. "I love you".
She smiled a bit. "I love you too".